For the first time in 22-years, Glen Lake wrestling returned to the mat for its first competition at the Manton Invitational Saturday, and the results were surprising.
“Going into it, you don’t know what to expect because we have only seen your kids wrestle against your own kids,” Glen Lake wrestling coach Luke Moeggenberg said. “We knew we were prepared, but we were at the point where we had to get new competition to see what we needed to work on. So the biggest thing for me was making sure they’re gonna go out there comfortable and prepared to safely compete.”
Glen Lake finished fifth out of 18 teams at the tournament.
The Lakers saw improvement from everybody who competed on the mat including two exceptional performances from Glen Lake junior Emily Alaimo and Henry Plamondon.
Alaimo went undefeated (5-0) and won tournament MVP for her dominant performance. Alaimo defeated two girls and three boys in the 106-pound division.
“I’d say my first (match) was probably the hardest because your first match, there are always butterflies in your stomach,” Alaimo said. “After I was told she was a state qualifier that kind of scared me going out there ... You just have confidence in yourself.”
The Lakers will be sporting both a boys and girls team for the 2023-24 winter prep season. Alaimo, who transferred from Frankfort at the end of her freshman year, had to wait a year before competing on the mat again.
“It meant a lot. Seeing my old team, it kind of just made me think about where I wanted to be and how hard I needed to work missing out on that one year,” she said. “I love my new team and I don’t regret moving at all, even though I miss my old team a lot. I think I fit really well here at Glen Lake and I’m going to accomplish a lot and let them see the aspect of everything.”
Girls wrestling is the fastest growing high school sport across the country. In 2023, there were 31,000 female wrestlers compared to 112 across the country in 1990.
Alaimo is focused on getting better every day as she is the ninth-ranked female wrestler (106). Her ultimate goal is to compete for a state title.
“Nothing comes easily,” she said.
Plamondon also had an undefeated day (5-0) in his first-ever wrestling tournament as a sophomore. Plamondon’s toughest match was the first against an opponent who out strengthened him in the 215-pound heavyweight division.
“I was able to sprawl and get him on his back. They were all good matches,” Plamondon said. “It was stressful and I was very nervous about it for the first time. Having 200 plus kids there was quite the sight and going up against kids that are bigger than you ... that was scary. But after the first two matches it was kind of just normal.”
In the first round of the tournament, the Lakers had a 9-5 overall record, which helped them compete for a top-3 spot all day long.
“They are competing against people who have a lot more mat time ... That’s huge for them and for our program, (the wins) got a lot of hype in the gymnasium right away. There were a lot of people that were paying attention to Glen Lake Wrestling,” Moeggenberg said. “We’re gonna be the underdog every night. Every time we step on a mat, we’re the underdog, and in my opinion, it’s not a bad place to be when you can step on the mat underdog and then have nothing to lose.”
Moeggenber has coached the Glen Lake youth wrestling program since 2021, which kicked off its season with practices starting last week.
Another Laker girl wrestler Peace Hawley Joppich rose to the occasion as well as boy wrestlers Luka Aucello, Sam Dykstra, and Max Galla.
“They went out and they looked like they were experienced wrestlers from the very first handshake,” Moeggenberg said. “Some of the guys that didn’t really stand out, I think maybe they were in tougher brackets, maybe didn’t handle the nerves quite as well. I think a lot of that is just something that mat time and more experience will help you overcome.”
For most of the day, Glen Lake competed for a trophy in their very first tournament in over two decades.
The opportunity of wrestling at Glen Lake has already had an immediate impact on over 20 students competing on the team.
“It takes a special person to be able to wrestle, you know, mentally, physically, emotionally. You have to be able to balance a high level of work ethic with school, with your everyday life and obviously with the sport,” Moeggenberg said. “We have so much to work on, so much ground to cover. We just have to stick with our basics and fine tune our basics before we start exploring other options and avenues as far as moves and defensive situational wrestling.”
