By Cody Thorn (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Winning a state championship is a rare occurrence for Springfield schools when it comes to wrestling.
This year marked the 91st year MSHSAA has held a state championship for the sport – and the third for the girls – but a lot of history was made Tuesday night at Cable Dahmer Arena.
Springfield Central sophomore Catherine Dutton became the first girl wrestler from the city to win a state championship when she pinned Platte County’s KayLyn Munn in the 195-pound championship.
The showdown featured two of the top ranked wrestlers in the weight class according to the MissouriWrestling.com polls heading into the state meet. Dutton was ranked No. 1 and Munn at No. 3 – but she defeated No. 2-ranked Maggie Myracle of Ste. Genevieve in the quarterfinals. That was her first match, while Dutton’s quarterfinal was her second after barely qualifying for the state meet as the No. 3 seed out of sectionals.
“I was nervous,” said Dutton, who finished the year with a 36-2 mark after her pin in 3 minutes, 11 seconds against Munn. “I came in as the third seed so I wanted to go out and wrestle and do what I do best. Coming in as the underdog, it makes you want it more.”
Dutton initially fell behind 2-0 to Munn after the first period but won the title a little more than a minute into the second period.
She is the sixth state champion to hail from the Springfield School District and the first since Kickapoo’s Mike Wood accomplished the feat in the 125-pound class in 1999. Prior to Dutton’s title this year, Glendale was the only other school in town with a state champion, with three – 1972 and two in 1980.
Central will hold the distinction of having the first girl state qualifier in Hailey Norman in 2019 and now Dutton as the first champion.
“She is only a sophomore so we got two more years with her, we are excited for that,” Central coach Brian Pyck said. “We did lose a match at sectionals and that was an upset. We came in as the No. 3 seed and I think that was good for her. She was the underdog.”
Another first
Annie Moore’s first trip to the state finals last year resulted in a 1-2 mark for Cassville.
The sophomore showed marked improvements this year and ended up becoming the school’s first state finalist and then the first state champion.
Moore (112) ended with a pin over Staley’s Chloe Sheckells in 3:02, but had just taken a 6-3 lead on a reversal before getting the fall over a returning state medalist.
That was Moore’s third pin in the tournament and her reward was a trip to the Cheesecake Factory.
“At the beginning of the year, I would have never thought I would win the state championship,” Moore said.
While she may not have expected it, her coach knows how good she can be.
“Every time Annie steps on the mat, girls should be worried,” Coach Nathan Fortner said. “She pinned her way through the entire state tournament. She definitely showed dominance this year. It is a long day and there is a lot of pressure. You have to stay focused. It can all come down to one minor mistake.”
While Moore was the only medalist for the Wildcats, there were some close calls. Kailey Atherton (122/40-7 on year), Hailey Roark (132/35-9) and Faith James (137/19-7) all reached the consolation semifinals but lost for the right to move to the fifth-place match.
Nixa takes two titles
With having only two state qualifiers, the Eagles tied for fifth place in the team standings with 56 points – only three points away from a trophy.
Ashlyn Eli (102) and Brenya Crahan (122) did the most they could – both winning state championships.
Eli, a junior, won her second straight title by getting an 8-2 decision over Lindbergh’s Audrey Scherer in the finals. A takedown and two near-fall points made it 4-0 in the first and the lead grew to 8-0 in the second period.
“It feels so great, but I never thought I would actually do it,” Eli said of repeating. “It was tougher than last year, much tougher.”
The win was the 69th in a row for Eli, who last lost on Dec. 22 to Petyon Hand of Choctaw, Oklahoma in the Kansas City Stampede in 2019.
It also marked the first time all year that Eli (42-0) had a match go into the third period. She pinned both Eureka’s Lilly McCollum and Washington’s Julia Donnelly in the first period.
Crahan, a freshman, started off her high school career with a title by pinning Lebanon’s Halea Bartel in 3:21. Crahan went up 4-0 on a takedown and near fall early before getting the pin in the second period.
It was the seventh meeting this season between Crahan and Bartel. Crahan beat her in the district and sectional finals and won six of the seven showdowns.
“It helped a lot knowing her and I know they have been working to beat me,” Crahan said, who was looking forward to the team dinner at a nearby Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen.
Crahan, who finished 46-3 this year, is already looking toward winning four state titles and got the first one under her belt.
“It was our goal to win both,” Nixa coach Dustin Martin said. “It is a little uneasy feeling because I knew both could do it, but you like being the underdogs because the expectations aren’t there. But this is how we wanted to do it, we wanted both of them to win it.”
Tough draw
Buffalo junior Skyler Maverick reached the finals but was unable to upset Sabrina King of St. Charles.
King (32-0) built a 5-0 lead in the first period and led 7-0 over Maverick (41-4) in the second period before she got the pin with 1:10 left in the second period.
Maverick went 2-1 at state and reached the finals by beating Sikeston’s Kate Grubbs by a pin in the first period.
Other medalists
Wrestlers from schools over the area brought home medals during the third- and fifth-place portion of the events earlier on Tuesday.
Prior to Dutton winning the state championship, she picked up a 3-1 win over Buffalo’s Jada Watson in the semifinals. That was a reversal of the Sectional 3 meeting where Watson pinned Dutton. Watson (36-9) dropped her next match, getting pinned by Smith-Cotton’s Kali Butts – the same result of the sectional championship match on Feb. 20.
Willard’s Lexi Adams (151), Marshfield’s Kiana Massie and Monett’s Abigail Jastal (107) all placed fourth.
Adams reached the semifinals by beating previously undefeated Audrey McDonnell of Francis Howell, who was 17-0, pinning her in 1:32. Adams then lost to eventual champion Haley Ward in the semifinals and then lost to Grain Valley’s Sevi Aumuna, who lost her undefeated season in the semifinals but finished 27-1 with the win over Adams.
Massie lost in the semifinals to undefeated Jaycee Foeller of DeSoto – who would win the state title for the second year in a row.
Seneca’s Isabella Renfro took sixth at 174 to finish 34-10 as a freshman.
