JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Six individual champions and a late surge helped Jefferson City’s girls claim the Central Missouri Athletic Conference team title at the CMAC Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Jefferson City High School.
Trailing in team standings most of the way, the Lady Jays stormed back late in the afternoon thanks to key performances in upper-weights to best Sedalia Smith-Cotton 170.5-162.5.
Capital City finished third as a team with 91 points, followed by Camdenton 90, Columbia Hickman 77, Battle 73 and Rock Bridge 36.
In one of the gutsier performances, Jefferson City’s Kaylee Redcay, wrestling with a broken back, earned a bye in the quarterfinal before pinning Camdenton’s Talya Campbell in 21 seconds in the semifinal and pinning Hickman’s Addy Bruce in 23 seconds of the final to win the conference title at 135. Redcay, who has performed sporadically this season due to her back injury, improved to 4-3 overall.
The tide quickly began changing for the Lady Jays. Senior Alexis Dinwiddie (28-3) – a three-time state medalist and former Class 1 130-pound state champion – pinned Smith-Cotton’s Alivia Washington in 1 minute into the 145-pound final to claim her third tournament title of the season.
Deja’Nette Wallace followed Dinwiddie by pinning Favour Nwozor (Rock Bridge) to take the conference crown at 155. Ava Purvis pinned Hickman’s Ceejae Hart in the 170 final; Caroline Bell pinned Miloney Kikku (Smith-Cotton) to win at 190; and Kayla Finney scored a tech fall over Battle’s Yanni Collier in the 235 final.
In contrast, Smith-Cotton did most of its damage in the lower weights. Sophomore Sarah Davis (22-12) was the first of five individual champions for the Lady Tigers. She claimed the 100-pound CMAC title with a 20-3 technical fall over Jefferson City’s Makinzie Hayes in 4 minutes, 52 seconds.
Staying with the Davis theme, freshman Stella Davis (16-10) won the 105-pound class with a fall over Jefferson City sophomore Mya Davis (17-16) in 1:49. A thrilling match ensued in the 115 final, as Smith-Cotton junior Katherine Madrid took it to the wire with Battle sophomore Reagynn Childs and eked out a 3-1 decision.
After winning by fall in the semifinal round, Lady Tigers senior Jazlyn Smith-Freeman improved to 32-6 this season when she pinned Capital City standout freshman Keylee Jones (32-9) at the 4:41 mark in the 120-pound final.
Senior Jasmine Wolfe (36-3) – a two-time state medalist – cruised in the 125-pound class, pinning Camdenton freshman Addison Lawhead in 1:42.
A three-time state medalist and one of the top varsity girls wrestlers in Missouri, Camdenton senior Abigail Fuglsang remains unblemished this season, running her record to 34-0 with an 18-1 technical fall over Hickman sophomore Madeline Huggans (22-8) in 1:54. She was Camdenton’s lone champ at the tourney.
Capital City also had a champion, as junior Maci Albright went 5:08 with Battle junior Raffy Cedeno before scoring a fall in the 130-pound final to improve to 20-5 overall.
Jacinda Espinosa was the champion at 140 pounds. The Rock Bridge senior continued her strong season with falls over Echo Foss (Jefferson City) in the semifinal and Athena Anderson (Capital City) at 2:56 in the final to improve to 25-3.