First Girls Wrestling Meet of the Year
By Chloe Bernhardt
The Pierce girls' wrestling team competed in its first tournament of the season on Saturday, December 6, at O’Neill. The girls placed third as a team.
“The girls’ team at O’Neill’s tournament performed exceptionally well, finishing third out of 21 teams. Isabelle defeated two state medalists, Essence won her bracket, Lainey placed third, Reniya, who only won one match last year, also placed third, and Candace, wrestling against heavier opponents, got second at heavyweight. Jayan, MaKenna, and Evelyn wrestled well. It was just overall a fun experience for me to get to see how much our girls have improved from last year to this year,” head coach Les Painter states.
Pierce had seven wrestlers place at the season opening meet.
At 110, Essynce Owens-Webb placed first. She won by fall over Angelina Thorsen of Gordon-Rushville, pinning her in 13 seconds. Owens-Webb pinned Bristol Engelhaupt from O’Neill, and she also won by fall over Maddie Nelson from Crofton/Bloomfield and Baylee Chessmore of Neligh-Oakdale.
Wrestling at 115, MaKenna Blecher placed sixth. She received a bye in round one. Blecher fell to Mollie Corkle of O’Neill. She then pinned Pamela Dennis from Crofton/Bloomfield and Danica Jensen from Battle Creek. Blecher fell to Karen Djibom from Ralston in the fifth place match.
Jayan Sackville (125) fell to Alysa Zoubek from Wilber-Clatonia. Sackville then pinned Wah Paw from Madison. She fell to Teela Bleich from Battle Creek.
Evelyn Skrdla, wrestling at 130, placed sixth. In the first round, she received a bye. Skrdla fell to Samantha Sprenger of Valentine. She then rallied back to pin Julia Price of Norfolk and Mackenzie Hinsley from Ralston. Skrdla fell to Arynn Tielke from Norfolk Catholic in the fifth place match.
At 135, Lainey Jensen placed third. She pinned Zoey Donovan of Chamberlain and Matilda Holl from Wilber-Clatonia. Jensen fell to Lilly Mefford of Battle Creek. She won by forfeit over Grace Hoffman from Norfolk.
Wrestling at 170, Isabelle Kuehler placed first. She received a bye in the first round, then she pinned Charlea Fancher from Gordon-Rushville, Elizabeth DeRoos from Crofton/Bloomfield, and Libby Evans of Elgin Public-Pope John.
Reniya Miller (190) placed third. She received a bye in round one. R. Miller won by tech fall over Liv Spencer of Norfolk, 20-4. She fell to Beverly Bobeldyke from Norfolk. In her final match, R. Miller won by forfeit over Jaycee Thies from Norfolk. “I think we all did really good. We all placed in the top six,” R. Miller comments.
Candace Miller, wrestling at 235, placed second. She had a bye in the first round. C. Miller won by decision, 1-0, over Addyson Jacob from Neligh-Oakdale. She pinned Addie Sexson of Valentine. C. Miller fell to Carleigh Jackson of West Holt.
The Jays will be competing in North Bend on Saturday, December 13, starting at 9:30.
