Michael Smith
Harrisonville only had one wrestler win their weight division on Saturday’s Winnetonka Girls Invitational, but the Wildcats got the job done.
They took first place as a team, scoring 146.5 points, edging second-place Raymore-Peculiar, which had 144 points. Smithville came in third with 133.
Wrestler Interviews:
- Rock Ports Jaylynn Garst (100)
- Northtowns Juliana Tice (105)
- Camerons Skye Mallen (110)
- Harrisonvilles Rylie Ingrassia (120)
- Smithvilles Noellie Parrott (130)
- Staleys JaZiya Miles (135)
- Oak Groves Keely Fallert (145)
- Oak Parks Neveah Wardlow (170)
- Smithvilles Ellie Pickett (190)
- Winnetonkas Annabelle Dunlop (115)
The Wildcats were led by freshman Rylie Ingrassia, who is ranked No. 7 in Class 1 in her weight class and took first place in the 120-pound weight bracket. She edged Savannah’s Jade Brundige (whose ranked No. 2 at 115 pounds in Class 1) 5-3 in the semifinals and advanced to the championship where she snuck past Odessa sophomore Aaliyah Sanders 3-2.
“I have wrestled her before and I know she’s really good with her length,” Ingrassia said of her match against a taller Sanders. “I knew my headlock wasn’t going to work with her because she could just duck out of it, especially with my height, so I tried to get her to the mat the best that I could. She was going to focus on the high area while I was going for the legs.”
Joining Ingrassia in the top four of their respective weight divisions for the Wildcats were Peyton Jackson (fourth, 130), Katelyn Miller (third, 135) and Taylor Kanoy (fourth, 170).
Below is a breakdown of winners of the other weight division not already mentioned:
100: Rock Port junior Jaylynn Garst had one of her toughest challenges of the season when Staley sophomore Joanne Dinh took her to overtime in the championship match, but she managed to get a takedown to win 6-4.
“I felt like I could have been more conditioned and not so out of breath,” Garst said. “I feel like I wrestled well for going into overtime. That was my first time going into overtime.”
105: For North Kansas City sophomore Juliana Tice, it was all about being mentally prepared for her matches on Saturday. In her championship match Ray-Pec’s Danielle Totten, she was able to slow down and wrestle well, as she came away with an 11-5 victory in the title bout to take first place.
“I am glad I was able to slow down,” Tice said. “One of my main problems is stressing out when I get down by a point. I was able to slow down my mind and keep wrestling….
