DUANE SHERRILLEditor

Tullahoma will be sending six members of its girl’s high school wrestling team to state this week after the grapplers won their way there by strong showings at Sectionals this past week.

Laken Potter advanced in the 100-pound division by way of a third place sectionals finish. She was defeated by fall in the semi-finals of her weight class by Alyssa Archer of Franklin County at the 3:27 mark but claimed third by beating Anna Melton of Cleveland by fall at 1:47.

Payton Agnell followed suit in the 107-pound weight class, also taking home third in the sectionals. She started her run by defeating Alicia Taylor of the Howard School by fall at 2:48 but was then tripped up in the semis by Makya Parker of Cleveland by virtue of an 8-3 decision. However, she was able to claw her way back to a podium finish by first defeating Isabelle Kugler of Sale Creek by fall at 1:20 and then beating Katie McIlvain of Bradley Central with a fall at 1:56.

Zoe Holly advanced to state via a second place finish in the 120-pound class. She began by beating Erika Torbett of McMinn County with a quick fall 33 seconds into their match and then advanced to the semis by beating Auden Schultz of Ooltewah by pinfall at 2:45. She won her third match of the day over Oliva Collins by fall at 2:45 but was stopped via pinfall 46 seconds into her finals match with Gabriella Rincon of Bradley Central.

Kiara Webb punched her ticket to state by taking third in the 138-pound division. She opened with a quick 41 second fall over Lily Whitehorn of Rhea County, following that up with a fall at 1:55 over cross-county rival Jianna Bare of Coffee County High. However, her run was slowed by Clara Seymore of Polk County who defeated her by fall at 1:42. She rebounded with a win by pinfall at 2:38 over Kimberly Chrisman of McMinn County and then claimed third with a close 5-4 decision over Hadlee Hale of St. Andrews.

Tiona Harden qualified for state by taking second in the 152-pound class. She opened by beating Avery Grant of Sale Creek at the 57 second mark and then took down JayLee Garcia by fall at 1:36. She was finally stopped by Bethany Patton of Stone Memorial at the 38 second mark of the championship match.

Brittney Meneses also qualified for state by taking second at sectionals. She began by beating Shelby Sells of Franklin County via fall at the 38 second mark. However, she lost the championship bout by 5-0 decision to Madelin Zunun of Cleveland.

In other action at sectionals, Prudence Peterson began her run by a pinfall win over Zoe Helton of McMinn County at the 3:37 mark but was kept off the podium by a loss to Nataleigh Shane of Bradley Center in the quarter finals and a loss to cross-county rival Jasmine Norris of Coffee County in the consolation round of the 114-pound class.