Alexus Johns hit the mat for her crash course in wrestling this season for Mexico.

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The freshman qualified for the MSHSAA Class 1 girls state wrestling tournament after finishing as the runner-up in the 235-pound weight class in the Class 1 District 2 Tournament on Saturday at North Point High School in Wentzville.

For Johns, this wasn’t just her first year of wrestling in high school as it was also her first year wrestling overall. She said she started to expend some extra energy she had and gain some structure in her life, which also allowed her to gain one of her favorite things in life.

“Probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made was joining the wrestling team,” Johns said. “I encourage everybody to. My teammates are really supportive and just awesome, in general.”

Johns began her tournament with a quick pinfall victory on Friday and then defeated Wright City’s Ella Greenwell Washburn by a 3-1 decision to punch her ticket to state.

In the three years the Mexico girls wrestling program has existed, one girl has gone every year, head coach Tony Senor said. This will be the first season it will be someone other than Katie Bowen, and considering the adversity the program went through, he said the young wrestlers picking up the sport for impressive district performances is impressive.

“This year being beat up, girls having some injuries, some girls not deciding to come out, this is the best situation,” Senor said. “From Day 1, I didn’t know what I was getting with Alexus, being a first-year wrestler. Being a first-year wrestler is hard, no matter what. No matter what age you start, it is difficult. She came in every single day, she worked her tail off every single day in practice, she was able to listen to criticism, she was able to try to improve and try to do things in practice every day.”

Senor said Johns drilled with him sometimes in practice, working on techniques such as takedowns, top-bottom work and breakdowns. Johns said she needed every single bit of that training, not knowing much about the sport coming in. At times, she admitted the volume of information could be overwhelming.

“I have a great coach as he’s the one that helped me through everything,” Johns said. “I went on the mat not knowing anything to coming out to be a state qualifier.”

Looking at the long-term and not panicking when things don’t transpire the way a wrestler expects are lessons Johns had to learn. She had to take Mexico’s final regular season tournament off — the JV Wonder Woman tournament in St. Charles — because of an injured ankle. Senor said Johns was anxious to get back on the mat, but he insisted she rest until districts and it paid off for her.

In the match she became a state qualifier, in the semifinals against Greenwell Washburn, the two pushed each other around the mat to a scoreless tie at the end of one period. Johns gained the advantage with a reversal in the second period before picking up the close victory. But before that, many nerves were swirling through Johns’ body.

“She’s got a lot of power,” Johns said. “I was so nervous. As soon as I stepped on the mat, my stomach dropped and everything. I started going through the match and was like, ‘OK she’s doing this, this and this’ and I was like going along with it. When the match stopped, I stood up and was like, ‘Oh gosh, I didn’t win.’ I didn’t even know what color I was. Then the ref grabbed my hand and raised it up.”

Senor said she likes Johns’ chances heading to the state tournament from Feb. 22-25 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. He said she has been on an upward trajectory since the Wonder Woman tournament in Columbia near the end of December, wrestling some of the top girls in Class 1 and 2 since mid-December and defeating girls with more experience than her.

Beside Johns, Senor said he is pleased with how the rest of the Lady Bulldogs did. Some were close to joining Johns in two weeks, including fellow freshman and first-year wrestler Abby Bowen. Bowen was pinned in the consolation semifinals by Fulton’s Emmy Begemann — who finished third to qualify for state — to fall short of state qualification by one round.

Prior to that, Bowen was in quite the predicament against Boonville’s Alivia Bottoms as Bowen trailed 8-2 heading into the third period. Several moves later and Bowen edged her opponent 11-10.

Senor said Bowen had her doubts of sticking with wrestling at the start of the season but found out how much of a fit the sport was for her.

“This tournament, she was lights out,” Senor said. “There wasn’t a match where she gave up, and she did exactly what she was supposed to do as a first-year wrestler going into her first district tournament. That Boonville match was absolutely amazing. She kept wrestling, and I told her that is wrestling, to keep wrestling.”

As for the other Lady Bulldogs, Senor said Layla Fierge at 110 pounds wrestled one of her best matches on Saturday in a loss against Blair Oaks’ Jazmin Birky and has displayed a great attitude all season.

Senior Kaylynn Pehle didn’t make it to state in her final year but both her losses were against the first- and third-place wrestlers in the 115-pound weight class while coming off an injured knee Senor feared was season-ending. The future Marine and pioneer for the Lady Bulldogs’ program proved her toughness during districts, Senor said.

Senor said Kiya Smith at 130 pounds was 0-2 during the tournament but had her final opponent on her back a couple of times, and Karisa Hayden at 170 pounds was ahead of Marceline’s Graycie Wheeler 8-1 before being pinned in the third period, preventing her the chance to wrestle in the semifinals. The first-year wrestler Hayden may have missed out on a state berth but will continue to be Johns’ drilling partner at the state meet.

“I’m super nervous, but I’m excited to see where this takes me,” Johns said. “And I have three more years left, so that’s also exciting because I can improve and work what I need to get better at.”