The River Falls Wildcats wrestling team took eighth place at the 59^th Annual Ellsworth Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Even though they finished in the bottom half of teams, the Wildcats had a great day at the office as nine of their 13 competitors placed in their weight bracket. The downside was that only one finished above fourth place and none above third.

Head Coach Cameron Loomis says they were coming off a solid performance against Menomonie on Thursday and a great practice Friday, so Saturday was set up to be a solid day for them. However, as the day went on and they were encountering a lot of ups and downs, he started to reflect and try to come up with an answer for why this lack of consistency was occurring.

“On Saturday, 10 of the 13 varsity athletes entered in the varsity tournament were in their first ever varsity individual tournament,” Loomis said. “There are a lot of things that go into being successful in a tournament where you are in a hot gym, stuck in the bleachers for almost 12 hours. A lot of those factors I should have addressed with our team ahead of time, and it is on me that it wasn't. That said, we had a lot of good performances throughout the day, and there is a lot to build off.”

Even though they finished eighth as a team, Loomis says that he expects them to learn from this and improve as the year goes on. 

“The consistency that was missing is something that will come as experience is gained throughout the year,” Loomis said. “This group was gaining confidence with each win they got throughout the day, and with each opportunity moving forward, we will continue to grow as a team and get better. The consistency will come, and that gap will be closed on the athletes we lost to on Saturday.”

The River Falls female wrestlers also had a good day. Jenna Lawrence won the 118-pound title at the STMA Girls Invite, and Olivia Luther got her first varsity win and had a great day to build off moving forward.

Coach Loomis says the whole staff is very excited about the rest of the season with this group, saying that they are a hard-working bunch that is eager to get better. 

“The first week of the season was a great measuring stick to see where we stand and what we need to work on,” Loomis said. “We have two conference duals on Thursday at home which will be a great chance to compete in front of a home crowd. Then the boys will be at Park Cottage Grove Saturday with some really good competition from Minnesota, and the girls will be in Eau Claire at the Husky Girls Invite.”

Ellsworth

The Ellsworth Panthers wrestling team took ninth at the 59^th Annual Ellsworth Invitational on Saturday.

The Panthers had eight of their 12 wrestlers place in their weight brackets on Saturday including six top-3 finishes. Most notably, star wrestler Willy Penn took first in the 144-pound weight class.

Head Coach Mark Matzek says he was very proud of their performances.

“Willy Penn beat a very tough opponent in the finals. With that win he shows he is a state title contender,” Matzek said. “Noah Walker, Ethan Veenendall and Jeremiah Johnson all placed second. They came out on the winning end of some battles in the semis but lost those same battles in the finals.”

Coach Matzek says that he was able to see improvement from last year to this year with the other guys and noted that the freshmen who competed cut their teeth at a varsity level tournament.

“As a team we are going to take some lumps early on this year until we fit everyone we need to in their weight classes,” Matzek said. “Competitions are needed to show both weaknesses and strengths. I was happy with our conditioning and grit, but this week we will focus on working on the bottom and hand fighting in the neutral position.”

From here the Panthers will travel across the border for a two-step of competitions against non-conference teams.

“We travel to Simley, Minn. on Thursday to compete versus them and St. Thomas Academy in a triangular, and then we head to Chanhassen for an individual tournament on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing incremental improvements this week and weekend,” Matzek said.

Prescott

The Prescott Cardinals wrestling team entered four competitors in the Ellsworth Varsity Invitational on Saturday with their top wrestler finishing in second place in his weight class.

Head Coach Ian Ruble notes that the five-man team rule does not apply when it comes to invitational tournaments. In terms of dual meets, that would come into play, however.

“We entered four into Saturday's varsity tournament and entered four into the JV tournament, so we had a total of nine wrestlers in Ellsworth,” Ruble said. “We'll be looking to fill a majority of the weights on Thursday at our first conference dual.”

Nolan Thomley was the top wrestler for the Cardinals, taking second in the 150-pound weight class. Even though he came up just short, Coach Ruble likes what he saw from Thomley on Saturday.

“Losing in the finals is always tough, but his opponent was a tough kid,” Ruble said. “Right now, we are focused more on sharpening Nolan's skill and making the adjustments to get him on the best course to be wrestling in Kohl Center this February. Nolan wrestled well and some little things here or there will make a huge difference for him.” 

When reflecting on the tournament as a whole, Ruble says he saw a lot of good things out of his kids.

“Being that we are so young, seeing the wrestlers attempt things or put themselves in the right positions is a nice bright spot. Yes, some of the wins weren't there, but as I reminded the kids, it’s the small victories when you are starting out that will build upon themselves and lead to wins down the line,” Ruble said. “Now that our kids have gotten a taste of high school wrestling, we as a coaching staff are looking forward to practice this week as a way to clean up some of the trouble spots we saw and get better at what we were already doing well.” 

The junior varsity also had some interesting news as well. Charlette Kellogg became the first ever female wrester to compete for the Prescott Cardinals. Ruble says she’s already made great strides with limited training.

“Charlette competed on Saturday in the JV tournament. She was able to pair up against another girl wrestler, and she did well going against an athlete who has been through a season of competition already,” Ruble said. “Like our boys, she is learning the sport for the first time, so we are going to take practice time really hammering out those basics so that she can translate her small successes into big successes on the mat.” 

From here, the Cardinals will travel to Osceola on Thursday for a dual meet at 5:30 p.m., and then they will head to Eau Claire North next Saturday to compete in an invitational at 9 a.m.