The Centralia girls went from one state champion to two in a year.
On Thursday at the MSHSAA Class 1 girls state wrestling championships, Jayci Shelton won her second straight state title -- this time at 170 pounds -- and Ava Ward won the 135-pound state championship to give the Lady Panthers two atop the podium. Mexico's Alexus Johns began the day with two losses but finished with a pinfall over Sullivan's Abigail Erfurth. Johns hurt her shoulder in the previous match against Nevada's Drew Leer but came back to earn her second straight state medal.
Shelton was the 155-pound state champion last season and had to knock off the returning 170-pound champion Alana Thelin, of Pleasant Hill, to make it two titles in her first two years. The match ended with a pinfall to give Shelton pinfalls in all four of her matches.
Ward earned her first career state championships after a career full of titles and medals on the national and international level. The senior pinned Lawson's Josie Holman after beating last year's 135-pound runner-up Lauren Phillips, of Oak Grove, by a 14-3 major decision for a 4-0 tournament.
Look for full state stories in the Wednesday, March 5, 2025, edition of the Mexico Ledger and online next week.
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