One of the most accomplished wrestlers at Francis Howell Central located in the St. Louis, Missouri metro earned an All-American honor in her final wrestling match.
Benson took fourth place in the 125-pound freestyle bracket at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. That gave her a third medal at Fargo before heading off to Oklahoma State for school in early August.
“Since it was my last year, I think I definitely tried to take it all in; just enjoy the tournament itself,” Bailey said. “It’s pretty good to know that I was able to All-American this year again as well, just like the last two years. I wanted to do better than last year, and I would say I did that. I didn’t really reach my goal, but I did do better, so that was good.”
She placed fourth in her first year at Fargo and seventh last year, before getting back up to fourth this summer.
“I would say it got easier for sure,” she said of the repeated trips to Fargo. “I definitely think I improved my freestyle wrestling a lot in the past few years.”
She started off with three straight wins:
- 10-0 tech fall vs. Jolee Thomas, Oklahoma
- 10-0 tech fall vs. Emma Garrett, California
- 10-0 tech fall vs. Anaiah Kolesar, Pennsylvania
Her run on the front side of the bracket ended with a loss by fall against Mika Yoffee from Nevada, who was a high school state champion this past season.
In the consolation bracket, she started winning again
- 12-1 tech fall vs. Ava Strayer, Indiana
- 13-0 tech fall vs. Lacie Knick, Ohio
- Fall, 2:03 vs. Shayna Ward, California
- 7-4 dec. vs. Regina Stoeser, North Dakota
- Fall, 2:11 vs. Madi Peach, Wisconsin
Benson fell behind 6-0 early against Ruby Julien-Newsom from California and lost 13-2 in the third-place match.
One of the matches that stood out to her was against Ward. The wrestler from Oakland was up 8-0 in a blood-round showdown.
“In freestyle, it’s really easy for points to rack up quickly,” Benson said. “I believe I was losing 8-0 in the first period, and then I ended up lat (lateral) dropping the girl and pinning her. So that was pretty exciting.”
She said he usually isn’t the type to hit big moves, but worked on it during the summer and it paid off.
Benson was a four-time medalist at FHC, winning back-to-back state titles. She took first at 130 pounds this year in Class 2.
Her consecutive titles featured 93 straight wins, dating back to a loss in the 115-pound finals in 2023.
She won the 120-pound Class 2 title in 2024 and finished a perfect 45-0 record. She also helped Francis Howell Central win a team championship for the first time in school history — that is every sport for the girls, not just wrestling.
As a freshman, she took fourth.
She will start her college wrestling career when she moves into Oklahoma State on Aug. 10.
Hannah Henderson, also part of Purler Wrestling Academy with Benson, will also be heading down to Stillwater and be one of her roommates.
“I really like what they’re working to build there, and I have a lot of faith in what they’re creating for the future,” she said of the Cowgirls program. “I think that it’s going to be a really good experience for me to get down there and start training with people who are on the same level as me. I think we’re just going to better each other in the room. I’m just excited for the team to develop as I anticipated to. Honestly, it’s, it’s a little nerve-wracking because I have a lot to live up to. Like I said, they’re building something amazing there and I’m really happy that I was able to be a part of it. And I’m just excited to experience that. I think it’s a really, really good opportunity for me, coming straight out of high school.”
