For Comet junior Silvia Garcia-Vasquez, getting second place was a-OK.
There were no tears or regrets coming off center mat Friday night at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Just an immense sense of pride and accomplishment in what she and her fellow Comets did over the past 48 hours.
Garcia-Vasquez, along with her sisters Dionni and Bricsia, plus teammates Alissa Sanchez and Amerie Alvarado, capped off one of the best seasons in West Liberty wrestling history with three medals and a 15th team placement at the 2024 IGHSAU state championships.
In total, the Comets won 12 matches at this year’s state tournament. Silvia Garcia-Vasquez took second place at 115, improving upon her third-place finish from a year ago.
Dionni Garcia-Vasquez made the championship semifinals at 140 and ended up in fifth place. Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez made the championship quarterfinals and ended her inaugural wrestling campaign with a medal in eighth place at 235.
While Alissa Sanchez (110) and Ame
rie Alvarado (190) did not place, they capped off incredible seasons with a state tournament berth. Sanchez ends 2024 with a 28-8 record, and Alvarado does so with a 19-6 mark.
Garcia-Vasquez sisters shine
Silvia Garcia-Vasquez had no idea what she was up against in this year’s state tournament.
Literally. Her pre-tournament routine included not looking at the brackets, and that didn’t change when she stepped foot inside Xtream Arena again.
“Getting there made my heart race, not knowing who I was going to wrestle because I hadn’t looked at my bracket yet,” she said. “I didn’t know what to expect going in, especially because everybody had high expectations for me, including myself, because of my third-place finish last year.”
As the No. 9 seed, she made quick work of her first two opponents, Kiann Blomgren of West Lyon and Madison Kirby of Williamsburg.
Then, came a daunting task: top-seeded Molly Sek of Sioux City North, who had knocked her out of the championship semifinals at last year’s event with a 19-4 technical fall.
“I knew that I couldn’t get pinned by her, so I wanted to go in and just use everything I have learned all season,” Garcia-Vasquez said. “I wasn’t really thinking before that match, i just wanted my warmup to be good and give it my all.”
She gave it her all, and more. In an epic match, Garcia-Vasquez led 14-10 before clinching a pin right before the third-period buzzer.
And after beating Sek, nothing seemed impossible.
Carly Henderson of Riverside Highland, the No. 5 seed, stood in the way between Garcia-Vasquez and a chance at the title. She had to wait out the full six minutes, but the Comet smothered the Husky and ground out a 4-2 decision win.
“I knew I could beat her because after winning against the No. 1 seed, it showed me that I could beat anybody,” Garcia-Vasquez said.
What stood in front of her might have been the toughest test in all of girls’ wrestling: Reanah Utterback.
The Sigourney-Keota powerhouse is no ordinary girls’ wrestler. Last season, she placed eighth at the Iowa high school boys’ state tournament — just the second girl in history to accomplish that feat.
Additionally, she was 48-0 to that point with most of her wins coming quickly and early.
Garcia-Vasquez was able to slow her pace and limited Utterback to just two points in the first-period.
The dam began to crack in the second period as Utterback scored a quick reversal and two separate three-point nearfalls.
In the third period, she scored just one reversal and became a state champion when the timer hit zero.
“I wasn’t mad or sad about losing,” Garcia-Vasquez said. “I was happy because I had made it to the third period with her. After my match against her, she told me that I was the first girl in a while to last until the third period with her. I had already lost twice against her; the first time being pinned in the first-period and the second time being pinned in the second.”
It was a career-best performance not just for Silvia, but for her sisters Dionni and Bricsia too.
Last season, Dionni captured three wins but was denied a podium appearance after losing in the fourth round of consolations, also known as the “blood round.”
This year, she bypassed the blood round altogether by making a run to the championship semifinals as the No. 4 seed.
To get there, she pinned West Marshall’s Kylee Schular in the first round and won decisions against Decorah’s Amelia Wadsworth and Des Moines’ Diana Gaie in the round of 16 and quarterfinals respectively.
If Reanah Utterback is the state’s toughest test, then Garcia-Vasquez’s semifinal opponent, Kiara Djoumessi of Waverly-Shell Rock, might be second.
The University of Iowa wrestling com
mit went undefeated last season to win the state title. But Garcia-Vasquez gave Djoumessi the closest match she has seen to defeat.
The Go-Hawk did her thing and got up 3-0 over the first three minutes, but the Comet recovered and tied the score at 3-all heading into overtime.
Garcia-Vasquez nearly made it out of the period, but Djoumessi closed with a takedown to advance into the title match, where she would ultimately prevail as a two-time champion.
In the consolation semifinals, Garcia-Vasquez would fall again and be forced to wrestle for fifth-place.
There, she met a familiar foe: Gaie, who she won a 5-4 decision over the previous day.
With just 30 seconds left, Garcia-Vasquez was staring down the barrel of a 1-0 defeat. But she engineered a takedown with 23 ticks remaining and held on for a 2-1 win and the fifth-place medal.
For Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez, the state tournament was brand new territory.
This was her first-year wrestling, but it’s hard to argue with the results. She ended her season in eighth place and a 22-7 record.
She joined her sisters in Thursday night’s championship quarterfinals after recording two first-period pins in the afternoon session against Delilah Subsin of Ottumwa and Amelia Sirola of Okoboji/HMS.
In the quarterfinals, she met No. 3 seed Ella Brown of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, who ended the match with a pin in 24 seconds.
This did not deter Garcia-Vasquez, who rebounded right away Friday morning in the bloodround with another first-period pin, this time against Elizabeth Kalinay of West Marshall.
The final two matches on Friday did not go her way, resulting in her eighth-place finish.
Losses at the end of the season can be tough to take. But Silvia says she is most proud of helping her sisters through their defeats and see the brighter side of the situation.
“I lose sometimes and I understand how it feels,” Silvia said. “I usually help them get through it by letting them know they have plenty of time to come back and prove themselves. Losses don’t mean anything. They show you and motivate you to become better.”
However, there have been plenty more wins than losses between these three. Their combined record this season was 98-15.
It’s fair to say that having three siblings combine for 98 wins and win three medals at a state tournament in one season are records that will take a long time to break.
For these sisters, this state tournament concluded a season filled with memories that will last a lifetime.
“It was a great feeling (watching my sisters have success),” Silvia said. “The tournament definitely made us get closer; It was full of laughter.
“Last year, I felt like I was all alone being the only placer with Dionni losing in the blood rounds. This year was way better. I had my team there and my sisters. Our coaches made it the most fun tournament of them all.”
This tournament run for the Garcia-Vasquez sisters had been years in the making. Their journey began during middle school.
“In seventh grade during announcements,” Silvia recalled, “I was sitting in my chair in class. I had heard them say there was a sign-up sheet to join wrestling for boys and girls. I was interested and signed up to see how it would go.
“I didn’t want to go alone, so I asked my older sister (Dionni) to join. Who knew we would continue and stay in wrestling from that point on.”
It was a hit.
Silvia and Dionni began practicing and eventually met former Comet coach Samantha Sebolt two years ago. When Sebolt left West Liberty, she started her own wrestling club (Sebolt Women’s Wrestling Academy) and recruited them.
“She pushed all of us super hard at practice, and that’s all I wanted,” Silvia said. “I ended up having a great passion for wrestling soon after I saw how good I was getting with all my wrestling practices.”
There is still plenty more wrestling left to do for the Garcia-Vasquez sisters, although they will be missing one link next winter.
Dionni, a senior, will have graduated. But Silvia will be a senior and Bricsia a sophomore.
2025 will be here in the blink of an eye. The Garcia-Vasquez sisters will be ready. Will the rest of the state be too?
State tournament individual results
110
Alissa Sanchez (28-8) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points. Champ. Round 1 - Makenna Kurth (Waukon) 32-15 won by fall over Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 28-8 (Fall 5:15). Cons. Round 1 - Madeline Cornish (Mason City) 30-20 won by fall over Alissa Sanchez (West Liberty) 28-8 (Fall 5:23).
115
Silvia Garcia-Vasquez (31-5) placed 2nd and scored 26.0 team points. Champ. Round 1 - Silvia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 31-5 won by fall over Kiann Blomgren (West Lyon) 20-14 (Fall 2:15). Champ. Round 2 - Silvia Garcia-Vasquez (West Liberty) 31-5 won by fall over Madison Kirby (Williamsburg) 35-11