The 1930 children’s book “The Little Engine That Could” features a little blue locomotive that hauled toys and food over a mountain when larger engines wouldn’t.
Walton-Verona’s girls wrestling team is inspired by Watty Piper’s tale. The Bearcats placed third behind Lafayette and Harrison County at Saturday’s Region 3 meet at Robert D. Campbell Junior High School in Winchester.
Bearcats coach Jason Moore sees the comparison with Piper’s hero – and not only because Walton-Verona wears blue singlets.
“Lafayette’s the defending state champ, and they had most of their team coming back,” Moore said. “So, we knew they were going to be really tough, and then Harrison County is, I think, probably the biggest girls program in the state; they’ve got a lot of girls, a lot of resources on that team. And then little Walton was our group of seven girls that we had. So, yeah, that was a good, good performance.”
Six Bearcats – Emma Moore (Jason’s daughter), Abrielle Hooten, Dezeray Morris, Chloe Schwanenberger, Natalie Lucas and Jaelynn Holcomb – qualified for the state meet beginning Feb. 26 at Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Emma Moore is a two-time state champion at 100 pounds. She’s moved up to 107 this year, and she wants to do something older brothers Spencer and Ryan never did – win a third consecutive title.
“Part of the reason I started wrestling is because I wanted to get more state titles than them,” Emma says.
Moore was Walton-Verona’s lone regional champion. Schwanenberger placed second at 132, Hooten was third at 120, Morris was third at 126, Lucas was fourth at 138, and Holcomb was fourth at 152.
Moore, a senior, said there’s “a little bit” of pressure to win again.
“I mean, everybody, all the girls in Kentucky are getting better every year,” she says. “So, you just never know.”
Hood, Svec shine
Highlands’ Emma Hood won at 152, and Cooper’s Aaliyah Svec placed first at 138.
Hood was the 152 state runner-up last year. Her dad, Highlands coach Joey Hood, calls last year’s tournament “an interesting topic.”
“Emma went undefeated all season, and she beat the girl that ended up winning, (Bralyn Maynard of Pike County Central) last year. She beat her in the regular season, so to lose in the last 30 seconds of state last year,” Joey Hood said. “It’s as hard as it gets for, you know, a young wrestler to process, but coming out of that, the growth and the maturity and the understanding that these are gifts, these challenges are gifts, has been tremendous, and she’s done a great job embracing that.”
Hood is 68-10 for her career and 26-1 this season. She’s also dealing with a medial collateral ligament knee injury she suffered at the beginning of the season.
Jaguars coach Mike Flaherty calls Svec “a very impressive wrestler.”
“She’s real physical, she’s technically sound, and … she’s only a freshman,” he says.
Svec is 17-0 this season. Flaherty would like to tell you which match stood out, but he cannot.
“It’s kind of hard to say, because (she) kind of dominated almost all of her opponents this year,” he says. “When she’s ready to go, she’s ready to go, and she gets down to business, and then she takes care of it. “
Four more Northern Kentucky teams placed in the regional top 10. Simon Kenton was sixth with 77 points, Campbell County was seventh with 74, Highlands was eighth with 58, and Ryle was 10th with 53.
Cooper was 11th with 46, Holmes was 17th with 27.5, Conner was 19th with 15, and Scott was 22nd with 9. Boone County and Dixie Heights did not score.
Who’s qualified for state
Here’s the list of last week’s top four finishers in each weight class; they advance to the state tournament:
Campbell County – Leah Boggs (second place, 114 pounds), Olivia Thornton (fourth, 120), McAyla Steffen (second, 165).
Cooper – Aaliyah Svec (first, 138), Fanta Mariko (third, 235).
Highlands – Riley Booth (fourth, 100), Emma Hood (first, 152), Abigail Edmondson (fourth, 145).
Ryle – Peyton Brinkman (second, 107), Preslee Steiber (second, 138).
Scott – Macey Watson (fourth, 107).
Simon Kenton – Braelyn Babb (fourth, 126), Devon Banks (second, 152).
Walton-Verona – Emma Moore (first, 107), Abrielle Hooten (third, 120), Dezeray Morris (third, 126), Chloe Schwanenberger (second, 132), Natalie Lucas (fourth, 138), Jaelynn Holcomb (fourth, 152).