Michael Smith
Missouri girls wrestlers had an opportunity to prepare for some major tournaments coming up later in October.
Some wrestlers were preparing for the Super 32 Challenge. Others were gearing up for the Preseason Nationals Tournament.
There were even a few who wanted to get in work so they could prepare to compete in both of those large tournaments. Some sprinkled in just get a little bit of work before the high school season.
Last Sunday’s Fall Brawl Tournament at Staley High School in Kansas City provided that opportunity for girls wrestlers wanting to compete in the aforementioned late October Tournaments, which feature some of the best wrestlers in the nation.
The Fall Brawl tournament featured elementary school-, middle school- and high-school aged wrestlers from around the Midwest and Rocky Mountain areas. Some even came from the East or West coast.
That gave the competitors a chance to face off against some opponents they may have not faced before. In the high school girls class, there were 14 weight classes. MissouriWrestling.com breaks down the results of the top state finisher in each weight class.
100: Mckenzy Mason of Marshall lost in the semifinals by fall to eventual champion Mackenzie Graves of Arkansas but she rebounded by winning her last two matches, including a pin in 3:30 over Greenwood’s Kinley Harker in the third-place bout.
110: Camdenton’s Abigail Fuglsang dominated. She earned pins in all three of her matches and capped her first-place run with a win by fall over Nebraska’s Sophia Schultz in 3:19.
“I focused on my mindset and my takedowns,” Fuglsang said. “I wanted to keep on working even under that intense pressure. I scored most of my points off sweep singles. I love sweep singles.”
115: Savannah’s Jade Brundige, a defending state champion, steamrolled through her competition. She pinned all four of her opponents and capped off her run with a pin in 2:28 against Melanie Medrano of Arkansas.
“It was tough to get to my positions at the start,” Brundige said of her title match. “There were a few times where it was back and forth and she got into good positions. It was an iffy start. But then she took bottom and I ran my chicken wing and got her on her back.
120: Francis Howell Central’s Kailey Benson started out in the first round with a 16-0 tech fall victory. After that, she pinned her next three opponents, including Kayla Cramer of Kansas in the finals.
“I feel like I wrestled pretty well,” Benson said. “I was hitting my takedowns and my turns. I was doing well with everything I was working on.”
125: Park Hill junior Angelina Vargas has proven she is the best wrestler in the state at her weight class. She has two state championships to prove it. Now, she has another Fall Brawl Tournament title as she pinned all four of her opponents. In the championship match pinned Brissa Bernal in the second round to officially take first place.
“This was my first tournament back from Fargo (Nationals),” Vargas said. “I took a little bit of a break and now I am getting back at it.”
130: St. Peters’ Jena Gumahin made it to the semifinals before getting edged by Nebraska’s Alexis Pehrson, but she rebounded with two wins to end her day, including a pin against Amanda Jaeger in the third-place match.
135: Marceline’s Payton Weese had a tough match in the semifinals but ended up squeaking past Columbia Rock Bridge’s Jacinda Espinose in the semifinals and took down Nebraska’s Kayden Sipp in the finals 11-4.
“Whenever I was losing in my finals match, I was thinking, ‘I can’t give up. I got to go home with this mask (a prize for the first-place winners of each bracket),” Weese said. “I knew my finals were going to be tough but I honestly thought my semifinals match was tougher.”
140: Washington’s Annelise Obermark said she felt like she got off to a slow start in the tournament but felt more like herself in her championship match against Winnetonka’s Jorgie Johnson. She got the pin against Johnson in 3:01 to take first place.
“The first part of the tournament was about getting over those first-match jitters,” she said. “I was wrestling weird the first few matches. In my last match, I started wrestling more like myself. I got to my shots and I did my cradles.”
155: Washington’s Maggie Ortmann won her first two matches before falling to eventual champion Hannah Koen of Oklahoma by fall. Ortmann rebounded by pinning her final two opponents in 50 seconds or less, including Haley Flores of Kansas in the third-place bout.
170: Neosho’s Melanie Butler finished in third place after going 3-2 in her round-robin bracket. She had two wins by pin and one by injury forfeit.
190: Defending state champion Mariyah Brumley of Lebanon got a pin in her semifinals match to set up a title bout against Audree Willess of Texas. She used a takedown and a nearfall in the second period to earn a 5-4 decision. She prevented Willess from getting a takedown in the final minute of the third period.
“I had arm control so she couldn’t use her arm,” Brumley said. “I thought I could have done better if I was in better shape.”
235: Liberty’s Alexis Stinson went 1-1 to take second place in her three-person, round-robin bracket. She fell 5-0 to Kena Leonard of Kansas but pinned Isabelle Lemmond of Waynesville.
