Kahok girls wrestlers win Missouri Invite; move to 3-0 in duals

By Mark Jurgena

It was a big week for the Collinsville High School girls’ wrestling team as they took a couple of historic wins.

CHS beat Triad in their first-ever home dual match then won the Lady Longhorn Invitational at Parkway West in Ballwin, Missouri.

Lady Longhorn

They’ve been second, third, fifth and now first!

Collinsville has consistently been at the top of the standings for the past three seasons, including a runner-up finish one year ago.

But this season, the Kahoks brought home the top prize at Parkway West High School.

CHS totaled 126 points to finish just three points ahead of Moberly, Missouri, while Mehlville, Missouri, was third with 117.

“It’s pretty amazing to see the level of success this program is having this early on!” Gillespie said. “Winning that tournament was truly a team effort and made possible by every wrestler on this team doing their job and wrestling hard! They are learning so much from every match! Win or lose, they are grateful to be there competing!”

London Long won the 125-pound title at Lady Longhorn for the second straight season.

In her final match, she beat Tamia Whitney of Oakville, Missouri, by pinfall in 49 seconds to complete a five-match run of pins in the tourney.

The sophomore has won each of her 10 matches at the Missouri tourney by pinfall.

She beat Olivia Chang of Brentwood, Missouri, in 33 seconds, Riley Jarvis of Bonne Terre, Missouri (North County Athletics) in 25 seconds and Brooklyn Lane of St. Louis (STEAM Academy) in 30 seconds. She also pinned Addison Dalton from North County at 1:03.

Leann Cory took second place in the 155-pound class.

Cory fell in her opener to Breanne Gibbs of Moberly in 35 seconds, then took that defeat out on the rest of the field.

She beat Olivia Romano of Oakville in 1:33, Julia Sparks of STEAM Academy in eight seconds, Trista Seiffert of Marquette High School in Chesterfield, Missouri in seven seconds and Nayelle Maldonado in eight seconds.

Ivanna Torres took third at 110, amassing three victories. She beat Jazmin Campbell of Parkway South High School in Manchester, Missouri in 19 seconds, Shelby Hess of Moberly in 41 seconds and Hatlie Ross of Oakville in 1:18.

Jaylah Harris also took third for the Kahoks at 135. She won a pair of matches.

Harris beat Tara Cantor of Oakville in 23 seconds and Sophia Malac of Parkway South in 2:14.

Addison Bailey also took third place at 140 pounds. She began the match up 10-0 over Armani Alexander of Marquette in 2:59 then pinned Dariya Lindsey of Hazelwood East High School in 2:24. The Kahok was down 7-0 when she flipped the match with the pin.

Emma Ford took fifth place with three wins.

Alyssa Calvin of STEAM was beaten by Ford at 1:34, while Kamori Newman of Granite City fell in 31 seconds. Lilian King of Oakville was her third victim in 1:52.

Collinsville’s Jazelle Young also took fifth place.

She took three wins in the 115-pound class.

Young beat Emma Wilet of Moberly in 31 seconds, Ta-hanna Gray of Hazelwood East in 42 seconds and Ashley Kaul from Mehlville in 57 seconds.

Rylee McCullough won at 145 pounds over Mehlville’s Annabeth Langford by an 11-3 decision and Emmalynn Mason of Granite in 1:10.

Braylee Delisle won one match for CHS, beating Bronwynn Humphrey of Parkway Central in 1:05, with Gabriella Hunter winning a match at 145 over Bryleigh Galler of Brentwood in 2:41.

Harlee Hart and Alana Starwalt both competed for the Kahoks but were unable to take a match victory.

Triad

After winning their first-ever dual match at Belleville East the week before, Collinsville turned around and won their first-ever home dual match against Triad 48-27 on Dec. 10.

Bailey and Cory both scored pins on the night.

“This team came out ready to defend Fletcher Gym against a team that placed higher than them at the Granite City invitational,” said CHS coach Adam Gillespie. “This motivated them to go out there and leave it all on the mat. It’s always a good feeling to win, but a great feeling to beat a solid team like Triad! I’m proud of this team for making history and winning their inaugural home opener!”

O’Fallon

One night later, Collinsville traveled to O’Fallon and took a 51-6 win over the Panthers.

The win raised the Kahoks record to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the SWC.

Hart, Ford, Long, Harris and Cory all had victories on the night.

“This team is doing a great job at learning from each match,” said Gillespie. “They are attacking their offense and keeping their opponents on their heels! They have been insistent on controlling the pace of the match and not giving their opponent the opportunity to gain momentum!”

CHS Schedule

Collinsville is at Edwardsville on Dec. 18 before traveling back into Missouri for the Ft. Zumwalt East Invitational in St. Peters, Missouri (St. Charles County) on Dec. 19.

After that, they will be off until Dec. 27, when they will be at the Jacksonville Invite.