The Class 1 District 1 girls wrestling tournament had more Dragons than an episode of “Game of Thrones.”
The Dragons from Ste. Genevieve won the district with 202 points after they captured five of the 14 weight classes (100, 115, 130, 140, 170), were 3-0 in championship matches against wrestlers from the Jefferson County Activities Association, and are sending nine to the Mizzou Arena in Columbia for the state championships Feb. 25-26.
The Dragons from De Soto, who hosted the district, qualified a team record seven wrestlers to state and finished second with 172 points. Since this is the last season before the state adds a third class to girls wrestling, the district makeups will look very different in 2027.
The three wrestlers from the county to win district titles were Festus seniors Addison Cupp (105) and Dani Gullet (135) and Herculaneum junior Emerson Reeves (110), all of whom are returning state medal winners.
This is the fourth trip to state for Cupp and Gullet, both of whom were third in Columbia last year. Remarkably, this is Cupp’s first district crown. She beat Hillsboro sophomore Nico Brooks in a tight 7-4 decision. Brooks finished third in the state at 100 last year. Cupp beat Brooks in overtime in an earlier bout this season.
“Addison scored off a big exchange to win that match,” Festus head coach Jarad Sheppard said. “Nico is a very tough wrestler who never stops moving so when you think you have a takedown, you don’t. We practiced our takedowns, and it paid off. Seeing Addison do that against a very quality wrestler, we were very happy with that.”
A district champion as a freshman, Gullet pinned all four opponents for her second title, including Principia senior Julian Smith with four seconds remaining in the final. Smith was second in the state at 145 last year.
“Dani wrestled a state finalist we’d never seen before, and she wrestled beautifully,” Sheppard said. “Very composed, experienced and controlled the whole match.”
Sophomore Natalie Dillon finished fourth at 120 for Festus for her first state qualification. Junior Trinity Butler was at state at 135 last year and returns at 140 after finishing second to Ste. Gen junior Keely Fallert, who is 43-1 and the defending state champion in the weight class.
“Fallert is nationally ranked. She’s the real deal,” Sheppard said. “That weight (140) is clearing out because of her. I’m very proud of how Trinity approached that match, and she had a very smart tournament, very composed.
“It was a little rough getting Natalie there, but when it’s the first time punching your (state) ticket there’s all kinds of nerves and angst. She got there, and we’ve got two weeks to prep her for more postseason matches.”
Last year, Brooks was the only Hillsboro wrestler at state, but this year she’s joined by freshman Elaine Hoth (115) and sophomore Libby Deutsch-Terry (125). Hoth pinned her first three opponents in a combined 2:00 before being pinned by Ste. Gen sophomore Aila Wolk in the final. After winning a 6-3 decision in the bubble round, Deutch-Terry finished third after a 4-1 decision over De Soto junior Judith Wolfe.
“Ever since Nico started wrestling in high school, she’s had hammer competition,” Hillsboro head coach Kole Meador said. “She’s fast, very fierce, a competitor. There’s a lot of things at the end of the day we can work on, but regardless of the level of competition, she’s there to win. She keeps incrementally getting better and I’m very proud of her.
“(Hoth) came in with a lot of skill sets. As a program and team, we’ve been getting her ready for a stage like this, and I think she has a high trajectory for her future.”
Deutsch-Terry was unseeded going into districts.
“She committed to the offseason and has put in the work, and I couldn’t be happier to see her rewarded. This is the best she’s wrestled all year, and I’m very happy with the overall performance of the team.”
Reeves is the lone member of the Blackcats to get to state for the second year in a row. She lost 12-7 in last year’s state final and has built a record of 43-5 in her march back. After winning her first district match by tech fall, Reeves pinned her next opponents, including De Soto junior Cheyenne Kincade in the final. Emerson and her sister, Eddyson, a 2024 graduate, have both won state medals at Herculaneum.
“We knew this (district final) was going to be a tough match, but Emerson came out with the right mindset, stayed in a good position, controlled the match, the pace,” Herculaneum head coach Chris Bahr said. “As a No. 1 seed, you know you’re facing a fourth-place medalist from another district and it allows you to get those first-match jitters out of the way. A lot of times the first time (at state) can be overwhelming when you look at the crowd and noise, but Emerson’s always been good under that kind of pressure. This being her third trip, I feel like she’s going to be calm, cool, collected and ready to do some business.”
Three Windsor wrestlers will make their first trips to state. Sophomore Sydnie Christopher (100) and freshmen Katie Pallme (105) and Morgan Meyer (135) all finished fourth in their brackets. A state qualifier at 125 last year for the Owls, senior Sydney Streckfuss lost a 16-7 major decision to Wolfe in the “bubble round.”
“The competition just gets tougher and tougher,” Windsor head coach Ryan Nuspl said. “Look at the 105-pound bracket, it was all JCAA teams. County wrestling is fantastic. As a coach, it means we have to train harder.
“Sydney Streckfuss had a nice season. She went deep at the KC Stampede. She’s happy with how she finished and she’s ready to move on to soccer.”