If Emily Karls had any nerves wrestling at state, the freshman certainly didn’t let it affect her on the mat.
At the 235 weight class, Karls, a freshman from McFarland, scored two wins in her debut at the 2024 WIAA State Wrestling Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 22 and Friday, Feb. 23 at the Kohl Center.
It felt great to be able to step out on the Kohl Center for the first time as a freshman and wrestle,” said Karls. “The experience is completely different from any other tournament, and the level of dedication and hard work in all competitors is high. The only thing going through my head was the next match, and how I was going to step out on the mat and give it my all.”
Karls came into the tournament with a record of 14-5 and drew the No. 13 seed, squaring off against Aliviah Walsh (24-3) of Watertown, a freshman at the No. 4 seed. In her first match of the day on Thursday, Karls scored a 7-4 victory to advance.
“Seeds, ranks, weights and grades are all just numbers,” said Karls. “You can’t let the numbers define where you’re going to end up.
“When stepping out onto the mat, I stepped out not worried about where I was seeded, my rankings, being a freshman, or being light for my weight class because it does not matter. At the end of the day, it comes down to who wants it more, and who’s going to push themselves harder to get there,” added Karls.
Later on Thursday evening, Karls lost by pinfall (1:20) to Faith Pritzlaff (37-9) of Greendale/Whintall, the No. 5 seed. Karls was not eliminated from the tournament because of her win from earlier in the day, so Karls was guaranteed to wrestle on Friday.
On Friday morning, Karls scored another win with a 2-0 decision victory over Luz Rodriguez (7-7) of Sauk Prairie, the No. 12 seed, in the consolation bracket.
Karls’ run eventually came to an end on Friday afternoon with a 1-0 decision loss to Allison Abel (31-12) of Menasha, the No. 9 seed. Karls finishes the year with a record of 16-7.
“Emily wrestled strong all throughout the state tournament,” said Monona Grove/McFarland wrestling head coach Karl Voeck. “She did awesome with the whole process, because the state tournament can be overwhelming, and she didn’t let the atmosphere get to her.”
At state, Karls had a big section of fans cheering her on from family, friends and teammates.
“I had a ton of support from my mom making jello, my coaches believing in me or my dad’s advice,” said Karls. “For everyone who came, I owe a big thanks.”
Karls also said one of her biggest supporters was her brother Joel, a junior on the Monona Grove/McFarland wrestling team.
“Although I wanted to be at state competing alongside him, unfortunately that’s not how his season ended,” said Karls. “Knowing that he was up in the stands cheering me on and coaching me made me fight more just as he would have if he was on the mat. He pushes me to become the best version I can.”
Karls reaching state caps off a strong season for the MGM wrestling program. The Silver Spartans reached team sectionals for the first time in program history and will return many wrestlers for next year’s team, including Karls.
“We made steps in the right direction again, the boys qualified for team sectionals, we had nine boys make it individually,” said Voeck. “We only lose one person from the boys lineup, so we will be coming back pretty strong hopefully. The girls had a conference champ, a state qualifier, and all of them are returning.”
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