BEMIDJI 鈥� The Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 girls wrestling team will be well represented at the state tournament in St. Paul.
At Saturday鈥檚 Section 6 & 8 Individual Girls Championships, the Lumberjacks punched seven tickets to state. The mark ties Bemidji鈥檚 program record set in 2023 and was achieved despite a field of 170 wrestlers, a much larger number than in the previous two seasons of section competition.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bemidji hosted the sections for the first time and also hosted the Section 5 & 7 Championships concurrently at the BHS Gymnasium. In all, 345 girls wrestled at BHS on Friday and Saturday.
Taylor Merschman (100 pounds), Kylie Donat (142) and Maya Schmidt (190) won section championships for the Lumberjacks in their respective weight-class brackets. Kiera Hagman-Nyagaka (112), Brenalen Fredriksen-Holm (118), Leah Willard (190) and Brie Leeper (235) earned berths to state as second-place finishers.
Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena鈥檚 Alivia Szydel won the championship and advanced to state in the 118-pound bracket.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited that we have the opportunity to send seven girls,鈥� said Bemidji head coach Rance Bahr. 鈥淥bviously, we'd love to send 13, but it's a very competitive field, and all the girls from top to bottom wrestled very well all weekend long. We saved our best wrestling for the section tournament, and I couldn't be more proud or impressed with our girls right now.鈥�
Merschman earned a spot in the state tournament in her first year wrestling, earning a 6-0 decision win over Osakis鈥� Emmarose Olschlager in the 100-pound championship match.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty amazing,鈥� said the BHS freshman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun. I鈥檓 glad I am (the section champion). It was a hard (journey), but it was really fun.鈥�
Schmidt also earned her section championship by decision, defeating Monticello鈥檚 Jasmin Downer 2-1 at 190. Donat had the lone championship-round pin of the day for Bemidji, defeating Thief River Falls鈥� Brianna Berg by fall 23 seconds into the second period of their 142-pound match.
ADVERTISEMENT
鈥淚t means a lot (to go back to state),鈥� said Donat, who finished second at 132 pounds in 2022. 鈥淟ast year, I was injured, so I wasn't able to go to state. It's my senior year. I came back from an injury. And it just means so much, because it's been my goal to be a state champion from day one. It's still my goal to this day, and I'm so excited to go down there and wrestle my hardest.鈥�
Donat was a day-one girls wrestler for Bemidji and one of the program鈥檚 original pioneers. She鈥檚 seen plenty of growth in her sport over the past three years, and she鈥檚 looking forward to showcasing how far girls wrestling has come in St. Paul.
鈥淯ltimately, I'm thankful that there are a lot more girls coming out,鈥� Donat said. 鈥淲e have a great team. I love our team with all my heart, and it's great that we are sending as many girls as we can. I'm super excited to experience state again with seven girls, because the first year, there were three of us (from Bemidji). So being able to share it with more people, especially on my team, is an incredible thing.鈥�
For Bahr, who took over as the dedicated girls wrestling head coach this season after splitting time with the boys the past two years, Saturday鈥檚 championships were the culmination of a grand effort spent building the sport into a legitimate winter-season option for girls in Bemidji and across the state of Minnesota.
鈥�(It was) much more competitive, more participants, a bigger field,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o send seven girls out of 13 weights is pretty impressive. I鈥檓 looking forward to the state tournament.鈥�
The Trust Project
