During her time in high school, wrestling has served as a motivating factor for Allison Vacek. That motivation will continue after her days at Warrenton, as Vacek signed her National Letter of Intent (NLI) on May 12 to wrestle and study at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.
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During her time in high school, wrestling has served as a motivating factor for Allison Vacek.
That motivation will continue after her days at Warrenton, as Vacek signed her National Letter of Intent (NLI) on May 12 to wrestle and study at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.
For all the time she’s put into helping to build the Warrenton girls’ wrestling program, Vacek said that college will be more of an experience.
A victory lap, if you will.
“I'm really excited to get to wrestle more, because it’s what gets me up in the morning,” Vacek said. “I love it. I definitely need to work on just going out there, just to have fun.”
Vacek got up each morning this past winter and earned not only a 19-7 record, but also a state berth.
Warrenton girls’ coach Clayton Olsson said that Vacek has provided the foundation for growth within his program. She was, after all, one of the first members back when the roster was a total of three.
It’s a far cry from the 11 girls that filled this year’s roster.
“For years, Alli was the foundation of our program,” Olsson said. “Her work ethic, leadership, and drive helped set the standard for the program and establish a culture of success that our other girls' wrestlers are carrying on.”
The four-time state qualifier who owns more than 100 high school wins and also a medal as the second-place finisher in Class 1 her junior year, Vacek said that working as hard as she has to build up those around her carries more weight than a simple medal.
Her legacy will endure and that’s what Vacek takes the ultimate pride in.
“To watch this program go from three to (double digits) was awesome,” Vacek said. “(We’ve worked hard) to build things up.”
Olsson said that Vacek will get the chance to build herself up in college as she’ll face a new level of competition.
“Allison will be transitioning to a new style of wrestling that I think will suit her particular wrestling style more than high school wrestling does,” Olsson said. “It will still be very challenging and she will need to push herself hard, but she has that ability in her. I believe that if she stays focused and motivated like she was in high school, she will have a lot of success.”
Vacek said she aims to stay on the ride wrestling has provided her for as long as possible.
While college may have a different atmosphere, wrestling is wrestling, and she gets to continue her passion while studying.
“I want to major in exercise science,” Vacek said. “I want to be around athletics as long as I can.”
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