Cyclone wrestlers hope for strong season

With their second season right around the corner, the HCHS Cyclones girls wrestling team hopes to make some noise and earn some team victories.

“We’re really excited to get our season going,” said Cyclone Head Coach Tarah Devlin-Lawler. “We start Nov. 23 up in Holstein, and the girls are ready to get their feet wet and get back out on the mat and show what they can do. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. They’re ready to show what they’ve learned in practices, and hopefully can come out with some wins this year.”

The girls have been practicing for a few weeks now. Devlin-Lawler and assistant coach Austin Jacobsen have been giving the girls a strong message.

“We’ve emphasized a lot about finding something and doing it to the best of their ability,” she said. “If they have questions on it, being coachable and asking those questions, and always just being able to find something that they may not be very good at and just work a little bit harder each time. We’ve been working on technique and how to put things together during matches that the girls will see during matches.”

Last season, the girls had just six on their roster including Juniors Krysten Madden, Secilia Kurtz, Katie Namanny, Ivy Stevens, Paige Wildering, and Sophomore Kolbie Blum.

Stevens will not be on the team this year, but Devlin-Lawler is excited for the returners, along with some new girls on the team.

“Honestly, I think they all have a really great chance as long as they continue to work hard, and continue to improve on their techniques,” she added. “I think they all have a really good chance at getting some wins under their belts and hopefully we’ll have a little more success at regionals and have some girls head to state.”

The season opens Nov. 23 in Holstein where the girls will go up against multiple schools.

“We are going to be seeing a lot of different competition this year than we did last year,” Devlin-Lawler said. “They switched some things around with the regions with how big the girls program has gotten, so we’re just trying to hit as many tournaments and see as many teams as we can, so that when we go to Regionals we’ll have some history with some of these teams that we didn’t get to see last year.”