Junior Dempsey Atkinson reversed her fortunes, literally, as she faced off against Bloomington’s Alicia Swank during the semifinal round of the 145-pound bracket at the IHSA Girls Wrestling Regional Championships at Minooka Community High School on Saturday.
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MINOOKA — Junior Dempsey Atkinson reversed her fortunes, literally, as she faced off against Bloomington’s Alicia Swank during the semifinal round of the 145-pound bracket at the IHSA Girls Wrestling Regional Championships at Minooka Community High School on Saturday.
Representing Rochelle as the lone Lady Hub athlete in the tournament, Atkinson entered her weight class as the No. 2 seed and showed dominance in her first match, using only 44 seconds to score a first-period fall over Sandwich’s Jazmin Rios to reach the semifinals. Having clinched a top-6 finish with the victory, Atkinson moved within one match of the championship round, but fell behind against Swank, who took a 7-4 lead over Atkinson entering the third and final period.
Atkinson had scored all four of her points on reversals, but the junior pulled off her most pivotal reversal early in the third period, maneuvering around Swank for two points before turning the 7-6 deficit into a fall that clinched her spot in the championship round. Atkinson ultimately took second in her weight class and will advance to the IHSA Geneseo Sectional from Feb. 9-10.
“I just had to focus on my attacks and my movement,” Atkinson said. “If I was scored on, then I knew I had to keep the right mindset and get those reversals to win. It feels really great and I’m so happy that I got second and I can go to the next level at sectionals. I’m going to work really hard to improve over these next two weeks and hopefully finish first or second to go to state.”
Atkinson (15-3) went 2-1 over three bouts at the regional tournament, finishing second after a loss in the championship match against Minooka’s Bella Cyrkiel (34-4). In a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the weight class, Atkinson took command of the match early, holding a 4-0 lead after a takedown and a near fall during the first period. Electing the down position to start the second period, Atkinson looked to escape, but a half-nelson from Cyrkiel led to a pin.
“She ran a really heavy half so I need to work on defending that,” Atkinson said. “I thought I hit my peak at the sectional meet last year and I know I worked really hard to get there, so I think that continuing to work hard and get to my attacks will be the keys to my success at sectionals.”
Atkinson took second at the IHSA Geneseo Sectional last season, winning three matches to clinch the first-ever IHSA State Championship berth in girls wrestling at Rochelle Township High School. The junior will look to make even more history at the sectional tournament this season, as she would become the first back-to-back IHSA State Championship qualifier in RTHS history.
