By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It was a three-team race for the Big 8 girls wrestling championship on Wednesday in Nevada.
But in the end, Marshfield’s conference dominance continued as the Blue Jays used a late surge to pass Nevada and Cassville and solidify the top spot for the fourth straight season.
Marshfield came away with four individual champions and had a total of eight wrestlers finish in the top three to earn All-Conference honors.
“I’m really proud of our team effort,” said head coach Adam Wright. “We have a couple girls out due to injury and different situations right now so we had some girls fill in today who aren’t necessarily always our varsity girls and they stepped up and got wins when we needed them. It was definitely a team effort.”
Alyxandrea Keifert took home the 110-pound championship after going 5-0 with four wins by fall. Two of them came in 41 seconds or less as she improved to 35-4 overall and earned All-Conference honors for the second year.
Macie James (30-5) took first at 125 with four falls – three of those were in less than a minute, including her first of the day in just 23 seconds. She picked up All-Conference honors for the third year in a row.
Ariaha Mcillwain, a second-place finisher two years ago, took first at 135 with three wins by fall and improved to 31-12 in the process.
And Isabella Whitlock (29-6) won the title at 170 with three falls. She was a first team All-Conference honoree last season, too.
“Alyxandrea Keifert had one girl in her bracket who had beaten her before and another who was always a really close match with us so some really good competition and she was still able to come out on top,” Wright said. “Macie James at 125, she’s a hammer. She’s a senior for us so I was happy she got her conference championship and she dominated today. Ariaha Mcillwain at 135 was out all last year as a sophomore with a torn ACL so she got to come back this year and win the conference championship. I’m really happy for her. And Isabella Whitlock at 170 avenged a loss to the girl from Reeds Spring from previously in the year and she got her pinned in the first period to win conference.
“There’s no better time than now for our girls to be peaking because we’re getting towards the end of the season when things matter most.”
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Marshfield’s other All-Conference wrestlers were Bianca Dockery (19-10), who placed second at 105 and is a two-time Big 8 placer; Avery Clinton (16-22), who was third at 130; Camryn Elliott (27-9), who finished second at 140; and Abygail Spencer (17-16), who finished third at 145.
Cassville once again a top finisher
Cassville proved again it’s one of the top programs in the conference with the Wildcats nabbing second place.
Cassville matched Marshfield with four individual champions and had two others earn All-Conference honors.
Annie Moore (34-5) won the 115-pound bracket with three falls, Kailey Artherton (29-6) won at 120 with two falls, Faith James (35-3) took first at 130 with three falls, and Hailey Roark (31-9) was the champion at 140 with four falls.
Moore and Artherton grabbed conference championships for the fourth year, while Roark and James each finished first for the third time.
Kennedy Truman (19-15) finished third at 110 for the Wildcats and Taylor Glidewell (22-10) finished second at 190 to earn All-Conference honors for the third time.
“We’re continuing what we’ve done all year,” Cassville coach Nathan Fortner said. “We’ve got a couple veteran wrestlers and also some new wrestlers to the program. They’re growing and learning kind of along with the veterans. Most of our veterans took first today, which is good.”
“I think some of our new wrestlers are closing the gaps on some of that tougher competition, which is good going into districts because we want to take as many as we can to state,” he said.
Host Nevada was led by first-place finishes from Averi Dawn (18-6) at 100 pounds and Drew Leer (0-0) at 235. Five others made it to the podium: Sydnee Baldwin (31-6) was second at 110, Lauren Sloniker (11-13) was second at 130, Mallory Wiggans (12-23) was third at 135, Teresa Dawn (25-9) was second at 145 and Ella Heathman (29-10) was second at 155.
Seneca was the only other school with multiple winners. Liberty Cornell (35-3) won at 155 and Isabella Renfo (34-0) stayed unbeaten at 190. Louzella Graham (29-9) was second at 115 and Tessa Kinslow (18-18) was second at 125.
Monett’s top wrestler was Mary Jastal (23-3), the champion at 105 pounds. Jenna Spencer (18-6) took third at 115 and Brooke Bluel (18-11) was second at 120.
Stacy Lopez-Apolinar (23-2) led McDonald County with a first-place finish at 145. The Mustangs had three others on the podium: Rylie Huston was second at 135, Helen Martinez-Mazariegos (15-16) was third at 155 and Gisel Aragon (18-6) was third at 170.
Aurora’s Jasmine Koehler (12-10) finished third at 140.
Logan-Rogersville’s Gabbie Bybee (11-10) took third at 125.
Reeds Spring’s Blaiklee Cagle (21-5) took second at 170.
Team scores
Marshfield 184
Cassville 158
Nevada 155
Seneca 96
McDonald County 87
Reeds Spring 50
Monett 39
Aurora 27
Logan-Rogersville 22
