Centralia

Centralia girls looking to stay on top after CCC wins

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor
Posted 1/13/25

The Centralia girls were on top of familiar competition on Thursday night.

Centralia CCC Quad Photo Gallery

The Lady Panthers swept the duals they wrestled at home against Clarence Cannon …

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Centralia

Centralia girls looking to stay on top after CCC wins

Posted

The Centralia girls were on top of familiar competition on Thursday night.

Centralia CCC Quad Photo Gallery

The Lady Panthers swept the duals they wrestled at home against Clarence Cannon Conference opponents, defeating Macon 48-24 and newcomer Highland 48-12 and losing one match with Palmyra but still winning the dual 48-12 after many opens. 

Head coach Mike Adkisson said he liked how his kids “came out with an edge” and is proud they were able to win the conference. There were several aspects of Centralia’s wrestling Adkisson liked as well. 

“We did a really good job on our feet getting to our No. 1 shots,” Adkisson said. “We did a good job on bottom getting to our standups. Our finishes looked good. Some of them weren’t really clean, but we got to them and were able to get the finish.”

Adkisson, however, said the Lady Panthers could be better in another position. Whenever they were on top of their opponents, the Lady Panthers tried to maintain an advantage by circling around the opponent on the mat but have to remain at a higher level in case both girls fall down on the mat. 

“Some things we have to work on is knowing where our hips are because, if our hips get lower than our opponents, we get in trouble,” Adkisson said. “We’ve got to get our hips up higher, and that’s something we can work on in practice. It’s more of a feel thing, but it’s something we can work on.”

Adkisson is familiar with all of his freshmen since he coached them last year as the middle school coach. Those younger Lady Panthers are at six and several have good nights against the conference.

Ana Bruce at 120 pounds and Karli Andersen at 130 pounds won matches and caught Adkisson’s eye. Kyleigh Dollens didn’t win her 155-pound match against Palmyra senior Ellyse Lorenson but gave her a fight in what was the fourth or fifth meeting between those two this season, according to Adkisson.

“She had one the best wrestlers in the state of Missouri. She’s ranked one or two in the state,” Adkisson said. “She didn’t get the win, but she came out and battled. She’s not afraid of her, and she’s closing the gap.”

Avery Adams is another freshman having a good season for Centralia, winning both of her matches on Thursday night not long after winning multiple matches at the national Wonder Woman tournament during the previous weekend. She and Dollens were the only freshmen Lady Panthers to win multiple matches in a stacked and large field of wrestlers. 

“(Avery) is a competitor and hates to lose,” Adkisson said. “She’s just really a smooth athlete. She’s a happy kid. You hardly ever see her in a bad mood, and that contributes a lot to her wrestling. She doesn’t get down in the dumps.”

Adkisson said he’s looking mainly to improve Centralia’s performance on top as it heads into the rest of its season.

“We’ve got to do better job of figuring out what it is is going to control our opponent,” Adkisson said. “We’re doing a pretty good job of getting turns and getting pins, but it’s really happening. I want to be able to control the opponent on top and wear them down because good wrestlers, you can’t turn them when they’re fresh. You’re going to have to wear them down a little bit to get them turned.”


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