Douglas High sophomore Ella Kavanagh tries to put Fernley’s Sophie Workman to her back Saturday at the Northern Nevada girls all-region tournament. Kavanagh pinned Workman in 1:29 to win her first regional title.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
Douglas High School girls wrestling will have three competitors at the state tournament in a couple weeks after impressive showings at the Northern Nevada girls all-region tournament Saturday at Reed High School.
The state tournament will be held Feb. 16 in the Anderson Auto Group Field House in Bullhead City, Arizona.
Representing the Tigers will be Bliss Moody, Ella Kavanagh and Kelsie Allen Doney after all three earned their way into the final tournament of the season.
Moody, who competed in the 120-pound bracket, picked up her first regional title in her final year of high school competition Saturday, early in the second period.
The outgoing Tiger grappler fell behind 5-0 after the first two minutes, but there wasn’t an ounce of panic underneath the surface.
Her opponent, Fernley’s Nadera Muhammad, opted to go to the bottom to start the second period and Moody made sure that decision was going to work in her favor.
“Off the start, I have my signature move, but that wasn’t going to work this time,” said Moody. “I had been drilling a different move this week to see if it would work and it did.”
Moody needed just 10 seconds to flip Muhammad to her back for a pin to start the second period.
Moody and Muhammad had met multiple times this season, but Moody felt it was her mental approach that allowed her to pull out the victory.
“I wasn’t in my head this time. … I really wanted to get first because it’s my last season in high school,” Moody said. “I’m just really happy. Last year, I got second in regionals and I wanted to do better. To beat someone I’ve been trying to beat all year just makes me really happy.”
(Douglas High senior Bliss Moody works for positioning against Fernley’s Nadera Muhammad, during the 120-pound first place match at the Northern Nevada girls all-region tournament. Moody pinned Muhammad in 2:10 to win the regional title. / Carter Eckl)
Kavanagh, a Tiger sophomore, also ran into a familiar foe in Sophie Workman from Fernley.
The two faced for a regional title last season, which went in favor of Workman, but Kavanagh has had her number in their meetings this season.
After an early scramble, Kavanagh got Workman to her back for a pin in 1:29.
“I was really excited. Me and Sophie, she’s a good competitor, and we’ve been wrestling all year,” said Kavanagh. “I was really happy about that win.”
Kavanagh attributed her success against Workman this season to her offseason training.
“Putting in a lot of work this offseason and working on getting to my shots first and controlling the matches,” said Kavanagh.
The Tiger sophomore says she spends 24 hours a week, practicing in the offseason and is also traveling to tournaments across the country.
With four wrestlers per weight class qualifying for state in the North and the South, both Kavanagh and Moody will be the No. 1 seeds in their respective weight classes for the state tournament.
That means both will open the state tournament with the No. 4 seed from the South.
Both wrestlers went 4-0 in regionals with four pins.
Douglas’ final state qualifier, Kelsie Allen Doney, will also represent the Tigers in Arizona for the state tournament after taking third at 152 pounds.
Doney went 3-1 with three pins in order to punch her ticket into the state tournament.
After going 1-1 through her first two matches, Doney ran into teammate Mica Klein in the consolation semifinals.
Doney was able to pin Klein to make it to the third place match, which she also won via pin.
Klein went on to the fifth place match, which she won by fall.
Klein ended her regional tournament with a 2-2 record and two pins.
(Douglas' Kelsie Allen Doney works for position in her third place match at the 2024 Northern Nevada all-region girls wrestling tournament at Reed High School Saturday. / Carter Eckl)
(Douglas High's Mica Klein works atop her opponent from White Pine, during her fifth place match at the 2024 Northern Nevada all-region girls wrestling tournament. / Carter Eckl)