HOLMEN — The Holmen High School girls wrestling team knew it had a good chance to win a WIAA regional championship on Friday.
Coach Carl DeLuca thought the key to a winning performance was the keep the competition in perspective, so he cut down practice time and turned up team activities as the Vikings prepared.
The plan worked as Holmen crowned four individual champions and advanced eight qualifiers to the Stevens Point Sectional next weekend while rolling up 214 points at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse.
Junior Aini Anderson (100 pounds), senior Peyton Kratochvill (114), junior Kaytlynn Lambries (126) and junior Avalee Euler (165) all won titles, and junior Kayleen Bazan (107), freshman Mallory Kemper (132), sophomore Ruby Gustafson (138) and junior Celia Drogseth (145) all placed second and will join their champion teammates in Stevens Point.
The Vikings held off second-place Tomah (184.5) and third place Logan/Central (117.5) in the team standings. West Salem/Bangor was fourth (114), Onalaska/Luther fifth (77), G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro seventh (43) and Aquinas eighth (39) in the 10-team field.
“We had nine here and got eight through to the sectional, so we can’t complain about that at all,” DeLuca said. “The only thing that’s different is that this is more fun than other times during the year. This is the exciting part.”
Holmen’s four champions were joined by other local champs in West Salem/Bangor freshman Sophia Anderson (107), G-E-T/Mel.-Min. junior Peyton Craig (120), Logan/Central junior Rachael Hang (138) and Onalaska/Luther freshman Evelyn Hooker (152).
West Salem/Bangor senior Jolie Meyers (114) and junior Lily Kasinger (152), Logan/Central freshman Sophia Biundo (100) and freshman Ellin Bemis (165), and Onalaska/Luther freshman Mya Foster (120) and sophomore Megan Ramsay (126) also qualified for the sectional with runner-up finishes.
Anderson (39-2), Kratochvill (38-13) and Lambries (40-10) all advanced for Holmen with the help of two quick pins. Anderson’s two matches lasted a total of 3 minutes, 5 seconds and came against opponents with a combined 47 victories. Kratochvill finished her two opponents in a combined 1:27.
Lambries won her semifinal match in 22 seconds and the championship bout in 3:05.
“The four champions did exactly what I thought they’d do,” DeLuca said in reference to Anderson, Kratochvill, Lambries and Euler (32-9). “I also think Mallory getting second and getting to a sectional is incredible, too. She definitely stood out.”
Kemper (20-16) had to win two matches after losing via technical fall to top-seeded Veda Lepley in the semifinal round. She responded with a 1-0 win over G-E-T/Mel.-Min.’s Mikaela Dixon (27-13) and followed that with a 32-second pin of West Salem/Bangor’s Sofia Whitacre (26-13) for true second place.
Hang (39-10) was dominant for the La Crosse co-op with a pin in the semifinals and 18-0 technical fall in 3:07 over Gustafson (29-13) in the final at 138, and Hooker gave the Onalaska/Luther team a standout performance with her semifinal pin and 14-1 major decision over Kasinger (30-13) in the championship at 152.
