Chandni Banks walked onto the mat at the Missouri state tournament last season as a finalist. A few months later she was competing in Romania for Great Britain. For a wrestler who only started a few years ago, that trajectory is remarkable — and according to the people closest to her, it is just the […]
The 2026 USA Wrestling Southern Plains Regional Championships took place May 15-17 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The event served as a qualifier for the 52nd Annual Junior and 16U National Championships in Fargo, ND (July 10-18, 2026) and offered competition in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman across 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and Junior […]
Day 2 of the 2026 Missouri USA Freestyle and Greco State Tournament wrapped up Sunday at Wilson Logistics Arena in Springfield, completing the weekend with girls freestyle and boys Greco competition across all age groups. The headline of the day belonged to Jayden Keller, who closed out her high school career with a Junior Freestyle […]
Day 1 of the 2026 Missouri USA Freestyle and Greco State Tournament is in the books. More than 1,300 wrestlers competed Saturday at Wilson Logistics Arena in Springfield across boys freestyle and girls Greco divisions, ranging from 8U through Junior age groups. On the girls side, four clubs tied for the most gold medals in […]
The last major freestyle tournament this spring took place last Saturday at Fort Osage High School. The tournament, which is run by GroWrestling, had a total of 434 wrestlers compete and included three kids divisions, a high school 16-and-under (cadet), high school girls and a high school junior divisions. Among the high school girls, there […]
Missouri wrestlers made their mark at the 2026 US Open Championships, held April 22-26 at The Expo at World Market Center in Las Vegas. From Senior-level national team contenders to youth competitors, Show-Me State athletes competed across multiple divisions and styles throughout the week. Luke Lilledahl of NLWC/Titan Mercury Wrestling Club headlined the week for […]
Fort Osage freshman Jauzlyean Gray was dominating her match in the Class 2, 135-pound state championship bout last February at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Midway through the 135-pound title bout, with Gray holding a comfortable 13-0 lead, she laid on her back while favoring her left shoulder, which was in a brace. She used the […]
St. Michael The Archangel Catholic head coach Matt Infranca rebranded the Kumite Championships to the Kansas City Freestyle Championships. The Kansas City Freestyle Championships were presented by NEX, a premium athletic apparel company dedicated to fueling ambition in athletes at every level. NEX designs performance gear, lifestyle fleece, and modern streetwear built for athletes and […]
Council Bluffs, Iowa | April 3–4, 2026 Mid America Center There’s something different about this group, and if you’ve been around Missouri girls wrestling, you already know what it is. This isn’t just another team pulling up to the Heartland Duals. This is a statement roster. This is depth, experience, and a standard that’s been […]
Girls’ wrestling is the fastest-growing sport across the country, and with that, more and more elite athletes are emerging. But even with that growth, there are still some wrestlers putting together incredible resumes who just aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Missouri heavyweight Alexis Stinson is one of them. With a 50–2 record during the […]