Morgan Johnson, Abigail Harris punch ticket to state

The DeForest Norskies girls’ wrestling program will have two of its own at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Individual State Championship this week.

After the Norskies placed second as a team in regionals the previous week, DeForest sent four athletes to sectionals on Friday, Feb. 20, at Beaver Dam High School. The four Norskies in attendance were junior Abigail Harris (138 lbs), freshman Morgan Johnson (120 lbs), junior Jenace Keyser (132 lbs) and freshman Rachael Kitt (100 lbs).

After the dust settled on the mat Friday evening, two Norskies officially qualified for the Kohl Center this week: Abigail Harris and Morgan Johnson.

According to USA Bracketing, both Harris and Johnson placed second in their respective weight classes.

For Harris, the junior scored a 7-1 decision in her quarterfinal match, before needing just one minute and 49 seconds to pin her opponent in her semifinal match. Harris lost her first-place match in a hard-fought pin at the 3:39 mark, meaning if she wanted to punch her ticket to state, she had to win her second-place match.

DeForest junior Abigail Harris (left) drives Grafton senior Audrey Hanson off the mat during the championship match at 138 pounds at the Beaver Dam girls wrestling sectional on Friday. Harris lost the match by fall, but advanced to the state tournament with a second-place finish.

And that’s exactly what she did, scoring a pin at the 2:34 mark to punch her ticket to Madison.

As for Morgan Johnson, the freshman followed a similar path. In her quarterfinal match, she pinned her opponent at the 1:18 mark, before winning her semifinal match 17-0 by technical fall to move to her first-place match, where she fell in a 3-0 decision.

However, Johnson left little to no doubt in her second-place match, needing just one minute and 28 seconds to pin her opponent to become the second Norski to qualify for Individual State.

DeForest freshman Morgan Johnson works to turn Dodgeland senior Bella Firari during a wrestleback match for second place at 120 pounds at the Beaver Dam girls wrestling sectional on Friday. Johnson pinned Firari to qualify for the state tournament with a 48-6 record.

While both Harris and Johnson will represent the Norskies in Madison, DeForest had two other athletes compete at sectionals, but ultimately fell just short of a state berth.

First up was Rachael Kitt, who scored a 13-10 sudden victory in her quarterfinal match, before pinning her opponent at the 5:16 mark in her semifinal match.

Kitt dropped her first-place match by pin. In her second-place match, she fell by pin at the 3:40 mark in a hard-fought match to conclude her freshman campaign.

The Norskies also had Jenace Keyser in attendance. Keyser, who punched her ticket to sectionals after a second-place finish in the 132-pound bracket in regionals, fell in her quarterfinal match by pin at the 3:27 mark, concluding her junior season.

Where Abigail Harris and Morgan Johnson are seeded, per the WIAA

Abigail Harris (44-10) received the No. 13 seed in the 138-pound bracket. Harris will square off against No. 4 seed Hannah Huza (44-6) of Hortonville on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m.

Morgan Johnson (48-6) received the No. 6 seed in the 120-pound bracket. Johnson will face No. 11 seed Kalyce Sobotta (37-6) of Arcadia on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m.