Girls wrestling wins district title
COEUR d'ALENE — Badger girls wrestling are the first District I-II wrestling champions.
This year for the first girls state wrestling tournament there was no class division based on school size, so the Badgers girl wrestlers faced off against all schools from Grangeville to Bonners Ferry, head coach Kevin Campbell said. The hope is to expand brackets and add classification of big school and little schools in the next few years as girls wrestling grows in Idaho.
Only the top placer of each weight class qualified for state.
Savannah Rickter (G-160) wrestled her way into first place and will be going off to state. Rickter is 27-1.
“She is tough to beat and hard to score on,” Campbell said. “She can make a lot of things happen and has put in the time. I’m excited to see what she does, especially since she was injured last year.”
Gena Kelsey (G 145) came in second. Earlier in the tournament, Kelsey beat an undefeated wrestler from Coeur d’Alene. Kelsey finished 10-13.
“She gets better and better. She beat really good girls and it is unfortunate that she did not get on the bracket,” Campbell said. “She is dangerous to wrestle right now.”
Shalynn Richards (G-120) finished in sixth. Richards injured herself when going to throw her opponent and had to be medically fortified in case of head injury.
Aubrey Wells (G 160) finished in fourth. She is in-between weight classes and was a little outsized, but fought hard, Campbell said. She has improved throughout the season.
“It was a nice surprise [to win]. We didn’t expect it, we just went out to do our best,” Campbell said. “Really cool to pull off a District 1 and 2 win. Nobody has a lot of girls, but we wrestled so well and got the points needed. The girls are so excited.”
Bonners Ferry had five girls on the roaster, but one wrestler was out sick. Campbell hopes that this shows the potential of the team and will bring more girls out to wrestle. He is excited to hall all the girls returning next season.
“Imagine what we can do with a bigger team,” Campbell said.
Girls wrestling will be at the state tournament at Idaho State University in Pocatello. The girls will begin wrestling around 1 p.m. on Friday, when the quarterfinals begins for boys wrestling.
Team Scores: 1, Bonners Ferry 59, 2, Moscow 49, 3, Potlatch 48, 4, Orifino 46, 5, Coeur D’Alene 43, 6, Lake City 43, 7, Post Falls 42, 8, Sandpoint 39, 9, Lewiston 38, 10, High Land C 24, 11, Prairie 21, 12 Lakelan 20, 12, Priest River 20, 14, Clearwater Valley 7, 15, Kootenai 5, 16, St. Maries 3.
