Zoe Dempsey has continued a dominant 2025–26 season for the Lincoln-Way girls wrestling program, posting a 41–6 record at 115 pounds with 93 percent of her wins coming by bonus points while establishing herself as one of the top competitors in the Midwest.
Her success has come throughout the winter across IHSA and IWCOA competition in Illinois and national-level events, highlighted by postseason tournaments and the Dan Gable Donnybrook.
A two-time Illinois girls state placer, Dempsey now owns a 107–21 career high school record and has pinned nearly every opponent she has faced this season, with her only non-fall victory coming by a 10–1 decision.
At the 2025 Dan Gable Donnybrook, one of the deepest and most balanced girls brackets in the country, Dempsey tore through the stacked 115-pound field by pinning Kansas state placer Delaney Locke of Basehor-Linwood in the quarterfinals, returning Iowa state champion Violet Diaz of Denver in the semifinals, and returning Iowa state finalist Kiersten Swart of Mount Vernon in the championship bout. She is also the reigning Illinois freestyle state champion, adding national-level success to her folkstyle résumé while continuing to produce one of the highest pin rates in her weight class.
Up next, Dempsey and the Lincoln-Way girls program continue their push through the IHSA postseason as the state series approaches.
