HC Girls’ Wrestler Stephens ‘Excited’ for Another Chance at State

Harlan Community Wrestler Elle Stephens (2-3-26)

HC Girls’ Wrestler Stephens ‘Excited’ for Another Chance at State -

(2-4-26) – From questions of competing to the precipice of a state championship. That’s the road that’s been traversed by Harlan Community wrestler Elle Stephens.

Despite competing for just half the season, Stephens showed she’s still one of the best wrestlers in the state by winning the 130-pound title at Girls’ State Qualifying in Nevada on Friday.

It’s been long road back for Stephens, who says she’s had to work on her mental conditioning as she returns from an early season injury.

“At first, just like getting my confidence back was really hard, but I stayed pretty conditioned throughout my injury. So then coming back wouldn't be so hard, but getting my confidence back did take a little extra time, but now I'm feeling pretty good.”

Cyclone girls’ wrestling Coach Tarah Devlin believes Stephens has grown even better from dealing with the adversity.

“Ellie is really, she struggled after she got hurt because she had a lot of dreams and a lot of goals that just kind of had to be set aside for a little bit throughout the season and so just being able to maintain her confidence throughout all of that. I know it was rough coming back. There was some second guessing that happened initially, but she really kind of embodied the fact that she's still ranked, she's still one of the best wrestlers in Iowa and so just being able to hear her confidently say that I got this and I can do this has been a huge, huge part of her growth throughout coming back from an injury.”

Devlin worked with Stephens, Hallie Lopez and Danica Schwery in their “small-but-mighty” team for the 2025-26 season and found that communicating has been a very important part of their growth in the sport.

“We do a lot of talking. I tell the girls at any point in time, they can come and talk to me and we talk about everything from life to wrestling.”

And Devlin believes having an understanding and building confidence in wrestling will also be helpful to them moving forward in life.

“Just to be confident in themselves now is going to help them tremendously as they grow older and get into a career and decide what they want to do with their life.”

Last year, Stephens reached the championship match at 125 pounds to Iowa girls’ wrestling icon Molly Allen of Riverside. She says having that opportunity allows her to understand the magnitude of the moment.

“I just got to remember that these are the best girls and that like I just got to take it all in while I'm there because it really is an awesome experience and it's truly something like it's a really a big accomplishment.

This time around, Stephens is looking forward to the chance to become a state champion.

“I'm more excited than nervous because I don't really have anything to lose and I'm just going to let it fly and the worst, there's not really the worst that can happen. I'm not really thinking like that. I'm pretty excited.”

Stephens will begin her quest for a State Wrestling title on Thursday when she competes in the Class 2A – 130-pound bracket in Coralville.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats