Girls Wrestling: Burlington Central’s Victoria Macias, McHenry’s Emma Garrett place at inaugural state tournament

BLOOMINGTON – All Victoria Macias could think about after her third-place match at the IHSA State Tournament was how much better she could become.

The Burlington Central freshman lost her third-place match at 110 pounds on Saturday afternoon but looked straight to the future after getting her first taste of postseason wrestling.

“I think just losing those matches makes me angry, but it makes me want to come back even better next year and get my training in over the summer,” Macias said.

The freshman was one of two McHenry County-area wrestlers who competed at the inaugural IHSA State Tournament. McHenry’s Emma Garrett finished sixth at 140.

Macias fell behind early in her third-place match against Lawrenceville’s Shaina Hyre. The Rocket trailed 2-0 after one period and fell behind 6-0 in the second period before Hyre pinned herself a third-place finish.

Macias qualified for the semifinals after winning her first match by fall and her second with a 8-4 decision. She lost to Jacksonville’s Brooklyn Murphy by fall in the semifinals and defeated Morton’s Jennifer Villagomez to qualify for the third-place match.

While Macias was eager to look forward to her next three seasons, she realized the importance of what she accomplished in his first season.

“I’m just proud of myself for making it here in the first place,” Macias said. “I just wanted to do it for my family and make them proud.”

Garrett has learned a lot in her first season of wrestling, and Friday and Saturday only helped the Warrior more. The sophomore finished sixth at 140, and like Macias, couldn’t stop thinking about how much better she could become.

“I saw a lot of things that I need to work on and things that I needed to do better, but also things that I’m proud of myself for learning and perfecting to my best,” Garrett said.

Garrett fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period of her fifth-place match against Lane Tech’s Noemi Marchan before coming back to tie the match at 2 near the beginning of the second period. Marchan built 4-2 and 6-3 leads in the second period before winning 8-4.

Garrett won her first two matches before losing to Alton’s Antonia Phillips by fall in the semifinals and losing to Zion-Benton’s Rachel Williams-Henry by fall in the consolation semifinals.

The sophomore spent all season learning more about the sport and herself. Saturday’s state tournament was an eye-opening experience to all the different styles of wrestling there are in the state.

Garrett said she can’t wait to get back into the gym during the offseason to continue to grow, but what she accomplished Saturday by placing at the first state tournament will be something she holds onto forever.

“It’s indescribable how amazing it is,” Garrett said. “I owe it all to my wrestling family and my supporters, my best friends. It’s just such an honor, no matter what my placement was.”