The power of pink

COLUMBIA — The pink headgear looked a little more intimidating Friday night.

Warsaw’s Erica Poe came within one match of earning a medal in the 2008 Missouri state wrestling championships.

Although she didn’t medal, the senior turned plenty of heads — and it wasn’t because of her headgear that includes a pink hair net for her long black hair.

“I think it’s pretty cool because all the boys, they are like, ‘you wrestle?’ “ Poe said. “Because I’m really girlie — I like pink. So I get a lot of that, like they can’t believe I actually do it. It’s kind of nice to be able to win and show them that I can wear pink and still do good.”

Poe lost a 10-1 major decision to Knob Noster’s Roman Vega in the third round of the Class 1 wrestlebacks Friday at Mizzou Arena.

The loss wrapped up what was a thrilling tournament for Poe (17-11), who had to create new goals for herself throughout.

“I got what I wanted in the first place, (then) I kept making it further,” said a slightly disappointed Poe after her final high school match. Of course, her white and pink baseball cap with “ERICA” on it made it a little tougher to judge the senior’s mood. “It really did turn out better than I expected.”

A third-round wrestleback win would have made Poe the first female to ever medal in the Class 1 tournament.

“We’ve had trouble with her,” Knob Noster coach Ray Stockdale said. “We also knew the fans would be on her side, but we did what we were trained to do. ... She’s hard to pin. She doesn’t go over very easy ... she had a good year.”

Vega took a 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown and started the second from the down position. He extended the cushion to 4-0 after two with a reversal.

Vega briefly turned Poe in the third period to extend the cushion to 6-0 before Poe scored her point with an escape.

Vega used another shot and solid wrestling to close out the match for a 10-1 decision.

Poe had wrestled Vega twice before, but lost by decisions of 4-0 and 2-0.

“She’s had a good career and this certainly is a good way to cap it off,” Warsaw coach Matt Bohanan said. “Going 2-2 in the state tournament’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Poe advanced to the third round of wrestlebacks with a thrilling 5-2 win against Higginsville’s Cody Smith.

The two wrestled a scoreless first period, and Smith seemed to take the upper hand with a reversal with 39 seconds left in the second. Trailing 2-0, Poe landed a hold from the bottom and scored a reversal.

She quickly worked Smith on his back and got a count long enough for a near fall (three points) before Smith could recover.

Wrestling from the bottom in the third period, Poe successfully held the 5-2 cushion.

“I really wanted to wrestle on the Friday night,” she said, referring to the electric atmosphere and huge crowd that is typical for the semifinal/third-round wrestleback night. “I’ve been here and watched it and stuff, and I just wanted to make it to that.”

Poe is the fourth female in history to become a two-time qualifier for the state wrestling championships. A girl has qualified for state only 11 times, with Poe and former Warsaw wrestler Ashley Larson accounting for four of those appearances.

“My friend, Ashley, she qualified, but she never won a match,” Poe said. “So it’s pretty cool that I actually got that done.”

Poe isn’t necessarily the trend-setter, but she’s definitely in rare company.

The first female to qualify for state was Pleasant Hill’s Julie Tucker in 1998. She went 0-2 wrestling in the 103-pound weight class in the Class 1A-2A championships.

The next time a girl appeared in the state meet was in 2005, when Larson and Lafayette’s Ashley Hudson qualified. Hudson, wrestling in Class 4, became the first to win a match when she went 2-2, but didn’t place.

Hudson and St. Clair’s Randi Beltz qualified in 2006. Beltz went 3-2 wrestling at 103 pounds in Class 2, becoming the first female to ever medal with her fifth-place finish.

Until this year, Hudson and Beltz were the only girls to win matches at the state wrestling championships.

Last year, Beltz, Poe and Larson all qualified — making Warsaw the first school to ever have multiple girls qualify in the same year.

Poe and Larson each went 0-2 and Beltz won two matches, but didn’t place.

Joining Poe this season as female qualifiers were Cameron’s Emily Webster and Dexter’s Brittney Waldner.

Webster won a match in wrestlebacks, but was eliminated Friday morning in her 103-pound match against Lathrop’s Tyler Rader.

Waldner lost both her matches.

Poe’s tournament didn’t start the way she would have liked. The senior lost a 7-0 decision against Lawson’s Cole Armes in the opening round.

Armes took an early lead and Poe struggled to find success wrestling from the bottom.

The loss dropped her into the first round of wrestlebacks, where she left her mark on school history with a 13-8 decision against Maplewood’s Khris Womack.

“That was my goal from last year because I just made it (to state),” Poe said, “and I lost my match to go to the next day by two points. So it’s been a big improvement.”

Poe took an early lead and hung on in that match, despite getting called for stalling a couple of times after she looked up at the clock, no doubt hoping it would show no time left.

“She’s won medals in tournaments and none of those things happened by accident,” Bohanan said.