Prep wrestling: Dragon girls claim Central title
Ste. Genevieve’s Katlynn Lay (top) controls her opponent during the Central Rebel Invitational in Park Hills on Saturday. (PHOTO BY ERIC VICCARO/Herald staff)
By ERIC VICCARO
eviccaro@stegenherald.com
PARK HILLS — Four Ste. Genevieve High School girls’ wrestlers earned first-place finishes at the Central Rebel Invitational on Saturday.
Katlynn Lay spearheaded the Dragons’ performance at the meet, with three victories by fall in her 130-pound weight class.
Lay pinned Central’s Savannah Scheldberg in 1:04, North County’s Memory Raker (1:45) and Lily Ahlvin from Cape Notre Dame in 4:22 — the only match in which Katlynn was extended beyond the first period.
Depth was one of the contributing factors in Ste. Genevieve earning the team trophy with 48.5 points, 15.5 more than host rival Central.
“Our program keeps growing and heading in the right direction,” Ste. Genevieve head coach Jared Bonnell said. “Having the numbers to compete definitely helped with our team win. It is often a numbers game in the smaller tournaments.”
Lay improved to 8-4 on the season.
Isabel Basler (125) earned a couple of first-period falls over Aine Callahan of St. Francis Borgia and Harley Vance from Potosi.
Addison Geiler, at 141 pounds, defeated the same opponent twice in Cape Central’s Tayshun Jennings.
Geiler won both matches by fall in respective times of 0:51 — the quickest pin of the day overall for the Dragons — and 1:14.
Kate Mesplay (149) also defeated the same opponent twice, pinning Central’s Addisyn Gasaway in respective times of 3:38 and 1:43.
Paityn Basler, at 110 pounds, went 2-1 for second place. Paityn pinned Central’s Joslyn Rincon in 3:41 and recorded a dominating 19-2 technical fall over Mariella Cox of Parkway Central. Belle White pinned Basler in 1:46 to garner the weight class.
Hollyn Zangaro split matches on the day, also earning second place. Zangaro recorded a hard-fought 11-9 decision over Central’s Hannah Allen. Kristen Klein from Festus pinned Zangaro in :40.
Central’s Karli McFarland pinned Ste. Genevieve heavyweight Jayci Beckermann twice, 1:01 and 1:41, respectively. Zoe Cook (120) also competed for the Dragons; however, she was pinned twice.
MAT NOTES
• Ste. Genevieve will compete in a quadrangular at Sikeston tonight, with Windsor and Jackson also participating. The Dragons will travel to the St. Charles Tournament Friday and Saturday.
• The Dragons defeated Hillsboro in a dual match last Wednesday by a count of 36-24. Lay, Geiler and Mesplay all won their bounts by fall. Lay pinned Ella Bingman from Hillsboro just before the buzzer sounded to end the first period.
(Editor’s Note: For the complete story and statistics, subscribe to either the print or electronic editions of the Ste. Genevieve Herald. Subscribe: 1-573-883-2222.)
