STC junior Livia Smith is acknowledged as the winner of her opening match against West Des Moines' Avery Headrick.

At the pep-rally for the eight STC girls wrestlers leaving for the state meet, head coach Jason Arp called the group ‘The Great Eight.’ This week is part 2 of a look at the group and their experience at the Iowa Girl’s State Wrestling Meet on Thursday-Friday, February 5-6, in Coralville.

The medalists

In addition to senior Autumn Elsbury earning her second straight state championship at 170 lbs., STC gained three additional medalists at the girls state wrestling meet: sophomore Maylee Rucker, junior Kinley Jimenez, and junior Livia Smith.

Rucker came into the tournament as the #5 seed at 140 lbs. She started off very strong, with pins over her first two opponents: the #12 seed Katelyn Mercil of Cedar Rapids Jefferson and the #4 seed Meredith Kaump of Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Rucker drew the #1 seed (and eventual champion) Calista Rodish of Raccoon River-Northwest in the semifinals. Rucker went the distance with Rodish but eventually lost a hard-fought 9-5 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Rucker fell to Ames’ Lauryn Metcalf but, then, received a forfeit win over Fort Madison’s Mara Smith to earn a fifth place spot on the awards stand for the Trojans.

“I wish I could have had a match instead of a forfeit,” Rucker said after. “But I feel really good about finishing in fifth. I was in all of my matches and wrestled the #1 girl really well.”

STC sophomore Maylee Rucker fills in her name on the bracket after her quarterfinal victory.

Jimenez came into the tournament as the #3 seed at 235 lbs. She started with wins over the #14 seeded Joellynn Dwinal of Central DeWitt and the #6 seeded Mariah Ripperger of Knoxville. However, Jimenez fell to the #2 seed Delilah Subsin of Ottumwa in the semifinals. She also dropped her next two matches in the consolation brackets. Jimenez finished in sixth place for the Trojans.

“These couple days at state have had a lot of ups and downs in the way I wrestled,” Jimenez said afterwards. “But I’m proud of the way I wrestled this year.”

Jimenez’s sixth place finish is an improvement on her seventh place finish at state last season.

Smith (#6 seed at 100 lbs.) was competing at state for the first time in her career. After winning her opening match on Thursday by fall, Smith dropped her next match to the #3 seed Mara Davis of Algona. Smith bounced back, however, with a victory over Sioux City North’s Ash Ayers with a pin at the 2:21 mark. However, Smith lost her following two matches to finish in eighth place for STC.

“I wish my place could have been higher,” Smith said. “But going from not qualifying for state last year to placing this year — it feels pretty good.”

STC junior Kinley Jimenez receives congratulations for her 6th place finish at 235 lbs.

The juniors

In addition to Jimenez and Smith, STC had two additional juniors competing at state: Paisley Bro and Brooklyn Mitchell. Bro, a first-time qualifier, came into the meet as the #14 seed at 145 lbs. Mitchell, who also qualified for state last season, started her bracket as the #12 seed at 130 lbs. Both wrestlers dropped their only two matches in Coralville, facing opponents all in the top six seeding of their brackets.

“It was frustrating,” Bro said. “But I did the best I could and I need to move on to next year and use this as motivation.”

Mitchell shared a similar sentiment.

“I felt like I could have done a lot more but I came up short. But I’m going to use this as fuel over the summer to get ready for next season,” she said.

STC senior Ava Hendricks walks off the mat with the help of STC assistant coach Steve Chyma after her opening round injury.

The ‘Avas’

The last two members of ‘The Great Eight’ — senior Ava Hendricks and junior Ava Perkins — are unique among the STC girls wrestlers. Both attend East Marshall High School and came over to join the Trojan wrestling program. Hendricks competed as the #13 seed at 115 lbs. She fell in her opening match to #4 Addison McGinness of Racoon River-Northwest. In the match, Hendricks suffered an elbow injury that forced her to pull out of her next match and end her state experience.

“It was tough not being able to continue wrestling and compete,” Hendricks said. “But I know it was the best decision.”

Perkins came into state as the #11 seed at 135 lbs. After dropping her opening match, Perkins came back with a victory over Pella’s Kenadi Montgomery by fall at 2:10. However, she fell in her final match to Algona’s Sienna Fehr.

“My third match was a girl that knew me well and knew what I was going to do. I don’t think I was mentally prepared for that. I lost but I think the whole state experience was really fun,” Perkins said.

STC junior Ava Perkins wrestles in her opening match at the state tournament.

When the two girls were asked about joining the STC program as East Marshall students, both girls praised the coaches and community.

“I love wrestling for South Tama,” Perkins said. “The coaches are amazing. They push me and the people of the community support me.”

Hendricks agreed.

“Coming into South Tama, the other wrestlers were so welcoming. And I found the community to be supportive — we have huge crowds no matter where we go. The coaches are amazing; They’ve helped me grow a lot,” she said.

The season and the future

STC junior Brooklyn Mitchell wrestles in her opening match at the state tournament.

With the season now complete, it’s easy not only to celebrate ‘The Great Eight’ but to look ahead and be excited for the program’s future. Several other STC wrestlers narrowly missed competing at state themselves. Some of these included: sophomore Isabela Saban Perez (105), sophomore Jayva Gomez (110), freshman Miyah Grabenbauer (120), freshman Gianna Boswell (125), sophomore Decorah Walker (155), and junior Ioleta Kingbird (190). A number of these Trojans made the trip to Coralville to support their teammates — and even help them warm-up on the mats.

As the page turns to preparation for next season, several of the athletes took time to reflect on the season and look ahead.

“It’s been a great year,” Bro said. “And next year, we’ll have the juniors moving up and freshmen coming in. I know I’m going to give it my all my senior year.”

“Everyone has grown tremendously this season,” Mitchell added.

Jimenez spoke to her role as a senior-to-be.

STC junior Brooklyn Mitchell competes in the consolation bracket at the state meet. STC coach Steve Chyma (left) and head coach Jason Arp (right) are in the background.

“As seniors next year, I think we need to cheer on our teammates and make sure they know that we can be great as a team. We need to come back as champions,” she said.

A new feature next season will be the inaugural girls state dual meet tournament. It will be held on Friday, Jan. 22 at a site familiar to the Trojans: the Xtream Arena in Coralville.

“I hope we can place high at the state dual tournament,” Jimenez said. “We know we can.” Smith noted that the Trojans are undefeated in duals over their last three seasons.

When asked what made him proud of the 2026 season, STC head coach Jason Arp summed up the season well.

“I’m proud of winning our regionals. Of winning the WaMaC conference meet again. And how we were right there with bigger schools in whatever tournaments we were in. It was a great season. The girls did all of that,” he said.

STC junior Kinley Jimenez fills in the bracket after her opening round win at the girls state meet.

STC junior Kinley Jimenez begins to celebrate her quarterfinal win against Knoxville's Mariah Ripperger.

STC sophomore Maylee Rucker looks to the referee as she pins her quarterfinal opponent: Meredith Kaump of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

STC sophomore Maylee Rucker wrestles against #1 seed Calista Rodish of Raccoon River Northwest in the semifinals at 140.

STC junior Livia Smith looks to escape from Algona's Mara Davis in the quarterfinals at 100 lbs.

STC junior Livia Smith stands on the medal podium for her 8th place finish at 100 lbs.

STC sophomore Maylee Rucker stands on the medal podium for her 5th place finish at 140 lbs.

STC junior Paisley Bro looks to her coaches during her opening match against Raccoon River Northwest's Natalie Keller.