Republic’s girls wrestling program made history Thursday at the Lady Viking Holiday Tournament at Parkview, putting two wrestlers in championship matches and earning six top-five finishes for its best tournament performance ever.
Millie Waterman and Aara Shade led Republic with second-place finishes, helping the Lady Tigers score 127.5 points behind Ozark (247.0), Rolla (194.5), Nixa (166.0), and Webb City (139.5).
“We’ve seen a gradual improvement over the last few years in terms of what the girls have done in these tournaments,” Nolan said. “This is probably our best tournament performance in program history, with a couple girls in the finals, multiple girls bringing home medals.”
Waterman (120 pounds) pinned her first three opponents, including Ozark’s Katie Hartgraves in the semifinals, before losing to Holden’s Macey Greene in the finals.
Shade (140) won her first three matches, pinning Kinsley Larimer and Macie Smith, and defeating Bolivar’s Shelby Holm by decision in the semifinals. She lost to Webb City’s Emma Combs in the championship match.
Abby Horn finished third at 130 pounds. After losing in the semifinals to Bolivar’s Adrianna Meneses-Lilly, Horn pinned Central Cape Girardeau’s Aubrey Roth for bronze.
Dorothy Waterman finished fourth at 105 pounds, winning three straight matches before losing her final two.
Gabby Shanks (135) claimed fifth place, winning four matches by fall, including her final match against Bolivar’s LaShyla Moore.
Rachel Clark (115) placed sixth. After two byes and a quarterfinal loss, she pinned McDonald County’s Jaqueline Teneyuque before losing to Branson’s Chloe Bond.
“We had that fourth place team trophy on our radar. We came up a little bit short, but I think our performance here is an indicator of good things to come,” Nolan said. “Most of our girls started in high school versus a lot of the girls that are here wrestling started in youth club or middle school. Because of the great attitudes that our girls display and their hard work, we’re going to continue to see that all of our girls, top to bottom, improve.”
