TAMA — The South Tama County High School gymnasium is a smaller version of Marshalltown very own Roundhouse.

It felt like anything but home to the Bobcats on Friday night.

The Marshalltown girls’ wrestling team was denied a state qualifier for the first time since the inaugural 2023 season, coming up short against a host of heavy hitters on Friday in the Class 2A Region 6 regional tournament.

The Bobcats were done on the mats before the renowned and heartbreaking wrestleback rounds determined the second and final qualifier from each weight class. Marshalltown went 1-6 in the consolation semifinals, but returning state qualifier Nevaeh Gonzales was defeated in the third-place match at 235 pounds by Joellynn Dwinal of Central DeWitt.

The loss closed the door on next week’s state tournament for the Bobcats, who had to deal with the emotions before they were prepared to.

“Just some tough losses, man,” said MHS head coach Isaiah Cox. “It sucks. I felt bad for our seniors.”

Marshalltown went 12-20 in contested matches and was one of just two teams in the 10-team tournament to finish without a state qualifier. The Bobcats placed eighth in the regional event with 47.5 points, finishing ahead of Ballard (46) and North Polk (29).

Host South Tama was right at home, racking up eight state qualifiers and 243 points for the regional title, while fifth-ranked Iowa City Liberty totaled 224 points and eight qualifiers.

Cox noted there might not be a more motivational tool for the future of the Bobcat girls’ wrestling program than the feeling his wrestlers experienced at the end of the day.

“We’re not doing the little things right, and the little things start building up and they start becoming big things,” he said. “We’ve just got to understand that we’ve got to go and compete at the highest level all the time, not just some of the time.

“This stings, but at the end of the day this can’t define us. We’ve got to come back and work even harder now.”

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the postseason ended without celebration as all 10 regional wrestlers ended short of their goals. Gonzales took her loss the hardest as the last Marshalltown wrestler on the mat and the Bobcats’ last shot at state.

She was pinned in 2:15 by Dwinal, who went on to win her wrestleback match for true second place to advance to state.

Both Gonzales and fellow sophomore Olivia Wise were denied a return trip to Xtream Arena in Coralville, but all the Bobcats took their last losses just as hard.

“Hopefully they all take this and grind, grind, grind this offseason because we need it. Wrestling is 365 days of the year, you know?”

Friday marked the end of the high school careers of two Bobcat seniors: Maelee Corona and Madylin McDonald. Corona went 1-2 on the day at 100 pounds and finished the season with a 12-23 record, while McDonald finished 18-12 after a 1-2 day at 145.

Like four other Bobcats, their final match fell in the consolation semifinals. Corona was pinned by Zoey Rooks of Central DeWitt, and McDonald fell in a 6-0 decision to Gilbert’s Michaela Nissen.

Fellow sophomore Leah Graves (10-17) emerged as the Bobcats’ winningest wrestler on the day, going 3-2 at 135. She, too, was pinned in the consolation semifinal round by Iowa City Liberty’s Acasia Lukalaba Ndomba.

“Leah’s bracket was — she could have got that thing,” Cox said. “But that’s what I mean, it’s the little things we’ve got to get better at.”

Freshman Faith Sommerlot went 2-2 at 125 and finished the year 16-14, winning with a technical fall in the opening round and a second-period pin in the consolation second round. She was pinned by eventual champion Kaitlyn Raue of Iowa City Liberty (39-5), ranked fifth by IAwrestle, and then by Pleasant Valley’s Kathleen Koester in the consolation third round.

Corona (100), sophomore Erandy Ibarra (105), junior Shailynn Sadie (115), McDonald (145) sophomore Ella DeMonte (155), Wise (190) and Gonzales (235) all went 1-2 on the day, while junior Patricia Mateo Merida (120) was 0-2.

Wise was denied her shot at a return trip to state by STC’s Ioleta Kingbird in a 1-0 decision in the consolation semifinals.

“I knew it was going to be a tough district, but I still feel like we had a chance,” said Cox. “But we shot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t wrestle hard enough. We took moments off. We have wrestle six minutes or seven minutes, however long the match takes.”

The IGHSAU State Wrestling Tournament is Feb. 5-6 in Coralville.