There were several competitive tournaments that took place just before the holiday break, starting with the Wrightstown Lady Tiger Invite on Friday night. Tomahawk brought 24 girls to the tournament and came away with the team championship, followed closely by Winneconne and Southern Door. At 132 pounds–the deepest weight class in the tournament–a freshman standout from Brillion, Sevanna Hoyer, pulled off an upset victory over #10 Madeline Faulkner of Xavier before ultimately falling in the finals to #5 Chesney Bartoszek of Wrightstown. Another freshman making a name for herself early this season, Freedom’s Stella Pettit, rounded out the top three.
On Saturday, the Menasha Girls Royal Rumble was marked by a few major upsets and a tight team race that came down to the very last match. Wausau West took home the crown in the end, winning by just eight points over the host school, Menasha. Bay Port had a strong showing and finished in 3rd as a team. Two unranked wrestlers pulled off wins over top-5 opponents in the finals. At 120 pounds, Menasha’s Eve Rausch notched a first period pin over #4 Dakota Athey of Bay Port, a 3rd place finisher down in Madison last year. And at 235 pounds, unranked Autumn King of Bay Port pinned #5 Allison Abel of Menasha to take home the title. The toughest weight class at the tournament, though, was at 165 pounds with five wrestlers ranked in the top 10. New London’s 3-time State Champion Hailie Krueger bumped up from 152 for the day and still dominated, pinning/teching her way through the tournament, including a pin over returning state medalist Mackenzie Schiedermayer in just 50 seconds in the finals.
The other major girls’ tournament that Saturday was the Badger State Invite down at the Alliant Center in Madison, which hosted some of the best girls’ teams in the state. Milton only had five girls compete but still came away the team champions over #2 Badger, #8 Eau Claire North, #10 Neenah, and #12 New Berlin. There were a crazy number of highly-ranked individual matches, but here are a few that stood out: Milton’s Carla Jauch (#8 @ 114) dropped to 107 and beat defending State Champion Ava Gardner of Marshfield decisively, 9-3. At 132, #1 Madi Peach made quick work of the #1 126-pounder and returning state finalist, Dealya Collins, pinning her in just over a minute. And Amelia Poplawski of New Berlin dominated recent Fargo All-American Franky Groom of North Crawford/Seneca, building an 11-0 lead before pinning her in the third.
Wrestler Spotlight: Chesney Bartoszek–Wrightstown, 132 lbs.
Next time you’re at a tournament where Wrightstown is wrestling, make sure to pay attention to the 132 bracket. Bartoszek has been on an absolute tear recently and has already hit the 30-win mark on the season. In just the past two weeks she has wins over #2 Hailey Berg, #9 Stella Pettit, #10 Madeline Faulkner, #13 Audrey Hanson, #14 Addisen Olsen, and #15 Sevanna Hoyer. She did take two losses at Bi-State, but both were to the same wrestler (Franky Groom), and both were as close as can be: a 16-13 match in the quarters that had to have been worth the price of admission, and a 7-6 decision in the 3rd place match. I’m sure she’ll be seeking revenge for those down in Madison come February!
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