The Warriors recently took on competition for state wrestling at the CHI Health Center and left a lasting impression on the rest of the state. Every wrestler went out and gave it their all to prove that the Warriors are the best in Nebraska.
The Warriors executed an impressive performance at districts sending eight wrestlers to the state tournament. Of those eight , the team had seven state placers including the state champion senior Addeline Graser. Along with Graser’s match win, she won the state title for the Warriors. Graser had a very dominant season ending as a two time state champion and holding a season record of 45-4. She explained how it felt to win these titles.
“Just being a state champ and a team champ it just meant a lot because it meant we achieved all our goals,” Graser said.
High school girls wrestling has only been an NSAA sanctioned sport for five years but each year it becomes more popular. The amount of support this sport has been given truly is amazing. Without the acceptance and popularity that girls wrestling has received, none of these girls would be able to do what they love. Head coach Bob Mulligan shared his gratitude about the support that his team has had.
“It’s been unbelievable the amount of support that we’ve had. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support that we have from our admin to district admin to the boys coaches to the boys team,” Mulligan said. “Westside is a really special place, obviously we all know that cause we’re here, but it’s been the biggest part why we have been so successful.”
One of the biggest goals the team had this year was to keep up the culture and create a strong bond between everyone. Based on their success, it is easy to see that they had no problem doing that. This team made goals from the start of the season and executed every single one of them. Their hard work and dedication is inspiring and will not go unnoticed. Senior Macy Barber talked about her feelings about the impact Warrior wrestling has had on her.
“Spending all four years here and transferring into here was super important to reach all of our goals and we did that and I’m super grateful to all the coaches here and it just meant a lot,” Barber said.
These girls have not disappointed all season and will be remembered for years to come. Not only have they dominated locally but they have dominated on the national level as well. They travelled to multiple national competitions throughout the season and placed in the top ten at every tournament. The growth we saw from each wrestler was very promising and showed off how great the coaching staff is. The commitment these wrestlers showed to their sport and their team was uplifting and demonstrated the values of the entire Westside community. Coach Mulligan shared his thoughts about this year’s team.
“This team was super special. I’ve said it all year long, as good as we’ve been and the good teams we’ve had, I think that this is our best team,” Mulligan said. “We finished very close in third place at state duals, won metros, won districts, and obviously won state. It’s a really, really special team that I think is gonna go down as one of the best teams that Nebraska’s had for girls wrestling.”
The Westside girls wrestling program has come a long way since the start of it but they are not done yet. Watch out for the Warriors in upcoming seasons because they won’t stop anytime soon.
