Michael Smith
It was just three years ago when the Grain Valley wrestling program had just one wrestler.
Then-freshman Sevreign Aumua, now senior, had to practice against other boys on the team at the time and didn’t have any girls teammates.
Fast forward to 2024, Grain Valley girls wrestling team has eight in the lineup and have had some success this season.
The Eagles showed what they could do in Wednesday’s tri dual against Raymore-Peculiar and William Chrisman at William Chrisman High School. The Eagles topped the Bears 36-30 and Ray-Pec 36-18 to sweep the event.
The Panthers defeated Chrisman 36-24 in the other dual.
“Our girls have come a long way in such a short amount of time,” Grain Valley head coach Donald Horner said. “Sevi was all by herself before, the year after that it was just her and a buddy, least year we only have five in the lineup now we have eight. Our program is going in the right direction. We want to make sure this program keeps growing.”
Junior Adalia Del Real (155 pounds) and sophomore Jayden Moehle (235) led the way for Grain Valley, getting two pins each.
Moehle, ranked No. 4 in the Class 2 MissouriWrestling.com poll, used a power half to turn Chrisman’s Nina Porter and Ray-Pec’s Anna Fahrni to get a pair of first-period falls.
Even after a pair of dominant wins, Moehle critiqued her performance.
“I definitely need to work on my hand fighting,” Moehle said. “I haven’t been setting up my shots. That’s a big thing for me to improve.”
Del Real, who is emerging as one of the Eagles’ top wrestlers, also ended both of her matches in the first period as she had an impressive showing…
