CARTHAGE, Mo. — Coach Nate Kelly and the Carthage Tigers recorded their first win of the season last Tuesday night against the Webb City grapplers. The landscape this season has changed considerably through not only Kelly’s promotion as head coach, but the addition of a girl’s wrestling team. In the past, girls were allowed to compete against boys throughout high school. That changed a few years ago when the Missouri High School Activities Association recognized girls wrestling as an official sport under their guidelines, mandating separate competition between girls and boys.
“Introducing girls’ wrestling at Carthage High School has been a transformative and inclusive step. It not only expands the wrestling landscape but also brings diversity and fresh perspectives to our team. The addition of female athletes enhances the overall dynamics, fostering a more inclusive and supportive wrestling community at Carthage. This change aligns with the evolving nature of the sport and emphasizes equal opportunities for all students to participate and excel in wrestling,“ Coach Kelly said. As one of the last COC schools to add girls wrestling to their repertoire of officially recognized sports, Carthage has seen considerable interest from parents and students in this inaugural season. Kelly feels that this interest and participation will continue to grow. “I’m thankful we have a strong group of girls who are willing to lead the way for this team. I would think there will be more girls in the high school who will see all that our girls are able to accomplish and will want to be part of that.”
The girls team started off the evening with wins by Maylee Brown at 110 lbs. and Irish Lee at 145 lbs. Webb City remained victorious, however, with falls over Mischa Drackert (100 lbs.), Iraida Oxlaj-Barrios (115 lbs.), Emmy Hernandez (130 lbs.) and Arianna Medrano (155 lbs.). All other matches resulted in forfeits by Carthage or both Carthage and Webb City, as a result of lineups that have not yet been filled.
The junior varsity team competed in five “practice” matches at 138 lbs., 150 lbs., 165 lbs., 190 lbs., and 215 lbs., resulting in three victories for the Tigers.
This evening’s lineup also allowed the Webb City and Carthage junior high wrestlers to compete against each other. As a cooperative opportunity that brought more awareness to the strong junior high program, Carthage 7th and 8th grade wrestlers held around 60 matches on the evening.
Carthage’s varsity team later took to the mat for their first home dual of the season, seeking the “W”. Following the evening’s victory, Coach Nate Kelly was pleased with the outcome and his team’s performance. “It was great to get a win at my first home dual. I am so thankful to all of the people who helped make the night run so well since we added junior high matches to the schedule of events.” After the close loss to Carl Junction at the first meet of the year, Kelly was pleased with some of the improvements he had seen. “I’m happy that the wrestlers have been focusing more on their technique and asking questions about positioning. We are starting to get to the point where we are able to individualize a bit more based on the strengths and weaknesses of each wrestler, so it’s important that they are able to identify those on their own. I loved watching Saul win his first ever varsity match with a tough cradle. I also liked seeing all our girls executing the technique we have been working on in practice.”
The Carthage Team stayed busy the rest of the week, as well. Thursday night saw the continuation of a recent tradition started by Coach John Petticrew, as the wrestlers rang the bells for the Salvation Army at Wal-Mart. A fun way for the team to stay involved in community activities, the evening typically becomes a competition to raise the most money on their watch. “We want our wrestlers to understand they belong to a community that’s bigger than themselves. This can be especially difficult in an individual sport like wrestling, but our coaching staff recognizes it’s a crucial life skill beyond our team. I’m glad we are able to have a way to give back that also lets us have an enjoyable evening together. The Salvation Army said we raised over $400 in the two hours we were there, so thank you to the community members who contributed to that,” Coach Kelly stated.
Heading into the weekend competition at the Farmington tournament, Coach Kelly expressed his inclination to stay the course. “We have just been continuing through our normal program of technique. Because competitions started a week earlier this year and last, we have had to adjust the timing of technique. So we haven’t yet had the need to focus on one specific area to improve.”
Here are the results from the Webb City competition on 12/5/23.
Boys varsity: W 72-11
106: Tanner Putt (CARTHAGE) over (WEBB CITY) (For.)
113: Caden Groom (CARTHAGE) over (WEBB CITY) (For.)
120: Uziel Teo (CARTHAGE) over (WEBB CITY) (For.)
126: Wyatt Hole (CARTHAGE) over Elijah Rogers (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:21)
132: Aydan Nye (CARTHAGE) over (WEBB CITY) (For.)
138: Bradyn Tate (CARTHAGE) over Gauge Heilbrun (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:20)
144: Dylan Huntley (CARTHAGE) over Brayden McMullen (WEBB CITY) (Fall 0:46)
150: Israel (Yosvin) Perez (CARTHAGE) over Ben Wallace (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:06)
157: Carson Farmer (WEBB CITY) over Keagon McCoy (CARTHAGE) (TF 18-3 5:05)
165: Lenny Escobar (CARTHAGE) over Zander Perriman (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:03)
175: Saul Alvarado Hernandez (CARTHAGE) over Kaiden Canepa (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:55)
190: Alexander Salas-Marquez (CARTHAGE) over Jay Sanchez (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:59)
215: David Recinos (CARTHAGE) over Louden Bollinger (WEBB CITY) (Fall 3:17)
285: Garrett Mathis (WEBB CITY) over (CARTHAGE) (For.)
Boys JV:
138 Extra: Junior Varsity – Franky Contreras (Carthage) over Mason Hance (Webb City) (Fall 1:39)
150 Extra: Junior Varsity – Joseph Justice (Carthage) over Dawson McMullen (Webb City) (Fall 2:38)
165 Extra: Junior Varsity – Joshua Hill (Carthage) over River Lenker (Webb City) (Dec 4-2)
190 Extra: Junior Varsity – Ian Mosley (Webb City) over Latrell Abbasi (Carthage) (Fall 1:02)
215 Extra: Junior Varsity – Jordon White (Webb City) over Brayden Lee (Carthage) (Fall 1:10)
Girls: L 12-48
100: Hadley White (WEBB CITY) over Mischa Drackert (CARTHAGE) (Fall 2:34)
105: Mickayla Pendergraft (WEBB CITY) over (CARTHAGE) (For.)
110: Maylee Brown (CARTHAGE) over Madison Kincheloe (WEBB CITY) (Fall 1:31)
115: Aspen White (WEBB CITY) over Iraida Oxlaj-Barrios (CARTHAGE) (Fall 0:22)
120: Double Forfeit
125: Double Forfeit
130: Tatum Christensen (WEBB CITY) over Emmy Hernandez (CARTHAGE) (Fall 1:39)
135: Double Forfeit
140: Double Forfeit
145: Irish Lee (CARTHAGE) over Kalie Smith (WEBB CITY) (Fall 0:47)
155: Layla Espinoza (WEBB CITY) over Arianna Medrano (CARTHAGE) (Fall 1:31)
170: Maddie Barchak (WEBB CITY) over (CARTHAGE) (For.)
190: Brailey Valadez (WEBB CITY) over (CARTHAGE) (For.)
235: Mackenzie Booth (WEBB CITY) over (CARTHAGE) (For.)
