Owatonna sends 14 girls to Athena Invitational

Owatonna girls wrestling sent 14 athletes to the Athena Invitational tournament in Hopkins last week, showing off the team’s impressive numbers and wealth of talent.

Huskies athletes were split into two separate A and B brackets based off level of competition and experience.

Out of the 14 wrestlers, five braved the A brackets that were loaded with previous state champions and plenty of title contenders.

Over 600 total girls wrestlers were on site for the tournament, making it one of, if not the biggest regular-season tournament that the Huskies will compete in this year.

Taking on the A bracket were wrestlers Aniah Smith, Kayla Pastika, Lucinda Ornelas, McKayla Selle and Aliah Fischer.

Smith kicked off the day for the Huskies in her Athena Invitational debut as a seventh grader in under 99-pound bracket.

The weight class is not usually offered in Minnesota State High School League competition and won’t be available in the post-season, but competition for the Athena Invitational tournament title was still fierce.

Smith’s tournament was an immediate uphill battle as she squared off with eventual champion Sadie Christiansen from Kasson-Mantorville in the first round.

Owatonna’s seventh-grade phenom did not let the initial loss phase her and fought back to place fourth in the tournament by taking two quick bonus-point wins before losing a 12-3 major decision to Eagan sophomore Elouise Snook.

Pastika was the next wrestler to hit the mats at 106 for the Huskies and also finished fourth in her bracket.

The sophomore earned a first-round bye and started hot by pinning her Bloomington Kennedy opponent in the third period to advance to the semifinals.

Bemidji’s Taylor Merschman managed to stick Pastika in the third period to send her to the third-place match where Kasson-Mantorville’s Eliana O’Donoghue won by fall in the first period to take third.

Ornelas followed close behind at 112 pounds but had a more difficult day, finishing as the lone Huskies girl to not place in her A bracket.

The junior lost a painful 10-9 sudden victory match that relegated her to the consolation bracket where she won one match by fall before being pinned herself.

Selle was the next woman up at 142 pounds and had a stellar run to finish a team-best third place.

The senior and returning state entrant earned a first-round bye and secured the pin in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, but lost to Nash-Kee-Greenway’s Jovanna Volker via second-round fall to fall to the third-place match.

Selle showed great composure to finish out with a 4-1 win over Minneapolis Roosevelt’s Sam Hinman to secure third.

The Huskies’ final wrestler to compete was Fischer, who took eighth place after medically withdrawing from the tournament.

Fischer was making her season debut and attempting to return from a serious hip injury that she sustained during an off-season tournament.

The sophomore looked like her usual self to begin the day, earning a first-round fall, but decided to withdraw following the match to preserve her health.

She still managed to finish in eighth place despite her one-match day.

Also wrestling in the Athena Invitational tournament in the B brackets were Lilyx Treadway, Aleia Glende, Makayla Glende, Cassandra Volsen, Kiley Waldhauser, Delaney Abraham, Grace Lu, Ella Montanye and Madeline Montanye.

The girls team will be back in action when the Huskies host their Owatonna Girls Classic at the high school on Friday, Dec. 19 at 4:30 p.m.