Jonathan Bowen
If you have been following the article series about the Lady Bulldogs this season, you’d find several references to this event. In the end, all of the other matches the wrestlers have wrestled this season were just practice and buildup for this weekend’s event. No matter if you wrestled ten matches or 40. The goal at the end of the season is to win enough matches (3-5 depending upon the bracket size) and qualify for the State Tournament.
The Mexico Lady Bulldogs brought 8 of their wrestlers to the District tournament this season, with nearly all of them having wrestled at this tournament in previous seasons, with two of them being previous state tournament qualifiers.
The goal for day 1 of a two-day tournament is to win enough matches to make it to day two. In most cases for the Lady Bulldogs, that magic number was one based on their brackets and where the byes had been randomly placed in them. Overall 6 of the 8 wrestlers survived to wrestle on Day 2. They have three semi-finalists. Among those are their two returning state qualifiers (Katherine Bowen @ 115 lbs and Alexus Johns 235 lbs.) and @ 135 lbs, Abigail Bowen. These three ladies need to secure one more win each, to qualify for the State Tournament.
On the backside of the brackets, the Lady Bulldogs have another trio who will be fighting/facing off elimination every match on Day 2. At 105, Alizabeth Welch will need to win two matches in succession to qualify. Along with Welch, Alyssa Knight at 130 lbs. and Karisa Haden are in similar positions. Knight has a higher populated bracket and will need to win 4 straight matches to qualify whereas Haden will need to win 3 straight matches.
Overall the Lady Bulldogs sit in 9th place with 32 team points, just behind NCMC rival Marshall.
Highlights:
Despite being a top 4 seed, Sophomore Abigail Bowen didn’t receive a 1st round bye and was the only Mexico wrestler in the lower weights not to have one. It didn’t seem to have an impact on her as she rattled off three straight pins to secure her spot in the semi-finals and maximize the number of team points she could earn on Day 1.
Sophomore Alexus Johns, being the 2 seed at 235 lbs, received a double-bye round to start her tournament. She would only need to win one match in the quarterfinals and she did so in convincing fashion by securing a pin in the second period.
Senior Katherine Bowen at 115 lbs didn’t secure any pins of her own but did however come in as the 5-seed and win her first two rounds by decision. Her quarterfinal match was a convincing 8-2 decision on the currently 5th-ranked wrestler from Southern Boone. This sets up a rematch between Bowen and Donahue from Boonville who wrestled last weekend at the Buffalo Lady Thundering Herd Invitational.
Below are the individual match-by-match results for the Mexico Lady Bulldogs after the first day of the District Tournament.
105 lbs
Alizabeth Welch (21-13) scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Alizabeth Welch (Mexico) 21-13 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Alizabeth Welch (Mexico) 21-13 received a bye () (Bye)
- Quarterfinal – Kendra Bellamy (Marshall) 21-16 won by fall over Alizabeth Welch (Mexico) 21-13 (Fall 5:32)
- Cons. Round 4 – Alizabeth Welch (Mexico) 21-13 received a bye () (Bye)
115 lbs
Katherine Bowen (17-6) scored 6.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Katherine Bowen (Mexico) 17-6 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Katherine Bowen (Mexico) 17-6 won by decision over Heidi Struemph (Fatima) 27-13 (Dec 6-2)
- Quarterfinal – Katherine Bowen (Mexico) 17-6 won by decision over Nova Porter (Southern Boone) 25-9 (Dec 8-2)
120 lbs
Jashayla Johnson (18-33) scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Jashayla Johnson (Mexico) 18-33 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Dakota Lohrmann (Warrenton) 37-13 won by fall over Jashayla Johnson (Mexico) 18-33 (Fall 0:43)
- Cons. Round 2 – Ava Rasmussen (Macon) 13-16 won by fall over Jashayla Johnson (Mexico) 18-33 (Fall 3:44)
125 lbs
Kiya Smith (4-31) scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Kiya Smith (Mexico) 4-31 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Elizabeth Riggs (Wright City) 36-2 won by fall over Kiya Smith (Mexico) 4-31 (Fall 0:24)
- Cons. Round 2 – Jamila Juma (Centralia) 9-19 won by fall over Kiya Smith (Mexico) 4-31 (Fall 2:31)
130 lbs
Alyssa Knight (12-35) scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Alyssa Knight (Mexico) 12-35 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Sadie Sehnert (Wright City) 35-11 won by fall over Alyssa Knight (Mexico) 12-35 (Fall 0:24)
- Cons. Round 2 – Alyssa Knight (Mexico) 12-35 received a bye () (Bye)
135 lbs
Abigail Bowen (39-11) scored 12.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Abigail Bowen (Mexico) 39-11 won by fall over Abigail Barte (Centralia) 7-22 (Fall 1:19)
- Champ. Round 2 – Abigail Bowen (Mexico) 39-11 won by fall over Marilyn Mercer (Chillicothe) 17-16 (Fall 3:45)
- Quarterfinal – Abigail Bowen (Mexico) 39-11 won by fall over Janie Triplett (Palmyra) 31-9 (Fall 1:41)
190 lbs
Karisa Hayden (32-18) scored 6.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Karisa Hayden (Mexico) 32-18 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Karisa Hayden (Mexico) 32-18 won by fall over Ruby Willis (Brookfield) 9-33 (Fall 0:29)
- Quarterfinal – Carly Foster (Fulton) 22-10 won by fall over Karisa Hayden (Mexico) 32-18 (Fall 1:34)
235 lbs
Alexus Johns (40-3) scored 8.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Alexus Johns (Mexico) 40-3 received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Alexus Johns (Mexico) 40-3 received a bye () (Bye)
- Quarterfinal – Alexus Johns (Mexico) 40-3 won by fall over Savannah Hughs (Trenton) 7-10 (Fall 2:24)
Up Next:
Day two of the District tournament is where everything comes to a head for all of the teams competing. Only 56 of the wrestlers (4 from each weight) out of all those who remain alive in their brackets will qualify for the state tournament. The wrestlers who earned their spot in the semi-finals will only need to win one of their next two matches to qualify. Whereas those wrestlers on the backside will have to win at least three. The wrestling kicks off tomorrow with wrestle-backs and semi-finals starting at 9:30 a.m.
