Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
Seven local youth and middle school wrestlers earned their bids to the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation’s (WWF) Kids Folkstyle State Championship tournament last weekend, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Of those making the voyage with hopes of bringing home the title of state champions were: Tavius Morris-(270 pound class); Wyatt Bathke-(165 pound class); Madlyn Hunter-(50 pound class); Allison Hunter-(60 pound class); Ryder Depies-(115 pound class); Tyler Leistikow-(160 pound class) and Diminitri Lo-(240 pound class).
Allison and Tavius would go on to bring home the hardware with second place finishes, while Lo finished a strong fifth.
“The state tournament was a great experience for the Merrill wrestlers,” comments Bluejay varsity head coach Brian Suchocki. “Dimintri taking fifth in his first year of wrestling is very impressive. We look forward to seeing him wrestle in high school. Allison has made several trips down to state and this year was a great year for her taking second and wrestling very well. Tavius made his first trip to state this year and moves well for a big boy. I was glad to see him get more experience and take second place. The other wrestlers competed hard, I know some were disappointed but this is all good experience for them and will make them better in the long run. It was especially nice having many Merrill fans and parents stay to the very end to watch all the Merrill wrestlers. We had great support from the Merrill wrestling community and several wrestlers came back this past week to help the state qualifiers train, which was awesome!”
