The MHS gym was packed with athletes and fans aplenty as they shared the hardwood in Menomonie’s first ever “Beauty and the Beast” joint event. The wrestling team and the gymnastics team competed simultaneously in the gym with the mat and the floor for routines adjacent. December 4th, the gymnastics portion started at 6:30 PM with its long winded nature and wrestling toed the line at 7 PM.
The wrestling team fought against the Marshfield Tigers as the lady Mustang’s rivaled the Grantsburg and Bloomer/Colfax gymnastics team’s. Not only did the joint events bring energy to the gym, the mix of fans multiplied it. With a surplus of cheers, chants and clapping the Mustang teams could feel the energy. This idea stemmed from many colleges attempting this type of event due to the similarities in attention to detail and body control between the art of gymnastics and the grind of wrestling giving a rare opportunity for a relentlessly exciting meet. This idea set the precedent for a new Mustangs crowd and we asked a few of the athletes that competed in the first ever “Beauty and the Beast” meet their thoughts.
“It was hard to hear the coaches because of the music and the cheering,” said the freshman starter Calin Howard. “Which is a good and a bad thing because of how many people there was for wrestling and gymnastics. It was cool and there was a lot of stuff going on. It would be fun do to again and there was a few thing you could’ve done differently but it was the first time and overall a good time.”
“I feel like the fans were really good,” said varsity sophomore Ryan Shackleton.”All the noise added to the atmosphere because it doesn’t really bother you wrestling. The gymnastics might’ve taken away from the wrestling and vice versa but I’m sure it was entertaining as a fan the whole time.”
“I liked the competition and energy from the fans since both things were going on at the same time,” said senior Luke Pember. “It was fun going against a good team and getting to show out against a home crowd. We have a new team but we still show the fans a good time getting a lot of those good wins. The music was loud but the fans were louder making it a fun place to wrestle in.”
“The whole meet created a better atmosphere for the night,” said gymnast Siah Casey. ”Normally gymnastics doesn’t get a ton of fans but with wrestling there was a big crowd. It made it really fun for the team and got people watching both sports. I would definitely want to continue this into the future for both teams’ home opener.”
“I liked the excitement all the fans brought,” said Junior gymnast Grace Nevin. ”It wasn’t boring and I would do it again for sure. It made some good learning experiences for myself and the team. The fans made it fun.”
We also asked Athletic Director Matt Riley his stance on the event and what type of feedback he received, looking to next year in hopes of creating an annual event. Athletic Director Riley said, “after talking with Coach Lubeck, Coach Brown, multiple gymnasts and wrestlers we received positive feedback about the Beauty and the Beast event we ran on December 4th. Our plan moving forward is to turn this into an annual event to showcase both sports.”
The Marshfield Tigers topped the Mustangs in a hard fought dual 41-23. Though the box score shows defeat, many individual performances shined through on the very first dual of the year for the Mustangs. Varsity victories include: Kenny Heim #132- Fall 1:00, Aidan Aure #138- Tech fall 18-3, Aaron Howard #157- 12-6 Decision, Luke Pember #165-5-0 Decision, Jacob Anderson #175- 4-0 Decision over the #4 ranked wrestler in D1(via Wisconsingrappler.com), and Bryce Shepard #285- 3-2 Decision.
The Lady Mustangs proved dominant with a team win in their respective tri-meet over Grantsburg & Bloomer/Colfax. With a mix of great performances from Siah Casey on bar and the beam. Siah finished the night with the best overall Mustang score of 31.225. Closely followed by teammate Grace Nevin, showing out on floor and vault. These high level performances were complemented with well rounded individual scores from Claire Mikesell-27.575, Jaelynn Fisher-25.275, and Mariah Curtis- 24.0. Overall, the Mustangs brought a solid team performance into the MHS gym, edging out Grantsburg for the team gold with 115.4 points as the competition had 115.175 and Bloomer/Colfax with 111 points to end the meet.
Looking back the event is a hit through the lense of the athletes and the coaches. The high level performances, the nonstop action, and heartfelt fans adding energy to giant combined meet. It would be great to see more support towards wrestling and gymnastics as events such as these can grow fans and add lifelong followers. Good luck to all Mustangs this season in their endeavors. A unique event like this could be a catalyst for many future seasons to come with all the positive feedback so far. Menomonie truly has a special fan base and community for high school sports.
