The FHC girls wrestling team last week on Sat. Feb. 24 made history, becoming the first sports team to win the Missouri state championship. Junior Kailey Benson was awarded the title state champ as well as being undefeated with a record of 45-0 throughout the entire season.
The girls wrestling team had been making headlines throughout their season as their incredible placements grew their attention. Beside the fame, the team had continued to be very supportive of one another. Benson said it feels great to have people to wrestle for, and know her team was watching and rooting for her throughout. She also explains how the win had motivated her.
“It just shows that the hard work I put in paid off and I’ve improved since last year,” Benson said. “It’s a small stepping stone on my path to bigger things. I know there’s more than I can accomplish so it just kind of motivates me and gets me ready for the offseason and national stuff.”
Guth described how the team felt when they won the team state championship title.
“As soon as we knew that we had enough points locked up that nobody could catch us, we just started hugging each other and crying,” Guth said. “The emotional tension of the past, you know, three months of working hard and working toward a goal and seeing how much it meant to the whole team … everybody had a bit of a different path. But seeing it all come together in the end was cool.”
Benson explains how she improves and the methods she uses to practice.
“I write down moves and stuff I need to work on and just things that I need to improve to get better, analyze my matches, things like that. I’ll go back and watch the videos and especially my losses. I’ll see what I need to work on and maybe how my opponent scored on me and what I need to do to improve my defense,” Benson said.
Guth said the team’s accomplishments can inspire future young girls looking to join a sport.
“It sets a really good example for the younger girls coming into the program and just starting it to see what this program is capable of, and hopefully inspires them to try a sport that maybe is newer to them, or that they’ve never done before,” Guth said.
Final standings don’t come much tighter than this. The Spartans earned 125.5 points and were trailed by Nixa High School with 125, then Lebanon High School with 124.5. Guth explains how the hours of practice had brought the team closer together, and how every wrestler mattered.
“It was really special, practicing every day, because when you had a hard practice, like individually, you would focus on why you were doing it. And, remember that it was your teammates’ sport as well, and that kind of motivated you to want to do better for them,” Guth said. “It just goes to show that every match, every point mattered. We had a couple of close matches. Every win, every wrestler that we took to state scored points for the team, and we couldn’t have done it without any of them.”
Guth said the hard work the team put in together paid off.
“We had two practices a day, we were here before school working out in the weight room, and long grinding practices after school. The days were really long. But it was really cool to see our hard work pay off. It was definitely worth it,” Guth said.
The wrestling team’s highlights had been a great end to their season. Guth explains how it felt to receive the medal.
“When you’re standing on the podium and your coach gets to put the medal around your neck― it was something I’d pictured for a long time. And it was just a surreal moment to have it finally happen,” Guth said. “I’m just super proud of our team and I’m glad we could win. It was really cool for the school. And it was an awesome experience.”
