When Maddie Kubicki pinned Park Hill senior Eve Herlyn in the Class 2 State Championship match, the Park Hill South senior put four fingers up towards the large crowd at Mizzou Arena to signify that her high school career ended without a loss and four gold medals on Feb. 25.
Park Hill South senior Maddie Kubicki pins Nixa’s Taelor Dorr-Tilla in 19 seconds to start the Class 2 State Tournament with one of four wins en route to ending her career with four individual state championships and no losses.
Kubicki is the best girl wrestler in the county and became the second girl in Missouri to wrap up a high school career with an undefeated record. After earning her 150th career win early this season, she continued to rattle off victories to collect another gold medal.
Kubicki won the championship match with a 2:25 pin to complete her senior campaign with 47 wins. The 145-pound wrestler only had one match in the state tournament that wasn’t a pin, with it being a 12-0 major decision over Lebanon’s Bailey Joiner.
Kubicki got past the first day with ease, toying with her competition along the way. After pinning Nixa’s Taelor Dorr-Tilla in a quick 19 seconds, the eventual state champion had multiple opportunities to take down Wentzville Liberty’s Elektra Lowe – knocking her down on three separate occasions – before making the pin official in all but 43 seconds.
Park Hill South sent three girls and one boy to the state tournament with Kubicki being the only wrestler to advance from the first day. Nonetheless, the Lady Panthers finished in 18th place with 31 points out of 59 teams that scored.
For the second straight state appearance in the 100-weight class, Park Hill South senior Aniya Coleman fell shy of competing for a state medal on the second day. Her season came to an end with one win and two losses on the opening day.
Coleman had a strong start, pulling out a 6-4 decision win over Lilly McCollum (Eureka) who entered the tournament with 10 more losses and four more wins than the Lady Panther. Coleman’s Park Hill South career came to a close with a 9-1 major decision loss to undefeated Abigail Fuglsang (Camdenton) in the quarterfinals and a 5-2 decision loss to Taylor Reiter (Timberland) in wrestlebacks.
Park Hill South junior Mylee Lentz’s first trip to state ended with a pair of losses to a pair of 115-pound wrestlers who entered the tournament with more than 30 wins each. Lentz was sitting on a 28-22 record ahead of the biggest Missouri High School wrestling event of the season.
Hannah Henderson (Wildwood Lafayette) pinned Lentz in 46 seconds and Caroline Farris (Francis Howell) had a 6-4 decision victory over Lentz. Out of the three Lady Panthers who made it to Mizzou Arena, Lentz is the only one that won’t be graduating after this school year ends, so she will look to make it back to state next season.
On the boys’ side, Dylan Taylor (132) was the only state qualifier, and he went 1-2 on the opening day. Taylor was pinned in 1:23 to Zan Fugitt from Nixa to start the Class 4 State Tournament.
Taylor secured his sole win of the weekend in a matchup with Preston Reed from Kirkwood with a 4-3 decision. The Panthers’ season came to an end with a 7-0 decision loss to Noah Keen from Francis Howell Central.