By Wyatt Sparkman
Oldham County’s Tatum Millet completed her three-peat by winning the first-ever sanctioned KHSAA Girls Wrestling State Championship at 120 pounds on Saturday, Feb. 17. South Oldham placed its two wrestlers on the podium as well.
Millet secured the first time the Colonels have had two state champions in the same year since Matt Thompson and Josh Riordan in 2002. Oldham County junior Miller Brown won the boys 150-pound weight class state title on Feb. 16. Oldham County head coach Aaron Riordan, the brother of Josh, feels it’s a fulfilling experience to watch them earn a state championship.
“For them to get to that top spot on the podium, it just feels really good,” Riordan said. “I’m really happy for him, really proud of both of them. They’re really hard workers. They deserve every bit of the recognition and the opportunity, but I’m just very proud of them.”
South Oldham head coach Jesse Alford was eager to see how his wrestlers would perform in the state tournament atmosphere.
“I was kind of interested to see how they would handle it on this big floor in this giant place, and they did a good job,” Alford said. “They didn’t get starstruck or anything like that. They went out and they performed each match, made improvements based off feedback and coaching. We’ll build on that for next year.”
Millet became the first Colonel to win three wrestling state titles. Millet dominated her way to the finals with three quick first round pins. She followed with a win by fall in the championship round.
“It feels like a huge accomplishment,” Millet said. “It’s just something that nobody’s accomplished in a long time. It makes me even more happier that I was able to do it. I just want to encourage other people to go looking for that.”
Millet feels that practicing with the boys has helped her tremulously with her technique but her strength as well. During her finals match, she was tied 2-2 going into the second round. Millet gives credit to Riordan for helping her breakthrough to get the win.
“A lot of that just comes from my coaching, and Aaron being able to just tell me exactly what to do, what would work,” Millet said. “He knows a lot more than I do. I was listening to him and getting through the match and just trying my absolute hardest to tie it back up and get that pin.”
Riordan has seen Millet get better and more comfortable on her feet throughout the year. He feels Millet has become really proficient in all three phases of wrestling and sees her making continuous improvements.
“We know that she’s a special kid,” Riordan said. “She’s really, really strong. I think that’s very evident when she gets to positions where she can really take advantage of that strength. It continues to be impressive to see. I’ve watched her do the same thing for the last three girls state tournaments. She has some really good gifts, and she’s very good at putting them to use.”
Riordan is excited that KHSAA sanctioned girls wrestling, especially with how dominant Millet has been for the past few years. He believes the KHSAA is moving in the right direction with the sport.
“At this point in the history of women’s wrestling, it’s really exciting,” Riordan said. “We have a lot of girls in our youth program that I think are genuinely interested in the sport. They have a great role model in Tatum. I think it will continue to grow. You want to see it grow, but you want to see it grow the right way, not to get so big so fast that we’re not ready as a state association for it.”
Millet wants to get back up on the podium again next year, but she also wants to expand girls wrestling.
“We have a bunch of youth wrestlers that are little girls on our team,” Millet said. “We just want to encourage, to continue on up into middle school and high school. It’s really important that we get new people in and start training them and, hopefully, get them up on podiums as well. I just hope for a great season next year.”
Dragon freshman Chloe Gallahue placed fifth at 114 pounds. She secured four wins by fall, including earning a fall in the fifth place match.
“I did a whole lot better than last year, because I got fifth at regionals,” Gallahue said. “I never made it to state before, and that was entirely a new experience.”
South freshman Lexi Proudfoot earned herself an eighth place finish at 107 pounds. After losing her first match, she bounced back with a 4-2 decision win to cement a podium finish.
“It’s really cool being a part of it,” Proudfoot said. “I’m just here to be a part of it, and I just went out there to wrestle. I didn’t really expect much. I just wanted to go out there and wrestle and have fun. I’m glad I made it on the podium.”
With all South Oldham’s wrestlers being freshman and two in their first season, Alford saw a lot of improvements from them throughout the year.
“I’ve actually never coached a kid that progressed so quickly as [Proudfoot] and Rosie [Parra Jimenez] have,” Alford said. “Both of those girls just picked it up, soak it up like sponges. It was really impressive and really fun to coach, because they come in with no egos, and then, they listen. It’s really nice.”
Proudfoot wants to see more girls join.
“I want this sport to just be more open, have more competition and more fun,” Proudfoot said.
Alford wants to see numbers improve with girls wrestling, and he wants to see more coaches get involved.
“One coach going to a tournament is just not going to cut it,” Alford said. “I was getting split between mat one and mat six. That takes a lot out of you. As far as for the girls, they just need to embrace in the offseason. If this is something that they’re interested in, they need to pursue it and get more coaches, more options that they can go to during the summer and get better.”
North Oldham sophomore Iris Wells also competed at the state championship. She lost two hard-fought matches in the tournament.
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