Jonathan Bowen
Mexico started the day in the top 30 among the nearly 50 teams in attendance despite having several of their wrestlers out due to injuries. They had six of their wrestlers on pace to score in the top 16 and 2 of them with the potential to score in the top 8 based on how they all did during their pool play/round-robin matches.
Regardless of the result though, the Lady Bulldogs team became their teammates’ loudest fans during their matches. Cheering them on, encouraging them to “SHOOT!”, “SNAP HER DOWN!” or “PIN HER!” In addition to developing into quality wrestlers, these young ladies are becoming a family that has each other’s backs no matter what. It didn’t matter the score, the placement of their teammate was in their bracket, and the enthusiasm was the same. When they lost, they were immediately encouraging each other to reset and get the next one. When they won, they were the first to congratulate their teammate after coming off the mat.
Highlights:
When it came down to the last round of action, the Mexico Lady Bulldogs had an opportunity to climb a few places in the final standings ahead of at least one or two more District 2 opponents. Lily Debo would come up short in her final round, falling to her opponent from Oak Grove via pin. Leaving just three more contested matches for Mexico to improve.
Karisa Hayden would close out her tournament efforts with a pin to earn a 7th-place finish. Tessa Higgins squeaked out a 4-2 victory in her placement match. Saving the best results for last, Alexus Johns faced off against the current #1 235 lb. girl wrestler in the state from Adrain….
