Michael Smith
Just one week before districts, some Kansas City-area high school girls wrestlers got one final tuneup at the Winnetonka Girls Invitational Saturday.
Standing out above the rest were the wrestlers from the Odessa Bulldogs. Although they are not ranked in the top 10 of the MissouriWrestling.com poll, they showed they can compete with some of the best teams in the state as they won the tournament with 169.5 points.
Harrisonville was a distant second place with 115 points and Oak Park was third with 113.5.
Wrestler Interviews:
- Excelsior Springs Izabella Morgan (105)
- Oak Grove’s Haley Allen (110)
- Smithville’s Adalee Pickett (155)
- Savannah’s Jade Brundige (100)
- Raymore-Peculiar’s Courtney Stevens
- Odessa’s Addison Edleman (110)
- Winnetonka’s Madison Leverknight (120)
- Odessa’s Aaliyah Sanders (115)
- Harrisonville’s Chloe Herrick (125)
- Staley’s Chase Kiel (130)
- Chillicothe’s Tori Stoner (135)
- St. Joseph Benton’s Tatum Levendahl (140)
- Cameron’s Justice Brewer (155)
- Oak Park’s Neveah Wardlow (170)
- Oak Park’s Chloe Allison (190)
The Bulldogs had two wrestlers win their weight bracket as Addison Eddleman (110 pounds) and Aaliyah Sanders (115) earned spots atop the podium.
Eddleman, ranked No. 5 in her weight class in Class 1, jumped out to a 6-0 lead against Staley’s Ellie Marrah in the championship but her opponent got a takedown and a near fall to narrow the gap to 6-5 in the second period. Edelman staved off the comeback, however, and got a pair of near falls near the end of the match to earn a 14-7 decision.
“I was just trying to remind myself that I have to wrestle all the way through even when I get put in hard positions,” Edelman said. “I think I have been doing a lot better on top than I have been doing.”
Sanders also was in a close finals match with Warrensburg’s Cerissa Holsey. She faced a 9-8 deficit, but was able to work a pin with 8 seconds left in the match to take down Holsey and take first place in her weight class.
“It was definitely stressful, a lot was happening,” Sanders said. “It wasn’t really wasn’t looking up for me personally but I was glad that I got the pin.”
