Saturday was a good day to be in the Garcia-Vasquez family.
At the 2023 Independence Girls Invitational, senior Donni and junior Bricsia each placed third in the 140-pound and 235-pound brackets in the first wrestling meet of the season.
If there are any bragging rights to be had, Dionni can claim them for winning five matches during the event to tie for the Comets’ team lead.
She won her first three matches, using a first, a second and a third-period pin, and propelled herself into the championship semifinals. There, she was stopped by eventual champion Kiara Djoumessi of Waverly-Shell Rock.
Dionni rebounded in her final two matches with pins over North Scott and Bettendorf foes to claim the third-place medal.
For Bricsia, she used two bye’s and a 33-second pin to march into the quarterfinals. Like her sister, her lone loss came against a Go-Hawk opponent.
Ever resilient, she pinned her next two opponents and won a 5-0 decision against Aliya Phillips of Cedar Rapids Prairie to win her medal.
Not to be outdone, Comet sophomore Jacquelin Molina also won five matches on Saturday. She competed in the 135-pound bracket and placed 11th.
Molina went 5-2 on the day and bounced back from getting pinned in her first match of the season. In her five wins, she recorded four victories via fall and one 6-5 decision victory.
A number of other Comets also found success at the Independence tournament.
Senior Alissa Sanchez won three matches and placed sixth in the 115-pound bracket. She won her first two matches to make the quarterfinals, and won again in the consolation second round.
The best freshman performance of the day belonged to Aspen Sebolt who placed seventh in the 105-pound bracket.
She won her first-career match with a third-period pin in the championship third round. She was stopped twice more, but bookended her night with a first-period pin in the seventh-place match against Anya Rivera of Williamsburg.
Other Comets competitors at this Saturday invitational included senior Nellie Stagg at 140 (3-3 record, 12th place), freshman Alivia Garcia at 110 (2-3, 12th place), junior Charli Gingerich at 120 (2-3, 13th place), sophomore Mercedes Brockert at 130 (3-2, 17th place), freshman Charlie Howard at 125 (1-4, 16th place), and freshman Addison Guerra at 100 (0-4, 16th place).
Add it all up and the Comets placed 14th in the team standings out of 27 schools with 151 team points.
Bettendorf dominated the competition with 426 points. The rest of the top five was comprised of Vinton-Shellsburg (310), Waverly-Shell Rock (275), Cedar Rapids Prairie (268.5) and East Buchanan (264).
On Monday, the Comets competed in their home invitational before getting a nearly two-week break from competition. The next time these girls will suit up will be on Saturday, December 2 at Wapello High School.
Independence Girls Invitational Results for West Liberty
100
Addison Guerra (0-4) placed 16th and scored 1.0 team points. Round 1 - Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Grace Murphy (Epworth, Western Dubuque) 8-1 won by fall over Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 (Fall 0:59); Cons. Round 1 - Malorie Myers (Independence) 2-2 won by fall over Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 (Fall 1:21); Cons. Round 2 - Elyse Brown (Osage) 2-3 won by fall over Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 (Fall 4:20); 15th Place Match - Katelyn Buckley (North Scott) 3-6 won by decision over Addison Guerra (West Liberty) 0-4 (Dec 9-4).
105
Aspen Sebolt (2-2) placed 7th and scored 19.0 team points. Round 1 - Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 won by fall over Khloe Hamilton (North Scott) 2-5 (Fall 4:44); Quarterfinal - Layla Phillips (Mason City) 3-0 won by fall over Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 (Fall 0:41); Cons. Round 2 - Alexis Kolbet (Osage) 2-3 won by fall over Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 (Fall 0:37); 7th Place Match - Aspen Sebolt (West Liberty) 2-2 won by fall over Anya Rivera (Williamsburg) 2-4 (Fall 1:25).
110
Alivia Garcia (2-3) placed 12th and scored 11.0 team points. Round 1 - Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Emily See (Bettendorf) 3-3 won by fall over Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 1:45); Cons. Round 1 - Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 won by fall over Emma Moore (Mason City) 0-3 (Fall 5:26); Cons. Round 2 - Macy Tiedt (Waverly-Shell Rock) 6-1 won by fall over Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 0:26); Cons. Round 3 - Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 won by fall over Lana McCoy (North Scott) 4-4 (Fall 1:26); 11th Place Match - Jules Neubauer (Denver) 3-2 won by fall over Alivia Garcia (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 1:51).
115
Alissa Sanchez (3-3) placed 6th and scored 25.0 team points. Round 1 - Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 won by fall over Ella Kennett (Independence) 2-4 (Fall 1:04); Round 3 - Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 won by fall over Xuvia Stevenson (Iowa City, West) 0-6 (Fall 0:55); Quarterfinal - Morgan Krall (Independence) 4-2 won by fall over Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 (Fall 4:18); Cons. Round 2 - Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 won by fall over Cameryn Judisch (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 2-2 (Fall 2:48); Cons. Round 3 - Ellie Weets (Vinton-Shellsburg) 5-1 won by fall over Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 (Fall 1:31); 5th Place Match - Morgan Krall (Independence) 4-2 won by fall over Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 3-3 (Fall 5:25).
120
Charli Gingerich (2-3) placed 13th and scored 9.0 team points. Round 1 - Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Kamina Munson (Mason City) 2-3 won by fall over Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 0:47); Cons. Round 1 - Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 won by fall over Adriana Groothuis (Marion) 1-4 (Fall 1:13); Cons. Round 2 - Hayden Wade (Williamsburg) 3-2 won by fall over Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 0:56); Cons. Round 3 - Gracelynn Reiff (Epworth, Western Dubuque) 3-4 won by fall over Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 (Fall 2:26); 13th Place Match - Charli Gingerich (West Liberty) 2-3 won by fall over Adriana Groothuis (Marion) 1-4 (Fall 1:25).
125
Charlie Howard (1-4) placed 16th and scored 3.0 team points. Round 1 - Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 won by fall over Alexus Umbaugh (Union, LaPorte City) 0-5 (Fall 0:31); Round 2 - Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Elizabeth Roberts (Waterloo West) 3-3 won by fall over Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 (Fall 1:09); Cons. Round 1 - Claire Carey (Independence) 3-2 won by fall over Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 (Fall 0:45); Cons. Round 2 - Camden Erhardt (Vinton-Shellsburg) 3-3 won by fall over Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 (Fall 0:36); 15th Place Match - Makayla Lukes (Mason City) 2-3 won by fall over Charlie Howard (West Liberty) 1-4 (Fall 1:31).
130
Mercedes Brockert (3-2) placed 17th and scored 8.0 team points. Round 1 - Payton Lefevere (Vinton-Shellsburg) 4-1 won by decision over Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 (Dec 14-8); Round 2 - Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Reese Roberts (Linn-Mar) 3-2 won by fall over Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 (Fall 5:02); Cons. Round 1 - Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 won by medical forfeit over Khloee Schmidt (Epworth, Western Dubuque) 0-0 (M. For.); Cons. Round 2 - Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 won by fall over Kate Knutson (Denver) 2-3 (Fall 0:54); 17th Place Match - Mercedes Brockert (West Liberty) 3-2 won by fall over Emma Woodson (Oelwein) 1-3 (Fall 0:53).
135
Jacquelin Molina (5-2) placed 11th. Round 1 - Makana Miller (Waverly-Shell Rock) 7-2 won by fall over Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 (Fall 1:57); Round 2 - Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 won by decision over Mae Wedemeier (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 2-4 (Dec 6-5); Round 3 - Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 won by fall over Josie Bergmeier (Union, LaPorte City) 2-2 (Fall 1:15); Cons. Round 1 - Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 won by fall over Ciara Gomez-Bryant (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 3-3 (Fall 5:03); Cons. Round 2 - Brielle Parke (Linn-Mar) 4-1 won by fall over Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 (Fall 0:55); Cons. Round 3 - Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 won by fall over Maddie Johnson (Denver) 3-3 (Fall 1:02); 11th Place Match - Jacquelin Molina (West Liberty) 5-2 won by fall over Peyton Burt (Waterloo West) 3-3 (Fall 5:27).
140 - Stagg
Nellie Stagg (3-3) placed 12th. Round 1 - Meredith Kaump (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 3-2 won by decision over Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 (Dec 9-3); Round 2 - Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 won by decision over Marlee Peyton (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 2-3 (Dec 2-0); Round 3 - Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 received a bye () (Bye); Cons. Round 1 - Aly Erickson (Vinton-Shellsburg) 4-2 won by fall over Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 (Fall 3:46); Cons. Round 2 - Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 won by fall over Brooklyn McShane (NH/TV) 2-3 (Fall 2:17); Cons. Round 3 - Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 won by fall over Kaylie Havig (Osage) 2-4 (Fall 1:07); 11th Place Match - Aly Erickson (Vinton-Shellsburg) 4-2 won by fall over Nellie Stagg (West Liberty) 3-3 (Fall 2:56).
140 – Garcia-Vasquez
Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (5-1) placed 3rd and scored 40.0 team points. Round 1 - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 won by fall over Aly Erickson (Vinton-Shellsburg) 4-2 (Fall 5:25); Round 3 - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 won by fall over Lily Maricle (Waterloo West) 1-4 (Fall 0:58); Quarterfinal - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 won by fall over Meredith Kaump (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 3-2 (Fall 3:24); Semifinal - Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 7-0 won by fall over Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 (Fall 1:40); Cons. Round 3 - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 won by fall over Nora Barnett (North Scott) 6-2 (Fall 0:56); 3rd Place Match - Dionni Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 5-1 won by fall over Izzy Giza (Bettendorf) 5-2 (Fall 2:33).
235
Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (4-1) placed 3rd and scored 35.0 team points. Round 1 - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 received a bye () (Bye); Round 2 - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 received a bye () (Bye); Round 3 - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 won by fall over Reagan Westphal (Waterloo West) 0-3 (Fall 0:33); Quarterfinal - Madison Hinrichs (Waverly-Shell Rock) 4-1 won by fall over Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 (Fall 3:02); Cons. Round 2 - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 won by fall over Addison Frere (North Scott) 3-4 (Fall 0:53); Cons. Round 3 - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 won by fall over Emma Schipper (Osage) 3-2 (Fall 2:57); 3rd Place Match - Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 4-1 won by decision over Aliya Phillips (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 2-2 (Dec 5-0).