After the River Falls High School gymnastics team earned a runner-up finish at the Division 2 sectional tournament two Saturdays ago, the Wildcats traveled to Wisconsin Rapids High School last weekend where they earned a sixth-place finish in the 2023 State Gymnastics Tournament.

Ten Division 2 programs either won or finished runner-up at their respective sectional tournaments, which punched their tickets to the state championships in Wisconsin Rapids on Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4.

River Falls posted a team score of 135.33, which secured a sixth-place finish and bested four programs including Medford/Colby, Reedsburg, Platteville and Ashland. The Wildcats were less than a point away from finishing top five and just three shy of earning a top-three position.

River Falls head coach Bridgette Lensing spoke about her team’s sixth-place finish at the 2023 state championships in Wisconsin Rapids last weekend.

“Based on sectional results, we knew going into the state meet that it was going to be tough competition,” Lensing said. “Many team scores were within the same range as us. Overall, our girls had a great meet. It’s an honor to qualify for state. Hopefully, our underclassmen can learn from this experience as we move forward in our quest to qualify and place at state next year.”

River Falls has been one of the preeminent programs in the state since the WIAA began hosting the State Gymnastics Tournament in 1971. Since then, River Falls has won six championships, the fourth-most in state history.

In the 53 years of the tournament, River Falls has qualified as a team 32 times, the second most among all programs statewide. Lensing spoke about narrowly missing out on state last year and how getting there is always the team’s biggest goal.

“Last year was the first time in 20 years that our team didn’t advance to state,” Lensing said. Our sectional tournament has grown significantly in talent over the years, making the competition quite tough. State is always a goal because that’s where all the work you’ve done all season culminates. That’s always a place we want to end up.”

River Falls added to its already illustrious legacy on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats performed best in the floor exercise routine, where they posted a composite score of 36.317, the second-highest among Division 2 programs.

In the floor exercise event, River Falls had no athlete score lower than 8.30 and even had three Lady Wildcats post scores of 9.05 or higher. Freshman Ella Pierce led the team’s scoring with a 9.183.

Juniors Rylee Sabelko and Rachel Everson both posted scores above 9.0 while senior Sophia Jensen had an 8.95. River Falls freshman McKenna Cook scored an 8.30 in her state tournament debut.

“We had the second-highest floor team score in our division. That’s something the girls and us take a lot of pride in,” Lensing said. “It’s always satisfying to see that we score the highest on that event. Going forward, we’ll continue to strive for that while growing in other events.”

After the team state championships concluded Friday afternoon, all but two Lady Wildcats had their season end. The aforementioned Pierce and Sabelko both performed well enough at the West Salem sectional to qualify for individual state on Saturday, March 4.

Sabelko claimed an individual sectional championship on the balance beam and also earned fifth-place podium finishes in the vaulting and all-around events with scores of 8.80 and 35.275 respectively.

Pierce continues to be a talented young freshman. She performed so well at the West Salem sectional that she qualified for state in every event. Pierce was one of just four Division 2 freshmen that made it to state in any individual events and was the only one that qualified for the all-around.

“Ella has a lot of talent being a freshman,” Lensing said. “It’s not uncommon for a team to have a freshman performing at that level. In Ella’s case, her teammates are an amazing support system to help guide her and show her the ropes. Their support definitely was a factor in her success this year.”

Pierce’s best performance at the individual state championships was an eighth-place finish in the floor exercise. The top 10 of the leaderboard had razor-thin margins, as her 9.283 composite score was less than a quarter of a point away from winning a state championship.

She also earned 12th in the uneven bars, 14th in the all-around, 15th in vaulting and 20th in the balance beam event. Sabelko capped off an excellent season with her performance at the state championships in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday afternoon.

Sabelko finished 15th in the balance beam, 17th in vaulting and 18th in the all-around event. Lensing spoke about Sabelko and Pierce’s performances at the individual state tournament.

“With all the factors going into the individual competition such as travel, competing the day before and adapting to a format they aren’t used to, we think they had a great meet,” Lensing said. “Besides the chance to podium, as a coach it’s rewarding to see the sportsmanship between all of the gymnasts as they genuinely support each other.”

River Falls finished the 2022-23 season at the state championships in Wisconsin Rapids, its 20th such trip in the last 21 years.