The Muskego Girls Invite is set to go down this Saturday at Muskego High School. With over 40 teams competing the brackets will surely be loaded throughout. There will be many great matchups and storylines to follow throughout the tournament, but here is what I am keeping my eye on.
Kicking it off with the lightweights (100lbs), there is my favorite potential matchup of the tournament in #1 Cassidy O’Connell of Regis/Altoona vs #3 Mya Beckett of Notre Dame. Cassidy O’Connell enters the tournament 19-0, ranked #1 in the state of Wisconsin, and ranked #18 in the country by Flowrestling after finishing last season in 4th place at the state tournament. Mya Beckett is off to a blazing start to her freshman campaign, entering at 21-0 and dominating her competition along the way. Beckett will face the biggest challenge of her season by far in the nationally ranked O’Connell. Both wrestlers come into the tournament destroying their competition with neither wrestler having wrestled a full match all year. However, also potentially looming in the bracket is #2 ranked Brynn Engel of Badger. The sophomore has yet to make her season debut, but could she make her first appearance of the season and derail the matchup? With the top 3 wrestlers in the state all slated to be in the bracket this weekend, could the Muskego Invite finals be a preview of Saturday night in the Kohl Center?
Not too long after that match we will see another top 10 matchup at 114lbs. #6 Megan Schuenemann of Plymouth, #7 Elaine Hay of Brown Deer and #8 Elliot Mulloy of Waukesha West are all slated to be in the 114lb bracket this weekend. Both Schuenemann and Mulloy are two time state qualifiers, while Hay is a one time state qualifier. Hay and Mulloy have history from last year with Mulloy coming out on top with a 5-2 score. Hay will surely be looking to flip the script this weekend in a revenge match from last year. What top 10 wrestler will be able to navigate their way through the bracket and be crowned the 114lb Muskego Invite champ?
My favorite storyline in this tournament is the Eckdhal sisters. The sisters from Monroe have a real argument to be the best sister duo in Wisconsin girls wrestling right now. #6 ranked freshman Evelyn Eckdhal enters the tournament 22-5 and coming off of a solid showing at Bi-State where she placed 9th. Her sister, #5 ranked junior Althea Eckdhal enters the tournament a two time state place winner, currently sitting at 24-1, and coming off a Bi-State title where she dominated her way to the top of the podium. I believe that both Evelyn and Althea pick up Muskego Invite titles this weekend, and it will be a joyful car ride home for the Eckdhal family.
I have to give a shout out to at least one hometown wrestler in all of my articles, and this week it goes to Sophia Peterson of Muskego. The #6 ranked senior will be looking to wrestle her way to a title at her last Muskego Invite. It will be interesting to see if Peterson can give the hometown fans a show by taking home a title or if someone can pull the upset in front of Peterson’s home crowd.
There will be plenty of matchups and storylines to follow throughout the Muskego Girls Invite that should keep spectators on the edge of their seat until the final match.
