The girls wrestling team wrapped up a strong season filled with growth, challenges and major accomplishments, finishing third at state with four individual medalists.

“It was a great season that saw us grow a lot in many ways. We ran into some adversity with injuries and sicknesses and battled through those. We had a lot of girls get victories over girls that had beaten them earlier in the year,” head coach Dan Krajicek said.

Confidence became a huge factor as the season went on.

“The girls just grew in confidence all year. I would always tell them they could be amazing if they had as much confidence in themselves as I had in them,” Krajicek said.

At the top of the lineup, Jordyn Campbell closed her high school career with a memorable finish.

“My favorite memory this season was winning state and seeing everyone present in my wrestling journey watching and supporting me one last time in high school,” Campbell said.

As a two-time champion, Campbell had high expectations for herself heading into state.

“My goal going into state was to win again but overall break state records to really leave a lasting impression on girls wrestling,” Campbell said.

Ending the season 54-2 and winning another championship, her performance reflected the work she put in over the years.

“I think my matches went well. I think they were a good representation of my wrestling career in high school and put the cherry on top,” Campbell said.

Overall, Campbell walked away from her final high school season with another state championship and with no regrets.

“I wouldn’t do anything differently at the state. I think everything happens for a reason, and every outcome, positive and negative, was supposed to happen and shows my journey of wrestling, and I’m so grateful for that,” Campbell said.

Fellow returning state champion junior Addisyn Darling also had high goals.

“My goal going into state was to win,” Addisyn said.

As the tournament went on, her mindset began to shift.

“I think my matches went okay at state. I wrestled scared for the first half of the tournament, but when I got out of my head, I wrestled with more confidence, and my matches started to show that,” Addisyn said.

Addisyn lost in the semifinals, and that tough moment tested her mentality.

“This was a tough loss, but I had to flip my mindset and focus on my next match instead of thinking about my loss,” Addisyn said.

Addisyn won her next match but lost her final match, ending with a 4th-place medal.

“I felt like I could have wrestled better in my last match. I knew it was going to be a hard match, and I don’t feel like I wrestled to my full potential,” Addisyn said.

Another wrestler with a tough bracket at state was junior Ella Henkel, whose difficult bracket meant she was done earlier than she thought.

“First round of state, I had the one seed, who was a two-time state champ. Then my next match was the girl who ended up getting 5th,” Henkel said.

Even though she went 0-2, Henkel was proud of her performance.

“There’s not really much I could have done differently. I wrestled my hardest against the hard competition I was faced with at state,” Henkel said.

Although there were some disappointments, there were also some surprising successes,  including junior Leah Thompson, who placed 5th.

“My favorite memory was standing on the podium. It feels incredible to have everything you worked for finally be able to show,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s biggest challenge came in the quarterfinals.

“A challenge that I had to overcome at state was wrestling a double overtime match. It drains you, and I had to push through it if I wanted to be on the podium,” Thompson said.

In the end, she reached one of her goals.

“Obviously, if I could do something different at state, I would win the whole thing. But I think that I did more than what I thought I was capable of doing, so I am extremely happy with how it turned out,” Thompson said.

Rounding out the team’s medalists was freshman Hayleigh Darling, who got second place. Her goals going into the state were a little bit different.

“My goals going into state were that I am a freshman, so no matter what happens, I have three more years,” Hayleigh said.

Since this was Hayleigh’s first time at state, her nerves hit differently.

“I had to overcome nerves that were taking over my entire body before my match,” Hayleigh said.

Hayliegh lost 5-1 in the finals but reflected on her match in a different way.

“I would’ve won my last match or gone in with a positive mindset instead of being scared,” Hayleigh said.

Despite some tough challenges, the girls finished strong.

“The girls had a great season and finished in third place at state as a team, only .5 points out of second place. They really wrestled well and I was very proud of their effort and focus at the end of the season,” Krajicek said.