Last year’s 5-0 finish was the kickstart the Marshalltown girls’ wrestling team needed to into gear.

Head coach Isaiah Cox can’t wait to see what this year’s Allie Morrison Duals title means to his team.

The Bobcats went 6-0 on Saturday in the Marshalltown Auxiliary Gym, turning back all comers for the team title for the second year in a row.

Marshalltown made off with wins over Knoxville (42-39), West Fork (66-17), BGM (60-21), Sioux City East (59-18), South Hardin-BCLUW (42-42 on criteria) and Waterloo Columbus (60-11) to set the tone for what Cox hopes is an even bigger boost for the rest of the season.

Last year’s Bobcat squad eventually qualified a program-best two wrestlers for the state tournament. Cox has higher hopes for this year’s number.

“Last year, that was the change of momentum swing for me and I think for our girls,” he said. “Getting them to win that tournament and then Olivia (Wise) and Nevaeh (Gonzales) going on to state, now we have more girls feeling that energy like ‘I want to go to state.’ So that’s just huge, it’s a huge momentum swing.”

The Bobcats closed out last year’s Allie Morrison championship with a head-to-head victory over Knoxville in the final round of the duals tournament. On Saturday, it was a Round 5 triumph over South Hardin-BCLUW that determined the final standings.

The dual finished in a 42-all tie, but Marshalltown claimed the contest on the strength of tiebreaker criteria. It went all the way to Criteria F, which states the team with the fewest number of forfeits gets the win — SH-BCLUW forfeited the opening weight while the Bobcats entered a full lineup.

“They beat us at the BGM Tournament, so it was kind of surreal to get that back,” Cox said. “I told the girls we’re gonna have to get it back right here, so it was awesome.”

The Storm topped the Bobcats 48-34 in their first meeting on Dec. 6 in Brooklyn, but MHS managed to break even before prevailing via criteria. Marshalltown had five pins and received two forfeits, while SH-BCLUW scored seven pins.

The biggest victory of the day, according to Cox, was Olivia Wise’s pinfall at 190 pounds. Trailing 42-30, Wise finished off a second-period pin of SH-BCLUW’s Kaitlynn Dickes just before the buzzer, and Gonzales got a forfeit at 235 to secure the tie on the scoreboard.

“She saved the day,” Cox said of Wise’s win. “She had to get a pin and she got a pin. We won the dual because of her.”

The Bobcats also got pins from Maelee Corona at 110, Patricia Mateo Merida at 120, Kaylee Nunez at 125, and Madylin McDonald at 145. Gonzales and Erandy Ibarra (100) received forfeits.

“It was our first competition being back from break and everybody’s feeling good — we were ready to go — and we came out and wrestled hard,” Cox said.

Marshalltown went in without a handful of regular starters in the lineup due to various reasons, including injury, but filled in and showed out.

Corona moved up to wrestle at 110 and went 4-2 on the day with three pins. Kaylee Nunez stepped in at 125 and emerged 4-2 as well with two pins, and Gabby Mateo Merida went 2-3 in her sudden role at 170.

“Those girls stepping in was huge today,” said Cox. “Having these girls doing what they did and coming out with a victory, that was awesome. It was really awesome.”

Erandy Ibarra finished the day 5-0 at 100, and Wise was 5-0 at 190. Ibarra had two pins and a major decision, while Wise had two pins.

Patricia Mateo Merida (125), Ella DeMonte (155/170) and Gonzales each finished 5-1, while a number of Bobcats — Paige Krueger (105), Shailynn Sadie (120), Nunez (125), Angela Sterling-Nelson (130) and McDonald (145) all went 4-2. Autumn Miller (135) went 3-3.

“This year meant a little bit more for me because we were banged up, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Cox said. “And our girls came out here and fought their butt off the whole time. It was just amazing, I’m really proud of them.

“They responded well, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”