HOLMEN — Peyton Kratochvill was certainly familiar with wrestling when she was younger.
She probably knew more than she cared to about the sport while accompanying her family to meets all over the place as support for her older brothers, Parker and Preston.
The Kratochvills were a wrestling family for sure, but Peyton had more fun as a gymnast.
“I did not like wrestling,” the Holmen High School senior said during last week’s WIAA girls wrestling regional at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse. “I would go to wrestling, and they would ask me if I wanted to try wrestling.
“No. Nope. I do gymnastics.”
By the time Peyton was a freshman, however, she was softening to the idea.
She had watched her oldest brother, Parker, wrestle at the WIAA individual and team state tournaments without caving, but something changed while watching Preston do those same things.
“At that point, I was becoming more invested in it,” she said. “I started to understand what was happening and understanding what was happening during the matches.
“I started to be interested in wrestling when Parker was at state but not yet having the idea that I wanted to do it. That came later.”
Peyton toyed with doing both gymnastics and wrestling her freshman year, but that would have been a difficult double. She stuck with gymnastics for one more season before 12 years of competing started to lose its luster.
Wrestling wasn’t new to her, but competing as a wrestler was, and that was becoming attractive.
Peyton’s first year of wrestling at Holmen coincided with Preston’s final year, and she quickly learned that she could count on her brothers to help her acclimate to things as quickly as possible.
Parker and Peyton combined for six individual state appearances — three each — and had five medals to show for their performances. Parker finished fourth twice and Preston fifth twice and sixth once. They combined to for 269 victories and just 57 losses for a winning percentage of .825.
None of that was intimidating to Peyton, but it provided motivation. If she was going to try this new sport, she was going to do everything she could be good at it just like her brothers were.
That was going to take some time despite Peyton’s familiarity with some of the broader aspects of wrestling.
“I knew I was picking up stuff, and everyone was telling me that I was doing great for where I was at,” she said. “But I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. People said I was doing great, but looking at my brothers, I didn’t compare to them at all.
“I always wanted to be better.”
Peyton was 19-14 during her first season and 23-17 in her second. She is 38-13 as a senior ready to tackle the 114-pound bracket at tonight’s Stevens Point Sectional.
“She has a much better feel for wrestling this year than she used to,” Holmen coach Carl DeLuca said. “She has a much better understanding of positioning. Her stance is great, and she never gets in a bad spot where someone can get her.
“She earned this jump.”
Peyton said her brothers have played large roles in her improvement.
“They knew I wanted to be good at this, and they said, ‘Okay, then you are starting at ground zero.’ They said if I wanted to put my best foot forward that they would help me with that, and they were constantly pushing me and helping me excel.
“They knew my end goal and have always been there to help me get there.”
They didn’t allow her to slack on anything. If there was time to lift weights, she was lifting. If there was time to spar, they were sparring. If there was time to condition, they were conditioning.
Peyton also said she learns a lot of workout partners Aini Anderson and Ruby Gustafson. Anderson is a 100-pound sectional qualifier, and Gustafson advanced at 138. Their differences allow Peyton to improve in many ways.
“Ruby is bigger than me, so I really like wrestling with her because she can keep my pace and I have to work that much harder because she is bigger than me,” she said. “Aini is really quick. On a day I’m feeling quick and want someone to challenge me, I work with Aini.”
Understanding that opportunity is just as important as any particular moves she can learn.
That end goal to which Peyton referred would be an appearance in the WIAA state tournament next week, and the top two from each bracket of the sectional qualify.
So, Peyton heads to Stevens Point as the last one waving the family flag and with the goal of taking it back to the Kohl Center in Madison.
WIAA STEVENS POINT SECTIONAL LOCAL QUALIFIERS
Top 2 from each bracket advance to individual state tournament
100: Aini Anderson, jr., Holmen (39-2)
107: Sophia Anderson, fr., West Salem/Bangor (32-5); Kayleen Bazan, jr., Holmen (29-10)
114: Peyton Kratochvill, sr., Holmen (38-13); Jolie Meyers, sr., West Salem/Bangor (24-14)
120: Peyton Craig, jr., G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro (32-8); Mya Foster, fr., Onalaska/Luther (24-23)
126: Kaytlynn Lambries, jr., Holmen (40-10); Megan Ramsay, so., Onalaska/Luther (37-12)
132: Mallory Kemper, fr., Holmen (20-16)
138: Rachael Hang, jr., Logan/Central (39-10); Ruby Gustafson, so., Holmen (29-13)
145: Celia Drogseth, jr., Holmen (23-18)
152: Evelyn Hooker, fr., Onalaska/Luther (36-15); Lily Kasinger, jr., West Salem/Bangor (30-13)
165: Ellin Bemis, fr., Logan/Central (21-11)
185: Avalee Euler, jr., Holmen (32-9)
