Warrenton Warriors high school wrestler Allison Vacek qualified for the MSHSAA class 1 state championship in Columbia, MO.
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Warrenton girls wrestling coach Michaela Brownlee liked the energy her small squad brought to last weekend’s Class 1, District 2 Tournament.
“I felt like they were very supportive of one another as a team,” Brownlee said. “They all were encouraging each other and lifting each other up. It felt awesome.”
The results on the mat were strong, too.
Warrenton sophomore wrestler Allison Vacek qualified for the Class 1 state championships for the second year, while the Warriors’ two other grapplers, Dakota Lohrmann and Alexis Ruff, were one win shy from advancing. The top four wrestlers in each bracket advance to state.
“They stepped it up,” Brownlee said about her small squad. “They wrestled top notch. They had a clear head.”
Vacek led the way with a fourth-place medal at 155 pounds. She opened districts with two wins by pinfall. She lost in the semifinals, but rebounded with an 8-3 decision over Marshall’s Ayla Castaneda. In the third-place match, Vacek was pinned in the final period.
Brownlee said the experience Vacek gained last year at state should pay off this time around. Vacek sports a 32-13 record this season heading into the Class 1 state championships, which will be held Feb. 21-22 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
“She is going in mentally stronger than last year,” the coach said. “She is more focused. She is ready to see how far she can go. I know she is not going to let anything stop her.”
Lohrmann, a sophomore, won three of her five matches at districts by pinfall. After splitting her first two matches, she answered with two pins over Kirksville’s Katlynn DeLeon and Fulton’s Savannah Leeper. Her season ended in the consolation semifinal in a first-period pin by Syria Bell of St. Charles. Lohrmann had a 39-14 record this year.
Ruff put together a 36-11 record in her freshman campaign. She opened districts with a first-period pin of Blair Oaks’ Maddy Cain and a sudden death victory over Holt’s Johanna Watkins. Following a 3-0 setback to Kali Jensen of Wright City in the semifinal, Ruff was eliminated in a 10-0 loss to Nova Porter of Southern Boone.
Brownlee is eager about the futures of Lohrmann and Ruff, who she noted are already making plans for offseason training.
“Each and every match is a learning experience in itself,” Brownlee said. “They are taking the end of this season as being the start of next season. It makes me excited for both of them.”
