Cali Dupree challenged herself at the Women’s National Championship.
The Nixa junior took part in the U17 and U20 bracket during the event held April 12-14 in Spokane, Washington.
She left with All-American honors in U17 and a lot of lessons from the U20 competition.
“This was the third trip for Nixa to Women’s Nationals and we had not previously had an All-American,” Nixa coach Dustin Martin said. “It is a very tough tournament with very little fluff. Cali’s ability to place in the top eight in All-American status was very rewarding for herself and the work we put into freestyle.”
Dupree won her first three matches in the U17 69 KG bracket with a pair of tech falls and a pin. She lost in the quarterfinals to Kaili Manuel from Michigan.
Dupree won her next match but lost to Angelina Jiang of California and went to the seventh-place match. There, she beat Breanne Gibbs from Moberly, the Class 1 145-pound champion, by an 11-2 decision.
“My goal was to place,” Dupree said. “It was really good competition. It is cool to be the first All-American (from Nixa) at this tournament. In my loss in the quarters, I just got beat by a better wrestler. On the backside, after the blood round, I could’ve done that match a little better. But I’m happy with what I got and how I performed.”
She said the U20 bracket was tougher, where she went 1-2 with a tech fall win and a pair of tech fall losses in the 72 KG bracket….