February came early on Thursday in Centralia.
Mexico at Centralia Photo Gallery
The Class 1 District 2 tournament is still Feb. 14-15 at St. Charles West in St. Louis and Thursday was still …
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February came early on Thursday in Centralia.
Mexico at Centralia Photo Gallery
The Class 1 District 2 tournament is still Feb. 14-15 at St. Charles West in St. Louis and Thursday was still January, but district girls wrestling foes Centralia and Mexico wrestled four matches with Centralia winning all four and the dual 60-12.
The dual saw a total of eight opens, including six by Centralia and two by Mexico coming from Marali Herrera at 145 pounds and state runner-up Alexus Johns at 235 pounds. Mexico won the three previous duals before Thursday, but Centralia came with a bigger team this season and wanted those big wins.
“The biggest match of the night was Madie Shelton getting the win at 140 pounds,” Centralia head coach Mike Adkisson said. “That was an opponent we knew we would be up for a district seed against. To get that pin was big.”
Shelton pinned fellow former state qualifier Abby Bowen, state champion Jayci Shelton pinned Yolitza Rodriguez-Rios at 170 pounds, Alyssa Bodine pinned Sherlyn Mena at 125 pounds, and Kyleigh Dollens pinned fellow freshman Jazzmin Torres at 155 pounds.
Mexico head coach Tony Senor said his team didn’t match up well “weight-wise” with Centralia this season, and Madie Shelton continued to be a struggle for the Lady Bulldogs in a bout that Bowen was bumped up a weight class. Senor said some inexperienced wrestlers need more time.
“We still have a lot of rookies and young girls on our team,” Senor said. “We’re starting to see improvement. Centralia is battle-tested with a lot of experience under its belt. We’re just trying to get experience in matches leading up into districts.”
The Shelton sisters bring experience to the Centralia wrestling room, and Adkisson said the other girls watch what they do. The sisters copied each other Thursday night by using a three-quarter stack pin, grabbing their opponent’s head and pinning their shoulders down while in a prone position.
“The other girls have started using it quite a bit because those two use it so much, and I’m OK with it because it works,” Adkisson said. “You need a lot of upper body strength to pull that head down and roll their body up like that.”
Dollens aggressively went after Torres to result in a quick pinfall victory, sticking the shoulders to the mat after sprawling across Torres while on her back. The match was a rubber match from Mexico’s Brick City Classic earlier in the week after Dollens pinned her once and Torres pinned her later in the day.
The most competitive match was another Brick City Classic rematch between Bodine and Mena at 125 pounds as Bodine took an early lead prior to Mena shrinking her deficit to 9-8. Bodine gained some breathing room before another pinning predicament turned into a pinfall victory for Centralia.
Adkisson said the freshman Bodine made some early mistakes but recovered well as she continues to learn. Mena as a senior is learning the craft and has impressed Senor with her fight on the mat.
“Sherlyn just likes to fight,” Senor said. “She scraps and doesn't give up. She did a good job in that match.”