Emily Carter won her first three matches and went on to a fourth-place finish Thursday at the Lady Viking Holiday Tournament in Springfield. Carter was the highest finisher for the Lady Tigers, who finished 16th out of 25 teams overall while posting several other noteworthy performances.
“I’m really happy with our girls’ efforts here. They’ve come together as a group, and they’re a good team,” said coach Eric Nolan. “The main thing is we’re just really seeing a lot of improvement.”
Nolan said he stressed to his team that the difference between a 16th-place finish and a top-tier finish is small. “About halfway through the day, we were within six points of fourth place, and we dropped anywhere from five to six matches I thought we could have won. I explained to them how close they were to taking the next step in terms of improvement.”
Millie Waterman went 3-2 during the tournament, placing sixth. Anna McBroom was 3-2, finishing ninth in her division.
Nevaeh Ghan, a first-year wrestler who entered the tournament without a win, fired off three straight victories — her first of the year — to end the day, pinning three consecutive opponents to finish ninth. Tera Vesco, another newcomer looking for her first win, finished the day with a pin. Rachel Clark finished eighth, and Abby Horn was 11th.
Carter, who struggled in the same tournament last year, was pleased with her results this time around. “Considering what happened all last year, now that I’m actually placing and medaling, it feels good, and I can definitely see improvements. Last year I was like 11th or 12th in my bracket, so to jump up quite a few spots, it feels rewarding,” she said.