The House Built by Utterback

When building something new, there must be a strong foundation to start. The strong foundation for the inaugural season of the SK girls’ wrestling season came in nationally ranked junior Reanah Utterback. Utterback was one of two girls to ever secure a podium spot in the Iowa boys’ state wrestling tournament then switched over to girls wrestling this past season.

When the SK wrestling program came to the conclusion that a girls’ team would be necessary, Utterback worked closely with Sigourney Athletic Director Lee Crawford on putting the team together. In the end, three other girls would join Reanah in this inaugural season: senior Lana Thomas, sophomore Jolie Wehr and freshman Sadie Clarahan. 

The reasons for joining the team varied from girl to girl.

“Last year I started the wrestling program for girls in junior high, and I just fell in love with it. So I was definitely interested in wrestling in high school,” explained freshman Sadie Clarahan.

Senior Lana Thomas described her reasoning for joining the program as, “I came back from basic training this summer trying to stay active. I have always been in sports. I have been trying out new sports. I heard they were starting a new girls’ wrestling team, and I was interested in doing that.”

Lastly, sophomore Julie Wehrt described her decision to join the team with, “I wanted to try something new, and try to contribute to something new and build a program for us.”

One of the first points of emphasis from Head Coach Trevor Weeks was the physicality that comes with wrestling in an SK singlet. “The SK program comes from a long line of physical wrestlers. You don’t know if you will be in a six minute wrestling match, or a six minute street fight. If you go out there, you have to be ready to bring the pain,” said Coach Week.

Heading into the season, the goals for all these girls varied from “winning a state championship with no points given up to winning a single match. We had a variety of goals,” described Coach Weeks.

“One of the goals was to get more people introduced to the sport. Make it so it is not out of the norm to be a girl wrestler,” explained freshman Sadie Clarahan.

Senior Lana Thomas spoke on her goals with, “A personal goal of mine was to move faster. It works every muscle in every body. I was really sore after wrestling. It just helped me in different aspects of my life. You can always grow as a person, and wrestling really helped me with that.”

“I wanted to be more active, meet more people and go to more places,” explained sophomore Jolie Wehr.

For junior Reanah Utterback, she knew from day one that she would be the leader for this team. “I knew from the beginning that I was going to have to step up and be a leader, especially with a bunch of girls who are newer to the sport,” described Utterback.

One of the recurring themes throughout this year was the support from the Utterback family. The SK culture is based around supporting your community, and the Utterbacks were the epitome of that throughout the duration of the season, whether it was Reanah herself, or anyone of her family members that supported the team. Utterback’s father, Shane Utterback, could be seen on the side of the mat for most matches supporting his daughter and her team. 

“It was really great to have Reanah, and even her dad Shane. He stepped in to help in practices. At tournaments they would come and support everyone. They would tell you after a match what you did and didn’t do wrong. So it was nice to have people that you knew could help you and be there for you,” explained senior Lana Thomas.

Freshman Sadie Clarahn described her experience with, “It was great to have one more person in my corner, and having Reanah’s parents being there and supporting us. Everyone was watching, and everyone was wanting to build. It was just great.”

Sophomore Julie Wehr explained her perspective with, “I definitely felt a lot of support from Reanah and her family, especially with having her in my corner.”

Coach Weeks spoke on having a high level wrestling like Utterback on his team with, “It means the world. She has been wrestling since she could put on shoes. She probably has forgotten more about wrestling than most people know. I am never afraid to be corrected by her if I say something the wrong way. I want to learn how to do it the right way too. She is a wonderful resource for our team. She worked with Mr. (Lee) Crawford (Sigoureny Athletic Director) on putting this together. That’s why I call it, ‘The House Built by Utterback.’ On top of that, her dad is very knowledgeable as well. He came in and talked to the girls throughout the season. He is the Encyclopedia Brown as well.”

 As the season slowly came to an end, the SK girls’ wrestling team headed to Tri-County high school for the 2024 SICL Tournament. It was a successful day for the team as three of the four athletes finished with podium positions. 

Sophomore Julie Wehr earned a First Team All-Conference spot as she won the 106 bracket at the SICL tournament uncontested. “I was kind of surprised. A win is a win I guess,” said Wehr.

Freshman Sadie Clarahan fought hard, and pushed her way to a third place finish in the 125 bracket. “Putting a name to SK girls’ wrestling,” said Clarahan on the pride of getting the bronze spot.

Utterback secured the FirstTeam All-Conference spot in the 115 bracket. She followed up with a regional championship, and eventually a state title. She was unable to go the season without giving up a point, as she gave up a reversal in the semifinals of the regional tournament, but bounced back by pinning her way to the state title in the 115 bracket with no points given up. 

Utterback, Wehr and Clarahan will return for the SK wrestling team as they head into their second season. For senior Lana Thomas, just because she will graduate does not mean she will not be there to support her teammates. “I am hoping to come back and help people. I can help some of the new people,” said Thomas.