10 letterwinners return for 2023-2024 season

The Denison-Schleswig girls’ wrestling team this season boasts two returning state qualifiers and 10 returning letterwinners.

Daniela Salinas, wrestling at 100 pounds, and Angie Rivera, wrestling at 135 pounds, are looking to get back to the state tournament at Coralville.

Head Coach Jacob Brawner said the team has high expectations and will lean on the experience of Salinas and Rivera to help the girls at the weights around them improve to become a solid varsity lineup.

Returning letter winners are the following.

Yarecze Rodriguez (grade 11)
Ana Castillo (11)
Taya Adams (12)
Angie Rivera (10)
Jessica Cabrera (12)
Remigia Raymundo (11)
Nallely Rivera (11)
Adrianna Lupian (12)
Kasandra Barroso (11)
Taylor Totten (12)

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Freshman wrestlers are Shelby Lima, Alisson Barroso, Marisol Granados, Grace Collins, Jaslyn Vasquez, Briana Perez, Belinda Garcia, Andrea Lupian, Andrea Alcaraz, Katherine Ramirez, Samantha Espinoza and Guadalupe Ramos.

Other sophomores are Addison Ransom and Giana Garci.

Other juniors are Daniela Salinas, Alexa Tremblay, Nyamun Koang, Miranda Estrada and Alexis Hartwig.

Other seniors are Zoey Gonzales and Aremy Santos.

Joe Brawner is the assistant coach, and managers are Zahyra Flores and Cheyenne Vang.

“The major strengths of our team are the number of girls we have out as well as the blend of youth and experience throughout the team,” said Brawner. “We should be able to fill nearly every weight class, and that will make us more competitive from a team standpoint.

“We have returning wrestlers with some experience that are going to understand how things work a little bit, but they are also getting challenged by some newcomers. Our practice room is going to a place where we don’t shy away from competition, and it’s expected that our varsity/upperclassmen/returning wrestlers get pushed by everyone else.”

Brawner said the true test will come in varsity competition; wrestling in practice doesn’t give a true understanding of the quality of the lineup.

“Wrestling, and especially girls wrestling at this stage, is a unique sport in that you could wrestle a first-year wrestler one match and a state qualifier 30 minutes later,” he said. “The importance of how we respond to the physicality and mental/physical grind of varsity competition is something that we are very open about and something we will continue to stress.”

This is the second year for girls’ wrestling as a state-sanctioned sport. Over 100 schools host a girls’ wrestling program, according to information from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The first practice date was October 30 and the initial meets began on Monday, November 13.

The state tournament will take place February 1 and 2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

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