The Mexico girls’ wrestling program wraps up its regular season this week.

 Last week the Lady Bulldogs continued to grind with a home scramble, conference dual, tri-meet and Liberty North tournament.

 Mexico found strength in numbers, consistently filling weight classes and taking advantage when opponents were unable to match.

 Mexico Scramble

 The Lady Bulldogs hosted Capital City, Camdenton, Jefferson City and Centralia for Senior Recognition Day last Monday, finishing 3-1 on the day.

 Mexico opened with a 54-6 win over Capital City, with Alizabeth Welch (110) winning by fall, Matty Tolbert (194) losing by fall and open forfeits rounding out the scoring.

 “We were hoping that they’d bring a few more girls, but it is what it is,” said head coach Tony Senor. “But Alizabeth came out on fire, she wrestled tough, she wrestled smart and she got the pin.”

 The Lady Bulldogs only loss on the day came next to Camdenton.

 Katie Bowen (105), Welch, Kaylynn Pehle (115) and Abby Drew (120) each won by fall, but Camdenton was able to pick up four pins, a tough 5-4 double overtime decision over Tolbert and three forfeits to go on to a 45-30 win.

 Mexico bounced back with a close 36-33 win over Jefferson City.

 Shelby Shramek (174) won by fall, the Lady Bulldogs lost the only other four filled classes, but five forfeit wins helped pushed them over the top.

 They ended the day with a 48-9 win over Centralia, with Pehle and Brett Iman (135) winning by fall. Luisa Urbina (149) dropped a close 5-2 decision and Tolbert loss by fall, but Mexico tacked on six forfeit wins.

 “The girls that needed to take care of business did and that’s all you can ask for,” said Senor. “And also filling those opens, that’s huge.”

 Moberly Dual

 The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Moberly last Tuesday for a North Central Missouri Conference dual.

 Still a young program, Moberly had just one wrestler in Addison Orschlen, who Drew pinned for the only action of the evening. Mexico capitalized on eight forfeits to finish 54-0. It may not have been an ideal dual,  but Senor said it’s still a step in the right direction.

 “We want to wrestle a full team, we always do,” he explained. “We don’t just want to win by opens or forfeits, we want to wrestle. But it’s still historic that we got to dual Moberly in a conference match. That’s a huge step forward for girls’ wrestling in this area.”

 St. Charles Tri

 St. Charles West hosted a tri-meet with Mexico and Fulton on Thursday, with the Lady Bulldogs splitting duals with the two squads.

 Opening against conference foe Fulton, the Lady Bulldogs got a win by fall from Bowen and four forfeit wins, but Welch, Pehle, Perez, Iman, Urbina, Tessa Higgins (159) and Shramek all lost by fall as the Lady Hornets went on to win 54-30.

 “Whoever won that dual was pretty much guaranteed to win conference,” said Senor. “First time ever, NCMC Conference Championship. We tried everything we could, it was a little chess match between us and Fulton – but at the end of the day you’ve got to win head-to-head matches.”

 Mexico then blanked St. Charles West 72-0, with Higgins winning by fall and 11 forfeits.

 “The score is very lopsided,” Senor conceded. “But at the end of the day, they can fill weight classes like we do.”

 Queen of the North

 Liberty North hosted 30 teams for its Queen of the North Tournament on Saturday.

 Competing against bigger schools and top-tier talent, Senor said it was a nice primer for districts and state.

 “Kaylynn [Pehle], Katie [Bowen] and Matty [Tolbert] actually wrestled the No. 1-ranked girl at their weight class,” he said. “So that’s huge to have that caliber competition and see that before districts and state to get you ready.”

 Bowen went 4-1, falling in a closely contested 3-0 decision in the championship match to Liberty’s Jaden Breeden to take second.

“We lost a close one there and that girl is ranked No. 1,” said Senor. “We lost zero to three, but it’s just a toss-up. Those matches are winnable for Katie.”

 Pehle picked up two byes and dropped Kaydence Grass (Liberty North) before falling to eventual champion Angelina Vargas (Park Hill). She would bounce back with a win over Ariana Hartigan (Mid-Buchanan) to finish third.

 “She came back, rebounded and wrestled tough to get third place,” said Senor.

 Drew and Tolbert each went 3-2 to finish in fourth place in their respective classes. Drew wrestled a tough match, but fell 5-0 in the third-place contest to Lexi Hatfield (Staley).

 “Abby held her to a decision, so that to me is growth and progress,” said Senor. “And just getting tougher and ready for the district tournament, which will be very difficult.”

 Tolbert, who jumped to heavyweight to test the waters of going to heavyweight at districts, dropped her third-place match to Hope Charlton (Central), but Senor praised her performance.

 “We’re seeing some really good things out of Matty Tolbert,” he said. “She’s learning how to be patient, she’s learning to control the matches and just wait for opportunities to score points, and just wrestle smart.”

 Next Up

 Mexico wraps up the regular season this week with a quad meet at Kirksville on Tuesday, dual at Battle on Wednesday and the Seckman Tournament on Saturday.

 Senor and the Lady Bulldogs will use the final week of the regular season to fine-tune things before heading into the district tournament next week.

 “Just staying focused, staying positive and just cleaning up some small things on the mat,” Senor said of his team’s plans. “There aren’t any huge adjustments we can make at this point, but just cleaning up the things we can control.”