For the first time ever, Trenton is sending a female to the state wrestling tournament.
The Trenton girls wrestling program, which started in the 2018-2019 season, had never pushed an athlete through to state, but that all changed on Saturday at the District 4 girls wrestling tournament at Oak Park High School in Kansas City.
Jacey Hudson, Trenton’s 235-pound wrestler, went 2-2 on the day, wrestling to a fourth-place finish at the weight, which qualified her for the MSHSAA Girls Wrestling Championships in Columbia in two weeks.
“Jacey wrestled her best matches of the season during the district tournament,” Trenton girls wrestling coach Kayce Terhune said. “She had confidence in herself that we hadn’t really seen before this tournament and this confidence pushed her to push herself. I couldn’t be more proud of all three of the girls for their performance at districts. They all three left everything they had on the mat.”
Hudson’s day began with a win by fall over an opponent from North Kansas City as girls wrestling still has just one class level that includes every girls program in the state.
Hudson’s hopes of a championship were derailed in the semifinals, however as she was pinned by a Winnetonka foe.
That placed Hudson in the consolation semifinals, wrestling Hope Charlton from St. Joseph Central in a bubble match. Hudson got her second win by fall of the day and, with the pin, punched her ticket to state.
Hudson’s final match of the day saw her get pinned by Kearney’s Jaden Craig in the third-place match, one that relegated her to a fourth-place finish overall.
Two other Trenton wrestlers were in action at the event. Avery Clark was 3-2 at 141 pounds, falling just short of advancing to state herself. Clark was pinned in her first match, sending her to wrestlebacks where she reeled off three-straight wins, one by pin and two by decision wins of 4-2 and 9-3.
Clark’s day came to a close after that, however, as she lost by a 9-7 decision in sudden victory to Platte County’s Victoria Geddes.
Mercy Schweizer was also in action at 120 pounds, going 0-2 with two losses by fall.
GALLATIN
None of Gallatin’s four wrestlers were able to advance to state at the district tournament. Makayla Rainey was close, though, just missing a trip to state.
Rainey finished 3-2 on the day at 125 pounds. After two-straight wins by fall, though, Rainey was defeated in the quarterfinals by Park Hill’s Taryn Johnson, who pinned Rainey, sending her to the consolation bracket. Rainey came back with another win by fall, but saw her season end in her next match when she lost a 16-11 decision to Platte County’s Elizabeth Humburg.
Jaiden Rainey was 1-2 at 120 pounds. She won a match by forfeit before falling to Chillicothe’s Yoo Lee by a 10-9 decision in the ultimate tiebreaker. She bowed out of the tournament with a loss by fall on the consolation side.
Christin Burns was 1-2 as well at 159 pounds. Burns lost her first match by fall before picking up a 4-1 decision victory in the first tiebreaker period. She was pinned in her next match, however, ending her season.
Abigail Parker was 0-2 at 194 pounds, losing her first match by fall and her second by a 9-8 decision in the ultimate tiebreaker.