Jayhawk girls send seven wrestlers to state meet

The Jayhawk girls wrestling team sent 12 girls to the regional tournament on Feb. 15. (Submitted photo)

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – The Jayhawk-Linn girls wrestling program got off to a modest start three years ago. While the boys team had cultivated a wrestling team that has provided school trophy cases with hardware for years, adding a girls team spoke to the growing interest in developing girls teams

Four girls signed up that first year as school officials looked at what was needed to have a girls team. The fledgling team’s trip to the regional’s ended the season for the team. More girls joined in year two, but again the team’s season ended at the regional tourney.

Fast forward to the 2024-25 season, and the ‘Hawks under the direction of head coach Nicki Traul and assistant coach White have come on strong.

"Tara Weller and Gracee Willard are part of the original four girls, and both are going to state this year, said Traul in an email.  "I call them my OGs. Abby Stone who graduated last year and Leah Nation who wrestled this year but didn’t qualify to state were also part of my original four.

"Gracee Willard has lost in the blood round the past two years to qualify to state.  The blood round is the round you have to win to be a qualifier. Tara Weller didn’t win a match her first season but has worked hard to become a state qualifier this year." 

"Our group of freshman girls this year all had some junior high wrestling experience, and a couple had some kids club experience," Traul added. "My girls mainly had never wrestled until they started in junior high or high school, and they have worked hard to beat girls who have had far more experience than them.

"Where my girls have lacked in experience, they have shown that hard work and determination have allowed for them to be successful.  We are excited for where our program is headed.  We placed third out of 45 teams at regionals showing that we are in a position to set a regional title as a goal for our team. I’m excited about the future of our program."

Here’s how the team fared in the regional on Feb. 15:

• Freshman Alana McCarty, now with a record of 33 wins and 7 losses in the 120 pound class, was runner-up champ in the regional, winning her first two matches on pins and her third match on a 7-3 decision before losing the championship match on a decision.

• Fellow freshman Rowan Day, 17-7 in the 115 pound class, placed third after her first two matches on pins, losing by a fall in the third round and pinning her opponent in the fourth round to earn her medal.

• Willard, 21-13 at 145 pounds, placed fifth after taking a fall in the third round put her in the consolation bracket. She was pinned in the fourth round but bounced back in the fifth place bracket to earn a medal.

• Senior Clair Smith, 11-8 in the 190 bracket, also picked up a fifth-place medal with three consecutive pins after a loss put her in the consolation bracket.

• Weller, 7-11 in the 140 class, was sent to the consolation bracket by a pin in the second round, followed by a win and a loss to finally get a seventh-place medal with a pin in the final match.

• Freshman Hailei Fortman, in the 125 class with at 26-15 record, scored two pins before suffering a fall, but the finish was good enough for a sixth-place medal.

• Madilyn McCool, a 9-17 freshman at 105 pounds, placed seventh in her weight class despite taking a fall in the first and third rounds. However, she got a pin when it counted and walked away with a medal and a trip to state.