Placing top five as a team in seven out of the ten tournaments competed in–that standout statistic goes to the Lincoln East Girls wrestling team for the 2024-2025 season. The team ended their season with a strong fight in the 2025 Nebraska State Girls Wrestling Tournament on Tuesday, February 18, and Wednesday, February 19, at CHI Health Center in Omaha.
The team finished at an impressive third place in the class A tournament. All five Spartan State qualifiers placed in the top five in their weight class. Sophomores Nicole Kuta and Samara Baker both finished 5th in their weight class, (class 105 (lbs), and class 110). In class 115, senior Mileena Notaro had a gritty battle and clinched second place. Class 140 had sophomore Kyra Hains in its second place spot. Lastly, at class 170, senior Carson Shank took third place.
The team wrestled their hearts out, and even though they didn’t win the entire tournament all together, they had a remarkable season.
“My season didn’t end exactly how I wanted it to,” senior Carson Shank said. “I knew going in that I had an amazing chance of making it to the finals and winning the whole thing. Unfortunately, I fell short one match in the semis and had to wrestle back to get third. Looking back on my season I ended 52-7, and I couldn’t be more proud of myself and how hard I prepared for that tournament.”
For the first time this year, Nebraska girls wrestling had their own separate tournament from the boys. This made the environment special, and had the arena focused solely on girls wrestling.
“The atmosphere is hard to compare, it is so exciting and tense,” senior Mileena Notaro said. “Knowing that you are at the highest competition of the year is a different feeling. It is also uplifting, you see so many girls accomplishing their dreams in being able to win matches.”
This season, the Spartans went through several challenges. The team was missing four weight classes in competition, and didn’t have a full roster of 14 competitors. This is a big deal because six team points are deducted for each forfeit, or weight class that can’t be filled. This was an especially large obstacle in dual matches.
“Our team fought a lot of injuries, sickness, and other struggles that made it hard to have all 11 girls,” Notaro said.
Even through adversity, the team was able to grow significantly from last year. The program went from producing three State qualifiers last year to five this year. Last year only two girls placed at State, and this year all five qualifiers placed. The future of Lincoln East Girls wrestling is positive, thanks to strong leadership, and admirable work ethic.
