Independence’s Morgan Krall placed third, Kennedi Bevans earned fifth and nine girls left with winning records at the home and season-opening Mustang Girls Invitational on Saturday.
“I thought it was a great day for an early season tournament,” coach Cole Zempel said. “We had girls putting lots of points on the board.”
Krall placed third at 120 pounds, beating Linn-Mar’s Ally Jelinek by 13-6 decision. She earned a 3-point takedown 30 seconds in the first period, got another one a with 24 seconds left in the second and added six with a 2-point reversal 34 seconds into the third and a four-point nearfall 16 seconds later.
Krall added two pins and a technical fall to her win total, and is 7-1 on the season.
Bevans beat Louisa-Muscatine’s Tori Hansen by an 11-5 decision to place fifth. She went 4-3 in the tournament and collected two pins.
“There were a couple of matches where we need to learn to finish the match a little stronger,” Zempel said. “But those things are expected at this point in the season.”
One-hundred-25-pounder Claire Carey and 130-pounder Jordin Derr both placed sixth. Carey went 5-3 and collected two pins while Derr went 4-4 and collected three pins.
Sophia Hurley (110, 4-3) went 3-2 with three pins. Two of them — her first match against Clear-Creek Amana’s McKenna Sager and placement match against New Hampton’s Drey O’Brien — came in under 40 seconds.
“Some work to do but overall, our girls wrestled hard all day,” Zempel said. “Exciting start to the season.”
Independence came off a split of its Nov. 19 triangular, where it beat Center Point-Urbana, 60-24, and lost to Solon, 39-36.
The Spartans won the match when they claimed a forfeit victory at 235 pounds. Ellie Fangman and Kenleigh Trumblee went 2-0 with two pins for the Mustangs.
Independence hosts Decorah and Mount Vernon on Dec. 3.
