Norwalk freshman Hannah Schmitz earned a place in school history last Friday, becoming the first-ever state medalist for the Warrior girls wrestling program. Schmitz placed seventh in the Class 2A 100-pound bracket following two days of competition at the Girls State Wrestling Tournament at Coralville’s Xtream Arena.
Schmitz, who entered state seeded ninth in her bracket, pinned her first-round opponent before losing by fall to eventual state champion Nora Ohnemus of Indianola in the quarterfinals. From that point on, Schmitz wrestled three extremely competitive matches in the consolation bracket, winning 18-16, losing 9-8 and beating South Tama County’s Livia Smith 5-4 in the seventh-place final. She finished 3-2 at the state meet and finished the season with a record of 44-7.
Schmitz tells KNIA Sports that she went to State with a high goal of being a state place-winner. She added that it was “really cool” to keep battling and persevere to place seventh. “It’s been so awesome,” she said of competing at State. “There’s been no tournament like this ever.. This is definitely going to go in my history book (as) one of the most favorite times of my life. It’s really fun.”…