Norskies place second at regionals, qualify four athletes to sectionals

The DeForest Norskies girls’ wrestling team has made their postseason presence known.

Taking on the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) regionals on Friday, Feb. 13, in Waupun, the Norskies placed second overall, scoring 164 team points, according to USA Bracketing.

DeForest was just three points shy of a regional title, where Beaver Dam came in first place with 167 team points.

As a result of the strong showing at regionals, four Norskies will represent DeForest at sectionals this week after placing second or better in their respective weight classes: Morgan Johnson (120 lbs), Abigail Harris (138 lbs), Rachael Kitt (100 lbs), and Jenayce Keyser (132 lbs).

Morgan Johnson (pictured) in addition to Abigail Harris (138 lbs), Rachael Kitt (100 lbs), and Jenayce Keyser (132 lbs) have moved on to sectionals in Beaver Dam this Friday.

In addition to the quartet of sectional-qualifying Norskies, the remaining athletes each placed, narrowly missing the qualifying mark for sectionals.

This list includes three third-place finishes from Paige Huber (126 lbs), Gracie Swanston (165 lbs) and Natalia Trujillo Keller (235 lbs), and a fourth-place finish Brenda Carmona (145 lbs).

Starting with Morgan Johnson, the freshman needed just one minute and 45 seconds to pin her opponent in her first-place match to claim an individual title at 120 lbs.

Momentum followed over to Abigail Harris at 138 lbs, who needed only 35 seconds to pin her opponent in her semifinal match before delivering a pin at the 2:47 mark in her first-place match to secure the second top podium finish for DeForest.

Rachael Kitt, taking on the 100-pound bracket, scored a pin at the 1:06 mark in her semifinal match before falling in a hard-fought first-place match to Poynette’s Josie Tomlinson by pin at the 5:38 mark. However, Kitt would win by “rule” in her second-place match to punch her ticket to sectionals.

Then came Jenace Keyser, who defeated her first opponent at the 3:23 mark in her semifinal match, before falling in a 9-7 decision in her first-place match. Despite this, Keyser rebounded with a pin in less than three minutes to place second overall at 132 lbs.

Sectional bracket announced

The Norskies will now compete at sectionals on Friday, Feb. 20, at Beaver Dam High School. Here is who each Norski will square off against to start their sectionals.

- Rachael Kitt (33-16) will face Ruby Torres (20-7) of Ozaukee in her quarterfinal match.

- Morgan Johnson (45-5) will face Cedarburg’s Evie Sova (22-9) in her quarterfinal match.

- Jenace Keyser (25-18) will face Maddie Hatfield (27-8) of Grafton in her quarterfinal match.

- Abigail Harris (41-9) will face Arianna Smith (32-10) of Random Lake in her quarterfinal match.

According to the WIAA, the first two finishers in each weight class in all sectionals will qualify for the State Tournament, which will take place from Thursday, Feb. 26, through Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Kohl Center in Madison.