Michael Smith
The Central Cup Tournament is a special one.
It’s a dual freestyle tournament that features eight teams of some of the best girls wrestlers from the Midwest. Most of the squads features an all-star lineup full of state qualifiers and champions.
There were three such teams from the state of Missouri that competed at the event last Saturday and it was a battle against groups from Oklahoma and Kansas.
The MO West Fire Dragons ended up with the best finish among teams in the state as it went 3-1, taking third place after a victory against Team Missouri, 37-23.
MO West’s only loss came against Oklahoma in the pool bracket as they were defeated, 40-26. It got its other two wins against Sudden Victory (38-31) and Best Trained (52-11).
Team Missouri went 2-2 to finish in fourth place and the MO West Wild Dragons took sixth after falling to Sudden Victory, 55-13, in their final dual as they finished with a 1-3 record.
The Fire Dragons had some of the best girls wrestlers in the state of Missouri team up as it was just two points away from being in the championship match.
Finishing undefeated at 4-0 for the team were Liberty’s Lilly Breeden (97 pounds), Fort Osage’s Aroma Maruffo (108), Liberty’s Julia Breeden (123) and Grain Valley’s Sevi Aumua (139). Pleasant Hill’s Alana Thelin ended the tournament with a 3-1 record for the squad.
In the third-place match against Team Missouri, Lilly Breeden helped her team cap the victory with a 10-4 decision over Zoey Haney.
“It feels really good because we all work well together,” Breeden said. “We all want to help our team win and they are all really nice and support me when I wrestle. I feel like I wrestle better when I am with them.”
After Sandy Breeden got the first points on the board for the Fire Dragons with a forfeit win, Marrufo followed that up with a 10-0 tech fall victory over Aleah Conard.
“It’s been a while since I wrestled a dual,” Marrufo said. “The last time I did was at Fargo. I have been constantly training and I feel really good with how I wrestled today.”
Julia Breeden extended her team’s lead to 15-3 early in the bout when she pinned Kaiden Conard in 17 seconds.
“I think I did pretty well,” Breeden said. “I had a couple of tough matches in the beginning, but I ended up pulling through for our team.
“I just was hitting my basics like my inside sweep.”
Aumua is still in her first year wrestling in freestyle tournaments and she is starting to get used to it. Against Team Missouri, she earned a 12-1 tech fall against Marceline’s Payton Weese.
“I feel like I’ve been doing pretty well at getting the rules down,” Aumua said. “I have been going into practice every Tuesday and Thursday. I have been working on it.”
Others to earn wins in the third-place bout, which were all by forfeit, were Allison Kraemer (130), Thelin and Jayden Moehle (235).
Team Missouri had some top wrestlers from all around the state. Kearney’s Zolah Williams (87), Brookfield’s Jayden Keller (115), Winnetonka’s Jorgie Johnston (148), Moberly’s Breanna Gibbs (160) and Lebanon’s Mariyah Brumley (195) each finished 4-0 for the team. Weese (139) ended her tournament with a 3-1 record.
In the third-place dual against the Fire Dragons, Keller defeated Sydney Stifter 11-7; Johnston pinned Camary Schmalzbach in 1:42; Gibbs took a 10-0 tech fall victory over Adalia Del Real; Brumley pinned Taylor Glidewell in 47 seconds; and Williams took a 12-0 tech fall victory against Piper Weaver.
For the Wild Dragons, Belton’s Rylee Jones and Liberty’s Jaden Breeden had the best results as both of them finished 3-1 for the tournament.
