Wrestling against boys for three seasons provided the mettle Fox senior Hailie Terry has used to rule 103 pounds in competition against other girls this year.
Terry beat Seckman senior Sarah Murray by fall in 2:31 to capture the championship at 103 pounds of the Fred Ross Invitational at Lafayette on Saturday. Terry actually pinned Murray twice on Saturday, sports a record of 19-0 and has won all of her matches (save for a few forfeits) by sticking her opponents’ shoulders to the mat.
“I’ve learned that not all wrestlers are the same,” Terry said. “There are different techniques, strengths and weaknesses for each one.”
On her feet, Terry likes to attack with a high crotch move or a double-leg. She’s been in the Warriors’ wrestling room for four years and noticed there aren’t any girls’ names on the wall of state qualifiers. She’s eager to change that next month in Columbia as the girls branch out on their own state championships for the first time in Missouri.
“I always challenge myself to learn new moves for a pin,” Terry said. “So far this season, my quickest pin was in 25 seconds.”
Fox head coach Tyson Campbell said Terry is having a great season and he’s amazed at her ability to pin her opponents. Speed is a key factor in Terry’s success.
“It’s more fair for her and this is the reason MSHSAA added a women’s division,” Campbell said. “Now that she’s competing against other girls, she’s having a lot of success.”
So is Seckman senior Corrine McClure, who led Lebanon’s Kaylyn Rogers 6-2 in the 126-pound final, but Rogers turned the tables and pinned McClure at 3:14. It was just McClure’s (10-2) second loss of the season.
Unlike Terry, McClure had never wrestled before this season. She said after hearing people she knows tell her she would never try out for the sport, she told herself, ‘just watch me.’ Terry said she plays soccer, but it doesn’t match the adrenaline rush that getting on the mat provides.
“It was almost like a joke at first,” McClure said. “And I was like, ‘No, watch me. I’m going to go out and win and blow everyone’s mind.’ I love it. I’ve played other sports but it’s nothing like I’ve ever done before.”
Like Terry, McClure is quick and likes to use the double-leg.
“People expect me to come out and go full force and I take them down and catch them off guard,” she said.
The Jaguars have nine girls on the team, but Layla Carter (136 pounds) broke her ankle and is out for the season.
“The other girls are stepping up and wrestling very good,” Seckman head coach Ryan Moyer said.
“I enjoy coaching the girls. They come every day with a smile and it actually has brightened up coaching for me. That’s what’s cool about it. Some of them haven’t won a match, but they’re still coming out.”
The Seckman boys captured the boys title at Lafayette with 213.5 points and had three champions in Keegan Miller (126), Kai Orine (132) and Jeremy Ashlock (170). Miller won a 5-0 decision against Lafayette’s Desean Reese, Orine won a 10-1 major decision against the Lancers’ Jaylen Carson and Ashlock beat Lindbergh’s Micah Feliciano with a 12-3 major decision.
The Fox boys had one second-place finisher as senior Joey Johnson lost to Lebanon’s Race Cottongim at 285. It was Johnson’s fifth tournament of the season and he finished second three times before Saturday.
“(Johnson) has heavy hands and he keeps his composure the entire match and he wins a lot of close matches. He imposes his will late in matches,” Campbell said.
Hillsboro senior Joe Becker was headed for the finals at 285, but after winning his first two matches, Becker had to pull out of his match with Cottongim after twisting his ankle. Becker’s ankle was wrapped and iced after the injury.
“We were neutral, (Cottongim) took a shot and I didn’t sprawl fast enough,” Becker said. “I caught my foot underneath myself and twisted it wrong. We’ll see what’s going on after I ice it for awhile.”
Northwest captures first ever Wonder Woman title
After sweeping a tri-meet against Fox and Oakville on Jan. 3, the Northwest girls wrestling team came out on top of 48 teams at the Wonder Woman Tournament at Battle High on Saturday. Seven out of the 12 Lions who wrestled at the event won medals as they won the tournament with 192.5 points.
“We wrestled above and beyond my wildest expectations,” Northwest head coach Ron Wilhelm said. “My girls are improving at such a rapid pace and are just really falling in love with the sport.
“It was really one of the highlights of my coaching career.”
Sophia Pierick (third, 131), Taylor Murphey (third, 136), Kylee Parker (fifth, 143), Sierra Thomas (third, 152), Madi Stichling (fourth, 167), Keigan Newhouse (third, 167) and Emily Bausworth (fourth, 187) all won medals for the Lions.