Girls hang in tough while boys take home medals
RANDOLPH – Randolph wrestling was up to its elbows in action following the holidays.
The girls were at two tournaments in three days, beginning with last Thursday’s High Plains tournament in Columbus.
The regular four girls –Karma Henry (105 pounds), Gracie Wortman (120), Emilee Olson (125) and Maddy Aulner (170) –competed with fierceness.
“None of the girls medaled in the tournament, but they all competed and experienced a very large meet with girls from all over the state,” said Randolph head coach Mark Lech.
Two days later, the girls headed to Winside with two out of the four girls – both Wortman and Olson – coming home with third-place finishes.
“The girls keep improving and are looking to set themselves up for a shot at the postseason,” Lech said.
Wortman said she keeps motivated during the process thanks to the coaches and teammates’ encouragement.
“We have improved since the first meet,” Wortman said. “It’s about more movement and the moves we are learning in practice. It’s also about getting used to high school wrestling. You wrestle different people with more experience and (skills) than we have. But the coaches cheer us on and the Randolph people come and watch us and a lot more than even two years ago.”
The community has warmed up to females competing on the mat, she said.
“The boys have more muscles, but we have to do smart moves,” Wortman said. “Maybe if we can, us older girls can get more younger girls into it.”
The boys also were at Winside and the team took third place overall despite sending only seven grapplers.
Cole Jensen won the 120-pound weight class while Bryson Eledge (138), Gavin Wortman (165) and Aiden Gubbels (Hwt) brought back third-place medals.
Justin Backer ended up fourth at 175 while Owen Junck (132) and Joe Miller (190) also competed.
“Owen has been really wrestling well as of late and continues to improve on his record week to week,” Lech said.
Randolph was set to host a triangular but the meet was canceled due to weather. Grapplers head to the Battle Creek Invitational over the weekend and into next week - the boys on Saturday and girls on Monday.