Kali Jensen is already finding success on the wrestling mat. 

The Wright City freshman recently qualified for the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1 state wrestling tournament after placing second in the 115-pound weight class at the Class 1, District 2 tournament at North Point High School last weekend. Jensen went 3-1 over the course of the tournament, with her only loss coming in the championship match. 

Wright City wrestling coach Fred Ross thinks Jensen is starting to figure things out in her first year of wrestling at the high school level. Jensen has wrestled since seventh grade. 

“If she sticks to her basic knowledge and uses her strengths more, she does a pretty good job and handles most of the wrestlers she’s been with,” Ross said. 

Jensen will compete at the MSHSAA Class 1 state wrestling tournament Feb. 22 and Feb. 23. 

What sports do you participate in? 

I do wrestling and pole vaulting, which is a part of track. 

How do you think your freshman season has gone? 

I think the year’s gone good. It has definitely been an adjustment from middle school to high school. I think I’ve personally been adjusting pretty well. 

Have you gotten more comfortable wrestling as the season has gone on?

I’ve gotten more comfortable because I’m learning the different names of moves and I’m learning how to change up things. I’ve gotten much better with reading moves. 

Is it important to maintain your focus throughout a match? 

Absolutely. In wrestling, you can be up by a lot of points but still lose because there’s something magical called a pin. So if you lose focus at any point and time, you can do something wrong, just the smallest thing and it could end the whole entire match within seconds. That’s one of the things. You could be in a match with it going great and it falls apart. 

Have you liked being a part of the Wright City wrestling team this season? 

I like being a part of the team. We’re all really good athletes. I know we are really good at helping each other whenever we need to. If someone’s down about losing a match, we’re all there for them. We stay pretty close together. It’s like a family. A family on the mat. As I like to say, a mat is a second home. 

What do you like most about wrestling? 

As I’ve gotten into wrestling more and more, the people have really become a bigger thing to it. If the community that we have wasn’t there, I don’t think I’d enjoy wrestling as much as I do. I have multiple friends from different schools who I’ve wrestled on the mat. We got off and we just continued talking. 

Favorite Subject: ELA

Favorite Food: Venison Backstrap 

Ideal Travel Destination: Tokyo, Japan