Merrill Girls Varsity Wrestling Team celebrates sweet ending to their season

The Merrill Girls Varsity Wrestling Team wrapped up their 2024-25 season with a unique twist on the traditional end-of-year banquet. Instead of a dinner, the team chose to celebrate their accomplishments with an ice cream social on Sunday, Mar. 9, 2025.
Head Coach Scott Arneson highlighted the team’s motivational themes that guided them throughout the season. The girls were challenged to remember principles like “For every negative = 7 positives” and “TEAM: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.” Other team mantras included “CPR: Consistent, Persistent & Resilient,” “Win the PPMC,” and “Energy, Effort, Execution and extraORDINARY.”
Arneson didn’t just reflect on the past season but looked forward to the next, challenging his wrestlers to start improving now. He outlined what he called “The Secret to Success,” emphasizing the need for purpose, planning, persistence, and positivity.
“The reason Merrill Girls Wrestling was successful is because it has the key components for teams to be successful,” Arneson said. These components include “a great community and district that supports, great administrators/leaders that lead, a great club that works, great coaches that inspire, and great kids that work hard.”
Arneson thanked the team for a great season and encouraged everyone to prepare for next year with his signature “WAM = WE ARE MERRILL!”

During the ice cream social, several athletes were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the team. Individual performance awards went to Kaylynn Allen for Most Team Points and Most Pins, while Kendall Klug received the Most Takedowns Award.
The Academic Award highlighted the team’s excellence in the classroom, with 9 of the 14 team members achieving GPAs of 3.5 or higher. Recipients included Senior Merin Yates; Juniors Kaylynn Allen, Adison Clark, Caroline Durbin, and Liberty Fuchs; Sophomore Marissa Miles; and Freshmen Shelby Yates, Kendall Klug, and Bryanna Doerr.
Team-voted awards recognized Bryanna Doerr (Teammate Award), Kaylynn Allen (PA Award for Positive Attitude), Kendall Klug (Practice Room Warrior), Marissa Miles (Toughest Wrestler Award), and Adison Clark (Ironman Award).
The most prestigious honors, presented with plaques, went to Merin Yates (Pinnacle Award and Outstanding Wrestler), Kaylynn Allen (Leadership Award), and Shelby Yates (Bluejay Award and Most Improved Wrestler).
As the team enjoyed ice cream, the sweet treats matched the sentiment of celebration and accomplishment that exemplifed the end of the Merrill Girls Varsity Wrestling Team’s very first season as a team. It was a sweet way to end their season.