Jayci Shelton and Ava Ward were together at the beginning and together at the end on Thursday.

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The Centralia sophomore and senior, respectively, each won state championships at the Class 1 girls state wrestling championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Shelton won her second straight state title at 170 pounds one year after becoming Centralia’s first ever girl state champion, and Ward’s championship at 135 pounds her first career state title.

Shelton pinned her first three opponents in the first minute and then pinned returning state champion and friend Alana Thesin, of Pleasant Hill, in the second period. This year’s championship campaign definitely felt different just because she and Ward were on the same team.

“Ava and I had been wrestling since I started wrestling,” Shelton said. “Today was our last tournament together. It’s hard knowing that.”

Shelton said she was 5 years-old when Ward was 7-years-old in youth wrestling. 

“We’ve been partners,” Shelton said. “We’ve been through hell and back. We both worked our butts off for this, and we deserve what we got.”

Ward has wrestled and earned honors at the national and international level, bringing a wealth of experience into high school just like Shelton did. Because of all that, Ward said her high school experience has been different and she really just wants to enjoy her state title. 

After two early victories on the first day, Ward beat last year’s runner-up Lauren Phillips, of Oak Grove, by a 14-3 decision and then pinned Lawson’s Josie Lawson. 

“I definitely think it was honing in on the reason why I do what I do and why I wrestle,” Ward said. “I was focusing on loving it rather than the outcome.”

Head coach Mike Adkisson took over the high school girls program this season and welcomed in many freshmen. Having two experienced wrestlers like Shelton and Ward helped the team and provided an example of what to do in response to adversity or any given situation. 

Adkisson said wrestling is the “toughest sport in the world” due to how much dedication it takes to be good, let alone the best. Each of these girls have plenty of dedication, and all that mat time provides the most valuable experience.

“Having to keep your weight under control all the time, practices are grueling and as soon as you wake up in the morning, you’re thinking about wrestling,” Adkisson said. “In order to be a champion, you have to be able to deal with the daily things this sport brings, and you have to be able to overcome those things.”

Shelton is proud to be the first-ever Centralia girl to be a state champion as a freshman and sophomore and can’t wait to see what more she can accomplish. While she is hard to beat now, Shelton wants to remain that way and demonstrate her hard work.

“I definitely need to work on my stamina and how much work I put in in that room as a leader,” Shelton said. “I’m pretty good at it, but I just want to show people I am working for what I get and not just getting it out of luck.”

Ward said coming up through the youth program in Centralia has made her a better wrestler and person so she is thankful to the community. Even when she was young, Ward recalls wrestling with the boys, which made her and Shelton “tougher” at the start of her 11 years of wrestling. 

Rex Bryson, who won his first career state championship this year, did wrestle with Ward when they were younger. He isn’t surprised that she is a state champion.

“She was way better than me,” Bryson said. “Her and her dad made me a lot better.”

“Having Centralia just a part of me as an athlete in general just makes me tougher,” Ward said.

Since she is on her way out, Adkisson said Ward has left an indelible mark on the program and the sport of wrestling in Centralia. Avery Adams was one of six freshmen with the Lady Panthers this season, and she qualified for the state tournament while a few others were close to qualifying. 

As Centralia builds on that in the future, Adkisson said they can start by looking at Ward’s example. All that mat time and dedication inspires future girls and brings a crowd that was “the best crowd in the building” during the state tournament.

“Ava has brought wrestling to Centralia in a way that really nobody ever has,” Adkisson said. “She’s competed on the world level for several years, and that opened our community’s eyes to how big this sport really is and where it can take people. When her teammates have questions or problems, they go to her and ask and trust her advice.”