The girls had a great night at Edgar for Regionals.”

Orioles head varsity wrestling coach Jake Fitzsimmons

The Oriole girls varsity traveled to Edgar for regionals Friday, with Koraline Pennala, Ava Kempf, Lillian Fitzl, Nevaeh Walters, and Hailey Mateski all qualifying for sectionals at DC Everest this Friday.
Saturday at Independence, the boys varsity took a hard end to the season, with Aaron Sturm and Willy Graham coming just short of qualifying for return trips to state.
Orioles head varsity wrestling coach Jake Fitzsimmons shared more on how things went last week.
“The girls had a great night at Edgar for Regionals,” he said. “Our girls battled hard and we ended up as regional runner ups as a team. We had 4 individual Regional Champs that all qualified for sectionals in: Koraline Pennala 107, Ava Kempf 114, Lillian Fitzl 120, and Nevaeh Walters 132. Hailey Mateski also qualified for sectionals taking 2nd. Other finishers included Kelsie Mateski 3rd 100, Brianna Paul 3rd 145, Ziva Blair 4th 126, and Daisy Rygiel 6th 138. These girls wrestled very well even in their losses and have improved so much throughout the year. For most of these girls this was their first year of wrestling and I look forward to what they can do next year with more experience. Sectionals is Friday at DC Everest with the top 2 wrestlers qualifying for State.
As for the boys varsity, Fitzsimmons shared the following.
“Our boys had a hard end to the season on Saturday at the Sectional tournament,” he said. “Aaron Sturm 165 and Willy Graham 215 both came up just short of making it to state taking 3rd place. Carter Weltzin placed 5th at 285. Aro Greenhow 106 and Zephyr Greenhow 113 both placed 6th. The end of the season is always hard and I feel for the seniors who put so much time and effort into the sport and came up short."