The Missouri State High School Activities Association released the bracket for its inaugural girls wrestling tournament.
With no district champions coming from the Class 1 District 4 tournament, the four area wrestlers in the field will have some tough matchups early on.
In the 116-pound class, Platte County’s Avery Krahenbill and Mid-Buchanan’s Haley Sampson both have first-round matches. Krahenbill (15-6) draws Rockwood Summit’s Lillian Wallis, who is 17-3 and was under ‘receiving votes’ in the most recent MissouriWrestling.com rankings.
The winner of that match draws St. Charles’ Caitlyn Thorne in the quarterfinals. The wrestler, who is 33-4, got a first-round bye.
Sampson, a North Platte student, draws Sikeston’s Kate Grubbs in a battle of ninth-graders. Grubbs is 19-3 and Sampson is 10-3.
The winner moves on to the quarterfinals where No. 1-ranked Lizzie Miller of Buffalo, 21-1, awaits.
Park Hill South’s Finley Bickford (15-7) will battle Versaille’s Bethany Howard (16-6) in the opening round of the 136-pound class.
The winner of that will face St. James’ Heather Pankey (13-1), who got a bye in the quarterfinals. Pankey is ranked No. 3 in this weight class.
The toughest draw locally goes to Platte County’s KayLyn Munn, who is 10-5 after taking third place last week. She faces off against Ryan Schlereth of Hancock, who is 15-2 and ranked No. 1 in the 187-pound class. The winner faces off against Ritenour’s Geraldine Flores, ranked No. 3 and is 23-1.
Regardless of the outcome, Munn will become a footnote in the history books as part of a father-daughter state qualifiers. Her dad, Jason, was a state champion at Kirksville before later wrestling for Missouri.