WILLIAMSBURG

A slew of strong competition at the 1A Regionals in Williamsburg this past Friday stood in the way of Highalnd’s Maiya Singbeil and her chance to qualify for the state tournament, but she was up for the challenge. 

Showing no quit, it was a great showing for Singbeil, who put up a valiant effort by advancing to the second place match, but ultimately the freshman ended the night just one spot shy of advancing to state.

“Maiya had a great performance last Friday,” Highland head coach Erin Bramble said about Singbeil’s performance at Regionals. “She knew going into this tournament it was not going to be an easy ride to the state tournament. After each match we regrouped and she put her head down and went to work.”

Singbeil went 3-2 at Williamsburg to place third in the 130 lbs bracket. First and second place advanced to state.

Singbeil won her quarterfinal match by fall in 2:28, but was then defeated in the semifinals by fall in 50 seconds to Wilton’s Kaydence Boorn. Boorn went on to place first and will head into state with an undefeated 36-0 record.

Bouncing back, Singbeil won her next two matches by fall to advance to a second place match against West Liberty’s Kiley Collins where the winner punched their ticket to state. Singbeil led 6-5 after the first period and nearly won by fall but in the second period Collins scored a reversal which led to Singbeil being defeated by fall in 2:22.

“High school tournaments are a different beast to overcome but she handled all criticism so well and applied them to her next matches, which is why I believe that she came closer than imagined this season,” coach Bramble said about Singbeil.

While it wasn’t the desired outcome it’s hard not to be optimistic about Singbeil’s wrestling future.

The freshman showed tremendous talent and growth in her first season of varsity wrestling (ending with a 21-20 record) which is only made more impressive considering her only prior wrestling experience was a single junior high season.

“Coming up just slightly short of making it really put it into perspective for her just how hard she worked this season,” coach Bramble said about Singbeil. “She has a bright future with Highland Wrestling!”

Lone Tree results

A quartet of Lady Lions battled it out at Williamsburg in pursuit of punching their ticket to state, but with no wrestlers procuring a first or runner-up finish, Lone Tree’s season came to an end.

It was a busy night for Oliva Magruder who wrestled at 130 lbs. Magruder went 3-2, with all three of her wins coming by fall (38 seconds, 1:15, and 33 seconds). In her last match she was defeated by fall in 1:21 to Highland’s Maiya Singbeil. Magruder ends her sophomore season with a 20-21 record.

Kayleigh Rundlett, wrestling at 145 lbs, went 1-2 with her lone win coming by fall in 59 seconds. Rundlett’s season came to an end in the consolation semifinals when she was defeated by fall in 1:11 against Macy Grove of Cardinal Community. The senior ends her final year wrestling for Lone Tree with a 17-17 record.

Both Alex Dautremont (140 lbs) and Ashlynn Sojka (235 lbs) went 0-2 at Regionals. Dautremont ended her senior year with a 21-21 record and Sokja finished her junior year with a 9-18 record.

In the offseason Lone Tree will say goodbye to seniors Rundlett, Dautremont, and Sami Branson.