Seven girls compete at Sectional Wrestling Tournament

Seven of Merrill’s eight Sectional qualifiers competed in the 31-team WIAA Girls Sectional Wrestling Tournament on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at DC Everest High School. Evelyn Reinhardt, who had qualified for the Sectional meet, was unable to compete after sustaining an injury in practice.
“This was very unfortunate for Evelyn,” Merrill Girls Varsity Wrestling Head Coach Scott Arneson said. “She was wrestling well and was peaking at the end of the season. It is always difficult to have and deal with injuries which force you to not be able to compete, especially during the tournament series.”
Four of Merrill’s seven competing wrestlers were eliminated following first-round losses. “Liberty Fuchs, Madie Geiss, Kendell Klug, and Abby Krueger competed hard but were unable to win their first-round matches,” Arneson said. In Sectional play, a first-round loss means elimination from the tournament.
Adison Clark (132 lbs.), Kaylynn Allen (138 lbs.), and Marissa Miles (165 lbs.) each advanced by pinning their opponents in the first round. Clark and Miles went on to win their semifinal matches and advance to the Championship round, while Allen fell in her semifinal. Allen bounced back to win her third-place match, finishing the day 2-1.
Both Clark and Miles competed in the Championship match but came up short in their finals bouts. Clark then faced a wrestleback match — a format in the Sectional that allows the third-place finisher to challenge the second-place finisher if the two haven’t previously met — but lost that match as well, finishing in third place with a 2-2 record. Miles did not face a wrestleback and claimed second place with a 3-0 record, earning a trip to Madison to compete in the WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament.

“Thank you to all the fans that came and supported the girls in their quest to qualify for the WIAA Individual State Tournament,” Arneson said.
Miles, who was also a State place finisher in swimming earlier this year, will represent Merrill at State. “Marissa will be better prepared this Thursday,” Arneson said.
Arneson reflected on the season with pride, crediting his assistant coaching staff and the growth of his athletes throughout the year. “All season we talked about being consistent, persistent, resilient, relentless, and respectful, and the girls on our team exude this,” he said. He issued a challenge to the program’s future leaders as well. “The answer to success is pretty simple — ‘hard work is hard: work hard; hard work works!’”
Arneson was candid about his own goals for improvement heading into the offseason. “I feel like I coached well enough to make the playoff — not good enough,” he said. “I showed the girls good technique, we were in shape physically, and we arrived to all the meets on time — where I faltered was having the girls mentally prepared for the highest level of competition. I will be working to make sure I improve in having our teams better mentally prepared.”
He also extended his gratitude to the assistant coaching staff: Bummer Weix, Josh Stutting, Jesse Severt, John Kroll, Ben and Ali Natzke, Rob Klug, Ed Fuchs, and Dom Belfiori.

Individual results:
100 — Evelyn Reinhardt — Injury Withdrawn
120 — Kendell Klug — 0-1 — DNP
126 — Madie Geiss — 0-1 — DNP
132 — Adison Clark — 2-2 — 3rd place

138 — Kaylynn Allen — 2-1 — 3rd place
145 — Abby Krueger — 0-1 — DNP
165 — Marissa Miles — 3-0 — 2nd place, State Qualifier
185 — Liberty Fuchs — 0-1 — DNP
DNP = Did not place