Perkins County girls wrap up inaugural wrestling season

by Diane Stamm

Grant tribune-sentinel

The first time doing anything usually comes with its share of learning experiences.

Perkins County senior Sarah Cockerill, junior Layla Vigil and freshmen Haley Dunn and Addison Baker faced those challenges head on as members of the first ever Perkins County girls wrestling team this season.

“We had four girls come to sign-ups for girls wrestling back in the fall and I’m happy to say all four stuck it out through all the ups and downs,” PCS Head Coach Ed Dunn said.

Dunn recognizes the enormity of what the four accomplished.

“These amazing young women stepped up to blaze a trail that had never been an option at Perkins County until this year, in fact it wasn’t an option across the state of Nebraska until last year,” he said. 

The Nebraska Schools Activities Association held its first girls districts and state championships last season.

This year saw a large increase in the number of tournaments specifically for girls teams.

None of the PCS team had wrestled before this year, let alone competed in front of a packed gym at tournaments, Dunn said. 

“These four were up to the task, never backing at any task given to them and always giving 110 percent,” Dunn added.  

Dunn served as the girls team’s coach and credited boys Head Coach Tanner Collins and Assistant Coach Austin Thelander for their help.

Collins and Thelander “were instrumental in getting these young women up to speed, as it is a lot to learn in a short amount of time,” Dunn said.

Dunn highlighted what each of his athletes brought to the table.

“Cockerill would come to practice day after day with notes so she could go home and search for videos of the moves we were teaching them,” he said. 

Vigil was technical and methodical in her approach to wrestling, never afraid to ask a question and intent and getting every move done correctly, according to Dunn. 

As for the freshmen, Haley Dunn and Baker were extremely fun to coach and both wanted to soak up all the wrestling knowledge they could, Dunn said. 

As the sport continues to grow in western Nebraska, not every boys tournament had a corresponding girls tournament.

“The season got off to a good start but had some hurdles as some of the boys tournaments did not have a girls division so we tried to find tournaments when and where we could,” Dunn explained.

The Plainsmen had tourneys at Southwest, Southern Valley and McCook, before the weather kept the team home from Sutherland.

“Then the snow hit and it threw everything for a loop,” Dunn said.

January invites included Garden County, Chase County and Chadron, plus the Perkins County JV Invite.

Districts were Friday and Saturday at Bridgeport.

The team battled injuries off and on through the season and districts were no different.

Only Vigil and Dunn were available.

Vigil, at 120 lbs., lost both her matches.

“Layla had a tough bracket but never showed signs of wavering, giving it her all and leaving everything on the mat. Some of the girls that they were wrestling had been competing in federation (club wrestling) for many years and quite a few had several years of experience,” Dunn said. 

Dunn, 190 lbs., came back from an ankle injury in time for districts. With only a practice-and-a-half, Dunn went 2-2 one day after her grandma’s funeral.

“That being said she competed very well going 2-2 and as a new to the sport freshman that is impressive,” Dunn acknowledged. 

Although not on the mat to end the season because of an injury, Dunn said Cockerill was the backbone of the team, always enthusiastic and hungry to learn more.  

Baker was also injured when districts rolled around.

“She always wrestled with a smile and pushed herself and her teammates to do better,” Dunn said.  

Overall, Dunn said it was a great year and everyone is excited about what next year will bring.

“I think that the small hiccups that we encountered this year with tournament scheduling will be resolved in the off season and our numbers will continue to grow,” he said, adding  this is a unique time in the State of Nebraska with the incorporation of girls wrestling into the fold of NSAA.

“I, for one, am glad that we are right there to set the tempo and keep the trail blazing hot. These four girls get to be etched into the history books at Perkins County forever, no one can ever take that from them,” he continued. 

 “It takes tremendous courage and bravery to try something new and these young women never batted an eye,” Dunn said.

He expects the sport to continue to grow across Nebraska and said there is a real possibility that district and state tournaments will mirror what the boys schedule looks like.

Girls District 4

Team Results—1. Norfolk Girls, 143.0; 2. Lexington Girls, 132.0; 3. Chadron Girls, 96.0; 4. Minden Girls, 87.0; 5.Northwest Girls, 74.0; 6. Wahoo Girls, 73.0; 7. North Platte Girls, 72.0; 8. Sandhills Valley Girls, 70.5, 9. Ainsworth Girls, 62.0; 10. Sidney Girls, 59.0; 11. West Holt Girls, 58.0; 12. Gering Girls, 47.0; 13. Valentine Girls, 44.0; 14. Bridgeport Girls, 40.0; 15. Ogallala Girls, 39.5, 16. Ansley-Litchfield Girls, 36.0; 17. Mitchell Girls, 28.0; 18. Overton Girls, 26.0; 18. Southwest Girls, 26.0; 20. Arcadia/Loup City Girls, 23.0; 21. Scottsbluff Girls, 20.5, 22. Bayard Girls, 15.0; 23. Sandhills/Thedford Girls, 14.0; 24. Gordon-Rushville Girls, 10.0; 24. South Platte Girls, 10.0; 26. Perkins County Girls, 7.0; 27. Garden County Girls, 5.0; 28. Morrill Girls, 4.0; 28. Paxton Girls, 4.0; 28. Sumner-Eddyville-Miller Girls, 4.0; 31. Hay Springs Girls, 3.0; 31. Hemingford Girls, 3.0; 33. Gothenburg Girls, 2.0; 34. Axtell Girls, 0.0; 34. Hi-Line Girls, 0.0; 34. Southern Valley Girls, 0.0

Individual results

120—Layla Vigil (2-18); lost by fall to Kyra Robbins (Bridgeport Girls), fall 1:44; lost by fall to Brooklynn Brown (North Platte Girls), fall 2:03.

190—Haley Dunn (3-8) won by fall over Isabel Serrano (Minden Girls), fall 0:53; lost by fall to Madelyn Tryon (Southwest Girls), fall 1:00; won by fall over Sari LaDeaux (Valentine Girls), fall 3:58; lost by fall to Cerelia Barrios (Gering Girls), fall 2:54.