Lady Jays Wrestling
Bluejays Take Runner-Up at Winside
By Rylee Altwine
On Saturday, January 12, the girls wrestling team traveled to the Winside Wrestling Tournament to compete against 23 other teams and earned runner-up honors.
“I am extremely proud of their improvement from Thursday, and I’m excited to see what they can accomplish at the next meet,” head coach Les Painter states.
Starting at 100, Mia Sackville placed fourth overall in the tournament. First up, M. Sackville, won by pinning Maya Macias of Ainsworth in :19. Next up, M. Sackville took on Jenni Olson from Tri County Northeast, losing by fall. M. Sackville fell to Hailee Suthman of Columbus in her third match of the day. Finally, M. Sackville wrestled for the last time against Maddisyn Lampman of Wisner, losing by fall. M. Sackville had a record of 1-3 for the day.
Junior Peyton Brunckhorst, wrestling at 105, won her first match by pinning Adelle Russman of Wisner. Then Brunckhorst fell to Lilyanna Dziurawiec of Homer. She came back to win against Etta BearComeOut of Winnebago and Dakota Jenkins of Scribner Snyder. Then Brunckhorst fell to Zowie Wilkie of Winnebago.
Wrestling at 110, Isabelle Streff lost her first match of the day, falling to Emily Hull of Scribner Snyder. Streff came back to win her second match against Tekamah Herman’s Edyn Goodwin and her third match against Ainsworth’s Sydney Hoffman. In the consolation semifinals, Streff won by medical forfeit over Lakeview’s Ellison Berkeland, and in the third place match Streff pinned Hull.
At 115, freshman Alexis Asmus beat Adelyn Potadle of Tekamah Herman, but fell in the quarterfinal to Jolyn Pozhel of Ainsworth. Asmus then pinned Erica Chicaj Pol of Wakefield. Asmus fell in consolation round three to Jada Hall of Lyons Decatur Northeast.
Also at 115, senior Hadleigh Collison earned second place. Collison started the day with a win over Wakefield’s Erica Chicaj Pol. Advancing on, Collison won by fall against Sarina Redding of Tekamah Herman. Collison’s next match was against Meredith Bergen of Columbus Lakeview, where Collison won 2-0 in tie breaker one. Collison advanced to the finals meeting with Pozhel and lost by fall.
Junior Jayan Sackville, wrestling at 120, ended her day fourth, winning her first match over Zziniyah Redhorn from Winnebago. She then fell to Lacy Lemburg of Lakeview. J. Sackville then pinned Maria Perez of Wakefield but lost in the third place match to Ellison LaDeaux of Creighton.
Alongside J. Sackville at 120 was sophomore Makenna Blecher. Blecher met with Taryn Wingate of Neligh-Oakdale and pinned her in the first round, then fell to LaDeaux, pinned River Butts from Wisner and fell to Perez in the final round.
Wrestling at 125, Evelyn Skrdla also finished fourth after she pinned Peyton Thelen of Randolph. Skrdla fell to Emma Glendy of Lakeview, but punched her ticket to the next match by pinning Luz Gazpar of Schuyler. Skrdla went up against Gracie Wortman of Randolph, losing in the third place match.
Sophomore, Cailyn Gardner, wrestling at 135, fell in her first match against Lyons Decatur Northeast’s, Alizabeth Whitley. C. Gardner then went on to have a bye. Onto C. Gardner's final match of the day, she fell to Elizabeth Nunez of Schuyler.
Lainey Jensen (145) finished in second for the Bluejays after winning by an 8-4 decision over Linda Sebastian from Schuyler in her first round and winning an 18-7 major decision over Vivienne Mulder of Lakeview. In the first place match, Jensen lost to Kiya Tornez of Tri County Northeast in a 10-1 major decision.
“I think as a team we did very well compared to our last meet. We all wrestled very well, and I think we earned second place. Individually I got second place, and I am happy about how I performed, but I still have many ways I can improve for our next meet,” Jensen stated.
Wrestling at 155, Junior Isabelle Kuehler earned first place. Kuehler won her first match of the day by pinning Elivia Batz of Schuyler. Next match Kuehler dominated Fancy Forkner of Newman Grove/St Edward, again by pinning her. Advancing into the finals Kuehler met with Avani Wilkie of Winnebago. Kuehler took over the mat with a 10-3 decision, earning a first place medal in the 155 weight class.
Senior Shaylee Gardner, at 170 received a bye in the first round. Facing her first opponent of the day S. Gardner was defeated by fall by Taylor Pavlik of Niobrara/Verdigre. S. Gardner received a bye in consolation round two, and in consolation round three S. Gardner fell to Ricarda Littlewalker of Winnebago.
Also at 170 was Reniya Miller who fell to Littlewalker in her first round. R. Miller then received a bye. R. Miller’s final round saw her falling to Tiffany Chase of Wakefield.
Wrestling at 190 and finishing fourth, Candace Miller received a bye in her first round and fell to Neligh-Oakdale’s Addyson Jacob. C. Miller then pinned Tomi Li Scott of Winnebago. In the third place match, C. Miller fell to Madilyn Reese of North Bend Central
Senior Lauren Ueding (235) won a close first match against Plainview’s Angie Camacho. In round two Ueding beat JaeLeigh Miller of Lyons Decatur Northeast. Ueding advanced to her next match falling to Precious DeCora from Winnebago and finally won her last round by pinning Brooklyn Snyder of Bancroft-Rosalie earning a second-place medal.
The Bluejays will be back in action on Saturday, January 18 at Grand Island Northwest.
Girl Wrestlers Take a Trip to Columbus
By Chloe Bernhardt
The Pierce High girl wrestlers headed to Columbus on Thursday, January 9, for the Norm Manstedt Invite, and the Bluejays placed fifth overall with 102.5 points.
Pierce ended the day with four medalists, including Isabelle Kuehler who claimed top honors in her weight class, as well as Hadleigh Collison who finished in second, Lauren Ueding who was third and Isabelle Streff who was fourth.
Wrestling at 100 pounds, Mia Sackville received a bye in round one. In the quarterfinal round, M. Sackville fell short to Sophia Burt of Raymond Central. She received another bye in consolation round two. In consolation round three, M. Sackville fell to Emma Petersen from Battle Creek.
At 105, Peyton Brunckhorst received a bye in round one. In the quarterfinal round Brunckhorst fell to Zowie Wilkie of Winnebago. In consolation round two, she also received a bye. Brunckhorst lost by decision, 9-2, in consolation round three to Anna Rupp of Yutan.
Streff (110), who placed fourth, added 20 points to help her team out. In round one, Streff pinned Bristol Hardwick from Boone Central. Streff fell to Ellison Berkeland of Lakeview in the quarterfinal round. In consolation round two, Streff won by fall over Amber Hodges from Elm Creek. Streff then pinned Presleann Herr from Red Cloud/Blue Hill in consolation round three. In the consolation semifinal match, Streff pinned Caly Settles of Aurora. In the third place match, Streff lost by a 12-6 decision to Mollie Corkle of O’Neill.
Collison, a senior, placed second and earned 22 points, wrestling at 115. In round one, Collison received a bye. In the quarterfinal match Collison won by fall over Zziniyah Redhorn of Winnebago. In the semifinal round, Collison pinned Leynn Luna from Boone Central. Collison fell short of first place by major decision 12-1 to Addisyn Darling of Yutan.
“As a team I definitely think we struggled, I'm not sure if it's because we haven't competed in a while or if we simply just weren't ready,” Collison comments. “The best part about it all is now we see what we need to fix and hopefully, we can execute those changes in practice these next few days. Overall, I feel the things that could be changed are very minor personally and as a team, all we need to do is focus on improvement in these next practices and I'm positive everything will lock-in. I know our team can do it, now we just have to actually do it.”
Wrestling at 120, Jayan Sackville had a bye in the first round. In the quarterfinal round J. Sackville fell to Sherly Gonzalez from Aurora. J. Sackville also fell to Ruby Spann of Boone Central in the consolation round two.
At 125, Evelyn Skrdla fell to Emma Glendy of Lakeview in round one. In the consolation round one, Skrdla pinned Leialoha Barnes from Boone Central. Skrdla fell to Bailey Gress of High Plains Community in consolation round two.
Cailynn Gardner (135) fell to Paiton Lewis of Red Cloud/Blue Hills in round one. In consolation round one, C. Gardner received a bye. C. Gardner fell to Alexis Hoffmann in consolation round two.
Wrestling at 145, Lainey Jensen received a bye in the first round. In the quarterfinal match, Jensen fell to Carrington Uhlir from Battle Creek. In consolation round two, Jensen received another bye. Jensen lost by decision, 12-8, to Vivienne Mulder of Lakeview in consolation round three.
Kuehler, a junior, wrestling at 155, placed first. In round one she received a bye. Kuehler won by fall over Livia Sharpe of Wahoo in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinal match, Kuehler won by tech fall 17-0 over Briley Koehler from Battle Creek. Kuehler pinned Avani Wilkie from Winnebago in the first place match with only :23 remaining in the match.
“At the beginning of the meet we started off rough but by the second round we found our fight. I feel like we need to work on staying below the shoulders when we are on top and finishing our shots all the way to the mat. The fear of the Norm Manstedt tournament really got the best of us,” Kuehler said.
At 170, Shaylee Gardner had a bye in her first round. In the quarterfinal match, S. Gardner fell to Rylee Kursave of Arcadia/Loup City. S. Gardner took another bye in the consolation round two. In consolation round three S. Gardner fell to Shae Jackson from West Holt.
Candace Miller (190) had a bye in her first round. In the quarterfinal match, Miller fell to Miley Bergman of Tekamah-Herman. In consolation round two, Miller received a bye. She fell to Linkin Rahn from Crofton/Bloomfield in consolation round three.
Wrestling at 235, Lauren Ueding placed third and scored 12 team points. Ueding had a bye in round one and the quarterfinal match. In the semifinal round she fell to Morgan Hawkins from Ansley-Litchfield. In the consolation semifinal round Ueding received another bye. Ueding won by medical forfeit over Carleigh Jackson of West Holt in the third place match.
The Pierce girls are at home on Thursday as they host Crofton/Bloomfield and Bon Homme, South Dakota, at the auditorium.
