Senior nights are full of tears, laughter and recognition of all the dedication student athletes put in during their time in high school. On January 22, both boys and girls varsity wrestling teams held their seniors night as a duel against the Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors.
The girls’ wrestling team, head coached by Josef Kadlec, has had quite a turnout this season, featuring a full roster of girls. This means that every weight class offered for girls’ wrestling from 100 to 235 pounds has a varsity girl competing. However, even with the full roster of girls on the West team, the Warriors had a considerably smaller number of girls ending up with more forfeits than matches.
This did not stop the momentum of the girls on the West High team; they fought hard against a rather tough team. “Everyone wrestled their matches very well, and everyone put in a fight regardless of being a senior or not, even though there weren’t many matches for everyone to wrestle,” shared Senior Libby Stocks as she recounted the night. The girls’ wrestling team won the duel against Cedar Rapids Washington, which granted them a winning dual record for the entire season.
Senior Emily Sonnenberg walks alongside her mom as they share a laugh. Mr. Ulses read each of the seniors’ names as they walked, as well as their favorite memories on the team and plans for next year. Sonnenberg shared how she felt that moment next to her mom when her seniority was represented, “A lot was going through my head at that moment. I was thinking about how fast the years went by and how sad I am to be done with wrestling. I was out due to injury for the last couple of weeks, so that was the last time I was able to go out there on the mat.”
Senior Kennedee Dunning walks alongside her parents as they beam with pride. Dunning’s dad, Daniel Dunning, is the assistant coach for the girls’ wrestling team, a heavily impactful moment as a student athlete. Dunning relished in that moment that night as she shared, “My favorite moment from senior night was walking out with my parents. I am glad I got to experience that as a senior, and it’s really a special moment to have as a student athlete.”
Senior Libby Stocks wrestles the 120-pound girl from the Cedar Rapids Washington team. It was a hard-fought match, but ended with a win for Stocks. Getting into the zone for Stocks is a major part of the game. Every wrestler should incorporate some form of pre-match ritual before they go. Stocks explained her own thoughts going into a match, “I think anytime before or during a match, my head is blank. Going into the match, I’m clearing my head, listening to music, getting into the right mindset.”
The referee points with one arm (using the red or green wristband) while holding the other arm up to signal that points are being awarded. These points vary from takedowns, escapes or illegal actions. The raised arm with a colored wristband signifies which wrestler (red or green) is being awarded points, while the specific point signal is being shown. In this instance, the referee rewarded points to the wrestler represented by the red wristband and pointed with two fingers to tell the scorekeeper they earned two points.
Senior Lizzy Roberts competed in her match against the 145-pound girl. She fought through the entire match, escaping several pin attempts. The entire crowd erupted every time she got out or got the girl from the Warriors down. The ending of her match didn’t end the way she hoped, as right down to the wire, she got the girl in a tackle, but the referee did not count it, leaving the girl from the Warriors to tech Roberts and win. However, Roberts will not be stopping her journey here as she will continue to wrestle throughout college.
The girls’ wrestling team shakes hands with Cedar Rapids Washington after the dual. While there were some losses on the mat that night, the girls still ended the season with a win and heads held high. After this dual the girls went on to Regionals to try and advance to State, where the varsity roster competed against the best of the best. One girl advanced at this tournament, Daniesha Watson, and competed at State and won first in her weight class on Feb. 5.
