Central Girls Wrestling Preview: Despite smaller team, Warriors still aim for state
The Central girls wrestling team includes assistant coach Abby Heitman, Mayleigh Medberry, Reese Berns, Brynn Meyer, Kendall Wagner and head coach Colten Ledbeter. Not pictured are Crystal Goodrich and Mylee Mueller. (Photo by Willis Patenaude)
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
The growth of Central’s girls wrestling program has been something of a success story, with coach Colten Ledbeter guiding wrestlers to not just wins and appearances at state, but also in gaining more confidence and producing a mindset that is always “intent on improving” in practice and in matches.
Under Ledbeter’s leadership, the program has produced multiple state wrestlers, including two-time qualifier, senior Reese Berns, as well as junior and state qualifier last season, Mayleigh Medberry. The tandem combined for 88 victories last year and own most of the girls team records at Central. Berns currently has 114 wins and has the ability to reach 150 this year. She also has 81 pins and is closing in on her 100th. Medberry is sitting at 72 wins, and 64 pins should reach the 100 mark for both this season.
“We will be leaning on them a lot this season, both in terms of leading the team on competition days, as well as being role models for the underclassmen. Our upperclassmen are extremely important in demonstrating work ethic and how we as a team should conduct ourselves on and off the mat,” Ledbeter said.
The decorated duo will lead a smaller team of just six wrestlers, which also includes returning junior Brynn Meyer and sophomore Crystal Goodrich. Joining the team this year are two freshmen, Mylee Mueller and Kendall Wagner, who both had successful junior high seasons and placed seventh at the girls AAU state tournament last season.
“Both will be able to find a spot on our varsity line up, and will be working at learning how to translate their success in junior high to the competition they will now have at the high school level,” Ledbeter said.
The smaller team has tempered expectations for dual wins and impacts availability of practice partners. To overcome this obstacle, Ledbeter will spend time focusing on individual wrestling styles and in one-on-one situations to “develop their strengths and improve their weaknesses.”
But Ledbeter remained confident, especially when it comes to winning individual matches in the lighter and middleweight classes. That confidence is rooted in the culture he has tried to build, where a group of wrestlers are “driven in practice to get better” and are aggressive, technical wrestlers. Another reason is recent rules changes that will impact scoring this season and reward the aggressive style Ledbeter is cultivating.
This season, the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), whose guidelines are followed by the IHSAA and IGHSAU, made some rule changes. The most significant is how points are scored, with two-point takedowns now earning three points apiece. Additionally, near-fall points will be scored in two-, three- and four-point increments, with each point equating to each second a wrestler is held in a near-fall position.
“The goal in wrestling is to pin the opponent,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of sports and student services and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee, in a press release earlier this year. “Changing the near-fall points should motivate wrestlers to work for a fall.”
The changes should bode well for the program, as Ledbeter adapts his coaching style to best “utilize these changes.” The Warriors have had several months to get acclimated to the changes in practices and wrestling camps, like the one the team attended at Luther College. Clinicians taught technique, and the Warriors wrestled other teams in duals and competed in an individual tournament. Central also hosted its own wrestling camp over the summer, bringing in three NCAA wrestling national champions, David Carr, Reese Larramendy and Parker Keckeisen, to teach techniques.
This will help the team meet its goals, like winning matches and bringing home medals from state for the upperclassmen. Ledbeter indicated the underclassmens’ goals are more focused on simply improving, gaining confidence, learning their own style, finding their strengths, learning more moves and being able to compete in their matches.
As for his own goals, Ledbeter said, “My goal as a coach this season is for all of my wrestlers to end the season this year confident and happy about how they finished their season. I want each wrestler to leave everything on the mat in their last match and know they did everything they could all season to learn and compete at their best potential.”
The Warriors began their season last week, with duals at Alburnett and an invite at Bellevue.
