Lady Bulldogs Pickup a Pair of Dual Wins; Gaining Momentum

As the Fall Semester comes to a close for schools around Missouri, wrestling teams around the state are trying to gain whatever advantage they can heading into the Christmas Break portion of the season.  Getting seeding criteria over some District opponents, team dual wins, or medaling at different invites, anything before the two-week “lull” that wrestling teams in Missouri face is known as Christmas Break.  If given the opportunity, all three would be ideal for any team.  

The Mexico Lady Bulldogs had the opportunity for two out of the three on Tuesday evening at a tri-meet dual hosted by Missouri Military Academy.  Hallsville and Battle HS have been traditional opponents for the Lady Bulldogs dual schedule over the past several seasons but this is the first time the duals have been at a neutral site.  While Battle is no longer a District 2 opponent (The Lady Spartans have since moved up to Class 2), Hallsville is a District opponent for Mexico.  

Mexico entered the evening winless in duals this season and with 5 tough conference dual opponents in the NCMC and was looking to right the ship to close out their dual competition in December.  

Their first-round opponent was Battle HS.  Mexico and Battle have dualed several times and the series was even going into tonight.  Both teams had a few open weight classes with Battle taking 3 out of those 4 giving them an 18-6 lead with five contested matches to go.  At 130 lbs., Battle’s Raffy Cedeno secured a pin pushing her team’s lead to 24-6.  At 135 lbs. Abby Bowen faced former teammate Jashayla Johnson.  

After a few attack attempts by both wrestlers, Bowen took advantage of a misstep by Johnson for a takedown and worked well to secure the fall.  Mexico would then win again with a pair of 3rd-period pins by Herrera (145 lbs.) and Torres (155 lbs.) to tie the dual at 24-24.  At 235 lbs., returning state finalist Alexus Johns had the opportunity to win another match (inching herself closer to the magical 100 career win mark) and help her team get their first dual win of the season.  After a scoreless 1st period, with neither wrestler able to execute an advantage.  A costly mistake was made by the Battle coaches as they told their wrestler to choose down and Johns’ best position is top.  It didn’t take long for Johns to prove this and scored a 4 -point nearfall and then a pin in the second period, giving Mexico their first dual win of the season.  

In the second round vs. Hallsville, the Lady Bulldogs were vacant where Hallsville had some girls and vice versa.  There was only one contested match and that was at the 130 lb. weight class.  Despite Hallsville winning the lone match-up at 130 lbs., Mexico was able to secure 5 forfeits to take the dual by a final score of 30-24.  

Up Next:

The Lady Bulldogs are now 2-3 on the season in dual meets. Their next dual meet opportunity will be the NCMC Dual Tournament on January 6th, which will take place at Moberly Community College Gymnasium. However, the Lady Bulldogs will see competition well before that at the tough Battle of Katy Trail tournament held in Sedalia, MO, at the Mathewson Arena this weekend. It will be the Lady Bulldogs’ first two-day tournament of the year.  There are over 50 teams scheduled to attend this tournament providing the Mexico Lady Bulldogs with a lot of opportunities to gain some quality experience and seeding criteria over any District 2 opponents.  

Below are the individual match results for each dual for the Mexico Lady Bulldogs:

Round 1:  Battle Lady Spartans 24 vs. Mexico Lady Bulldogs 30

Round 2:  Hallsville Lady Indians 24 vs. Mexico Lady Bulldogs 30