Girl grapplers make school history at state

One is her school’s first state wrestling medalist while the other is her school’s first state qualifier and medalist.

Grafton senior Audrey Hanson and Port Washington freshman Cora Stewart will go down in their schools’ history books after last weekend’s state tournament in Madison.

Stewart finished fourth at 120 pounds in the girls’ individual tourney and is the Pirates’ first state qualifier and first medalist.

“I’m really pleased with how she wrestled,” her coach and father Jim Stewart said.

“Obviously, the goal is to win a state title, but anytime you can make the podium up there is an achievement.”

Just earning a medal was tough enough.

“Her bracket was stacked. There were two other nationally ranked girls,” Stewart said.

Stewart (47-6) pinned Debra Kuss (34-9) of Mishicot in 1 minute, 51 seconds, then won a 6-1 decision over Brooke Williamson (27-4) of Kettle Moraine. In the semifinal, she lost a 14-1 major decision to Angela Bianchi (25-1) of Two Rivers, and in the third-place match she lost an 11-3 decision to Dakota Athey (48-6) of Bay Port.

Stewart said she was happy to be a participant.

“It was really cool because I grew up going and watching it every year, so being able to wrestle instead of watch was really fun,” she said.

Hanson had qualified for state before, but this time she didn’t come home empty handed, and she earned a medal among a larger pool of growing girls’ talent.

Hanson (48-6) finished sixth at 138 pounds. She beat Madelynn Lee (27-8) of Wausau West, 7-3, then was pinned in 2:44 by Marshfield’s Erika Sleznikow (53-2), who went on to win the state title.

Hanson came back to pin Maya Assad Thompson (35-7) of Madison West in 3:32 and beat Abigail Harris (46-12) of DeForest in a 12-2 decision. She lost the fifth-place match in a 14-1 major decision to Hannah Huza (48-7) of Hortonville.

“It’s my last tournament. I’m, not wrestling in college so I was just trying to have fun, and I did,” Hanson said. “It’s great that I also got a medal with that.”

She is one of three Grafton senior wrestlers. Ellie Federl qualified for state two years ago, and Maddie Hatfield wrestled this year.

“It’s kind of surreal. It’s so great to have the support with me with the managers and my coaches. Ellie has been through it all and Maddie, too — they’re helping me,” she said.

Hanson said wrestling has had a profound effect on her.

“I think it’s changed who I am. I’m just trying to build a legacy for women’s wrestling. All of the support I think really showed me what I can do for my community based on what they’ve done for me. I’m excited to see the future of Grafton girls’ wrestling,” she said.

Coach Mike Dodge was impressed.

“Audrey did amazing. It’s awesome to see her with all the work that she put in. That’s Grafton High School’s first girl medalist in school history. It was just awesome to be out there and be able to coach her all season and all these girls,” he said.

Grafton’s two boys give it their all

Grafton freshman Ryan Gartman (46-11) went 2-2 at 106 pounds. He lost, 8-0, to Michael Sirek (39-6) of Rice Lake to get into the medal round.

“He’s amazing. He works hard every day,” Dodge said. “He was just outside the medals. That’s a stepping stone. I know he’s going to digest that and get back to work.”

Dodge will be looking for more than high-end wrestling from Gartman over the next three years.

“He’s one of our guys who’s leading the way for our younger group. They’re looking at him going, ‘There’s our standard we have to get up to,’” he said.

Senior Caleb Ernst (30-15) went 0-2 at 215 pounds.

“It was great to see him get down here,” Dodge said. “I believe Caleb told me earlier this week or last week that he started wrestling as a freshman. I’m proud of the improvement he made over the last two seasons.”