Ottawa finishes 2nd at own Holiday Hootenanny Invite

OTTAWA — Ottawa junior Ava Weatherford had quite the return to the mat during Monday’s Ottawa Holiday Hootenanny Girls Wrestling Invite in Kingman Gymnasium.

In the 140-pound Elite bracket, Weatherford recorded three consecutive pinfalls, including a title victory in 4 minutes, 55 seconds over Oak Park-River Forest’s Isabella Miller.

“I’m just coming off an injury. I tore something in my quad about three weeks ago, rested, and just got the OK to come back,” Weatherford said. “In my second match today, I hit one of the best fireman’s that I’ve ever hit which I’m really happy about.

I really didn’t know much about (Miller) going into the championship (bout), but I knew it would be a tough one. In those situations, you kind of just have to adjust as the bout goes along. I felt like I was able to do that pretty well."

Morris — with Maggie Gordon (Elite 110) and Morgan Congo (Elite 170) winning titles — captured the team championship with 243 1/2 points, followed by the host Pirates (217 1/2) and third-place Plainfield South (216 1/2). Seneca (140.5) finished fifth of the 37 teams, La Salle-Peru (92.5) 16th, Sandwich (82) 18th, Streator (56) 26th, Princeton (49) 29th, Putnam County (38) 31st and Mendota (36) 33rd.

Ottawa junior Juliana Thrush also registered a solid day, recording a trio of pinfalls at 235, including a title bout victory over Glenbard North’s Asriella Wallace in 2:59.

“It was a good day,” Thrush said. “I just always want to make sure I’m ready mentally for every match. I felt like I did that very well, I was focused on what I needed to do.

“To have an event like this in our own gym has been amazing. It was so much fun to see so many girls now into the sport.”

La Salle-Peru junior Kiely Domyancich won the 115 Elite bracket with a technical fall, a pinfall, and finally an 8-4 decision over Morris’s Makensi Martin in the championship.

“That championship match was a tough one and I knew it would be after watching her earlier today,” Domyancich said. “I know I’m going to see that girl again at other tournaments and she’s going to be tough every time we wrestle.

“The biggest key for me was I took shots when I had the opportunity. That was something I didn’t do last year, but this year I want to be the aggressor. That was and will be my game plan in my matches moving forward.”

Seneca junior Catalina Pacheco recorded a technical fall at Elite 130, before back-to-back pinfalls, the second a title victory in 1:15 over Erie’s Michelle Naftzger.

“I feel like I did a good job of taking care of myself both mentally and physically the last week leading up to today,“ Pacheco said. ”I wrestled the same girl today in the semifinals (Glenbard North’s Keagan Edwards) that beat me, just took me down and cradled me quickly, a couple weeks ago. Today I was just in a way better mind state, not nervous, not anxious.

“I came here today with the sole purpose of getting first and I was able to do that. I’m really happy with how I did.”

At Elite 135, Fighting Irish junior Sammie Greisen posted a technical fall, a pinfall, then a 19-9 major decision over Princeton runner-up Izzy Gibson to win the title.

“I feel like whatever event we are at I just want to keep proving myself,” Greisen said. “The biggest thing for me is to make progress every day, whether it’s in practice or a meet. I feel like today was another step forward for me and I wrestled the way I wanted to.”

Finishing second were Sandwich’s Lydia Cartwright (Elite 110), Morris’s Makensi Martin (Elite 110) and Zara Lugo (Elite 125), L-P’s Sarah Lowery (110), and Seneca’s Emma Spittler (125) and Haiden Lavarier (135).

Earning third-place medals were Morris’s Ellie Evans (Elite 105) and Tessa Neikirk (Elite 135), Streator’s Lily Gwaltney (Elite 110), Payton Henson (Elite 115) and Laila Vaughn (Elite 120), and Mendota’s Delila Kent (Elite 170).