COLUMBIA, Mo. – As a freshman relatively new to the sport of wrestling, Francis Howell Central’s Kailey Benson entered the 2022 Gateway Athletic Conference tournament with a modest 7-4 overall record.
She advanced to the GAC championship match where she defeated a defending state-medalist and walked away with a signature win, a first-place medal and this realization:
“I have potential,” Benson recalled.
Benson took that potential to new heights Saturday, completing an undefeated season with a 120-pound state championship in Class 2, and in the process, led Francis Howell Central to its first MSHSAA state title in any sport at the 2024 Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena.
Benson (45-0), a junior, dominated her way through the 120-bracket, winning by first period pin, technical fall and 10-1 major decision before facing a familiar opponent in the state championship match – Francis Howell sophomore Anna Bowles.
In the District 2 championship match two weeks earlier, Benson led Bowles 15-3 before securing a second period pin. On Saturday, Benson did not let recent success cloud her focus.
“(In those situations) you have confidence that you beat them before, but at the same time, maybe they’ve worked on a few things and are coming back with a vengeance, but I felt like I knew her style and I knew what she was going to do,” Benson said.
Benson secured a takedown and near fall in the first 48 seconds, then pinned Bowles 1:42 into the first period to claim her first state title.
“It means a lot,” Benson said. “I’ll take a few weeks off and then I’ll be right back into it. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the off-season and into national tournaments.”
Confidence has made the difference for Benson, who parlayed her signature win at the GAC championships as a freshman into a fourth-place finish at the state tournament. She advanced all the way to the state title match as a sophomore where she lost a hard-fought, 6-0 decision against defending champion Angelina Vargas of Park Hill.
In two previous meetings that season, Vargas had pinned Benson in the first period. Taking Vargas the distance on the big stage gave Benson further understanding of her potential.
“I used to go into matches thinking people were unbeatable, that they were superhuman, and I took from that match that people are beatable,” Benson said. “This year, I went into matches knowing I can win.”
And Benson beat everyone who stood across from her. She won ‘Most Outstanding Wrestler’ at the prestigious Wonder Woman after a 9-2 decision over nationally-ranked Kaylyn Hobdon of Omaha Skutt Catholic in the championship match – a match that produced the only offensive points scored against Benson all season.
She went 5-0 in the challenging Kansas City Stampede with three first period pins and two tech falls. In all, Benson defeated four state champions, including two-time champs Callie Bergthold of Southern Boone and Cassidy Benwell of Holt, twice.
“(Kailey) wrestled some really good people this year and tech’d some, pinned some, and only gave up two offensive points all year, and that was to the No. 6 kid in the nation,” Francis Howell Central coach Kurt Kruse said. “She’s pretty special.”
In a short time, Benson has emerged from a relative unknown nationally to the No. 5 wrestler in the United States at 120 pounds according to the most recent Flo Wrestling rankings.
“It’s been a lot of work in the off-season, just doing things to get better every day like implementing a different lifestyle, eating right, getting to bed on time,” Benson said. “And a lot of it is my mentality, my confidence.”
That confidence has overflowed to her teammates, including her partner in the wrestling room Nevaeh Smith, a junior who placed third at 130 pounds.
“That (partnership) has made Nevaeh so much better because even though Nevaeh’s got her by 10 pounds, Kailey’s built different,” Kruse said.
Everyone who wrestled for Francis Howell Central earned points during the state tournament, and seven Spartans earned medals, including senior Sophie Johnson (3rd at 135), junior Dana Thee Sanchez (3rd at 155), senior Alanah Braun (4th at 190), senior Stevie Lupo (5th at 115) and senior Katelyn Guth (5th at 125).
Benson’s pin in the 120-pound championship match gave the Spartans 125.5 team points, surpassing the 125 points from Nixa and the 124.5 from Lebanon, and giving Francis Howell Central the first MSHSAA team championship trophy in any sport in school history.
“It’s surreal,” Kruse said while clutching the trophy in a manner resembling a side headlock. “We had some good individual (wrestlers), and four years ago, we had a class come in that changed our culture. They made it to where we were tough as a team, and they demanded that. Then, we got Nevaeh and Benson, and we went from being tough in tournaments to winning tournaments.”
Kruse continued, “And our coaching staff is just phenomenal. This doesn’t happen without the seven (assistant coaches).”
In that 2022 GAC tournament, Benson gained her first signature win and developed an understanding of her potential as a wrestler.
On Saturday, both Benson and the Spartans learned one more thing about themselves – that there is no ceiling to what they can achieve.