L-P’s Kiely Domyancich and Ottawa’s Juliana Thrush earn state medals

BLOOMINGTON — La Salle-Peru‘s Kiely Domyancich had to deal with adversity at the IHSA Girls Wrestling State Finals on Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

It didn’t stop her from taking fifth to earn the program its first medal. Ottawa‘s Juliana Thrush (35-7) also medaled, taking sixth.

Domyancich (33-4), in her second state appearance after qualifying as a freshman, opened the morning in a 115-pound blood-round match against Galesburg’s Eliana Juarez.

“My first match I ended up with a crazy bloody nose and they pretty much had to wrap up my whole face,“ Domyancich said. ”I was running out of (the five-minute) blood time and the match was tied. It was very nerve-racking, and once we restarted, I was having a hard time breathing."

Despite the circumstances, the Cavaliers' junior recorded a 6-4 win, assuring her a state medal — a first in program history.

She then dropped her consolation semifinal 3-2 to Bolingbrook’s Alejandra Flores, but defeated Burlington Central’s Victoria Macias 6-3 in the fifth-place match.

“My next two matches, even though one was a loss, I felt like I wrestled strong and smart,” Domyancich said. “I’m beat up, but happy with how I did.”

“My goal coming into the season was to make it to state and win one match. This weekend I won four and earned a medal. It’s hard to put into words how excited I am right now and excited to get back to working towards next season.”

Juliana Thrush (35-7), after winning both of her 235-pound matches on Friday, dropped three straight on Saturday but took home her second-straight sixth-place medal.

“It was a bad day for sure, just a really bad, frustrating day,” Thrush said. “I tried forcing things in every match that I shouldn’t have, and my opponents took advantage of it. In all three matches I went for hip tosses and in all three matches I ended up being taken down.”

The Pirates' junior opened the day with a pinfall loss in 2:49 to Chicago Rickover Naval Academy’s Jasmine Mejia in the championship semifinals. Then in the consolation bracket, Thrush fell to Urbana’s Lillian Disanto (pinfall, 1:06) and Moline’s Kirsten Kpoto (pinfall, 2:53) in the fifth-place match.

“This offseason I need to expand my offense approach; I need to be able to have multiple attacks,” said Thrush, a three-time sectional champion and three-time state qualifier. “My go-to is a bear hug and then toss, but I feel like this weekend showed me against the really good and strong girls that’s not always going to work. I need a Plan B and C.

“I’m happy I was able to get a medal, but it’s not where I wanted to be. I’m going to work hard in the offseason to not only get back here next season, but to finish higher.”

For Seneca, junior Catalina Pacheco (42-7) fell by technical fall (19-4, 5:55) in her blood round match to Nyah Lovis of Chicago Lane ay 130 pounds, while Fighting Irish junior Sammie Greisen (41-10) also dropped her 135-pound match in the blood round, falling to Dwight’s Avery Crouch by a 12-4 major decision.