Undefeated, undisputed champion of 115-pounds

CORALVILLE – She never left a doubt.

Through 104-straight matches Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback was, simply put, unbeatable. 

The exclamation point of the senior's remarkable career came on Friday night as she was able to capture her second-straight State championship. 

As she had done 183 other times in her career Utterback was able to win her final match as a high school wrestler. Not only did she win the match she earned a pin, the 130th pin in her career. 

Facing off against Erica Irvine, a sophomore from Don Bosco, it seemed that Irvine was immediately intimidated by Utterback. At the start of the match Utterback took one step towards Irvine and the Don Bosco sophomore immediately went to her knees to defend herself from giving up takedown points. 

“I just focused on my stuff and not so much what she wanted to do,” Utterback said about the finals match. “She really defended the bottom a lot, but I was able to keep doing my stuff.”

Utterback finished the first period with three points off a takedown.  

The senior started the second period in the down position, but quickly escaped the light grasp of Irvine and earned an escape point. 

Soon though the points weren’t going to matter much. 

Utterback was able to hop on Irvine and try to put a number of different holds on the sophomore. Irvine remained defensive and just laid flat on her belly. The belly crawl kept Utterback from scoring points, but also earned Irvine a stalling call, awarding an additional point to Utterback. 

Realizing she would actually have to try and wrestle Utterback, Irvine attempted to go on the offensive. 

That move was quickly countered by Utterback who hooked a shoulder of Irvine and flipped the sophomore over her back to the mat. The quick feet of Utterback quickly moved her to cover the top of Irvine who was trapped against the mat. Eventually Utterback was basically able to sit on top of Irvine and earn the pin, and along with it, her second-consecutive State championship.

“I was able to get to my stuff a lot faster and that played a factor in how I was able to get the pin,” Utterback recalled after the match. 

After having her hand raised by the ref, Utterback showing little emotion, walked to her coaches, high-fived both of them and walked off the mat.

“It is exciting to be here and get this championship done,” Utterback said. “It is also bittersweet though because I know this is the last time that I get to wrestle for Sigourney-Keota. I’ll definitely be back to help this team in some way or another.”

For Utterback her second-straight State championship came with little resistance through the meet. 

She started off the first round with a pin in 1:12 over a Mid-Prairie opponent. In the quarterfinals Utterback was challenged with an undefeated sophomore from Audubon. 

The Wheeler had the spokes on her undefeated season burst as Utterback pinned her late in the first period. 

The semifinals was the toughest match that Utterback would face. 

Wrestling Vinton-Shellsburg senior Ellie Weets, the 50-9 wrestler showed little fear in their match. 

“The semifinals was probably one of the tougher matches that I’ve had this year,” Utterback remarked after the tournament. “I just went out there and wanted to make sure I kept wrestling my style. I just wanted to get to my setups and get my stuff going as much as I could.”

Through the first two periods Utterback was able to gain a 5-0 advantage. After Weets was called with a stall and Utterback recorded a reversal she led 8-0. 

With just over 45 seconds remaining in the match Weets tried to roll out of a hold. That opened up a leverage point for Utterback as she rolled Weets over and then pinned her shoulders to the mat for the pin in 5:23 of wrestling. 

“Not very often do we see perfection,” said Sigourney-Keota head coach Trevor Weeks. “The career of Utterback is one of the best things I’ve ever seen in wrestling and I’ve been coaching for 12 years. Watching her hit what she needed to hit as dang well as she can was just simply amazing.”

With four-straight pins in the tournament Utterback earned her 130th career win by pin. No other Sigourney-Keota wrestler has recorded that many pins in their career. In fact, in the 100-year history of Iowa High School Athletic Association wrestling Utterback is tied for 16th (amongst boys competition) for most wins by pin in their career. 

Utterback was never defeated by another female wrestler in the two years she wrestled only females. 

In her entire career Utterback finishes with a total record of 184-16. All 16 of those defeats came to male competition. 

In addition to the back-to-back State titles, Utterback also won an unsanctioned girls State title as a freshman. She joins Cale Yoder as the only other three-time State champion in Sigourney-Keota wrestling history. 

On the awards stand Utterback was able to receive her first place trophy from her dad, Shane Utterback. 

“I am very glad that my dad was able to be here and hand me the medal,” Reanah said. “That was always a very big dream of mine. To have that actually come true was amazing and a moment that I won’t forget.”

Photos by Mark Schafer