The Hampton-Dumont-CAL, North Butler-Clarksville and West Fork girls wrestling teams will battle for state tournament berths at IGHSAU Class 1A Region 4 tournament at Osage on Friday, which will air on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Hampton-Dumont-CAL girls are led by Maren Subbert who is 27-0 at 190. Other Bulldogs with winning records entering the regional include Megan Severs at 14-7 between 140 and 145 and Juliette Koch is 17-11 at 135.
Hampton-Dumont-CAL coach Brittany Stevens hopes her wrestlers can minimize the sense of pressure while competing and wrestle to their full potential.
“All year long we’ve been saying just wrestle. I mean it’s as simple as that. We try to keep the mood light. We don’t want to put any pressure on anybody especially heading into a big tournament like this,” says Stevens. “They all have goals and we just remind them of their goals. Look at where you girls started. Look at where you’re at now. Look at that sheet that you wrote down at the beginning of the season. Where are you at with your goals? We just kind of remind them of those things. We do a lot of positive mindset things and they’re doing it. We just try to keep the mood light. Go out, wrestle, and have fun. That’s our message.”
The North Butler-Clarksville girls have four wrestlers with 20 or more wins. Maliyah Liddle is 28-12 at 190, Sydney Lovrien is 26-12 at 235, Mackenzie Schultz is 26-20 at 130 and Alexa Gott is 21-15 between 170 and 190.
NBC Head Coach Ben Lovrien on growth of wrestlers from the start of the season and facing a tough regional.
“We started basically from scratch. These are some girls that wanted to try it, and they tried it, and they liked it, and they stayed out. It’s been great. They’re just learning so much and so fast and taking it all in,” says Lovrien. “We just gotta battle. We gotta stay tough. Things go our way, maybe we’ll get somebody to state. It’s gonna be a dog fight.”
The West Fork girls have three wrestlers with 25 or more wins. Josi Janssen is 30-5 at 140, Fernanda Ramirez is 30-5 at 170 and Jenny Ramirez is 25-11 at 145.
Warhawk Head Coach Onni Prestidge on preparation for regional and importance of being mentally locked in.
“We’re gonna go back and look at film from day one and actually break down, these are the moments you’ve put yourself in danger and or have capitalized. To make sure that every single one of them are able to put themselves in a position to succeed,” says Prestidge. “Being able to be controlled, short mindset, win and lose. The mental game is going to be one of the biggest problems across the state. Somebody is going to be left home because their mind did not allow them, to control the things that they can control.”
The regional will include 33 ranked wrestlers, which is the most among Class 1A regionals. The top two in each weight class will advance to the state tournament.
Coverage on 104.9 KLMJ begins at 3:45 p.m. followed by the first matches at 4:00 p.m. in Osage.
North Butler-Clarksville Head Coach Ben Loviren:
West Fork Head Coach Onni Prestidge:
