MFL MarMac wrestlers turn in more strong performances at tournaments
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
The MFL MarMac girls wrestling team turned in more strong performances at tournaments in Cascade and Oelwein last week.
Senior Mackenzie Bachman led the Bulldogs with a second-place finish at Cascade on Jan. 16. The senior pinned her way to the 125-pound title match, where she lost a 16-11 decision to Aileen Aragon of West Liberty, who came into the tournament with just one loss.
Kennedy Bachman was third in the 100-pound bracket, rebounding from a loss in the semifinal with a major decision victory over Emily Fritz from Anamosa.
Charlotte Koether, too, placed third, but at 130 pounds. The freshman was pinned by undefeated Kaydence Boorn of Wilton in the semifinal, then pulled out a fall late in the third-place match against West Liberty’s Kiley Collins.
Audrey Ruff started the tournament with a win at 170 pounds, then after losing in the quarterfinals, pinned her way to the fifth-place bout. There she secured another fall over Abigail Macke of Camanche.
Freshman Veda Torkelson wrestled her way to sixth place in the 110-pound class. Bayleigh Wood (135 pounds), Hannah Jacobson (155) and Isla Henkes (170) did not place.
MFL MarMac totaled 82 team points, ranking sixth of 18 schools. East Buchanan’s score of 212 put them in first place, well ahead of West Liberty with 149.5.
Success continued at the Oelwein Girls Invitational on Jan. 18, where every Bulldog wrestler placed.
K. Bachman won the 100-pound title, earning her second individual championship of the month. The sophomore won all five of her matches by fall, capped off by a pin of Maleena Sander from Sumner-Fredericksburg as time expired.
M. Bachman was the runner-up at 125 pounds. She secured falls in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, before losing a 5-0 decision to Marion’s Josie Logan in the title bout.
Koether was second at 130 pounds—her best tournament finish of the season. She won her quarterfinal match by major decision and semifinal by fall, but was denied first place due to a pin by Isabel Christensen from Sumner-Fredericksburg.
In the 110-pound brackett, Torkelson lost her quarterfinal match, but after a bye, rebounded by pinning Jasmine Bassett from Union Community. A loss in the consolation semis dropped her to the fifth-place match, where she lost via fall to Oelwein’s Marissa Rogers.
Jacobson also reached the sixth-place match at 155 pounds. She lost her first match, but earned a fall over E`lajanay Shavers of Waterloo West in the third round consolations. Jacobson was pinned in the consolation semifinal, then lost by fall to Crestwood’s Clara Keller in the final match of the night.
Wood started the 135-pound bracket with a victory, before dropping her quarterfinal match. She rebounded with a fall in the second round of consolations, but couldn’t carry the momentum into the next round. The tournament ended on a high note, however, as Wood pinned Emerie Parkes of Sumner-Fredericksburg to finish seventh.
MFL MarMac racked up 90 points, placing eighth of 19 teams. Cedar Rapids Kennedy took the top spot with a score of 184.5, edging second-place Sumner-Fred.
Next up for the Bulldogs is the first ever Upper Iowa Conference Girls Tournament at Central on Jan. 24.
