CORALVILLE — Something must have been in the air in Xtream Arena on Thursday.
Day 1 of the Iowa girls state wrestling tournament was an upset bonanza, particularly in the quarterfinals where three No. 1 seeded wrestlers suffered losses. Of those three, two were returning state champions. As soon as one wrestler celebrated and drew the attention of people in Wrestletown, USA, with a major upset, it seemed another one came in to top it.
It all began at 115 pounds between Sioux City North’s Molly Sek and West Liberty’s Silvia Garcia-Vasquez. Sek was 35-0 entering this bout, the No. 1 seed and also a returning state finalist from this class last year. On the other side, Garcia-Vasquez was knocked out by Sek by technical fall in last year’s state tournament.
Still, Garcia-Vasquez seemed undeterred. She had a bit of an energy drink her brother bought her before the bout. Even though her heart was beating rapidly out of nerves and caffeine, she picked up a win by fall over Sek late in the third period to stun the crowd for the first time that afternoon.