Bulldog girls wrestle well at tournaments
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
The MFL MarMac girls wrestling team boasted multiple place winners in tournaments hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock and South Winneshiek last week.
Three Bulldogs placed eighth or better in the Go-Hawk Girls Invitational on Dec. 9, led by Kennedy Bachman as runner-up at 100 pounds. Bachman secured a technical fall, then pinned her semi-final opponent to reach the title match. There, she lost by fall to Ainsley Hemann from Osage.
Mackenzie Bachman placed third in her 125-pound bracket. The senior won her first match by fall, before getting pinned in the semifinals. Bachman rebounded in the consolation semis, then took 1:21 to pin Osage’s Maddie Swenson in the third-place bout.
At 170 pounds, Audrey Ruff lost by a late fall in the quarterfinals, but came back with a pin of her own in the second round of consolations. She dropped to the seventh-place match after getting pinned in the third round consolations, and there lost to Addison Schenker of Osage.
After losing her opening match by a close 7-5 decision, Charlotte Koether picked up a fall in her following match at 130 pounds. The second consolation match ended in a loss by technical fall, bumping Koether off the podium.
Ashlyn Blake, wrestling at 105 pounds, also did not place after losing a pair of matches.
As a team, MFL MarMac finished 12th among 20 schools with 44.5 points. Cedar Falls won the tournament with 230.5, followed by Osage with 199.
In the South Winn Invite on Dec. 13, it was Mackenzie Bachman who led the Bulldogs, placing second at 125 pounds and earning her 100th career win. Bachman reached the first-place match with a pair of pins, but couldn’t get the best of Osage’s Maddie Swenson, her third-place opponent from earlier in the week.
Kennedy Bachman finished third at 100 pounds. After losing the semifinal to Ainsley Hemann, who beat her earlier in the week, Bachman won the consolation semifinal by fall, then secured a 7-4 decision over Chloe Hubbard of GMLOS in her final bout of the day.
Ruff lost her opening match at 170 pounds, but advanced through the second and third consolation rounds before getting pinned in the consolation semis. She was later pinned in the fifth-place match by Isabelle Alley of Decorah, landing her in sixth place.
At 130 pounds, Koether rebounded from an opening loss by edging Postville’s Isabelle White 10-8 in the second consolation round. She was pinned by Harper Humpal from New Hampton/Turkey Valley in the next match and did not place.
Blake also did not place at 105 pounds, after losing two matches by fall.
MFL MarMac accumulated 48 team points, tying Central for 10th place. Osage topped all teams with 223.5.
The Bulldogs will close out the 2024 portion of their schedule this week, heading to St. Ansgar on Dec. 17, then hosting the second annual MFL MarMac Girls Scramble on Dec. 20.
