Liberty girls win 5-of-6 bouts

SPANGLE – Liberty girl grapplers senior Kariyah Strobel and junior Alexis Taylor remained undefeated after pinning their opponents Saturday at the annual Brice Williams Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 9.

Lancer teammate junior Hannah Perkins went 1-1 on the day.

Wrestling at 135 pounds, Strobel (4-0) pinned Maddie Gubbe of Mount Spokane in the first round after taking a 10-1 early lead.

Strobel wrapped up the day by pinning Grubbe's teammate, Kami Ellis in 2:30.

In that bout, she led 8-0 after the first round. In the second round, she got a reversal and 3-point nearfall to make the score 13-0 before pinning Ellis.

Taylor, a Tekoa High School student, opened the tournament against rival and friend Emmy Klewin of Lind-Ritzville, who is ranked No. 11 at the 155-pound class by the Washington Wrestling report.

Taylor pinned Klewin in 1:28.

The friends last faced off in the 2022-23 season, when Taylor won by a 5-0 decision.

In her final bout, Taylor (4-0) made short work of Kendle McGovern of Kettle Falls, pinning the wrestling newcomer in 35 seconds.

Klewin, too, made short work of McGovern, pinning the Kettle Falls girl in the first round.

Perkins opened her tournament in a second 135-pound bracket by pinning Emma Cash of Davenport in 2:21.

Perkins got a takedown in the first round, which ended with a 2-0 score.

In the second round with both wrestlers up, Cash got a takedown to tie the score. But Perkins got an escape, a takedown and a 3-point near fall en route to pinning her rival 51 seconds into the second round.

In her second bout, Perkins faced Anna Hume of Kettle Falls, another girl with state experience.

Hume scored a take down and two 3-point near falls in the first round before pinning Perkins in 1:02.

Hume was undefeated on the day, as she pinned Emma Cash of Davenport in 3:20, after taking a 10-0 lead.

Maddy Falkner of Mount Spokane also went undefeated on the day.

She won an 5-2 decision over Alexis Ward of Davenport. She then pinned teammate Kami Ellis in the second round after leading 9-4.

In a third bout on the day, she faced Ward again. Falkner pinned Ward in 1:04.