Central's Meadow King captures inaugural state title
Feb. 24—CASPER — Meadow King had her own nerves to contend with entering the 145-pound championship bout Friday night at the Wyoming Center in Casper.
The Cheyenne Central junior's confidence grew the instant she felt Star Valley's Cara Andrews hesitate.
"She's a great wrestler, but she didn't come at me as soon as the whistle blew like she did all the other girls," King said. "That's when I knew I was in her head. We watched some film, and she was super aggressive with everyone else, and tried to throw in overhooks and get to an ankle.
"When she backed up, I knew I was going to be fine. I knew I had it as long as I pushed the pace and kept fighting, even if I got into bad situations."
King fought her way to a pin in 5 minutes, 42 seconds, and the championship of the Wyoming High School Activities Association's inaugural girls state tournament.
King scored a takedown 30 seconds into the opening period. Andrews caught King in a bad position, and knotted the score 2-2 with a reversal. King managed an escape to pull ahead, and led 11-3 when she used a power-half to turn Andrews to her back.
"When a girl isn't completely aggressive, it makes me angry, especially here," King said. "You're at the state tournament, you have to go for it. Otherwise, you're cheating yourself.
"I knew I had the upper hand, and I wasn't going to cheat myself. I wasn't going to lose a chance to go out and get it."
King finished the season 23-5, and was complimentary of her practice partners and coaches for helping her prepare for that moment.
"She was really aggressive, but you could tell that even she was a little nervous and not as aggressive as she normally is," Central coach Kyle Brightman said. "I joked with her that she took her time a little bit because she wanted to enjoy being on that stage.
"Once she got into the groove, she was in control and had no issues. I'm glad she finished with a pin. She's a great wrestler, and I'm proud that she was the first state champ from Cheyenne."
Cheyenne East junior Gracin Goff was pinned by Rock Springs senior Maggie Smith in 1:03. Both wrestlers spent the early seconds of the bout pushing against each other and jockeying for position.
Near the edge of the mat, Smith was able to pull Goff into her body and get a trip. Smith circled around until Goff was on her back, and capped her unbeaten season with a pin.
Goff finished the season as a wrestler 18-14. Although she was disappointed in the result, Goff kept her first campaign on the mat in perspective.
"(Smith) has wrestled for her whole life, and I honestly don't really know what's going on when I go out there," Goff said. "I tried to match her physicality because I knew she was going to try to push me around. I was going for a different move when she locked me up and caught me."
Star Valley claimed the team championship with 184 points. Pinedale was second with 129. East split sixth with Thunder Basin, and Central was ninth.
East had senior Emmaray Van Dell (120 pounds) and freshman Kaelynn Ronnau (145) take fourth. Senior Elizabeth Grube placed fifth at 135.
Central's Ellyse Rimmasch (100) and Kaiana Garlough (115) both placed sixth, as did Burns-Pine Bluffs' Rihana Tillman (145).
GIRLS WRESTLING
WYOMING GIRLS TOURNAMENT
at Wyoming Center — Casper
Team Scores
1. Star Valley 184; 2. Pinedale 129; 3. Sheridan 102; 4. Kelly Walsh 97; 5. Kemmerer 88; 6t. Cheyenne East; Thunder Basin 79; 8. Wind River 68; 9. Cheyenne Central 59.5; 10t. Glenrock; Worland 56; 12. Evanston 52; 13t. Green River; Shoshoni 48; 15. Buffalo 44; 16. Natrona County 43.5; 17t. Campbell County; Powell 43; 19. Rock Springs 41; 20. Wright 40; 21. Rawlins 38.5; 22t. Lovell; Lyman 37; 24. Big Piney 36; 25t. Moorcroft; Wheatland 33; 27. Thermopolis 31; 28t. Lingle-Fort Laramie/Southeast; Newcastle-Upton 28; 30. Laramie 26.5; 31. Hanna-Elk Mountain 26; 32t. Cody; Lander 22; 34. Rocky Mountain 19; 35. Burns-Pine Bluffs 18; 36. Lusk 17; 37t. Hulett; Cheyenne South 15; 39. Mountain View 14.0; 40t. Dubois; Riverton 10; 42. Sundance 2; 43t. Cokeville; Douglas; Greybull-Riverside; Jackson; Saratoga; Tongue River; Torrington; Wyoming Indian 0.
Burns-Pine Bluffs results
100 pounds: Stoneking 0-2; 145: Tillman, sixth, 2-3; 155: Jackson 2-2.
Cheyenne Central results
100 pounds: Rimmasch, sixth, 1-3; 105: Bates 1-2; 110: Vroman 1-2; 115: Garlough, sixth, 3-3; 120: Kant 0-2; 140: Murray 1-2; 145: King, first, 4-0.
Cheyenne East results
120 pounds: VanDell, fourth, 3-2; 130: Lyon 0-2; 135: Grube, fifth, 3-2; 145: K. Ronnau, fourth, 4-2; 190: Goff, second, 2-1.
Cheyenne South results
100 pounds: Warner 1-2; 125: Soden 0-2; 135: Schwatken 2-2; 155: Hockenberger 0-2.
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
