Savanna Millermon captures second state wrestling medal, places fourth with trio of pins

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MADISON – The girls’ state wrestling tournament just marked its second year of existence and already Glenwood City’s Savanna Millermon has a pair of state medals.

The Hilltoppers’ trailblazer junior copped her second consecutive state medal by going 3-2 with a trio of pins to place fourth in the girls’ 107-pound weight division at the 2023 WIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships held this past Thursday through Saturday, February 23-25 at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Millermon took third in last year’s inaugural girls’ state meet held in La Crosse.

But, in that one year since the first-ever WIAA sponsored meet, state-wide participation in girls’ wrestling has nearly doubled and the caliber of competition that Millermon faced this past weekend has grown by leaps and bounds.

“It was a far tougher tournament this year, not even a comparison,” stated Shawn Strong, Glenwood City head wrestling coach.

“Last year her (Millermon’s) first few matches were against girls you could tell didn’t have the experience,” recalled Strong. “Down here it seems like every kid she faced this year was an experienced wrestler. The sport is only going to get better.”

And so is Millermon who became the first Glenwood City girl in the program’s rich history to compete and place in two state meets.

Wrestling in Thursday afternoon’s preliminary round of 16, Millermon found herself trailing early, she surrendered a takedown to fellow junior Emma Hady (15-5) of Richland Center midway through the first period. Millermon responded a half minute later with a reversal that knotted the score at two all.

After Hady deferred her choice, Millermon took the down position to open the second period and worked a reversal less that’s 30 seconds later for her first lead at 4-2. Hady returned the favor with a reversal of her own to tie the match.

Deadlocked at four all heading into the third and final stanza, Hady choose to start the period in neutral position, eventually scoring her second takedown to go back in front 6-4. But, Millermon soon flipped positions with her third reversal and put Hady on her back, recording the pin with 21 seconds left in the match.

That victory put Millermon in the quarterfinals against another junior, Gracie Rombalski of Independence/Gilmanton, later that evening. That impressive performance ended with another pin fall.

Taking on Rombalski (7-4), in that quarterfinals’ match, Millermon struck first with a takedown just 23 second into the action. It would remain 2-0 heading into the second period where Millermon chose to take the down position after Rombalski deferred.

The Independence/Gilmanton wrestler turned Millermon to her back and scored three near fall points to jump into the lead at 3-2. But, Millermon showed her grit and determination as she worked a reversal that led to a three-point near fall of her own as she retook the advantage at 7-3. Millermon tacked on three more back points to take a 10-3 lead into the third period.

After being turned to her back twice the previous period by Millermon, Rombalski decided it was best to take the top position to open the third frame.

It didn’t help.

Millermon quickly reversed her position to start the final period for a 12-3 lead. She then rolled Rombalski to her back and scored the pin at 4:59.

With that victory, Savanna qualified for Friday night semifinals in front of a large Kohl Center crowd.

In that Friday night, bright-lights match-up, Millermon, who was ranked sixth in her weight class coming into the state meet, was paired against once-beaten and top ranked Taylor Whiting, a freshman from Oconto Falls.

Whiting lived up to her top billing dominating the semifinal contest building a 7-0 advantage after the opening period and went on to score a 14-1 triumph over Millermon.

The loss, however, did little to dampen the Topper wrestlers’ determination.

Millermon returned to the Kohl Center mats Saturday morning seemingly refreshed and refocused in her 107-pound consolation semifinal versus Menasha’s Brianna Derouin (31-4).

The Menasha senior started quickly taking Millermon down just 12 seconds into the match. Derouin then scored a reversal to open the second period for a 4-0 lead. Millermon worked a reversal to cut her deficit in half but her opponent scored another reversal to take a 6-2 lead into the final period.

That’s when Millermon took her wrestling to the next level. Beginning in the down position, Millermon quickly spun out from underneath and got control of Derouin for the reversal. Although the Menasha wrestler worked free to put her lead at 7-4, Millermon came back with her first takedown of the match and eventually turned Derouin for the pin with 30 second left in the match.

Moving into the third place match a few hours later, Millermon faced yet another state-ranked opponent, second-seeded Ava Peters, a Seymour freshman. Peters scored a first period takedown and added a quick reversal at the start of the second period to go ahead 4-0. About 30 seconds later Peters brought the match and the duo’s season to an end with a pin.

Although Millermon, who finished the year 14-5, was visibly disappointed by the outcome of her final match of the 2022-23 season, she also had reason to be prideful after finishing among the state’s very best wrestlers and setting a standard and the stage as a role model for future generations of Lady Topper wrestlers.

“We are proud of her, she competed very well. Two podiums in a row is a good thing,” concluded Coach Strong.