Campbellsport's girls team won the first-ever Flyway girls conference championship hosted at North Fond du Lac on Friday.
The conference crowned eight individual champions. Campbellsport's five wrestlers all won conference championships.
Sophomore Irelyn Woolhether was the 107-pound champ. She pinned Laconia's Savannah Britton in the third period.
"I think it's really cool how it's like the first year there's been a girls team and having our own conference [tournament]," Woolhether said.
Junior Emersen Wissink won at 120 when she pinned NFDL/Springs freshman Shannara Guerra.
Sophomore Emma Batzler won by technical fall, beating Laconia junior Adalynn Last 21-4.
Batzler was a state qualifier as a freshman. She said she has helped to recruit more girls to wrestle and has enjoyed watching her teammates improve.
"It's been a huge honor to be able to help grow a girls program in this conference and at our school," Batzler said. "Especially with last year only having two girls and then expanding to six at the beginning of the season this year, it's super cool to be a part of and to watch these girls grow as wrestlers."
Freshman Mya Schraufnagel earned a second-period pin against WLA senior Alix Jahnke.
Abigail Ksioszk was the final champ from Campbellsport. She was unopposed at 126.
Coach Dan Heisdorf said the group of five girls bought in early, including working hard outside practice at Askren Wrestling Academy, which has led to high levels of success.
"They put in all the work," Heisdorf said. "They're going to AWA on Sundays and Tuesdays, they all go together, they're a tight bunch, they support each other and that's what it takes.
"Now it's just a matter of recruiting more girls so we can have a full team."
The other three champs were NFDL/Springs freshman Harmonie Lange at 114, Laconia's Tessa Zoch at 145 and Lomira's Aeryona Cronin at 185.
Lange and Cronin were both unopposed. Zoch was the only wrestler to go 2-0 on the night; she earned back-to-back pins in the semifinal and final.
NFDL/Springs coach Doug Forsythe spearheaded the project of organizing the opportunity for the girls wrestlers. He said it is important to continue giving them these opportunities.
"We really want to continue to grow the sport for the girls," Forsythe said. "It's so exciting to see them get these opportunities now, so I was bound and determined to make tonight happen.
"There's enough girls in our conference that it was worthwhile to have a tournament and get these matches in and crown our first conference champions. It was really a fun night; the girls competed hard."
Heisdorf said he's seen excellent growth in the sport and hopes it will continue into the future. He said girls tournaments used to take place during the boys tournaments, but that is becoming more rare.
"The girls tournaments are getting so big, they've got to run them Friday and the boys Saturday," Heisdorf said. "The last few tournaments we've been at, there have been more than 200 girls.
"Hopefully we get to a point where the WIAA has got to make a decision about having two divisions."
PHOTO GALLERY: 2025 Girls Conference Championships
Comments