Wolves are District and Conference Runner Up’s
In their first season under Levi Likens, the Twin Loup Wrestling squad continued to build off the foundations that have been laid in place over the last several years. This could be seen in the MNAC Runner-Up and the District Runner-Up plaques that the Wolves brought home this year.
Despite the relatively high number of qualifiers, Twin Loup got one wrestler through to the medal rounds at state. That was Slate Micheel a 170 pounds.
Micheel’s road to getting a medal wasn’t an easy one as he dropped his first match at state. From there, he battled back to win three straight matches and earn a sixth-place medal overall.
“State is a tough thing and I was super happy to take a lot of kids,” Likens said. “I know we didn’t get all the outcomes we wanted but that’s just sometimes how it goes.”
Also having a successful season was Slate’s sister Ally Micheel. For the second straight year, the senior competed at the Nebraska Girls Wrestling Championships held at York High School.
After winning last year, Micheel finished in third place this season at 154 pounds. Her only loss was to the eventual State Champion Tiffany Seniff of Axtell.
“This year there were even more girls and there was hardly any mat space,” Ally Micheel said. “It is so awesome to see how far the sport has come and how close we are to getting it sanctioned as an official winter sport. Walking into the tournament this year I knew it was going to be a lot tougher than last year and that I would have several matches due to my bracket size. I had some pretty big shoes to fill from winning the state championship match last year so I was a little nervous. Though I did not win it again this year I was very pleased with a third-place finish due to a severe shoulder injury I have been wrestling with all season.”
Looking ahead to next season, Likens is very excited about what’s in store for his program. The only senior from this year’s state-qualifying team is Shawn Quandt.
“I’m looking forward to next year,” Likens said. “We return almost everybody from this year’s state tournament team and we are very excited to try and make some noise next year.”