Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Alejandra Manzanilla of Fort Dodge wrestles against Ames last Thursday in the Dodger gym. Manzanilla, a sophomore, is 22-15 this season for the Dodgers.

The Fort Dodge girls wrestling team will host the first-ever Iowa Alliance Conference wrestling tournament on Thursday in the FDSH gym.

In the second year of sanctioned wrestling in the state of Iowa, the first league meet will take place this evening. It was canceled because of inclement weather a year ago.

“I told the girls when they get older, they’ll be able to tell their kids and grandkids that they competed in the first-ever conference meet,” said FDSH head coach Jon Koenig. “I’m excited for the older girls who will experience this before they leave.”

Six teams will join the Dodgers in competition. The meet starts at 5:30 p.m. on three mats.

“It’s great to be able to have it during the week,” Koenig said. “We don’t have to travel late at night and can compete in our home gym.”

Competing in the tournament will be the Des Moines schools (combined), Mason City, Waterloo East, Marshalltown, Ottumwa and Ames.

Fourth-ranked sophomore Mariaha Benedict (37-3) will be the No. 1 seed at 135 pounds, while senior Maddie Pulis (30-7) is second at 170.

The Dodgers are coming off a 41-27 loss to Ames last Thursday. Kaitlynn Van Demark, Gracie Harvey, Benedict, Delaney O’Connor and Pulis were all victorious for FDSH.

It will be the start of a busy stretch for the Dodgers, who then head to the Northern Iowa Girls Tournament in Mason City on Saturday. Fort Dodge and the host Riverhawks will be joined by area schools Humboldt, Emmetsburg and West Bend-Mallard. The rest of the field includes Clarksville, Clear Lake, Crestwood, Dallas Center-Grimes, Decorah, Nashua-Plainfield, New Hampton, Osage, St. Ansgar, South Winneshiek, Spencer, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Urbandale, Waukon, Waverly-Shell Rock, West Fork and West Marshall.

PROBABLE DODGER LINEUP

105 — Alejandra Manzanilla, so., (22-15); 110 — Gracie Harvey, so., (25-11); 115 — Kaitlynn Van Demark, fr., (13-17); 120 — Andee Barwin, sr., (9-13); 130 — Macy Brown, sr., (20-20); 135 — Mariaha Benedict, so., (38-3); 140 — Delaney O’Connor, jr., (26-19); 145 — Lucy Porter, jr., (12-14); 170 — Maddie Pulis, sr., (30-7).