The top-seeded 170-pounder from South Tama County gave up the first takedown to her quarterfinal opponent, but Elsbury was quick to respond with a pin to lock in her return to the Class 2A state semifinals at the IGHSAU state wrestling tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Elsbury pinned Johnston’s Jasmine Newman 15 seconds into the second period and will take on Waverly-Shell Rock’s Kasey Stone in the semifinal session beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday morning.

Newman scored her takedown in the first period, but Elsbury escaped and scored her own takedown before the end of the period for a 4-3 lead.

After Newman opted to start on bottom in the second period, she worked up to her feet only to be dumped back down by Elsbury, flipping Newman to her back for Elsbury’s second pin of the day.

“I don’t know if I was 100 percent prepared for that match and went into it not my best,” Elsbury admitted. “But when girls take me down like that, it just lights a fire under me. And I knew what I was capable of, so I knew I could come back from it, but that just lit a fire under me that I needed to go.”

Elsbury improved to 43-0 on the season. Stone, a sophomore, upended the fifth and fourth seeds in the 170-pound bracket to reach the semis.

“I think seeds go out the window once you get here,” STC head coach Jason Arp said. “It comes down to whether you’re prepared to wrestle that big-time match when it counts. And I trust Autumn in that position.”

STC will have three guaranteed medalists, with Abigail Chyma and Kinley Jimenez joining Elsbury in Friday morning’s session battling in the consolation bracket.

Chyma, a senior wrestling at 155 pounds, won her first-ever state wrestling match in three tries with a pin of Dallas Center-Grimes’ Ashtyn Jahangir in the opening round.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming into this, but getting that win, it’s like ‘Oh my gosh, I can do this,'” Chyma said. “It really boosted my confidence a lot.”

Chyma was outmatched by second-seeded Amalia Djoumessi of Waverly-Shell Rock in the quarterfinals, pinned in the first period, but still just needed one more win in the consolation bracket to ensure her place on the podium.

Dubuque Senior’s Hayleigh Forster had Chyma on her back in the first period of their second-round consolation match, but Chyma didn’t throw in the towel to get out of the period down 7-0. She came out on top in a back-and-forth scramble to score a takedown and eventually pin Forster to lock in her place on the podium.

“I just left everything I had out there,” Chyma said. “I knew I couldn’t get pinned like that, and once I got that second chance, I was determined not to get beat, that I’d be the one putting her on her back.

“This means everything after going 0-2 the past two years. And it’s exciting to be doing it with my dad and my brother in my corner. I’ve learned everything from them.”

Chyma will wrestle Iowa City High’s Shaona Emmanuel in a third-round consolation match on Friday morning — the winner can finish no worse than sixth and the loser will compete for seventh later that day.

Jimenez, who was also 0-2 as a freshman last year, also had a breakthrough with a pin of North Scott’s Sage Dzeladini in the first round.

“I knew that girl would be good, but one of my big goals this year was to win my first match at state,” Jimenez said. “Once I did that, I knew I had to get more, and I was just excited.”

Even after a loss to undefeated Mackenzie Arends of Nevada in the quarterfinals, Jimenez was determined to come out on top in her second-round consolation matchup with Lilian Miller of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, who Jimenez had already wrestled this year.

“I just had to watch the rolls, that’s all she did when we wrestled earlier this season,” Jimenez said. “I just had to look for that roll and look for the half.”

Miller led 4-2 after two periods and escaped to start the third, but was hit with two stalling penalty points, including one for having her shoe untied, and Jimenez grabbed a takedown shortly after and rode out Miller for the rest of the time and a victory by 7-5 decision.

“Big sigh of relief,” Jimenez said. “And now I’m top eight.”

Jimenez will wrestle Raccoon River-Northwest’s Reese Baxter in a third-round consolation match on Friday morning.

And even for the Trojans that saw their season come to an end on Thursday — Jayva Gomez and Brooklyn Mitchell both went 0-2 at 105 and 130 pounds, respectively — it’s a big step forward for a couple underclassmen.

“Nobody can take away that you’re a state qualifier,” Arp said. “First-time qualifiers, but these girls weren’t intimidated, weren’t awestruck by the arena and the crowd, so you just take the experience on the mat and make it here again next year.”