The Mexico girls didn’t leave the Wonder Woman tournament with a medal again this year but appeared stronger.

Wonder Woman Day 1 Photo Gallery

Wonder Woman Day 2 Photo Gallery

Abby Bowen advanced to the blood rounds of the 135-pound bracket at the tournament hosted by Battle High School in Columbia before losing to returning Oklahoma state champion and Wonder Woman medalist Shelby Kemp, of Moore, and Alexus Johns had a spot in the 235-pound blood rounds on Day 2 but wasn’t cleared to wrestle. Karisa Hayden finished 0-2 in the 170 bracket but only lost via 3-0 and 6-0 decisions in her first varsity Wonder Woman appearance.

Head coach Tony Senor said the progress of each girl determines who he sends to the tournament each year and felt like each Lady Bulldog was ready this year. He said his confidence was reflected in their results against a loaded field of 580 wrestlers from seven states, which includes many state-ranked and 30 nationally ranked girls.

“If you are a new wrestler, I put you in the JV tournament. If you have growth from the previous season and I feel like you’re ready to wrestle in the Wonder Woman, I’m going to put you in there,” Senor said. “I don’t want to throw girls to the wolves and get discouraged.”

Senor said the junior varsity Wonder Woman tournament that is run the day before varsity starts on Dec. 29 is one tool he uses to determine the status of girls’ development. Mexico sent four girls to this year’s JV tournament and had first-year wrestler Abbie Seibert take second place in the 170-pound bracket after going 3-1 with three pins and being pinned in the title match. 

Bowen placed third at 125 pounds at last season’s JV Wonder Woman but went 0-2 in the varsity tournament. From the outset of this year’s tournament, Bowen ran into a tough competitor in Belton’s Savanna Franklin, who extended her record to 22-0 after pinning Bowen. Four straight pinfalls sent Bowen into another brick wall in the nationally ranked Kemp, but Bowen had pinned for girls prior to that.

“She loves to scrap, and she loves to battle,” Senor said. “She has a lot of mental toughness. After that loss, she regrouped, and she knew what she had to do to get to this point. This year, we’re seeing a lot of growth and a lot of improvement.”

Senor said there was an added challenge for Bowen as she bumped up from 130 pounds to 135 for the Wonder Woman, which is a move that usually is a strength concern. He said Bowen has wrestled at both weights this season and has the attitude to make it work.

In the fourth round of wrestlebacks to determine if Bowen would wrestle Saturday, she pinned St. Charles West’s Danielle Lovell, who had 17 wins going into the bout, in the third period. Recording a victory against a district opponent sends a good message, Senor said, and thought that was her best match. 

“That was probably the most complete match of the tournament for her,” Senor said. “She was able to control ties, and that St. Charles West girl is pretty good.”

Bowen’s first match of the second day saw her down 10-7 in the third period and in a pinning predicament at one point against Liberty North’s Alexis Rusley before Bowen pinned her. While Senor said Rusley was noticeably tired, Bowen had more to spare.

“Abby does not give up and has a ‘never-die’ attitude,” Senor said. “I appreciate that. Abby has a big gas tank, and she can outlast girls. Literally, they’ll just give up because Abby’s still fighting.”

Johns experienced her own brick wall in nationally ranked Hailey Conley, who was a Kansas state runner-up out of Olathe North and finished third at the Wonder Woman a season ago. Still, Senor said Johns wrestled a good match to keep it close and lose by a 4-0 decision.

Before that, Johns achieved a personal goal of hers in defeating Eureka’s Addison Neumann, who has medaled at the national level. At last year’s Wonder Woman blood rounds, Neumann eliminated Johns and Johns pinned her in the first period this year. 

“I’m very pleased with Alexus,” Senor said. “Last year, she made it to the second day, which is a big accomplishment, and she did again this year. When we wrestled Eureka in the third round, that was huge. We were talking in August about goals, and she had that Eureka girl on her mind. We tried to work on ties to be able to compete with that girl a little bit more.”

Johns was an undefeated 17-0 going into the Conley match and already won three tournaments this season, including the challenging Battle at the Katy Trail where she pinned top-ranked Class 1 wrestler Annabelle Rowe from Adrian. She returns as a state qualifier in her sophomore season, and Senor said she looks better at this point than the same point last season.

“She is starting to understand what to do on the mat,” Senor said. “Last year, she would rush, rush, rush and just try to pin girls and beat them as fast as she could. This time, she’s more about control, being patient and letting things come to her. She’s not trying to throw girls constantly. Controlled aggression is what we’re trying to teach her.”

Hayden finished third in the 170-pound bracket at last year’s JV Wonder Woman, and Senor said she has shown great improvement in just her second year wrestling. The senior lost a 3-0 decision to Liberty’s Samiah Watson before losing 6-0 to Lindbergh’s Ellie Poulette, who moved to 19-1 after the match.

“Karisa is one of the toughest girls I have ever coached,” Senor said. “The first match could’ve gone either way and then we ran into a Lindbergh girl that cut from 190 to 170 who could potentially be in the state finals this year. We held that girl 6-0. To me, that’s huge.”

Senor said Mexico sends wrestlers to the Wonder Woman to better prepare them for districts so they have a good shot at advancing to state. He said Hayden could make it to state for the time if she continues to improve.

“Karisa’s really good on her feet,” Senor said. “She’s able to control ties and prevent girls from taking her down for the most part. She’s getting better at bottom too. That’s where we’re trying to improve her on, and that’s going to be the turning point to possibly get her to the state tournament.”