STORY By CAYDEN SANDERS PHOTOS by KYSON EVANS
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University women’s wrestling team competed in their first Bob Smith Open on Sunday in Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers had three weight-class champions: Piper Cadden (136), Ashlynn Goodwin (143), and Lila Bloomer (170).
“Today it was all about letting Fort Hays State see our women’s wrestling team in action, and they came out and competed hard and they are getting better every week,” FHSU Head Coach Alijah Jeffery said.
FHSU’s wrestlers do not have a formal season yet as they wait for the 2024-25 season, but until then, the team wrestles unattached at open meets and allows for a year of training and observation from Jeffery in preparation for the 24-25 season.
“A couple of wrestlers that have caught my eye are Chloe Mader, she has really been making jumps, and competed really well today. Along with Katelyn Schmidt, she didn’t have a good tournament at the Maverick Open and things didn’t go her way, but today made leaps and bounds,” Jeffery said.
FHSU had 12 out of 13 wrestlers place in Gross Memorial.
Cadden went 3-0 against her competition, earning two tech falls of 10-0, and a pin in the semifinals.
Goodwin went 4-0 against her competition, earning two straight tech falls (10-0). In the semifinal, Goodwin pinned Madison Sego (Adams State), and then in the finals, she gave up her first points of the day to Anastacia Fucci (Colorado State) 8-2 decision.
Bloomer won her first match of the day by tech fall (13-2), then earned two straight pins over Jennifer Curtin (Colorado Mesa) and Paris Gonzales (Schreiner University).
Fort Hays State finished with two third-place finishers, three fourth-place finishers, and four fifth-place finishes.
Jeffery gave kudos to his wrestlers for persevering without a formal coach in their corner due to wrestling unattached.
“It is tough to go out there, but for us as a team, it’s more about dissecting film from the week before and getting better in practice and studying than it is on the mats,” he said.
The women’s wrestling team will next be in action in York, Nebraska, wrestling unattached on January 13 in the York University Open.
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