COLUMBUS — While she won’t be competing at next week’s state wrestling meet, Iola High freshman Zoie Hesse still put on quite a show at Saturday’s Class 4-1A Regional competition.
Hesse, competing in one of the toughest regional draws in the state, went 3-2 on the day, before bowing out in the consolation semifinals — otherwise known as the “blood round” — against Brylie Schauff of Fort Scott, the sixth-ranked 170-pound wrestler in the state.
“Zoie did some of her best wrestling of the year,” Iola head coach Jason Bates said. “We knew there were some things that she needed to work on going into regionals, so Coach (John) Taylor, Damian Wacker, and Zoie put in some extra work, showing up at 6 a.m. to practice to improve in those areas.”
The work paid off handsomely.
Hesse pinned her opening opponent, Annabell Francoeur of Independence, in 1 minute, 24 seconds.
The victory set up a quarterfinal match against Taylor Plumlee of Cherryvale, ranked no. 4 in the state by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association (KWCA).
It was a rematch from earlier in the year, where Plumlee had pinned Hesse in the first round.
This time around, Hesse deftly escaped twice after Plumlee got points for takedowns.
But Plumlee’s experience also prevented Hesse from getting any kind of advantage.
Hesse was sent to the consolation side of the bracket with a 6-2 defeat.
“Zoie made that senior work for every point she earned,” Bates said.
Hesse, who wound up the year with a 22-6 record, ripped her way through her first two consolation matches, first with a pin over Vivian Frakes of Douglass at 2:24, and the second a 6-2 decision over Alyssa Bartlett of Paola.
That set up the blood round matchup with Schauff, and a chance to place in the top four, and thus qualify for next week’s state tournament in Salina.
But Schauff, who sported a stellar 37-7 record, got the upper hand with a reversal in the second period and wound up pinning Hesse at the 1:44 mark.
Saturday’s regional had four of the top six 170-pound wrestlers in the state, Bates noted. All four qualified for next week’s tournament.
