Most seniors have a certain mindset coming in to their final season of a sport, as they approach the end of their journey. This is especially true for Yutan’s senior wrestlers Aubrie and Alexis Pehrson, who were freshman when girls wrestling was first sanctioned in Nebraska.

“It’s my last go round, and it’s crazy to think that in three months, it’ll be over, so in three months, I’ll know how my season played out,” Aubrie said. “I just need to focus on having fun and working hard. Whatever happens, happens.”

For Alexis, this journey actually started when she was seven years old and wanted to try the sport because her older brother wrestled, though she didn’t hit the mat until she moved in first grade. 

“So we were living in Hastings, and I asked if I could come to [my brother’s] practices, and my dad was like, no, no, because he had never seen girls wrestling or anything like that. It was a boy sport for all he knew, but then when we moved to Wahoo, there was a girl in my grade who was wrestling, and I saw that,” Alexis said. “It got me really excited, so I told my dad about it, and then the next day, I went to a practice, and I’ve been with it ever since.”

After Aubrie saw her twin sister wrestling, she decided to join.

“I decided to start wrestling in third grade because Alexis had done it…And at first I was really scared to go out, and I was never used to seeing girls who wrestled,” Aubrie said. “I was more like a girly girl. But then after a few years, I decided to give it a chance.”

After the Pehrson twins started wrestling, they continued to do club wrestling at CES Wrestling Academy in Lincoln through junior high and were excited to see it become an official NSAA sport during the 2021-2022 season. 

“It was interesting, for sure. It kind of felt sort of odd since we were the only two (in Yutan). I mean, it was kind of cool because we were sort of a part of the boys team but not at the same time, and we’re still that way…so [Aubrie and I] were constantly partners,” Alexis said. “We got a little tired of that. I guess it was exciting but also scary because I was a freshman. It was the first year girls wrestling had been sanctioned in the state, so I didn’t know what to expect.”

During that first year, Aubrie went undefeated with a 51-0 record, while Alexis went 46-3 with a few losses to girls outside the state, and both of them claimed a state title.

“I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the year. I did not think that I would come out as a state champion, for sure,” Alexis said. “I just didn’t think I had the confidence in myself that I could do that.”

Alexis and Aubrie used this newfound confidence to follow up just as strong their sophomore season, defending their state titles and finishing first, Alexis with a record of 42-2 and Aubrie with a record of 52-1. Besides winning another state title, the girls gained three new teammates, and other teams added a girls team bracket that was getting bigger.

“[Sophomore year] went pretty good. I only had one loss, which was to an out-of-state wrestler, and I was able to clinch another state championship. And it was a pretty fun year because we had three other girls out on the team, besides just me and my sister…Jordyn Campbell, who’s also a great wrestler and placed at state,” Aubrie said. “And then we had two new girls join who had older brothers who had wrestled, Anna and Nicole. So just a really fun team bond.”

After their sophomore year, Aubrie and Alexis decided to transfer to Skutt Catholic for their junior year, the 2023-2024 season, and this was where they faced some bumps in the road. While Aubrie went 46-6 and Alexis went 47-4, neither reached the top of the podium at state.

“Junior year was definitely different because I was at Skutt. I still was a state finalist, but I didn’t end up winning, which really stung, whether or not that had to do with the school I was at. It’s always like hindsight [is] 20/20,” Alexis said. “I didn’t really know what to expect. Well, I thought I knew what I was gonna get when I went there, but it did not turn out the way we had hoped.” 

During their time at Skutt, the twins learned valuable lessons about how things might not always be as they seem.

“I learned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. When I went to Skutt, it was not what I expected. The conditioning was not very good. The coaching wasn’t a good fit for me and my goals. So I kind of went into state last year not fully prepared,” Aubrie said. “I mean, I did everything in my power to make sure I was prepared by going on runs on my own, working with my private coaches. But that doesn’t really supplement for the lack of training that I had all throughout high school season, while other girls probably had better coaching and teammates that were there for them.”

This experience prompted the Pehrson twins to return to Yutan, where they are excited to strengthen their bonds with their old teammates and make connections with those who have since joined the team.

“Being able to grow new bonds with these girls on my team, a lot of them I’m already friends from being on the team with them sophomore year, like Jordyn and Anna, but there’s a lot of other girls who are on the team now,” Aubrie said. “I think it’ll be a really fun year. I think we’re all going to be here supporting each other and helping each other get better.”

Being the upperclassmen this year, Alexis and Aubrie are putting their experience to work by leading their teammates in positivity and helpfulness.

“I’ve heard even the new girls say, during conditioning, they’re just so positive about it and tell us we’re doing a good job. Because they might not always be the most fiery people on the mat, and they’re not screaming and yelling or getting people hyped up, but they’re so positive,” Yutan girls wrestling coach Michael Swanson said. “They know that everybody has a chance to win on the team, and they do their best job.”

The girls wrestling team is also ready to help Aubrie and Alexis achieve their goals.

“I think everybody’s really excited to push each other, like they’ve always had Jordyn kind of right behind them, being a year younger than them, so she’s been a great partner for them,” Swanson said. “So it’s gonna be great having several partners where they’re not just [with] the same person every time because that can get a little tiresome. It’s not the same person day after day after day.”

One of Aubrie and Alexis’s main goals this season is the same as it has been years prior: to win a state title. 

“After I won freshman year, I thought in my head, I want to win again next year. So in sophomore year, I won, and obviously my goal was to become a four-timer, be one of the first girls to become a four-timer in Nebraska,” Aubrie said. “Obviously, I didn’t achieve that goal, but I moved forward from it, and I’m going to go for the next greatest thing, which is winning a third state title, which I think is still pretty cool.”

Regardless of how their senior season ends, this will not be their last time on the mat, as both have committed to wrestle at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. 

“They have a pretty good girls team, and I’m really excited Aubrie is also wrestling there …I’m really excited to wrestle in college and see what I can do at the next level,” Alexis said.

For now, the Pehrson twins are excited to start their senior season and have no regrets about how their wrestling careers have played out over the years.

“Even though it would have been cool to be a four time state champion, I wouldn’t take anything back cause everything happens for a reason,” Aubrie said. “In the end, I’m glad it played out the way it did because of all the valuable lessons I learned.”