By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
The No.13 Fort Hays State women’s wrestling team hosted the Oklahoma State women’s wrestling club for a dual in Gross Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night. The Tigers secured a 30-16 victory over the Cowgirls.
“It’s a really good and strong opener. They’re a club team, but their men’s team is a dynasty, and they’re trying to build a women’s dynasty as well,” sophomore Dylen Ritchey said. “So when you go hang out with girls that are national, and Fargo champions, we wanted to have a strong side to open the season.”
The team said they enjoyed seeing the atmosphere of a home dual in Gross Memorial Coliseum, especially with a young team.
“It’s a great atmosphere. We’re trying to build a program here that the whole school supports, with it being the newest sport,” Ritchey said. “We showed up to other sports hoping that we’ll get a turnout, and I think we did for our first one. It definitely fosters a good environment for building the sport.”
Fort Hays State Head Coach Alijah Jeffery felt like the dual was going to come down to a few points on either side.
“We are really proud of the way that we went out there and competed,” Jeffery said. “Looking at it on paper, it looked like it was going to really come down to one or two matches. I think that’s exactly what happened. We have a tough lineup from start to finish.”
The first three matches and the last two matches on the card proved to be the difference, as FHSU collectively earned 24 of the 30 team points in those matchups. Freshmen Kennedy Farrar, sophomore Isabella Cross and freshman Leiannah Landreth all earned victories to begin the dual.
“Kennedy came out and found a way to get it done and put points on the board, and then Cross followed suit, and then Landreth as well. So it was nice for them to really just set the tone,” Jeffery said. “We ran into some tough matches in the middle, but Isabella Renfro is a beast, and she came out and knew what she needed to do to put the dual away. Same with (Hailey) Conley, they were just aggressive, and they had a game plan going out there, and they got it done.”
Sophomores Renfro and Conley both won by fall to conclude the night. The Tigers also never conceded a pin to OSU.
“I definitely agree that we are not a finished product. We’re trying to build something here. We’ve got a lot of young talent,” Ritchey said. “Most of our starters are freshmen or sophomores; there are not many upperclassmen starting right now. So, trying to build an upper class in our classroom environment.”
Fort Hays earned their first victory of the season against one of the greatest wrestling schools in the country.
“This was the first time wrestling in a home dual like this, an environment like this, for a lot of our girls as freshmen, so it’s hard to know how they’re going to handle it, how are they going to go out there and compete,” Jeffery said. “They competed better than I could have ever, ever expected.”
The Tigers continue their season on the road on Friday in the Missouri Valley Open. The open will be one of the first true tests for the national tournament.
“The Missouri Valley Open is like the national tournament of the first semester. It’s really tough. It’s the toughest tournament that we’re going to see before our national tournament,” Jeffery said. “So we’re excited to go out there and try to get some girls on the podium, but also it’s a two-day weigh-in, so it’s really good to mimic what it’s going to be like for the national tournament.”