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Caitlyn Kelley wins 4th state wrestling title

Youth Wrestling

By BURT ANGELI

Sports Writer

FLORENCE, Wis. — Caitlyn Kelley won her fourth state title in five years and Florence Youth Wrestling earned two more awards in last month’s Wisconsin Youth Folkstyle Tournament in Madison.

In order to qualify for the state tournament, wrestlers had to compete in one of eight regionals and place in the top two of their division.

Florence sent six wrestlers to the regional in Merrill, WI. Caitlyn Kelley, Breyson Kelley and Ely Marefke qualified for state.

“The remaining Florence grapplers wrestled hard but couldn’t punch a ticket to state,” said a team representative, noting Tucker Williams (third), Mason Butterfield (fifth) and Gunner Sternhagen (sixth).

Caitlyn Kelley, a seventh-grader at Florence Middle School, made her seventh trip to state and wrestled in the 85-pound bracket. Caitlyn received a bye in the first round, then decisioned a first-place regional qualifier 2-0.

Kelley beat her next opponent 14-0 to claim her fourth state championship. She has one year left of competition on the youth circuit before setting her sights on wrestling at the high school level as a freshman.

Breyson Kelley, a fifth-grader at Florence Elementary, wrestled in the 84-pound bracket. He notched his fourth trip to state after finishing among the top 16 wrestlers from across Wisconsin to qualify in this bracket.

Kelley posted 16-0 and 6-0 decisions before bowing to the eventual state champion 10-2.

In a 13-5 loss during his fourth match, Kelley hyper-extended his neck. The injury prevented him from wrestling the fifth-place match.

Ely Marefke, a second-grader at Florence Elementary, wrestled in the 60-pound bracket in his state debut.

“Unfortunately, Ely was unable to place but did gain experience that he’ll use to make another run at state again next year,” team representative said.

Following the state tournament, Caitlyn Kelley traveled to Oklahoma City to wrestle in her first US Marine Corps Girls National Folkstyle Tournament.

The largest all-girls tournament in the nation, she was one of only two girls from Wisconsin to wrestle in the school-girl division representing Team Wisconsin.

The daughter of Eddie and D’Nelle Kelley started by decisioning the Virginia state champion 4-1 on the center mat.

In the second match, Kelley bowed 7-1 to the eventual national champion and Pan AM US team member from Maryland.

Kelley pinned her next three opponents, including the Texas and Kansas state champions, to move on to the third-place match. She then lost 2-0 in triple overtime to the Washington state champion and placed fourth in her first trip to nationals.

“It was a great experience and I want to improve on my fourth-place finish the next time I compete here,” said Caitlyn.

In addition, she was invited to be a part of the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation schoolgirls freestyle team. Kelley will represent Wisconsin this month in a dual tournament.

She will also compete in the state freestyle tournament and Northern Plains Tournament in Minnesota in May.

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