Cassville girls headed to wrestling state finals
Pictured above: The Cassville Wildcats girls wrestling team after they fought their way on to the podium at districts. From left to right: Nathan Fortner, coach; Kelsey Harris, sophmore; Kailey Artherton, freshman; Annie Moore, freshman; and Chris Fortner, coach.
February 1
Vinnie Roberts
Just a year after girls wrestling was introduced in Cassville, a group of wrestlers is making history. After a series of victories at their district matches in Columbia, three female wrestlers will go on to state finals to compete against the best wrestlers in the state.
The three wrestlers, freshmen Kailey Artherton and Annie Moore and sophomore Kelsey Harris, had a long road to victory last weekend, battling both their opponents and the limitations of their weight class.
“Girls wrestling began just last year,” explained Cassville wrestling coach Nathan Fortner. “It’s more than doubled in size this year. In guys’ wrestling, there’s four classes, but in girls, there’s just the one. They had to wrestle just to get into their bracket.”
One wrestler, Moore, was convinced early in the competition that she was defeated. After a loss in Friday’s match, Moore was slated to face the tournament’s second seed for the chance to go to state. Sensing his wrestlers’ apprehension, coach Fortner took some time to reassure her.
“In the very beginning, I lost a match and put into a bubble match. It was really nerve-racking,” explained Moore. “I was going against the second seed and coach Fortner told me that who I was up against was really bad.”
Moore explained that this misdirection was all that it took to feed her engine to victory. Soon after her stunning upset, the rest of the team rallied, dominating the remainder of their competition.
“Two of us lost on Friday night,” explained wrestler Kelsey Harris. “We were both really nervous to go into Saturday knowing that if we lost it was the end.”
After Moore’s upset of the second seed secured her place in state, wrestler KaileyArtherton wowed the crowd by winning her match in the final three seconds.
“It was really exciting,” said Artherton. “There were lots of hugs and lots of tears.”
In yet another explosive feat, wrestler Kelsey Harris took on five matches on Saturday, most of them directly following one another.
“I compare a wrestling match to an entire football game,” said Fortner. “These girls did matches that intense back to back all day on Saturday.”
The Cassville girls wrestling team will go on to compete in the 2019-2020 MSHSAA state wrestling finals from Friday, February 20, to Sunday, February 22, in Columbia. Tickets to the event are currently on sale for $9.
“They made history,” explained Fortner. “They’re the first girls team to ever qualify and we were lucky enough to have all three punch their ticket the same year.”
Vinnie Roberts
Just a year after girls wrestling was introduced in Cassville, a group of wrestlers is making history. After a series of victories at their district matches in Columbia, three female wrestlers will go on to state finals to compete against the best wrestlers in the state.
The three wrestlers, freshmen Kailey Artherton and Annie Moore and sophomore Kelsey Harris, had a long road to victory last weekend, battling both their opponents and the limitations of their weight class.
“Girls wrestling began just last year,” explained Cassville wrestling coach Nathan Fortner. “It’s more than doubled in size this year. In guys’ wrestling, there’s four classes, but in girls, there’s just the one. They had to wrestle just to get into their bracket.”
One wrestler, Moore, was convinced early in the competition that she was defeated. After a loss in Friday’s match, Moore was slated to face the tournament’s second seed for the chance to go to state. Sensing his wrestlers’ apprehension, coach Fortner took some time to reassure her.
“In the very beginning, I lost a match and put into a bubble match. It was really nerve-racking,” explained Moore. “I was going against the second seed and coach Fortner told me that who I was up against was really bad.”
Moore explained that this misdirection was all that it took to feed her engine to victory. Soon after her stunning upset, the rest of the team rallied, dominating the remainder of their competition.
“Two of us lost on Friday night,” explained wrestler Kelsey Harris. “We were both really nervous to go into Saturday knowing that if we lost it was the end.”
After Moore’s upset of the second seed secured her place in state, wrestler KaileyArtherton wowed the crowd by winning her match in the final three seconds.
“It was really exciting,” said Artherton. “There were lots of hugs and lots of tears.”
In yet another explosive feat, wrestler Kelsey Harris took on five matches on Saturday, most of them directly following one another.
“I compare a wrestling match to an entire football game,” said Fortner. “These girls did matches that intense back to back all day on Saturday.”
The Cassville girls wrestling team will go on to compete in the 2019-2020 MSHSAA state wrestling finals from Friday, February 20, to Sunday, February 22, in Columbia. Tickets to the event are currently on sale for $9.
“They made history,” explained Fortner. “They’re the first girls team to ever qualify and we were lucky enough to have all three punch their ticket the same year.”
