KEARNEY, Mo. — Sarina Bertram had a tough time figuring out how to handle Smithville’s Chloe Williams this year.
Williams posted three wins against the Platte County junior in meetings earlier this season but Bertram got a bit of revenge during the Class 1 District 4 meet on Saturday, Feb. 8.
The unseeded Bertram defeated the state runner-up from last year in the district championship match, winning 5-4 in an ultimate tiebreaker.
On the way to the title, Bertram beat the fourth-place, third-place and second-place finishers to punch her first trip to state.
“I knew I could do it,” Bertram said of the overtime session. “Our coaches push us hard with the guys. I knew she was tired.”
Bertram left districts with a much different feeling than last year when she went to the consolation semifinals and lost the match that would’ve sent her to state.
“The fire burned in her from this tournament last year,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said. “The tears she shed drove her to get through this year. To come from non-seeded to win this tournament is pretty impressive.”
The memory of losing by a fall drove her this year.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Platte County’s Sarina Bertram, right, locks hands with Smithville’s Chloe Williams in the 166-pound title match on Saturday, Feb. 8 in Kearney, Mo.
“I’m excited to go to state,” she said. “Last year after (districts) I cried for weeks upon weeks. I felt this year it really paid off.”
Bertram (36-5) took an early 1-0 lead against Williams, last year’s district champion, but fell behind 3-1 going into the fourth. Bertram forced a 3-3 tie with 25 seconds left in the third period.
Neither scored in the 1-minute overtime and then the two 30-second additional overtime followed before Bertram secured the one-point victory.
Bertram posted a 5-0 mark in the tournament and got 21 ½ points for the Pirates.
She dominated her first match, 23-8, against Van Horn’s Robyn Murphy before winning 7-3 against Liberty North’s Kate Shriver.
Bertram then won a pair of close matches to reach the finals. She bested Marcelines’s Addy Schmit, 4-2, in the quarterfinals and then won 10-7 against Truman’s Ava Miller, a returning state qualifier.
That led to the finals against Williams, who constantly tried to snap Bertram’s arms but she held her ground and didn’t allow any points in the third period.
Bertram gave credit to teammate KayLyn Munn, her practice partner, for the victory.
“KayLyn wrestles me in practice and that is all she does to me so I was used to it,” Bertram said of the snapping Williams tried, which Munn does too in practice.
Munn, herself, is moving on to state for the second year in a row.
She finished third overall after closing with a pin over Cameron’s Hollie Hedgpeth in 1:28, leading 4-0 at the time.
Munn posted a 4-1 mark and won all four by pins. Her only setback came against William Chrisman’s Mary-Mae McMillan, the eventual district champion at 187.
Platte County took 13th in the districts and all five wrestlers won at least one match in the districts.
Haley Burge (103) and Elizabeth Humburg (125) each won two matches, while Cheyenne Weir (110) got a victory.
Staley won the district title, followed by Cameron, Smithville and Kearney, Plattsburg and William Chrisman — the latter two tying for fifth — in the team standings.
“It is important for the development of the program,” Burress said. “These girls come and work hard every day. I couldn’t be more proud. Every girl here won a match. Bertram and Munn getting through. Humburg was right there; losing 10-9 to the girl that gets through. It is going where we need it to go. I appreciate all their hard work, dedication and effort to this program.”