Mount Vernon junior Libby Dix finished runner-up at 170 pounds at the Iowa State Tournament in February.
Then in October, Dix won the 190-pound title at a national tournament.
So Dix is bigger … and better.
“You definitely feel like you have a lot more energy,” Dix said of wrestling at 190. “Just focusing less on cutting weight and more on getting better in the room every day.”
Dix cut to 170 last season, knowing she’d have to beat Decorah’s top-seeded Naomi Simon. Instead, Simon won by fall in the state final and finished 37-0.
But Dix was the first Mount Vernon-Lisbon wrestler to make the finals.
And the loss has proven motivating.
“I was super disappointed,” Dix said of the loss to Simon. “I definitely didn’t give it my all. It really feeds into my want to get better this year.”
Dix has gained a pile of confidence, as well.
Last season, MVL Coach Trevor Trende had to keep telling Dix she could win a state championship.
“She had everything in her to be a state champion,” Trende said. “At the end of the day, you have to believe that.
“I think Libby is confident enough to know that she has the qualities to do that, but I just had to keep reminding her, every day.”
No more reminders are needed.
“This year my confidence is coming from myself,” Dix said. “(Coach Trende) was the one that told me I was going to win a state title last year, and I didn’t really believe him going into the season last year. Now I believe it. I want to win a state title this year.”
The IWCOA preseason rankings haven’t caught up with Dix, yet. She is ranked No. 2 at 170 pounds, behind Simon, now a senior at Decorah and going for her fourth title (she would be the first to win four in Iowa girls’ wrestling history).
The top five wrestlers at 190 pounds are junior Mackenzie Arends (Nevada), senior Jana TerWee (West Lyon), senior Bella Porcelli (Southeast Polk), sophomore Breanna Peach (Iowa Valley) and junior Ella Brown (C.R. Kenendy). Arends won the title last season, beating TerWee 1-0 in an ultimate tiebreaker.
However, Dix won the 190-pound division at the 2023 Brian Keck Memorial Preseason National Finals last month in Des Moines.
“That was super cool,” Dix said. “It was a new experience getting to wrestle some of the best wrestlers from across the country.”
Dix has brought a new level of intensity to the Mustang wrestling room
“It’s a challenge,” Gracie Pinckney, a state qualifier at 155, said. “I try to get moves on her, but sometimes it doesn’t’ go that well. She flips me. It is kind of easy for her to throw me.
“But it is really great I get to wrestle her every day.”
“I think she’ll be hungry,” Trende said. “And girls need to watch out for her this year.”
Mount Vernon girls’ wrestling opens the season with a invitational at South Tama on Nov. 16.