Move in any direction in the Highland school gymnasium on January 6 and be prepared to bump into someone. Packed with wrestlers, coaches, and spectators Highland hosted a 40-team tournament for girl’s wrestling last Friday. 

The Huskies were able to find success at home with first place finishes by Angelina Roling and Mackenzie McFarland and runner-up finishes by Abbie Grout and Lilly Barre. 

Roling won all three of her matches to reach the top of the podium. She won all of her matches by pinning her opponents. In the first two rounds she managed to score a fall in less than 50 seconds.

The final round was Roling’s longest match, but she still managed to best her opponent, Iowa City West’s Natalia Gentiluomo, with a pin, securing her first place finish with a time of four minutes and 43 seconds. Overall she brought in 20 team points. 

McFarland defeated three opponents on her way to the top of the podium. She picked up a pair of pins, in the first and third round, and won by decision in the second round, 7-0, against Pekin’s Lexa Nelson. 

Winning her final match by fall against Tipton’s Alyssa Lovell in one minute thirty-five seconds she managed to secure 18 team points. Overall as a team the Huskies amassed 52 points, giving Highland a 13th place finish in the tournament. 

Mid-Prairie, who were among the many schools participating in Highland’s tourney, had three wrestlers finish in first, Ellie Brenneman, Mardie Berry and Ellie Callahan, and had three wrestlers finish in second place, Kenda Shqair, Ashlee Farrier and Marissa Cline. 

Brenneman won three matches by fall en route to her first place finish. All of her matches ended in under a minute with her first round match against Union, Laporte City’s Josie Bergmeier being the quickest round, lasting just 21 seconds.

First place was up for grabs in Brenneman’s third match and she snatched victory by pinning AP-GC’s Kayden Muller in 58 seconds. Overall she earned 20 team points

Berry picked up two wins, one by fall and one by decision, in the tournament. Despite losing in the first round to Washington’s Jenna Bose via a 4-2 decision Berry managed to bounce back in the next two rounds to earn her first place finish.

In the third round Berry won by decision, 8-4, against Alburnett’s Addy McGraw. She earned 16 team points overall. 

Callahan did end up narrowly losing the first round by decision, 6-5, to Cardinal Community’s Skyllar Welch but earned two victories by fall in the second and third round in order to secure her first place finish. 

In the third round she won by fall against Cascade’s Bayleigh Martin in one minute and 35 seconds. Callahan ended up earning 16 team points. The Golden Hawks overall accumulated 66 points, giving them a ninth place finish in the tournament.