Whenever the Mexico Lady Bulldogs step on the mat, it’s just another tournament.

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Mexico sent a program-record three girls to the Class 1 state meet last week at Mizzou Arena in Columbia and returned with its first ever state finalist when Alexus Johns finished second at 235 pounds. Sisters Katie and Abby Bowen each were eliminated the first day but each turned in competitive matches.

Johns had their same fate a season ago but had a polar opposite showing this year, pinning every opponent before being pinned in the final by Adrian’s Annabelle Rowe to end a bout that was at 2-0. The sophomore in only her second year wrestling had won 45 matches and worked her way to a top state ranking so she was thrilled going into the final.

“When I knew I was going to the state finals, it just didn’t feel real,” Johns said. “How am I only a second-year wrestler accomplishing these big things?”

Head coach Tony Senor said senior and fellow two-year wrestler Karisa Hayden helped prepare Johns well this year. 

“Me and Karisa are really close. I help her and she helps me,” Johns said. “She is really strong and tough, and she just pushed me to go further every single time.”

Even though it has only been two years, Johns has compiled some valuable experience. For example, she had pinned Rowe this season and had also defeated Holt’s Isabella Winingear before pinning her in the semifinals.

Johns said the state tournament during her freshman year seemed “huge” and was awestruck by it all, but the mentality that helped the Lady Bulldogs through districts came into play again.

“It’s easy. It’s just another tournament,” Johns said. “Thinking it was just another tournament and not a big tournament pushed me more. My motto for wrestling is practice like you’ve never won, and when you’re out there wrestling on the mat, wrestle like you never lost.”

Senor said that mantra of “it’s just another tournament” could go on a team shirt next year as it has helped the girls not be too overwhelmed, whether they were dealing with the nerves of the year’s first tournament in Wright City to the final one at state. Every tournament, match and takedown matters to the Lady Bulldogs, according to Senor.

It was apparent that the mindset was working for Johns, Senor said, as she produced results at smaller tournaments and the big ones like the Battle at the Katy Trail.

“The stage kept getting bigger and bigger for her,” Senor said. “The Battle at the Katy Trail was huge. We wrestle in Sedalia where they have the state fair rodeo (Mathewson Exhibition Center). ‘I’m wrestling in an arena so state is just another tournament.’”

Katie Bowen has a long list of program firsts, including as the first state qualifier and medalist, first district champion, first 100-match winner and first to sign for college. Bowen intends to go to William Woods University like several other state qualifiers after this season but has a nice Mexico career to look back on. After not wrestling until about halfway into the season and admitting to some shoulder programs at state, she just had some tight contests at state this year, including a 5-3 win and losses by scores of 6-4 and 5-2.

“I know I definitely could’ve done better, but with everything I was given and the opportunities I was given, I definitely gave it my 110 percent in all of it,” Bowen said. “I did what I could with what I had, and I left my heart out on that mat.”

Her younger sister, Abby, experienced state for the first time and went 0-2. However, Abby Bowen wasn’t pinned in her first match until with only four seconds left and then lost a 6-1 decision to knock her out of the tournament.

“It was very nerve-wracking at first, and I didn’t know exactly what to do,” Abby Bowen said. “Once I got on the mat I was wrestling on, it was better.”

Even in her first state trip, Abby Bowen felt it was just another tournament eventually, and Senor said he hopes the Lady Bulldogs get to a point where they can say it’s just another state tournament. Mexico is going for a state champion and multiple state medalists next year, which hopefully adds up to a top-10 team finish to improve on the program-best 34th placing out 81 Class 1 schools this season.

“It’s all about growth,” Senor said. “It’s all about getting more numbers out, getting more girls out at the middle school level and getting more girls out at the youth wrestling level so we can keep this thing rolling.”