WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Joplin Eagles placed fourth with 63.5 points on Friday at the Central Ozark Conference Girls Wrestling Tournament inside the Cardinal Dome.
The Nixa Eagles defended their conference title with 216.5 overall points, followed by their county, conference and district rival Ozark with 210.5 points.
Willard finished third at 119.5, Branson fifth at 55, Republic sixth at 38.5, Carl Junction seventh at 34, Webb City eighth at 31.5, and Neosho ninth at 18 points.
Joplin’s six wrestlers all finished in the top five of their respective weights: CoryAunna Mueller second at 110 pounds, Erika Washom third at 135, Olivia Higdon fifth at 140, Amy Kessler second at 145, Mya Ndedi Ntepe third at 155, and Illahna Burtrun fourth at 190. Higdon finished with a medical forfeit in her matches.
“We ended up placing fourth,” Joplin coach Jeremy Finley said. “Not bad. CoryAunna wrestled real tough at 110. She got second. Ericka Washom placed third in a really tough bracket, probably the toughest bracket here in my opinion, at 135. At 145, Amy Kessler got second. At 155, Mya Ndepe got third.
“We wrestled OK. A lot of girls on our team, it’s their first year wrestling. They’re starting to get a full year of experience on their belt, and I think they’re starting to come around a little bit.”
The Eagles finished seventh with 23 points at the conference tournament last season, represented by only Washom at 130 and Higdon at 135 who placed second and fourth overall at their respective weights.
“It’s a big improvement,” Finley said. “It goes to show the girls that their hard work pays off. All the girls who wrestled finished in the top four. That’s pretty good.”
Mueller (11-8) pinned Branson’s Emma Melton in 3 minutes and 46 seconds and Nixa’s Ellie Moore in 4:48, with her only loss coming by pinfall against Ozark’s Victoria Dunn (34-8).
Washom (27-8) pinned Ozark’s Hannah Maskrod in 1:48 and Webb City’s Kylie Jennings in 2:35 but lost by major decision against Willard’s Ashlan Thompson (24-4) and by pinfall against Nixa’s unbeaten and returning state champion Brenya Crahan (42-0).
Kessler (10-6) won a 6-4 decision against Nixa’s Taelor Dorr and lost 8-5 against Ozark’s Delaney Cardin.
Ndepe (13-20) won 6-0 against Ozark’s Faith Shepard and lost by pinfall against Nixa’s Calyese Dupree and Willard’s Gina Sellers.
Burtrun (14-11) won a 11-4 tiebreaker against Nixa’s Jessie Nelson in the night’s last match and lost 4-1 against Willard’s Harmony Moore and by pinfall against Republic’s Kylie Vance.
The Joplin girls saw their number of wrestlers triple at the conference tournament in one year, and it’s quite possible their numbers will expand in future years to compete with Nixa and Ozark, who had 14 and 12 wrestlers competing Friday night.
“There’s a lot of girls who are hard-nosed that don’t have anything to do in the winter because maybe basketball is not the right thing for them,” Finley said. “Maybe wrestling is, and I think that’s starting to show. Numbers will be going through the roof next couple years, I bet.”
Carl Junction, Webb City, Neosho finish 7th, 8th, 9th
Carl Junction junior Bryanna McCabe led the Bulldogs with a second place at 120 pounds and freshman Isabella Montez finished third at 130.
McCabe pinned Willard’s Kamayah Mace in 34 seconds, Branson’s Daphne Worley in 1:06, and Republic’s Anna McBroom in 1:31, and lost by pin against Nixa’s Mylee Harper (31-13) and Ozark’s Maelynn Sundlie (37-6). McCabe improved to 13-7 overall.
Montez (13-10) pinned Branson’s Priya Raghani in 2:15 and Willard’s Gabriella Rogers in 1:05 and lost by pinfall against Nixa’s Abigail Weitzel, Ozark’s Clarice Wheeler, and Neosho’s Jillian Ramirez in her debut conference tournament.
Tournament host Webb City had sophomore Emma Combs third at 170, senior Kylie Jennings fourth at 135, and freshman Layne Espinoza fourth at 140.
Combs (7-15) pinned Nixa’s Katy Wilson in 2:23 and won 11-9 against Neosho’s Carmen Peren, and she lost by pinfall against Ozark’s Sarah Cazier (35-10) and Willard’s Haley Autterson (25-13).
Jennings pinned Ozark’s Maskrod in 1:07 for her only win in four matches.
Ramirez and Peren represented Neosho with a fourth and a fifth at 130 and 170, respectively.
Ramirez (6-10) pinned Raghani in 1:22 and Montez in 2:45, and she nearly secured an upset victory against Nixa’s 33-win Weitzel, taking a 4-3 loss in the second round.
Peren (3-12) pinned Carl Junction’s Sarah Tyler in 3:41.
