By Cody Thorn (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
PECULIAR, Mo. — Lebanon wrestling coach Matthew Neely spent a lot of time posing for photos after winning the Class 1 District 3 championship on Monday night at Raymore-Peculiar High School.
There was a reason for celebrating as it marked a fourth straight district title in only the fourth year of girls wrestling.
The defending state champions have goals of repeating at the state finals later this month but this was a milestone moment for the program.
One is the photos taken with five seniors who were part of the four straight district crowns for Lebanon.
“This one is pretty special, this is the fourth year,” Neely said. “I had a good chunk of the girls (from the start) and this is their senior year so to be able to take it out and get all four is pretty special.”
Lebanon had four district champions and the Yellowjackets have 11 total state qualifiers for the state meet that will be Feb. 17-19 back in Columbia after a one-year hiatus when it was in Independence last March. Lebanon will be vying for a third state title.
The Yellowjackets finished with 282 points and outdistanced Nixa, which was second with 158 points, over the two-day tournament that started on Saturday.
The tournament was slated for Friday and Saturday of last week but the winter storm pushed back the start to a day when a handful of schools couldn’t make it. A vote followed to decide the format: Saturday and Sunday or Saturday and Monday and the latter won when not all of the 49 schools could agree on a schedule. That meant schools like Lebanon, West Plains and Cassville would be rolling back home around midnight or later Tuesday morning.
“We are used to bizarre things so this year, this change at district, wasn’t too horrible,” Neely said.
Lebanon got titles from sophomore Lillian Cottongim, freshman Jessa Joiner, senior Quincey Glendenning and junior Taylor Johnson.
Cottongim (105) pinned Marshfield’s Josselynn Yates in 1:01 to claim the first title for Lebanon.
“It is pretty exciting that the adrenaline pump is amazing, representing my team, mainly, and my family,” she said. “It is a Lebanon win, another great thing. It was stressful, we were supposed to be here Friday and Saturday and now changed it all around. Now, wait a whole day and make weight (for) two days. It is a great span and it is exciting overall.”
Joiner (110) improved to 39-2 on the year by pinning Parkview’s Rose Le in the finals in 2:37. Joiner pinned Le in the Ozark Conference championship match on Jan. 29.
Glendenning will head to state looking for another state title after taking first as a freshman. She secured a 3-2 win over Buffalo’s Skyler Maverick in the 130-pound final. Johnson won the 141-pound title by pinning Seneca’s Kirsten Bruegel at the 1:43 mark of the first period.
Four other Lebanon wrestlers were in the finals.
Kaylyn Rogers (120) was a runner-up after falling to Harrisonville’s Chloe Herrick, who is 53-1. Bailey Joiner (135) also took second for Lebanon, falling in a nailbiter, 16-15, to Clinton’s Amitira McNack. Halea Bartel (125) finished second after falling to Nixa’s Brenya Crahan by a pin. Lebanon’s Mariyah Brumley finished second at 194.
Dream Cunningham (149) and Jasmine Alley (159) were both third for Lebanon.
Nixa finished with three district champs, with Ashlyn Eli opening up the finals by winning the 100-pound class. The two-time state champion stayed perfect on the year, 36-0, with a 12-9 decision over previously undefeated Abigail Fuglsang of Camdenton.
In the second period, Eli held a comfortable 8-2 lead over Fuglsang (34-1), who got a takedown and three nearfall points. After seeing her lead trimmed down to 8-7, a reversal bumped her lead back to 10-7.
“It was definitely one of the toughest matches I’ve wrestled,” Eli said. “Since we both came in undefeated, we didnt’ know who would win and who would lose. When she got a takedown on me, it freaked me out.”
Crahan (125) will head to state with a 33-1 mark after claiming a district title with a pin in 4:23 over Bartel. The match was close early, 3-2 in favor of Crahan, who steadily built a 10-3 lead before getting the pin.
Freshman Calyese Dupree won the 159-pound title with a pin over Waynesville’s A’Myrah Svyan with 29 seconds left in the first period.
Other area champions were Cassville’s Annie Moore (115), West Plains’ Jade Martin (149), Seneca’s Isabella Renfro (174), Central’s Catherine Dutton (194) and Camdenton’s Clara Rathmann (235).
Moore is a defending state champion and will take a 48-2 record to the state meet. Martin avenged a loss in the Ozark Conference Tournament against Lebanon’s Cunningham in the semifinals and then a minute into the finals pinned Belton’s Louise Juitt. Renfro pinned Kickapoo’s Wendy Riley-Washington in the second period, snapping the perfect season for the Chiefs’ junior who was 26-0.
Dutton hiked her season mark to 24-0 with a 6-1 decision over Lebanon’s Brumley. The two met in the conference tournament finals on Jan. 29 and Dutton won 10-9. Rathmann, a sophomore, is 26-6 on the year and will head to state for the second straight year.
