The Carthage Tiger Lady Wrestlers traveled to Ozark, MO last weekend for the Class 2, District 3 District Tournament. Competing against Lebanon, Neosho, Nixa, Republic, Ozark, Ray-Pec, Sedalia Smith-Cotton, Glendale, Willard, Webb City, Joplin, Kickapoo, Camdenton, Branson, Waynesville, Belton, Springfield Central, Springfield Parkview and Rolla, the Tigers came away with an 11th place finish, and three state qualifiers, one of which was a district champ for the second year in a row.
Hadley White qualified for the girls at the lowest of the weights – 105 lbs. Starting off with a bye first round, she fell to Nixa’s Hanna Egley in a 7-0 decision in the quarterfinals. White bounced back with a fall over Willard’s Alejandra Perez in consolation round 2, and then another in consolation round 3 over Webb City’s Lexie Smith. It was a close match with Joplin’s Maliah Winnett that saw her coming from behind to claim the 8-4 decision in the “cry” round (consolation semifinals) and punch her ticket to the State Tournament in Columbia, MO next week for the first time. Hadley ended the day with a 4th place district finish after falling to Nixa’s Egley again during her last match of the day. She will be joined by her teammates Irish Lee, and Kaylee James.
Irish Lee competed at the 145 lb. weight class and started Friday evening with a 9-2 decision over Rolla’s Hannah Hall. Her first fall was earned in the quarterfinals against Kinley Sinclair of Webb City. Lee finally hit a roadblock in the form of Belton’s Aryana Roberts, who majored her 14-1 in the semifinals. Lee bounced back in the consolation semifinals, coming from behind with a third period pin over Eve Smith of Willard, and earning a spot on the bus to Columbia. She met up with Sinclair again in the 3rd place match, and, once again, delivered the pin to bring home the 3rd place medal.
Kaylee James found herself in familiar territory this year, standing atop the podium again as only a sophomore. After a first round bye, James sailed through the tournament with not only wins, but first round pins all the way to a 1st place finish. James sees this year’s state tournament as unfinished business, after making it all the way to the finals as a freshman. Taking 2nd place is definitely not part of this year’s plan. Recently ranked number 2 in the nation by Sports Illustrated’s top female wrestlers in the nation as of February 14th, 2026, Kaylee James has high hopes for standing on top of another podium on February 28th…