Michael Smith
Some of the best girls wrestlers from around the state competed in the Missouri State Girls Freestyle Tournament last Sunday at the Mathewson Exhibition Center in Sedalia.
The divisions in the tournament included kids, 14-and-under, cadet and junior.
The top three placers from each weight class qualified for the Fargo National dual team. However, the National Dual team for the tournament in Tulsa will be selected by the National team coaching staff. Each wrestler’s placement will factor into the decision, but doesn’t guarantee them a spot.
Below are breaks down the winners of each weight class for the cadet and junior divisions.
Cadet
94: Liberty’s Lilly Breeden won all three of her matches by tech fall in her round robin bracket as she earned first place.
100: Like her sister Lilly, Sandy Breeden dominated her bracket. She won by tech fall in all of her matches, including a 10-0 victory against Marshall’s Kendra Bellamy as she earned a gold medal.
105: Savannah’s Jane Brundige, who won the Class 1 state title this year during the high school folkstyle season, cruised to the finals after two tech fall wins. She faced Mid-Buchanan’s Delanie Smith and escaped with a 5-4 win in the championship bout.
“There’s not much I can say about it,” Brundige said. “Delanie is a really tough opponent. We went back and forth. I just did what I could do.”
112: Brookefield freshman Jayden Keller has little trouble winning her bracket as she won all three of her matches by tech fall, which included O’Fallon’s Bailey Burbes in the title bout.
117: Cotteville’s Kailey Benson ran roughshod through her weight class as she won her first two matches by tech fall and took the championship match 15-7 vs. Odess’a Allsion Edleman in the finals bout.
122: Wright City’s Kali Jensen pinned her way through her bracket to take first as she got a fall in 2:22 against Maya Saldivar
127: Nixa’s Addison Harkin’s rolled to a first-place finish as she got two wins by tech fall and pinned Brianna Simpson of Kansas City in the finals for a gold medal.
“It was the toughest match I’ve had in freestyle,” Harkins said of her bout with Simpson. “It is hard to get into it sometimes, but everything worked out….
