BELTON, Mo. — In only the second year of existence at Carthage High School, the lady Tiger wrestling program is sending three individuals to the MSHSAA Class 2 Women’s Wrestling Championships in Columbia, MO. Emely Hernandez, 135 lbs. and Irish Lee, 140 lbs., both took home fourth place finishes for the Tigers, while freshman Kaylee James, punched her ticket to State as a COC champion, and Saturday, a district champion in Belton, Missouri.
All three ladies received a bye their first round. In the second round, Hernandez pinned Webb City’s Tatum Christensen to advance to the quarterfinals, where another pin over Rolla moved her to the championship semifinals. With Hernandez only recently returning from an injury incurred at the beginning of the season, girls’ coach, Shelby Swinehart, commented that her comeback has been somewhat of a surprise to other teams.
“I’ve had to explain to other coaches that she just now was healthy enough to wrestle again when I keep getting asked ‘Where did she come from?’” Swinehart explained.
Emely came up against a minor roadblock in the form of Belton’s Savanna Franklin during the semifinals match, when she was quickly pinned and knocked to the consolation side of the bracket. A fall over Branson’s Lucia Rosales, however, ensured Emely a spot on this year’s state team, and a shot at third place at 135 lbs. Despite a loss to Nixa’s Brylee James in the third-place match, Hernandez becomes part of history as one of the first three girls to qualify for State for the Carthage Tigers.
As the second member of this group, Irish Lee captured the fourth-place spot at 140 lbs. for the Tigers. Her bye in both the first and second round ensured an automatic spot in the quarterfinals, where she quickly pinned Webb City’s Emma Combs. The machine that was Belton struck again, though, as Louise Juitt handed Lee her first loss of the tournament. Juitt is undefeated on the year. Irish bounced back, however, with a fall over Smith-Cotton to earn a chance to wrestle for third place. Much like Hernandez, Lee ran into a Nixa opponent that came away with the pin. With her fourth-place medal, Irish Lee was the third state qualifier that day for Carthage.
Freshman Kaylee James earned the highest honors of the day, not only as the first of the ladies to qualify for the state tournament, but as the Class 2, District 3 Champion, pinning her way through the entire two-day tournament. James adds this title to her COC Champion honors and travels to Columbia on February 28th with only one loss on the year. Her focus before the finals match was evident as she went in with a single-minded determination that was nothing short of amazing. She stated that she had achieved her original goal of qualifying for state but had set a new goal of being the district champion-a goal which was achieved as she pinned Lee’s Summit West’s Darilyn George in the second period.
Carthage team members Aspen White (115 lbs.) and Maylee Brown (105 lbs.) also scored points on the day, just narrowly missing a state qualification in some very close matches. Carthage had ten girls participating in this district tournament and finished ninth out of twenty-three teams. The Carthage men compete at the Class 4, District 3 tournament at Ozark on Friday and Saturday, February 21st and 22nd, to see who will join the ladies at the MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships the following weekend.
MSHSAA Girls Class 2 District 3 Tournament
February 14-15, 2025
State Qualifiers:
130 Kaylee James 1st
135 Emely Hernandez 4th
140 Irish Lee 4th
Team Scores:
1 Nixa 266.5
2 Belton 204.0
3 Waynesville 153.5
4 Lebanon 133.5
5 Ozark 131.0
6 Willard 119.0
7 Rolla 110.5
8 Smith-Cotton 93.0
9 Carthage 78.5
10 Lee`s Summit West 73.5
11 Branson 72.0
12 Raymore-Peculiar 67.0
13 Hillcrest 59.5
14 Republic 52.5
15 Camdenton 43.5
16 Webb City 38.0
17 Glendale 31.0
17 Kickapoo 31.0
19 Central (Springfield) 28.0
20 Parkview 24.0
21 Neosho 20.0
22 Grandview 13.5
23 Joplin 4.0
Individual Results:
100
Hadley White (18-15) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Hadley White (Carthage) 18-15 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Sarah Davis (Smith-Cotton) 27-14 won by fall over Hadley White (Carthage) 18-15 (Fall 3:14)
Cons. Round 2 – Hadley White (Carthage) 18-15 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Hadley White (Carthage) 18-15 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 4 – Adilyn Hoelzle (Ozark) 34-12 won by fall over Hadley White (Carthage) 18-15 (Fall 4:51)
105
Maylee Brown (20-11) place is unknown and scored 8.5 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Maylee Brown (Carthage) 20-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Maylee Brown (Carthage) 20-11 won by fall over Dorothy Waterman (Republic) 11-16 (Fall 0:59)
Quarterfinal – Ashton Mayes (Nixa) 30-7 won by fall over Maylee Brown (Carthage) 20-11 (Fall 1:33)
Cons. Round 4 – Maylee Brown (Carthage) 20-11 won by tech fall over LaLisa Whiteside (Parkview) 21-22 (TF-1.5 3:32 (16-0))
Cons. Round 5 – Zakiyah Williams (Smith-Cotton) 23-11 won by fall over Maylee Brown (Carthage) 20-11 (Fall 2:07)
110
Ari Morga Zaldivar (5-7) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Riley Jones (Waynesville) 19-20 won by fall over Ari Morga Zaldivar (Carthage) 5-7 (Fall 1:25)
Cons. Round 1 – Ari Morga Zaldivar (Carthage) 5-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Neveah Moten (Branson) 13-12 won by fall over Ari Morga Zaldivar (Carthage) 5-7 (Fall 2:37)
115
Aspen White (20-7) place is unknown and scored 8.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Aspen White (Carthage) 20-7 won by fall over Lillyan Draughon (Central (Springfield)) 14-20 (Fall 1:48)
Champ. Round 2 – Aspen White (Carthage) 20-7 won by fall over Sofie Stawny (Willard) 15-22 (Fall 1:35)
Quarterfinal – Danielle Totten (Raymore-Peculiar) 23-11 won by decision over Aspen White (Carthage) 20-7 (Dec 21-18)
Cons. Round 4 – Katie Hartgraves (Ozark) 37-16 won by decision over Aspen White (Carthage) 20-7 (Dec 6-2)
120
Abbigail Shields (7-7) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Abbigail Shields (Carthage) 7-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Abigail Weitzel (Nixa) 23-10 won by fall over Abbigail Shields (Carthage) 7-7 (Fall 0:39)
Cons. Round 2 – Abbigail Shields (Carthage) 7-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Katherine Madrid (Smith-Cotton) 18-17 won by fall over Abbigail Shields (Carthage) 7-7 (Fall 2:21)
125
Diana Juarez (8-18) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Diana Juarez (Carthage) 8-18 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Yomara Guitierrez (Grandview) 28-5 won by fall over Diana Juarez (Carthage) 8-18 (Fall 0:34)
Cons. Round 2 – Diana Juarez (Carthage) 8-18 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Diana Juarez (Carthage) 8-18 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 4 – Neela Motlagh (Willard) 18-20 won by fall over Diana Juarez (Carthage) 8-18 (Fall 0:36)
130
Kaylee James (36-1) placed 1st and scored 30.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Kaylee James (Carthage) 36-1 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Kaylee James (Carthage) 36-1 won by fall over Peyton Simpson (Grandview) 8-17 (Fall 0:46)
Quarterfinal – Kaylee James (Carthage) 36-1 won by fall over Alexis `Lexi` Stogsdill (Hillcrest) 18-17 (Fall 1:01)
Semifinal – Kaylee James (Carthage) 36-1 won by fall over Abigail Counts (Nixa) 21-12 (Fall 4:18)
1st Place Match – Kaylee James (Carthage) 36-1 won by fall over Darilyn George (Lee`s Summit West) 38-12 (Fall 3:02)
135
Emely Hernandez (11-12) placed 4th and scored 17.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 won by fall over Tatum Christensen (Webb City) 20-14 (Fall 1:46)
Quarterfinal – Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 won by fall over Kylie Hawkins (Rolla) 27-15 (Fall 3:27)
Semifinal – Savanna Franklin (Belton) 45-4 won by fall over Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 (Fall 0:38)
Cons. Semi – Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 won by fall over Lucia Rosales (Branson) 13-4 (Fall 1:57)
3rd Place Match – Brylee James (Nixa) 36-11 won by fall over Emely Hernandez (Carthage) 11-12 (Fall 0:34)
140
Irish Lee (27-10) placed 4th and scored 15.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 won by fall over Emma Combs (Webb City) 29-7 (Fall 0:44)
Semifinal – Louise Juitt (Belton) 50-0 won by fall over Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 (Fall 1:00)
Cons. Semi – Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 won by fall over Kylie Guererro (Smith-Cotton) 24-14 (Fall 0:24)
3rd Place Match – Ava Frye (Nixa) 24-4 won by fall over Irish Lee (Carthage) 27-10 (Fall 4:39)
170
Adrianna Patrick (6-25) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Adrianna Patrick (Carthage) 6-25 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Carli Alford (Lebanon) 22-24 won by fall over Adrianna Patrick (Carthage) 6-25 (Fall 0:21)
Cons. Round 2 – Adrianna Patrick (Carthage) 6-25 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Avery Tennison (Ozark) 22-23 won by fall over Adrianna Patrick (Carthage) 6-25 (Fall 0:16)
