Slaughter places third; girls trio fares well at state

HUNTLEY  — A trio of Huntley girls wrestlers – Jeniah Slaughter, Aubrie Rohrbacher and Taylor Casey returned from the IHSA Girls State Wrestling meet at Bloomington with two top 10 finishes and memories to last a lifetime.

Slaughter, 27-5 record, earned a third place medal Feb. 25 competing at 100 pounds. Rohrbacher placed eighth at 125 pounds with one win and Casey gained one win at 110 pounds.

“Overall, the girls wrestled great,” HHS coach BJ Bertelsman said. “Slaughter did great, of course. Rohrbacher was so close and Casey was close to being in the mix for a medal also. I think about it and those three girls have a combined five to six years experience and to be as competitive as they are against girls who have been wrestling individually for five to six years is amazing.”

Slaughter won twice in the first two rounds, by a 9-8 decision over Emily Peyton of Lincoln Way Central and by pin win 1:28 over Olivia Coll of Edwardsville to advance to the semifinal. Slaughter lost a major decision to Alex Sebek of Oak Forest, 10-2.

She bounced back quickly, with a third period pin over Chloe Wo of Joliet Central in 5:20 and beat Kameyah Young of Aurora East by pin in 0:57 for third.

“She is a bulldog,” Bertelsman said of Slaughter. “She is super explosive and packs a big punch in such a small package. She got a talk from all four coaches and needed reassurance that everything was going to be OK. Her next match after her loss, you could tell that she was a little emotionally spent. That match (against Wo) was amazing. She would have pinned her in the first, but she got called for an illegal slam and that kind of deflated her a little bit. Everyone watching disagreed with the call. She then had to come back from being down and pinned her in the third period. I heard from a couple of coaches the match was the match of the tourney. One weird and bad thing about the way the IHSA Girls State is set up is the short turn around between matches. If you aren’t ready or recovered, you are in trouble.”

Bertelsman also commented on Rohrbacher’s 30-win season.

“After a slow start in her first match, a loss to a girl she had beaten before, she got going in her next two matches,” Bertelsman said. “Two pins from a girl who led the team with 25 pins during the season was amazing. In her blood round match, a little bit of experience would have helped her out, but she will definitely be back next year. She is going to be great.”

Rohrbacher lost to Nolani Rodriquez, Waukegan, 4-3; beat Ashley Villa, Lincoln Way Central, by pin in 1:42 and lost to Amber Louderbeck, Conant, by pin in 3:19. Casey, who finished 29-6 at 110, lost to Ariana Flores, Evanston, by pin in 0:39; beat Ella Milloncus, Springfield Lamphier, 7-6 and lost to Kyley Bair, Peoria Richwoods, by pin in 3:18.