Mason City girls wrestler Layla Phillips and West Des Moines Valley boys swimmer Jacob Pins were voted the Des Moines Register’s Iowa Ortho female and male Athlete of The Week winners for the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
Phillips won female Athlete of the Week with 57% of the vote. Decorah girls wrestler Naomi Simon came in second with 39%.
Phillips was a banged-up warrior at the girls state wrestling tournament.
The Mason City senior had bruises all over, including an injured eye, but that did not stop her from earning a state title at 105.
She survived a scare from Southeast Polk’s Carissa Hersom in the quarterfinals before prevailing by an 8-7 score. After winning by fall in the semifinals, Phillips earned a 9-4 victory over Western Iowa’s Kacy Miller in the finals to finish her final season at 43-3.
Pins won male Athlete of the Week with 40% of the vote. Pleasant Valley boys swimmer Owen Chiles finished a close second with 37%.
Pins swam the fastest 200-yard freestyle time and the third-best qualifying 500 freestyle time during the boys district swimming meet on Saturday.