Junior Taylor Martell won her 100th match at the District tournament Jan. 29, and then won second in the state tournament Feb. 15. 

“I went to high school and club wrestling practices, worked out and stayed in shape in order to get there,” Martell said.

Martell’s next goal is to win first at state next year.

“I performed pretty well at state,” Martell said. “I placed second which is alright.”

Martell said state was challenging because it’s pretty hard to get high in the rankings.

“My goal is to win state next year and to train harder,” Martell said.

Teammates, coaches, friends and family helped motivate Martell throughout this season.

“I’m incredibly proud of her success,” wrestling coach Donovan Kleckner said. “Seeing all of her hard work paying off for her is amazing to see. As a coach you have to love it when your athletes achieve their goals or complete milestones, and she definitely checked that box off.”

Kleckner said Taylor is one of the hardest working athletes he knows.

“She wrestles outside of just the high school season,” Kleckner said. “She’s gone to numerous national tournaments and competed in a few different styles of wrestling to help her get to where she is now.”

All of Taylor’s work in and out of season has been beneficial to helping her reach 100 wins as only a junior.

“Moving forward, she will just continue to add to her overall high school record,” Kleckner said. “I believe she’s got the ability to do something this school has yet to achieve.”

Kleckner said reaching 100 wins by junior year is not done by many.

“The majority of people don’t reach 100 wins, and if they end up getting 100 wins, it’s generally in their senior season,” Kleckner said.

Martell won her first match at state in 19 seconds.

“Taylor was dominant in her matches,” Kleckner said. “She didn’t let anyone score on her until the finals match for the state championship.”

Martell won her second match at state in 49 seconds.

“She was wrestling at her peak and it really showed, making every match up to the finals look easy,” Kleckner said. “At the state tournament, with the best 16 girls in the state, that’s super impressive.”

Martell won her third match at state in three minutes and 25 seconds, and then she lost her fourth match in three minutes and 31 seconds.

“Taylor will be taking some much-needed time off to let her body heal up and then start working on freestyle and Grecko,” Kleckner said. “That’s a different style of wrestling that can greatly improve your performance for the high school season. She may even attempt some national tournaments this summer.”

Kleckner said Martell is determined to get back to the finals and hopefully have a better outcome next season.

“I know she’s a tremendous worker and she’s going to do everything she can to push to her goals,” Kleckner said.