INDEPENDENCE — East Buchanan placed third Saturday, with Brooklyn Graham winning gold and six other girls finishing in the top 5 at the Mustang Invitational.
The team collected over 300 points (303.5) in their third-place finish.
“I thought this was a great tournament to kick off our season,†head coach Dan Stiefel said. “We ended up third out of 27 teams.
“We have a very talented group of girls with a ton of potential. We will continue to put in the work and grow to reach our goals.â€
Graham placed first at 190 pounds, pinning Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Joscelyn Stricker in the final. Stricker earned the first point on a 1-point penalty with 42 seconds left in the second period. Graham then mounted a comeback with a 2-point reversal with six seconds in the third that led to the pin and victory over Stricker.
Graham collected pins in all three of her matches and went undefeated.
Tayla Stiefl placed second in the 145-pound bracket after losing in 11-4 decision to Vinton-Shellsburg’s Chloe Sanders. Sanders delivered a 3-point takedown 1:08 into the first and delivered a 4-point nearfall nine seconds later. Stiefl managed to claim a 2-point reversal for a 7-2 deficit after one period.
Sanders added a point on an escape in the third, then went up 11-3 on a takedown. Stiefel managed another reversal halfway through the period, but couldn’t get any more points.
Destiny Krum also placed second at 135. She lost by decision (7-1) in the finals to Waverly-Shell Rock’s Lilly Stough. Krum managed to score a one-point escape with a 15 second left in the first period while Stough scored 3-point takedowns in the first and second, and an escape in the second.
Miley Walz (155) placed third, losing to Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Jamie Jones in a pin 19 seconds into the match.
Three wrestlers placed fifth in their respective brackets: Valeria Torres (110, 4-2), Kaitlyn Krum (125, 4-2) and Andelyn Cabalka (140, 4-2). Other top-10 finishers include: Charrli Isham (125, eighth, 3-3), Kambria Riles (10th, 115, 3-2) and Lydia Beyer (10th, 140, 3-2).
Six collected at least four pins — Calbalka, Graham, Destiny Krum, Kaitlyn Krum, Tayla Stiefel and Torres.
Of the 14 wrestlers that participated, nine left with winning records.
