In December of 2019, two years and change before the IHSA officially sanctioned girls wrestling as a full sport with a state series, Ottawa High School held the area’s first high school girls wrestling tournament.

Six years later, and my how the Ottawa Holiday Hootenanny has grown.

From having some 50 competitors from 11 schools in that first year to having 84 medalists emerge from a field of 185 varsity wrestlers representing 32 schools Tuesday competing on five mats simultaneously in two gyms, that exponential expansion of the sport has not been lost on La Salle-Peru senior and Tuesday’s 125-pound champion Kiely Domyancich.

“It has grown so much,” Domyancich said. ”That’s amazing to watch. Of course, then the competition gets harder, but it just really shows how this sport is taking over.

“It brings so much empowerment to females. It’s brought a lot to me, and I’m extremely grateful to the people who worked to include it in schools and get [tournaments such as] this set up.”

Domyancich defeated a familiar face and another area standout for the championship, claiming the 125-pound bracket with a hard-fought 11-3 decision against Seneca’s Sammie Greisen, a match Domyancich led throughout.

“Sammie’s my teammate from [club team Illinois Cornstars], so it’s a healthy rivalry,” Domyancich said. “Seeing how I improve and my teammates improve, that’s what carries me through my matches.”

The Illinois Valley crowned a champion on the other end of the age spectrum as well, with Marquette freshman Lily Deibel going undefeated through the 105-pound bracket capped by a dominant 15-0, technical fall over Sandwich’s Olivia Agajanian.

“It feels pretty good,” Marquette’s lone competitor said of the title. “I feel like I was a little sloppy today, but it’s OK. I’ve got to clean things up. That’s what this tournament was about.”

The area nearly had a few additional champions, most notable among them Ottawa senior Juliana Thrush. The Pirates’ entry at 235 pounds, Thrush cruised through her bracket before losing a fantastically intense championship match by a 4-2 decision to Sycamore’s Jasmine Enriquez with the entirety of Kingman Gym watching the day’s final bout after nearly eight hours of action.

“Juliana is a tough opponent, really tough,” Enriquez said of trying to hold onto her 4-2 advantage the entirety of the third and final period. “I was really just trying to get to my tie[-ups] so she couldn’t use her ties against me.”

Thrush’s second-place finish was one of five top-five placers for the host Pirates. Both Lily Gwaltney (110 pounds) and Alivia Butler (145) wrestled to third-place finishes, Jaiyden Provance (135) placed fourth, and Isabel Gwaltney (100) came in fifth.

For L-P beyond Domyancich, Lily Higgins (235) notched a fourth-place finish, with fifths recorded by Sarah Lowery (110), Emily Lowery (115) and Audri Plut (145).

Seneca received Greisen’s aforementioned runner-up finish plus a sixth courtesy of Haiden Lavarier (145).

For Sandwich beyond Agajanian’s runner-up run, Karlie Hardekopf (120) was fourth, Jazmin Rios (155) placed fifth and Jessica Rios (110) was sixth.

Morris had Zara Lugo (125) place fifth and Ivette Sedano (190) sixth.

Coal City’s Riley Kuder (130) scored a runner-up finish following a technical fall to Wheaton Academy’s Catherine Diehl in the championship.

Putnam County/Hall’s Ella Irwin (170) placed third in her bracket.

Streator saw its two top-six finishers face each other in the 115-pound third-place match – Laila Vaughn pinning teammate Payton Henson with one second left in the opening period to give Vaughn the third-place medallion and Henson the fourth-place award.

Lane Tech (128.5 team points) won the team championship ahead of second-place Conant (117). Ottawa (4th, 102.5), La Salle-Peru (7th, 86.5), Sandwich (T-8th, 74) and Streator (16th, 46) all finished in the top 20 of the 32-team field.