Comets Kolheim, Stewart champions at Cedar Falls Girls Wrestling Invitational

Press Staff Report

CEDAR FALLS — You can say this about Cedar Falls junior Briar Ludeman — she sure doesn’t go out of her way to avoid Leah Stewart.

For the third time this season, Ludeman faced the Charles City senior in a 190-pound girls wrestling bout. The most recent was Saturday in the championship round of the Cedar Falls Invitational.

It resulted in yet another tournament title for returning state-medalist Stewart, who upped her near-perfect record to 24-1 with a fall victory awarded with 20 seconds left in the third period.

For Ludeman, it was her third loss of the season — all of them to Stewart — as she fell to 24-3 after the runner-up showing.

Cedar Falls paced the 17-team field with 324 team points. Charles City tied with Gilbert for seventh-place amid the team standings with 100.5 points, behind runner-up Mason City (197.5), Eddyville-Blakeburg-Fremont (183), Vinton-Shellsburg (168), Cedar Rapids Kennedy (135) and Clear Lake (122).

Charles City senior Destiny Kolheim won the 155-pound bracket while improving to 20-4 for the season after she earned a 7-1 decision over Cedar Falls senior Jocelyn Schwartz in the championship match.

In the 100-pound championship, Comet sophomore Sophia Calpito — who like Stewart and Kolheim is a returning state-qualifier — lost to Cedar Falls senior Natalie Blake with an 8-3 decision. Calpito is now 25-5 for the season.

Charles City 110-pound sophomore Emma Schmitt and 115-pound junior Tegan Cavanaugh scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Comets at the CF Invite.

* At the Forest City Boys Wrestling Invitational, Charles City senior Carter Haberkorn — a state-qualifier as a sophomore — advanced to the championship match in the 120-pound bracket and lost a 10-3 decision to Algona’s Brook Morgan.

Haberkorn had earlier “busted up” the bracket when he defeated No. 1-seed, North Butler sophomore Carl Shew, in a 15-13 scoring shootout.

Charles City 138-pound sophomore Connor Jenkins placed fifth in his bracket, and 175-lb. freshman Micah Thompson and heavyweight junior Jackson Warnke each placed sixth in their respective brackets while helping the Comets place ninth out of 10 teams.

Algona took team honors with 244 team points, 12 ahead of runner-up North Fayette Valley.