Centralia girls wrestling had one of its best weekends ever on Friday and Saturday.

Wonder Woman Photo Gallery

The Lady Panthers definitely had their best Wonder Woman tournament by finishing out of 83 teams and having two medalists for the first time in the event’s six-year history. In a field that welcomed more than 650 wrestlers from nine states at Battle High School in Columbia, Ava Ward earned her second Wonder Woman medal with a runner-up finish at 135 pounds, and Jayci Shelton picked up her second straight Wonder Woman medal by finishing third at 170 pounds.

Head coach Mike Adkisson said Centralia was going for a certain “benchmark” this weekend and reached it. He said the Lady Panthers wanted multiple medalists and a top-20 team finish and achieved both.

“If we’re not the smallest team, we’re one of the three or four smallest teams here,” Adkisson said. “We represent ourselves well.”

Ahead of Centralia’s team is obviously Ward and Shelton, who each have a longer list of achievements than most high school girl wrestlers. Ward was the 115-pound Wonder Woman champion two years ago, and Shelton was the 155-pound Wonder Woman champion a year ago during the same season she went undefeated to become the girls program’s first state champion. They each have won championships at the national level as well.

Adkisson said he is “blessed” to have both girls in the program at the same time. They each help the team through points, obviously, but also serve as leadership to a team that includes six freshmen, who all wrestled at Wonder Woman this weekend.

“I wake up and get to coach those two and all these girls,” Adkisson said. “I’ve got some great girls and great community support. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Five of the freshmen, who Adkisson coached last year as the middle school before rising up to high school head coach this season, won at least one match as they each made their runs through the consolation bracket. Kyleigh Dollens advanced to fifth-round wrestlebacks after winning three straight matches at 155 pounds, and Avery Adams won two matches at 100 before being eliminated in the consolation third round.

“I was a middle school coach for the last several years,” Adkisson said. “Going into last year, a group of eighth-grade girls were showing some interest in wrestling. They took an interest in talking to me and I talked to them and got them out. This is their second year wrestling, and they’ve stuck together. They got their first taste of Wonder Woman this year, and in three years, I think we’re going to see some big things.”

Ward had her first taste of Wonder Woman two years ago and had a dominant showing by pinning the returning Wonder Woman champion. She faced off against the returning Wonder Woman champion again, this time four weight classes heavier at 135 pounds, and lost 8-3 after taking an early lead. Lillie Banks, of Menasha, Wisconsin, had her list of accomplishments that includes championships at the state, national and international level.

“The finals matches here at Wonder Woman are as equivalent to any national tournament that you’re going to go to,” Adkisson said. “She is very good, and Ava took it to her. As the match progressed and we got closer, we were neutral in the third period and gave up a takedown but neutral is our spot. That’s where we want to be. If that’s where we’re going to lose a match, that’s where we’re going to lose a match. Those only make you better.”

Ward’s previous Wonder Woman was a blur as she said she doesn’t remember what happened in her finals match back then. As she has matured, Ward said she thinks more about what she does on the mat.

“I would just go out there and wrestle and do what my body tells me to do,” Ward said. “I used to blank out. If you would ask me now, I feel like I can recall every single thing and every little detail.”

In her semifinal match against Belton’s Savanna Franklin, who was the 135-pound runner-up last year and last season’s Class 2 state champion, Ward fell behind 3-0 after the first period before eventually winning 9-3. She was taken down and didn’t have a potential takedown awarded to her in that same period before racking up points in the next two periods to win.

“I didn’t want to let it affect me, that takedown,” Ward said. “When we go back to the center of the mat, I like to think this is a new match. This is the start now so forget about what just happened.”

Shelton lost to Highland’s (Illinois) August Rottmann already this season at the Wentzville Liberty Girls Invite to give the sophomore her first high school loss. Rottmann, who finished as a Wonder Woman runner-up for the second straight year, beat Shelton again in the Wonder Woman semifinals but had to come back and just edge out Shelton 8-7 to achieve victory rather than the 15-1 major decision from before. 

Despite this recent loss, Shelton didn’t dwell on it and took care of her next two tough opponents. She pinned national medalist Carson Shank, of Lincoln, Nebraska, in Shelton’s second straight match against an out-of-state opponent and then pinned last season’s Class 2 state champion Autumn Calvert, of Winnetonka. 

“Losing in high school sucks, but you just got to remember that nobody is going to remember these tournaments and it doesn’t mean anything that you lost that match,” Shelton said. “What matters is your attitude after you lose.”

Adkisson said Shelton is someone who is “usually the first to notice” whenever her technique needs fixing and even brings it to her coaches’ attention sometimes. He said that wasn't Shelton a year or so ago. 

Shelton said her last period in the Rottmann rematch closed out with her in a bad position of being on bottom rather than on top but said positioning was in her favor in her next two matches. Specifically, it was the positioning of her lower half.

“I worked on my foot position,” Shelton said. “It’s just working on wrestling on top and on bottom and my mental state and not being worried about it.”

Compared to 155 pounds, Shelton has seen a “bigger variety of styles” against the 170-pound girls and has also seen some quicker and taller girls. She said she is learning how to adjust as the season progresses.

“This season, it’s just to improve my wrestling,” Shelton said. “Whether I am winning more or losing more, it doesn’t really matter as long as my wrestling is getting better.”

Ward said she has had to adjust to her bigger opponents this season, even pointing out she might have faced her first ever 6-foot opponent at the Wonder Woman this past weekend. She was used to facing shorter girls at the lower weight classes, but strength training and knowing how to prepare against these new opponents helped her return to the Wonder Woman finals.

“It takes a lot of mental stuff to prepare yourself,” Ward said. “It’s a mental mindset going into the matches knowing they’re going to be a little stronger and a little bit heavier. They used up all of their pound allowances, but I was under about maybe like four pounds. Those little challenges, you have to block those out.”

Adkisson said Ward and Shelton have each matured well over the last one or two years and are both unafraid, regardless of how big the match might seem. Even in their rare losses this weekend, Adkisson said they each wrestled “winnable” matches that could go the other way if they were ever to meet their respective opponents again.