​Aumua earns All-America honors at national tournament

by Michael Smith

 
Grain Valley senior Sevi Aumua has made quite the name for herself on the high school wrestling scene.
 
She was the first female wrestler to compete for the Eagles in 2021, and during that freshman season, she took third at the Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships.
 
Following that season, she won two consecutive state titles in the 149- and 140-pound weight class in 2022 and 2023, respectively. and will aim for her third for the upcoming school year. In folkstyle competition, she compiled a record of 98-2. Her only two losses came to state runner-up Hannahb Jansen of Webster Groves as a freshman and one to undefeated four-time state champion Maddie Kubicki of Park Hill South as a sophomore.
 
Up until this spring, Aumua had yet to try freestyle wrestling. Before that, she had just wrestled during the high school wrestling season. She has now competed in three freestyle tournaments, with her biggest test coming in the U.S. Marines Corps 16U& Junior Nationals Tournament last week in Fargo, N.D.
 
In just her third freestyle tournament, Aumua knocked it out of the park. She took fourth place to earn All-America honors (an honor that is given to the top eight finishers in each weight class) in the 144-pound junior division.
 
She’s the first Grain Valley female wrestler to earn All-America honors at the events. She’s the second overall as boys wrestler Wolfgang Clapper accomplished the same feat in 2014.
 
The tournament is the most prestigious and high-regarded in the world of high school freestyle wrestling, so what Aumua did is no small feat. There were 71 girls in her bracket and she finished with a 5-2 record.
 
She made it to the semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Nebi Tsarni of Maryland. In the third-place match, Aumua was edged 5-4 in her match with Virginia’s May Cutler. She had three wins by pin and two by tech fall.
 
“I wish I could have got first, but I got so much praise from my coaches for getting into the top eight,” Aumua said. “They helped me realize that just being an All-American is a great, great thing. I am proud of where I got to.
 
One major thing she had to get used to was the rule regarding going out of bounds. In folkstyle, if a wrestler goes out of bounds, the official blows the whistle and had the wrestlers restart in the center of the ring. In freestyle, if a wrestler goes out of bounds, their opponent gets a point.
 
Clasping is another major difference between the two styles. Clasping your hands when grappling your opponent is illegal in folkstyle and automatically awards a point to the person being grabbed. In freestyle, it’s legal.
 
The senior was able to accomplish that feat despite her lack of experience in freestyle. She said it’s been an adjustment period from competing in folkstyle for most of her career.
 
“I can still do moves that I could do in folkstyle,” she said. “Getting used to the rules is probably the hardest part of it and learning the techniques, too. I am still learning and getting used to it.
 
“Being in two tournaments helped because I got to see how (freestyle) is. The amount of practice and my coaches have helped a lot, too.”
 
She’s also learned some new moves while converting to freestyle. The leg lace is a move that has been successful for her. It’s one that involves crossing the opponent’s legs and grabbing them both at the same time when in the top position.
 
The wrestler on top then uses that position to roll over and turn their opponent 360 degrees to earn two points.
 
“That’s the main move I have been focusing on,” Aumua said. “You can do that move multiple times to tech (fall) your opponent.”
 
So far, Aumua has adapted well to the style and she’s starting to like it.
 
“I like that you can end the matches a lot quicker in freestyle,” she said.
 
Aumua said she doesn’t have any plans to compete in any other freestyle tournament this year as she will shift her focus to her senior freestyle season. She does plan on attending more freestyle events in the feature as she is eyeing her future in the sport. Her plan after this school year is to wrestle in college.
 
“Girls wrestling is in freestyle and I am not that educated in that style of wrestling,” said Aumua, who is a three-sport athlete, also playing rugby and soccer. “That’s why I wanted to focus on that this summer rather than rugby.”
 
“I don’t have a dream college but I have some in mind.”
 

Senior Sevi Aumua became just the second Eagle ever to earn All-America honors when she took fourth at the U.S. Marines Corps 16U & Junior Nationals tournament last week in Fargo, N.D.
​File photo