High school girls wrestlers tell their stories of becoming Class 1 District 4 Champions

(KEARNEY, MO) - High school girls wrestling district champions were crowned in Kearney this past Saturday in the Class 1 District 4 meet. A lot of champions had inspirational storylines.

Benton Junior Makayla Peters didn't even place last year at districts. Now she's a champion in the 155 pound weight class and off to state for the very first time.

"It feels really good that me and all my teammates' hard work paid off in the wrestling room," said Peters. "Since last year, we're having conversations about it, about improving, and we did, so it's really exciting."

Then you have the girls with insane records. Polo senior Allexa Storts is the 140 pound district champion, and she's headed to Columbia with a perfect 46-0 record in the 170 pound weight class. The district champion goes to Maysville sophomore, Claire Barton, a 43-1 record now as she heads to state for the second time and putting Maysville wrestling on the map as well.

"We are such a small school that having girls go to state just feels really impressive," said Barton. "The school tends to make a really big deal out of it because you don't have a lot of that. Girls wrestling is so new to our school."

The heavyweight district champion goes to Gallatin junior Miah Parker, who's had a remarkable recovery after tearing her ACL last season. Now she's going to state with a 34-2 record.

"That was probably like the hardest thing I've ever had to go through is a lot of hard physical therapy, a lot of hard mental stuff I had to work through," said Parker. "But I think with my coaches' help and with my physical therapist down at Cameron, she can kind of help me work through that stuff. Honestly, I think my coaches probably did the most for me in that kind of mental space I was in and getting through that and pushing through everything."

No stranger to state on the dominant Mid-Buchanan team, junior Sophia Smith fought back from being down 6-0 to then pin her opponent and win the 135 pound district title. She heads to state for the third straight time, going in with a 34-3 record.

"I was really just trying to stay calm and do what I can. I wrestled her a couple of times and I know what she does and just trying to do what I can to control myself under pressure," said Smith.

Smith also spoke on the tear that Mid-Buchanan girls wrestling has been on this season. 

"We've really gotten a lot of new freshmen that have really come in and put the work in and a lot of now second-year wrestlers that have really just done their job and worked well in the offseason," said Smith. "Everyone has just practiced every day."

The 120 pound district champion goes to Rock Port sophomore Evelyn Heintz, who used the motivation from an older sibling to help her head back to state for the second straight season.

"My brother was a wrestler. He wrestled for two years also. He got 2nd at state his senior year," said Hentiz. "He was a really big inspiration to me and just watching him just really pushed me hard."

All these ladies will now wrestle in the Class 1 State Tournament in Columbia on February 25th and 26th.