Here we are, ready to unveil the No. 5 entry on the list of my Top
10 favorite stories from the 2021-22 MSHSL year. The wrestling season was
historic, with competition dedicated to females held at the section and state
tournament levels for the first time. This story, which centers on one wrestler
and her family, was originally posted on March 6 …
Maddie Gallant
grew up around wrestling. Her father, Wadena-Deer Creek activities director
Norm Gallant, is a former long-time wrestling coach and Maddie was a
scorekeeper for the Wolverines when she was in junior high.
This season was different, because Maddie became a
wrestler for the first time as the only girl on the W-DC team. Her debut season
ended Saturday at the state tournament in St. Paul. It was quite a ride for the
junior.
“I’ve been going to the state tournament for a very
long time to watch,” Maddie said Sunday. “It was very different to actually be
in the tunnels and stuff.”
Not to mention on the mats. Wrestling at 138
pounds, Maddie lost in the semifinals to Eastview's Riley Myers and in the third-place
match to Jadyn Kelly of Bemidji. Through section tournaments, four girls
advanced to state in each of 10 weight classes. They wrestled right alongside
three classes of boys at Xcel Energy Center, including in Saturday night’s
championship round.
“I think it’s a great thing,” said Norm Gallant,
who returned as a part-time coach this season to assist his daughter. “I was a
wrestling coach for a long, long time. I think it’s changed so much over the
years.”
Very small numbers of girls have been part of high
school wrestling in Minnesota for more than 20 years. The first female to
qualify for the state tournament was sophomore Elissa Reinsma of Murray County
Central in 2009; she was honored with a standing ovation prior to Saturday’s
championship match.
The only other girl to wrestle at state
was Emily Shilson; competing for Centennial and Mounds View, she went to
state in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and now is a member of the women’s wrestling team
at Augsburg University.
To have 40 spots in the state tournament brackets
reserved for girls this year was a giant step forward.
“It was definitely different to wrestle other girls
when I’ve been wrestling mostly boys all season,” said Maddie. “I’m not exactly
the strongest girl around, but it’s been much more competitive wrestling a girl
than wrestling a guy.”
She said she had thought about joining the
wrestling team prior to this season, and “There was just extra encouragement
when they added it.”
She proved her mettle in the section tournament.
After losing her first match, Maddie needed to win three matches in a row to
secure a spot at state. She did so, with three pins.
Maddie has one sibling, Grace, a senior who just
completed the basketball season. Grace couldn’t be more proud of Maddie.
“I think it’s pretty impressive that she got down
there (to state),” Grace said. “Most of the other girls had done a lot more
wrestling than Maddie. I kept getting more nervous because the wrestling was so
intense, they were so tough. It’s really cool that she could be a pioneer in
this.”
Mandy Gallant, Norm’s spouse and the girls’ mom, is
a kindergarten teacher. The first tournament of the year for the Wolverines,
and Maddie’s wresting debut, was at home. Some of Mandy’s female students
were on hand to watch and afterwards they said things like, “Mom, I can do
this.”
“They wanted to practice and learn about it,” Norm
said. “It’s going to grow a lot.
“Once you’re a part of wrestling, it’s part of you
for your whole life.”
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the
leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on
Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever
you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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