Lady Jays Wrestling

January 27, 2025

Pierce High Girls Wrestling Dominated Mid-State Conference Meet
By Peyton Brunckhorst

The Pierce High girl wrestlers competed at the Mid-State conference tournament in Albion on Saturday, January 26, and ended the day as conference champions for the fourth year in a row, with a 171 point finish. The girls had 11 medalists, including three conference champions, five runner-up finishes, and three third place finishes.

Mia Sackville (100), a senior, placed second and scored 16 team points. She received a bye in her first match. In her second match, she wrestled Emma Petersen of Battle Creek and won by pin. In Sackville’s last match, giving her the second place finish, she lost to Mishayla Slaymaker from Boone Central, 3-0.

Wrestling at 105, Peyton Brunckhorst placed second and scored 16 team points. In her first match, she pinned Danica Jensen of Battle Creek. In Brunckhorst’s second round, she won by decision over Anna Kiser from O’Neill, 15-9. Giving Brunckhorst her second place finish, she lost by fall to Lupita Alba of Wayne.

Isabelle Streff, 110 pound conference champion, scored the team 26 points. In round one, she pinned Pamela Dennis of Crofton/Bloomfield, followed by pinning Bristol Hardwick of Boone Central in round two. Streff won by fall over Mollie Corkle from O’Neill, which placed her first.

Hadleigh Collison (115), also a senior, placed second and scored 16 team points. In the quarterfinals, Collison received a bye. Advancing to the semifinals, she pinned her teammate Alexis Asmus. To conclude Collison’s day, in the first and second place match, she lost to Leynn Luna from Boone Central 9-8. “I thought we wrestled the best we have all season, we weren’t afraid to just come out and hammer. Every single one of our wrestlers gave everything they had, and it’s good to see that this deep into the season. It’s pretty cool to know that your school is the only school that’s ever won the Mid-State conference in something. It’s even better to know that you were a part of it all four years. I definitely think with the talent coming back next year the team can make it five,” Collison stated. 

Also wrestling 115 was Asmus. To start her day, she won by fall over Gracie Bowers from Norfolk Catholic, 3-0. In the semifinal match, Asmus wrestled Collison and lost by fall. To finish the day for Asmus, she faced Teela Bleich from Battle Creek and lost by fall, 8-3.

At 120, Jayan Sackville placed second and scored 16 team points. Starting on a positive note, Sackville won by fall over Lily Curry of Norfolk Catholic. In Sackville’s semifinal match, she pinned Lorelie Duffy from Crofton/Bloomfield. Tying up Sackville’s day with her second place finish, she lost by fall to Ella Reeves of Battle Creek.

Evelyn Skrdla (125), placed third. In her first match of the day, she was pinned by Bailey Salers from O’Neill. Starting consolation matches, Skrdla received a bye. In the consolation semifinals, she won by medical forfeit over her teammate, Samantha Painter. Wrapping up Skrdla’s day, she pinned Leialoha Barnes of Boone Centra, which placed Skrdla second.

Coming back off of an injury, Painter received a bye in her first match. In the semifinals, she lost by injury default to Serenity Heil-Ellis from Wayne. In Painter’s last match, she medically forfeited to her teammate, Skrdla.

Wrestling at 130, MaKenna Blecher scored three team points. In the quarterfinal round, Blecher lost by fall to Megan Magnuson of Wayne. In the first round of consolations, Blecher won by fall over Breklyn Landauer from Boone Central. Wrapping up Blecher’s day, she faced Payton Becker of Boone Central and lost by fall.

Cailynn Gardner (135), wrestled Bethany Arens from Crofton/Bloomfield and lost by fall. In Gardner’s first round of consolation matches, she received a bye. To wrap up her day, she lost by fall to Alexis Hoffman of Battle Creek.

At 145, Lainey Jensen placed third and scored 10 team points. To start Jensen’s day, she received a bye. In her semifinal match, she was pinned by Anna Naeve of Wayne with only five seconds left in the match. Jensen then received a bye in the first round of consolations. To conclude her day, she pinned Chelbi Ramponi from Crofton/Bloomfield, which placed Jensen third.

Isabelle Kuehler (155), another conference champion, won the team 24 points. She started her day by pinning Brynn Hansen from Crofton/Bloomfield. In Kuehler’s semifinal match, she won by fall over Rylie Doerr of Crofton/Bloomfield. To successfully wrap up Kuehler’s day, she pinned Kadence Reese of Wayne, to place her first.

Wrestling at 170, Candace Miller placed third and scored 14 team points. To start Miller’s day, she wrestled her sister, Reniya Miller, and won by fall. Advancing to the semifinal match, Miller was pinned by Shelby Johnson of Norfolk Catholic. In the first round of consolations, Miller received a bye. Ending Miller’s day on a high note, she won by fall over Belle Brodersen from Boone Central, which placed her third.

R. Miller also wrestled at 170 and faced her sister C. Miller, and lost by fall. Miller received a bye in her second match. To conclude Miller’s day, she lost by fall to Brodersen.

A senior, Shaylee Gardner (190) placed second and scored 10 team points. Gardner had one match and faced Annabelle Poppe of Crofton/Bloomfield, but lost by fall.

Lauren Ueding (235), another conference champion, scored the team 18 points. She won by fall over Linkin Rahn from Crofton/Bloomfield.

The wrestling team will travel to West Point Thursday, January 30, for the girls state dual tournament.

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Bluejays Battle at Battle Creek
By Chloe Bernhardt

The girls wrestling team headed to Battle Creek on Monday, January 20, for an invitational where they placed seventh. 

At 100, Mia Sackville received a bye in round one. In the quarterfinal round, M. Sackville fell to Essynce Owens-Webb of Wayne. In the consolation round two, she received another bye. M. Sackville then fell to Jenni Olson from Tri County Northeast in consolation round three. 

Wrestling at 110, Isabelle Streff placed second. Streff had a bye in round one. In the quarterfinal round, Streff pinned Lupita Alba of Wayne. Then in the semifinal match, she won by fall over Avery Bruha of Ord. In the first place match, Streff fell to Ava Cleveland from Summerland with just one second left in the match.

Hadleigh Collison, wrestling at 115, placed fourth. In round one Collison pinned Melina Bullard of Elkhorn Valley. She won by medical forfeit over Teagen Berg from West Point-Beemer in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinal match Collison lost by major decision, 8-0, to Jasmine Rueles-Hertz of Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon. In the consolation semifinal round, Collison won by decision, 2-1, over Nayeli Ortega from Canton. Collison lost by decision 8-1 to Leynn Luna of Boone Central in the third place match. 

At 120, Jayan Sackville won by fall over Jayda Chessmore from Elgin Public/Pope John in round one. In the quarterfinal round, J. Sackville fell to Jaden Schultz of West Point-Beemer. In the consolation round two, J. Sackville won by medical forfeit over Alexis Galusha of St. Paul. J. Sackville lost to Harper Kracht of Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon due to medical forfeit in consolation round three. 

Wrestling at 125, Evelyn Skrdla fell to Hadlee Kracht from Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon in round one. In consolation round one Skrdla fell to Serenity Heil-Ellis of Wayne.

Lainey Jensen, wrestling at 140, placed fourth. In round one, Jensen received a bye. She then fell to Kaylee Thiele from Summerland in the quarterfinal round. In consolation round two, Jensen pinned Delylla Olson of Fullerton. Jensen then won by fall over Savanna Wiedel from Thayer Central in consolation round three. In the consolation semifinal match, she pinned Morgan Schaaf of West Holt. Jensen fell to Pyper Daugherty of North Bend in the third place match.

At 155, Isabelle Kuehler placed first. In round one, she pinned Alizay Hernandez of St. Paul. In the quarterfinal match, Kuehler won by fall over Shantel Beltran of West Point-Beemer. Kuehler pinned Briley Koehler from Battle Creek in the semifinal round. In the first place match Kuehler pinned Kadence Rees of Wayne.

Wrestling at 170, Shaylee Gardner fell to Tiffany Chase of Wakefield in round one. In the consolation round one, Gardner pinned Annabelle Pearson from Thayer Central. Gardner fell to Ricarda Littlewalker from Winnebago in consolation round two.

Candace Miller, wrestling at 190, received a bye in round one. In the quarterfinal match, Miller fell to Natalee Nelson of Wakefield. Miller received another bye in consolation round two. In consolation round three she fell to Jaelyn Shaver of Summerland.

“As a team I think we all did great and still have some improving to do. I think we showed a lot of teamwork and support for each other on the mat. It really makes a difference when everyone’s got each other’s backs. I need to improve on building my confidence and to shoot during matches,” Miller says.

Wrestling at 235, Lauren Ueding pinned Mallory Baldwin of Canton in round one. In the quarterfinal round, Ueding fell to Raina Krebs from Summerland. She received a bye in consolation round two. In consolation round three, Ueding fell to Carleigh Jackson of West Holt.

“I think we did really well overall as a team. I am very proud of how far we have come and I’m so excited to see where things will go,” Ueding comments.

The girl’s wrestling team will have their next meet on Saturday, February 1 at Norfolk High School starting at 10 a.m.