Katie Bowen has a list of firsts for the Mexico girls wrestling program.

After being one of the Lady Bulldogs’ first wrestlers for the four-year-old program, the senior became the Lady Bulldogs’ first college signee. Bowen announced earlier this month and made clear on Thursday at the Mexico Sports Complex that she will wrestle in the newly established William Woods University program in Fulton.

Bowen is the Lady Bulldogs’ first district champion, first state qualifier, first state medalist with a third-place finish in 2021, first national All-American top 8 finisher, among other things and is proud that she will be a college wrestler. She said she has wanted this for most of her life, ever since she gained interest in the sport in first grade.

“I’m super stoked because it has always been a goal since I was little,” Bowen said. “Every school year, when Mexico Youth Wrestling comes around, they send out fliers to the elementary schools. I got one of those when I was in first grade, and I came home to my parents and said ‘Hey, I want to join wrestling.’ I grew and developed a really huge passion for the sport.”

Girls haven’t always been involved in wrestling, both locally and nationally, but girls wrestling has been growing over the last few years. When Bowen started, she said she wrestled in the youth club and was coached individually by her father before being the first girl to join the Mexico Middle School program. Before she started collecting medals at the high school level, Bowen was the first middle school girl to medal in a tournament. 

Her career hasn’t come without obstacles, however, as Bowen is back this season following losing a year thanks to a shoulder injury. When she started in the sport, she said she battled nerves that made her feel nauseated at tournaments until the appeal of wrestling settled her into the sport.

“Wrestling has a huge sense of community,” Bowen said. “You meet a lot of amazing people that you would’ve never met if you weren’t in the sport. You create a lot of bonds and memories. Not only that, it makes you a better person on and off the mat. Not only are you improving your athletics, but it’s also improving your overall mental and physical toughness.”

Head coach Tony Senor said Bowen is a “trailblazer” for the Mexico girls program and said “I had to rack my brain” to remember all the program firsts in her career. He said there is the obvious impact Bowen has on the program in the form of tournament medals and two trips to the state meet, but she has had a greater effect than that.

“I’m able to promote the program with Katie,” Senor said. “Winning is good and having a medalist is good, but she has also been a really good mentor to younger wrestlers. I’m talking youth five years and up and also brand new girls in our high school program and the middle school program. Those girls look up to her and want to do what she’s done.”

William Woods wrestling head coach Jacob Lorentz was present at Bowen’s signing ceremony and expressed his excitement at adding another talented wrestler to the Owls’ fresh roster. He said there are about nine girls in the program when the Owls began their inaugural season last month, and the hope is to eventually have about 20.

After Bowen’s commitment, Lorentz said William Woods has four girls set to join next year, and it has been “quality over quantity” so far in the recruiting. He said Bowen definitely fits the Owls’ program.

“When I met Katie on her visit, it was her drive in academics and obviously her success on the wrestling mat,” Lorentz said. “She’s overcome a lot since getting third in the state tournament. The best is yet to come from Katie.”

Lorentz said Bowen mentioned she wanted to continue her trailblazing with William Woods, which is similar to other girls he has in the program. He said Missouri is “one of the strongest states in the country” for high school girls wrestling, and girls like Katie are a big reason why.

Bowen plans to study exercise science at William Woods and is looking forward to working with Lorentz because of his personality and philosophy. Before that can happen, she has lofty goals for her senior year that hopefully will include yet another program first.

“I want to be district champ and state champ,” Bowen said. “I’m going in strong because I didn’t get it last season. It’s time. I’m going to put in the work this year, and I’m going after it.”

“The sky is the limit for Katie,” Senor said. “We have some very high goals and high expectations for ourselves. We’re looking to medal at state again and get first-team all-conference again.”