Mount Vernon senior Libby Dix has a ton of medals, and a state tournament title, to call her own.
But before Saturday, Dec. 7, she had never won the Dan Gable Donnybrook.
“This has been her goal,” Mount Vernon Coach Trevor Trende said. “It was special for her to go out on top her senior year. I’m very happy for her.”
Dix pinned her way through the field at 190 pounds, and beat Leah Stewart of Charles City in the championship match.
As a team, Mount Vernon finished seventh at the 44-team extravaganza at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“For us to finish seventh, and place ahead of Vinton-Shellsburg and other high-ranked teams, it puts us on the map,” Trende said.
“We might not be the biggest, but we have a lot of tough girls in our program.”
One of those tough girls is junior Gracie Pinckney, who finished runner-up at 170 pounds.
Pinckney’s rise up the podium is a byproduct of her extensive work in the offseason, Trende said. “She really bought into training and work in the offseason, and joined a club,” Trende said. “She’s put in a lot of extra work to get where she’s at. It is the old cliché, hard work pays off.”
After three pins and a technical fall to reach the finals, Pinckney lost to Addeline Graser of Omaha Westside by pin.
“She got stuck on the bottom,” Trende said. “That’s an area she needs to improve on.”
Junior Kiersten Swart lost in the semifinals to Zoe Dempsey of New Lenox/Lincoln-Way Central, 10-3, but rallied to finish third. She beat Madeline Cornish of Mason City in the consolation semifinals, 13-2, then beat Delaney Locke of Basehor-Linwood, 7-2, for third.
Another bounce back story was junior Addi Whisner at 145 pounds. She lost her first match, then had four pins on the consolation side, and finished fifth.
“Kiersten wrestled a really sound tournament, and it always nice when you win your last match,” Trende said.“Addi went through the meat grinder. That’s always fun.”
Overall, Trende was happy to see all of the Mustang wrestlers get a lot of mat time early in the season.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, Mount Vernon lost two duals in Independence to fall to 0-7. Decorah (53-24) and Independence (40-33) both took down Mount Vernon.
Kate Martin (110), Kiersten Swart (115) and Gracie Pinckney (170) were double winners.