Wrestling: Lady Hubs make history at first-ever Interstate 8 tournament

Macias and Atkinson bring home Rochelle's first conference titles in girls wrestling

By Russ Hodges, Sports Editor
Posted 1/23/24

Sophomore Cammyla Macias was mentally tough as she took the mat for the first-ever Interstate 8 Conference Girls Wrestling Championships at Rochelle Township High School on Saturday.

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Wrestling: Lady Hubs make history at first-ever Interstate 8 tournament

Macias and Atkinson bring home Rochelle's first conference titles in girls wrestling

Posted

ROCHELLE — Sophomore Cammyla Macias was mentally tough as she took the mat for the first-ever Interstate 8 Conference Girls Wrestling Championships at Rochelle Township High School on Saturday. Macias wrestled with confidence in each of her two matches, dominating both of her opponents to seal the first conference title for a female wrestler in RTHS history.

Macias was one of two wrestlers who represented Rochelle in the Interstate 8 meet, which featured girls from Morris, Ottawa, Kaneland, Sycamore and LaSalle-Peru. Macias went 2-0 over two matches in the 120-pound division, cruising over Ottawa’s Emma Yawn in the semifinal round. Macias scored five early points before clinching the win with a fall late in the first period.

“It means a lot to me because I’ve worked so hard this year,” Macias said. “It brought my confidence up a lot and I know I can do so much more… Both of my matches were tough for me mentally and I knew I needed to bring all I could. I really focused on myself and having positive thoughts... I think I’ve grown a lot in terms of my strength and my skills and I’ve wrestled more matches since women’s wrestling is growing. More matches means more mat time for me.”

Macias secured the conference title during the championship bout against Morris wrestler Ellie Evans, who Macias defeated with a 12-0 major decision that included multiple takedowns and scoring moves. Not long after Macias recorded her conference championship victory, junior Dempsey Atkinson became Rochelle’s second conference champion of the afternoon, claiming the 155-pound division crown with a first-period takedown and fall over Sycamore’s Ema Durst.

“It’s really cool that we had the first girls conference championship in Rochelle’s gym,” Atkinson said. “I met a lot of new girls and we were all cheering each other on. I had wrestled [Ema] before and I thought about how she wrestles. My head was in the match and I knew I had to be aggressive from the start. I’ve been feeling good and I’ve gotten a lot of work in during practice. I’m hoping that I can make it to the state meet and I’m hoping that I can peak at the state meet.”

Macias and Atkinson combined for a 3-0 record in the conference tournament. Despite fielding only two girls, Rochelle finished fifth with 33 points in the six-team field. Morris rostered 10 girls in the tournament and took first with 94.5 points, while Ottawa finished second with 81 points from seven girls. The IHSA Girls Wrestling State Series begins with the IHSA Regionals, which will be held on Friday and Saturday. Rochelle is assigned to the IHSA Minooka Regional.