If you need an idea of the growth of women’s wrestling in Wisconsin, look no further than the 3rd iteration of the WI HS Girls Multi-Dual taking place at Stevens Point. Two years ago this tournament was just four teams, and has doubled in size each year into the monster of a tournament that we will get to witness tonight. While it’s exciting that an official team champion will be crowned at Individual State this year based on team score, this tournament has been dubbed “Unofficial Girl’s Team State” for a reason. What better way to determine the true strength and depth of a team than by battling it out in dual format? There are definitely a couple of teams not attending tonight that could make a case for having a strong showing here, but this lineup is absolutely STACKED for this evening! Here is a look at the teams and where they are seeded, along with the number of ranked wrestlers on each squad.
#1 Holmen Maroon (3 ranked wrestlers)
#2 Wausau West (2 ranked wrestlers)
#3 Badger (3 ranked wrestlers)
#4 Menasha (6 ranked wrestlers)
#5 Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards
#6 Neenah (2 Ranked wrestlers)
#7 Eau Claire North (1 Ranked wrestler)
#8 Bonduel (4 ranked wrestlers
#9 Bay Port (3 Ranked wrestlers)
#10 Pulaski (2 ranked wrestlers)
#11 Shawano Community
#12 Kimberly
#13 Tomahawk
#14 Holmen Silver
#15 Kickapoo/La Farge/Youth Initiative
#16 Chilton/Hilbert
Click HERE to watch the WI HS Girls Duals on Rokfin
Schedule
Wrestling will start at 4, here is a layout of the schedule for the evening to help folks who are watching the stream follow along with the action. I will also be hanging out in the chat of each of the mats to let everyone know who is wrestling on which mat next along with starting weights so that you can all follow along better at home. For those of you that consider yourselves tech-savvy, the “WI Girls Duals @ UWSP” dashboard will also serve as a great resource for following along.
Rounds 1 & 2 (Round of 16)
(Number in front of team is their seed)
Mat 1: #8 Bonduel vs. #9 Bay Port followed by #4 Menasha vs. #13 Tomahawk
Mat 2: #5 Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards vs. #12 Kimberly followed by #1 Holmen Maroon vs. #16 Chilton/Hilbert
Mat 3: #6 Neenah vs. #11 Shawano Community followed by #2 Wausau West vs. #15 Kickapoo/La Farge/Youth Initiative
Mat 4: #7 Eau Claire North vs. #10 Pulaski followed by #3 Badger vs. #14 Holmen Silver
Round 3: Consolation Quarterfinals
Round 4: Championship Quarterfinals
Round 5: Consolation Semis
Round 6: Mats 1 & 3 Championship Semis, Mats 2 & 4 Consolation Semis
Round 7
Mat 1: 13th Place Match
Mat 2: 9th Place Match
Mat 3: 11th Place Match
Mat 4: 15th Place Match
Round 8:
Mat 1: 5th Place Match
Mat 2: 1st Place Match
Mat 3: 3rd Place Match
Mat 4: 7th Place Match
Tournament Synopsis
The Holmen Maroon team comes into this tournament as 1-seed for a reason, as they have been a prime example of a deep team that even has the potential to make lineup moves to put themselves in the best spot to win any given dual. It’s also important to note that the Vikings come into this as the two-time defending champions, but this year could serve as their toughest road to a championship yet. It’s fitting that Wausau West comes in as the 2-seed as the Warriors have been the runner-up the last two years, losing 48-24 to the Vikings in the Finals last year. Another team that has a great combination of firepower and depth, this could be the best Wausau West team we have seen to date.
Rounding out the top are Badger and Menasha. Badger is of course headed by their three-headed monster in nationally acclaimed wrestlers Brynn Engel, Alexa Thomas, and Carley Ceshker, but they are also a program that carries the highest numbers in the state and as big believers in iron sharpening iron, they have potential to spoil the annual Holmen-Wausau West finals party. Menasha comes in with not half of their lineup ranked, and in a 12-weight class system you have to like your odds when you can not only feel confident about picking up six wins in most duals, but also getting those wins in bonus point fashion.
The team strength continues in the 5-8 seeds, as Nekoosa/Assumption/Port Edwards, Neenah, and Pulaski have historically carried mostly full rosters when completely healthy and should provide a good test for their quarterfinals opponents if they can pick up a win in the first round. The 8th-seeded Bonduel Bears might not field a full team, but we will see a fun test between last year’s highest scoring team at Individual State and the 9th-seeded Bay Port Pirates, who had a strong team performance that carried them to the team Bi-State title.
Joining Bay Port in the 9-12 spots are a few more Northeastern squads in Pulaski, Shawano, and Kimberly. Pulaski has a couple of wrestlers in Ava Peters and Harlow Skenandore who made the State Finals last year, with Skenandore ending up as the champ at 145, and will stay competitive in duals but it will be tough to overcome teams with full lineups as they will be giving a few forfeits in their lineup.
Kicking off our last four seeds is Tomahawk, who I’m excited to see in action for the first time! They are another team that has strength in numbers, and their stock will only be rising over the years as they are lead by Wisconsin wrestling legend Alyssa Lampe. The Holmen Silver squad is a testament to the Viking’s depth, as their reserve lineup will not pose as an easy out on the consolation side. And what would this preview be without a Pink Army reference?? The Kickapoo/La Farge/Youth Initiative squad is a young team that will battle with anyone, and we could see a potential rematch between the Predators and the Holmen Silver squad that came down to the last two matches down in the valley a few weeks ago. Though Chilton/Hilbert is the 16-seed and has a matchup with the defending champions in round one, this is a squad that you can almost guarantee has a wrestler down at the Kohl Center every year and they will be another team that could cause problems for their opponent on the consolation side.
In terms of individual matchups, anything can happen with lineup shakeups in duals but with 26 ranked wrestlers some high-profile matches will be inevitable, and much to the enjoyment of the fans could just be a preview for rematches that we see in the postseason.
Between the wrestlers and coaches in this tournament, it’s going to be awesome to have a “who’s who” of people that have helped grow women’s wrestling in our state over the years all under one roof and I know between that and the fans this environment will absolutely rock tonight! I’m guessing I will have to repeat this for many years going forward, but this is the deepest field that I’ve seen at this tournament and there will be competitive duals and matchups every round. This will be team wrestling at its finest and if you can’t make it to the Quandt Fieldhouse, tune in on Rokfin to see who will be deemed the Unofficial Girl’s Team State champion!
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