Wrestling: Benson's Halle Bolduc is a trailblazer

Jan. 31—BENSON — With two older brothers, Halle Bolduc grew up around the wrestling mat. The sport had always interested her.

But, she wasn't quite ready to strap on some headgear and give wrestling a go herself.

"I've grown up watching my brothers wrestle and I've always kind of been interested in doing it," Halle said, "but I've been scared."

This summer, Halle finally made the jump. A former basketball player, Halle has embraced the physicality of wrestling, so much so that she was going through drills on Monday with gauze up her nose to prevent a nosebleed.

The Benson eighth-grader is a trailblazer for the Braves. She's the first girl to wrestle at the school, according to head coach Scott Thompson.

And last Thursday, she became the first girl in the West Central Tribune area to enter the state girls wrestling polls. Sporting a 14-3 record against girls, Halle made her debut at 10th at 132 pounds in The Guillotine's girls wrestling rankings. The girls rankings made their debut this season following the inaugural girls wrestling state tournament last season.

"I was on the bus — we were on our way to a meet at KMS — and Scott showed me," Halle said about seeing herself in the state rankings. "I was very surprised."

Thompson makes it a point to congratulate his wrestlers for making the rankings for the first time. He admits there was extra excitement in breaking the news to Halle.

"We were really excited for her because she's been working her tail off," Thompson said. "It's a big deal; it's really cool to see and it shows (first-timers) that their hard work is getting noticed. Even though that piece of paper doesn't get you anything, it's a very cool honor."

Halle is the youngest of three siblings. Her oldest brother, Nate, graduated last year and wrestled at 182. Her other brother, Nick, a junior, is 21-4 at 160 this season.

"He pushes me a lot," Halle said on being on the wrestling team with Nick. "He always helps me when I don't feel good and tells me I can do it."

Thompson added, "(Nick's) now her biggest coach and he's in her corner. You can tell she looks up to him in tough times. It's not just the brother-brother bond in the sport; the brother-sister bond can be just as huge."

Halle had her breakout performance at the Rebel Girls Tournament on Jan. 14 in Champlin Park. Competing in the 132 bracket, she reached the championship after pinning Champlin Park's Bri Voight in the quarterfinals and Cambridge-Isanti's Lucy Crapser in the semifinals. She lost the championship by first-period fall to top-ranked Joel Makem of Shakopee.

"I was not expecting to get second," Halle said. "It was a really cool experience."

Thompson has been impressed with Halle's improvement and potential. She's been wrestling for just a little more than half a year.

"She has an ability to improve more than your standard high-school kid that's been wrestling since they were a little kid," he said.

Learning moves, techniques and situational awareness were Halle's biggest hurdles early on. But each day on the mat, things get better.

"A lot of mat time helps a lot," Halle said. "And I've just been getting different experiences to help me get better."

The addition of girls wrestling has helped the sport expand immensely. In an interview with the

Rochester Post-Bulletin

, Lake City head coach Doug Vaith said there are 541 girls wrestlers in Minnesota this season, more than double of last season's 250.

After last season's state tournament, Thompson said he had multiple girls inquire about joining the wrestling team. Halle was the only one to make the leap. And with Halle's success, there's even more interest.

"There's a small group; other eighth-graders in Halle's grade are discussing it now," Thompson said. "I'm having those discussions and I'm encouraging them to start sooner rather than later.

"We're actively recruiting the next members of our girls team and we're using (Halle) for that. She's the poster girl for us right now and the success they can have and the hard work. She's having a blast."

Last week, the Minnesota State High School League announced an expansion to girls wrestling at both the section and state level.

"I'm very glad it's growing," Halle said. "It's a fun sport."

There will now be four section tournaments — up from two last season — with sections 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8. Sections 1-2 and 3-4 compete at Hastings High School. Sections 5-6 and 7-8 compete at Sartell High School. Both meets take place Feb. 11.

The first- and second-place winners from each bracket qualify for state, expanding the state bracket from four to eight.

"It's so exciting that news broke and seeing the jump that girls wrestling has made so fast," Thompson said. "Every participant we can get is good for wrestling in general; it can teach so many good life lessons. It's just an exciting time.

"Before this year we never had a girls wrestler so I didn't pay too much attention to those things. Now that we have Halle, it's fun to be involved in that side and help push it more and have a horse in the race."

A season ago, Halle observed the inaugural state girls wrestling tournament from afar. Now, she'll try to make it as a competitor.

"That would be the goal," Halle said.