Union Grove Girls Place Three at SLC Conference Meet

Union Grove High School’s girls wrestling program turned in a strong showing at the SLC Girls Wrestling Conference on Saturday at Westosha Central, highlighted by three podium finishes, including a runner-up performance from sophomore Brooke Dummer.

Dummer led the Broncos with a second-place finish at her weight, advancing to the championship bout after a dominant run through the top half of the bracket. She opened her day in the quarterfinals with a bye, then punched her ticket to the finals in decisive fashion, pinning Brook Henzig of Waterford in 3:18 in the semifinal round. In the title match, Dummer battled Badger’s Lilly Holden before Holden secured the fall at 5:15, leaving Dummer with a conference silver but a notable series of performances against quality competition.

Sophomore Abby Burnett also reached the medal stand, finishing fourth after a busy route through the consolation bracket. Burnett advanced out of the quarterfinals with a bye before running into eventual finalist Carley Ceshker of Badger, who earned a fall in 1:25 in the semifinals. Burnett responded with one of Union Grove’s quickest pins of the tournament, stopping Westosha Central freshman Rylee Long in 1:47 in the consolation semifinals to secure a spot in the third-place match. She closed the day with a fourth-place finish after being pinned by Waterford’s Lyla Lyon in 19 seconds.

At another weight, sophomore Zarahi (Zara) Vazquez-Flores added a third podium finish for Union Grove by taking fourth place. Vazquez-Flores drew a tough matchup in the quarterfinals and was pinned by Badger senior Ava Knudtson in 1:13, dropping her into the consolation rounds. From there she wrestled back, advancing through a consolation sub-semifinal bye and then posting a 6-1 decision over Gianna Gast of Waterford in the consolation semifinals, one of the Broncos’ key decision victories of the day. That win set up a rematch with Knudtson in the third-place match, where Knudtson again prevailed by fall at 1:51, leaving Vazquez-Flores in fourth.

Collectively, the performances of Dummer, Burnett and Vazquez-Flores gave Union Grove a solid presence on the conference podium and underscored the progress of the Broncos’ girls program against established league powers such as Badger, Waterford and Westosha Central. Dummer’s march to the finals, Burnett’s bounce-back pin in the consolation bracket and Vazquez-Flores’ controlled 6-1 decision were among the Broncos’ most decisive bouts of the meet.

With three underclassmen placing at the conference tournament, Union Grove positioned itself with a core group capable of returning and contending again in future postseason events. The experience gained in championship and consolation pressure matches at Westosha Central is expected to serve the Broncos well as they move into the next phase of the season.