G/M’s Wieczorek, Eichelt set to compete in WIAA’s first-ever girls wrestling tournament

Skylar Wieczorek and Isabelle Eichelt have spent hours practicing against one another as members of the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro high school wrestling team.

The pair has handed each other bruises and bloody noses on multiple occasions, often sampling moves and strategies together since they wrestle at similar weights.

Both will compete together again on Saturday, this time in historic fashion — both Wieczorek (114-pound bracket) and Eichelt (107-pound bracket) will take part in the WIAA’s first ever girls state wrestling tournament at the La Crosse Center.

Saturday’s event will be the first WIAA certified state tournament for girls. There have been tournaments for girls the last few years through the state coaches association, but this is the first time that the WIAA will regulate and lead the event.

G/M coach Pete Peterson said girls wrestling has grown over his 20 years coaching, especially in the south. His team has had girls dating back to about 15 years ago. He said anytime a girl can compete in the sport–regardless of who it’s against–it’s good for everyone involved.

“There’s an old saying of ‘iron sharpens iron’, so when you wrestle tough matches, wrestle other individuals – girls, boys, whoever – it makes you a better wrestler,” he said.

Wieczorek looks forward to ending her career at a tournament surrounded by other girl wrestlers.

“It’s super exciting to be a part of the first ever WIAA girls state (tournament), especially because it’s my last year, and I didn’t think I was going to get one,” she said.

The G-E-T senior has been part of the wrestling program all throughout high school. She first started practicing the sport on a team in seventh grade, but her first exposure came at six years old watching her older brother.

Her coach said her style reflects that background, saying she surprises her opponents.

“She likes catching people in certain moves that traditionally wouldn’t always work,” Peterson said. “You gotta be careful when you’re wrestling her because she will hit some stuff that is interesting, so it’s fun to watch her wrestle.”

While her brothers practiced, Wieczorek and the other siblings would often hold their own wrestling ring off to the side of the mats. Over time, she decided to give the sport a shot for herself after being attracted to the individualistic aspect of wrestling.

She said the state meet will be exciting, but Wieczorek is sad to know her wrestling career is almost over. 

After wrestling at Bi-State earlier this season against some of the top girl wrestlers in the state, she is motivated. Wrestling on Saturday will make all participants ineligible to participate in the traditional state tournament.

“It’s been my whole life,” Wieczorek said of the sport. “I love the Titans with my whole heart and soul. They have created such a family here, and they pick me up. They’re all family to me.”

There have been occasions when referees, parents and other wrestlers give her trouble for participating in a sport dominated by her male peers, she said, but the G/M program has been nothing but supportive.

It helped to have Eichelt there for support, she said, and they’ve become good friends through the sport. Even on the bad days, the pair sticks together and help to support each other by wrestling it out.

Eichelt, a junior, first started wrestling in third grade. It took her a bit, she said, to adjust to the physicality of wrestling against her male opponents. “I’ll admit I got my butt kicked by a lot of guys, but honestly wrestling them only makes you better.”

Peterson praised Eichelt for her physicality, something the junior said she has found both wrestling against Wieczorek and her other teammates. Despite sometimes pushing each other to their limits, Eichelt said it only made them better.

Peterson agreed.

“She attacks really well, and she’s very aggressive,” he said of Eichelt. “She goes right after the opponent, and her technique is very solid.”

Eichelt has aspirations of reaching the podium on Saturday, and she hopes the tournament can show young girls that they don’t have to limit themselves or be told what they can and cannot do.

She has been doubted before as a girl in the sport, but she doesn’t let that get to her. To be able to wrestle with the other girls and have a shot at a state championship has been a long time coming, Eichelt said.

“I feel like they’re really including us. … There’s a bunch of people out there standing for something that isn’t normal for girls to do,” she said.