Amirtia McNack took home the first-place trophy for Clinton High School in the 145 lb weight class. Lucas Mcmenemy also went to state but was not as successful as his female peer. Clinton High School held a parade while they awaited her arrival back to Clinton from Mizzou Stadium in Colombia, MO. Coaches, fans, family, and friends are extremely proud to welcome Clinton’s first female wrestler into the trophy case. “First off, Lucas had a fantastic tournament. First-time qualifiers usually get a little humbled by the entire atmosphere and level of competition but he stayed completely composed and wrestled outstanding all week. I couldn’t be happier for him and what he accomplished this season. He’s such a great kid on top of all of that. Amitria, what a night, what a week. She gave us all a scare in the semifinal match by pulling out a very close 11-10 win. I told Amitria back this summer that the expectation was a state title, nothing else. I’m a firm believer in progressing in everything you do, and after a 3rd place finishes for her last year, even 2nd place wasn’t an option. The big thing I want to stress about her is her demeanor through it all. She’s an outstanding wrestler, but outside of that, she has been very coachable. Sometimes a new coach can be hard on certain kids. She took everything in stride and stayed a humble champion from the first win of the year to the final win of the year as a state champion. What nobody sees is how she adamantly, and genuinely thanked every single kid along the road she possibly could who congratulated her as we returned to town and drove by the schools. That’s a Champion that everyone can look up to.
Wrestling-wise, she’s 100% a competitor. She goes into every match with the mindset of winning. That mindset goes a long way. She’s the one everyone is out to beat therefore, she’s gonna get everyone’s best match. She knows this and stays poised when the time comes and we’re very excited for the rest of her career. Wrestling up the state tournament, she was dominant in every aspect. The main goal was to go in and take care of business to win the state title, she made sure she did everything possible to accomplish that.”, said Todd Mowrey(CHS Wrestling Coach). Athletics Director, Alex Johnson also had some commentary to add to her performance at State Competition: “Words can’t describe what a great experience it has been being the AD in Clinton during Amitria’s two years as a wrestler in the Clinton Cardinal Varsity Wrestling Program. As you probably know, she took third place last year before the classifications split. She lost to a juggernaut senior from Parkway West last year and used that as fuel to push herself into the position of a State Champion this year. Finishing the year 49-1, Amitria has grown both as a wrestler and a young lady and as I said, I couldn’t be more proud of her progress. I also want to give a shout-out to all of the people who have been in her corner (pun intended). It truly takes a village and her village is STRONG! As far as Lucas is concerned, he exceeded expectations and wrestled very well at State. I know it was special for him as well to have his mom there for him cheering him on as both a parent and a coach! Congratulations to Amitria, Lucas, Coach Mowery, Coach Jolley, Coach Bristow, and Coach McMenemy on a GREAT season. The best part is, this is only the beginning!” AD Johnson is correct, it does take a village to support a kid through State Competitions and fuel them with the desire to win. Her mother is one of those people who rallies the troops in support of her daughter, here is some commentary from Sherry Jacobsen: “In 2017/2018 when dropping off her brother to Clinton youth wrestling practice she decides she wants to try wrestling. During her very first practice, her partner picks her up and slams her down. Takes the breath from her. We thought this was it, she’s not going to like this, she’s done. Nope, not Amitria! She gets back up and has since never given up. By the end of her first year in 2017/2018 she received rookie of the year. This was just the start. For the first two years of her wrestling career, she started wrestling boys as there were not many girl wrestlers yet. She was dominating the boy’s brackets in youth. Placing 1st,2nd,3rd and even making it to youth state every year. She started to be an inspiration to other females, mothers, fathers, Etc. This is what I think gave her the drive to keep going and to push herself to work harder. Winning first comes with work. So many think that it just comes so easy for her but let me tell you, she goes to practice 5 days a week. When there’s no practice she goes to the gym or she’ll do three to four hours a night of hit videos at home in her room. After practice, she goes home to work with her biggest fan, her dad. For a few hours a night, they work on moves and watch videos from matches she lost and what she could have done to do better, and what she will do next time to be better. As parents, it’s everything to have your daughter make it to the mountain, to the top of girls wrestling in high school wow! When you take your children to practice daily and travel to the tournament after the tournament from state to state year-round, non-stop and to see the Improvement and watch how hard she has worked to get herself to this moment well Winning State, It’s the best feeling ever! We have always told our kids’ hard work pays off. She’s proved this to be true. From winning boys’ divisions to placing 3rd as a freshman in HS State, runner up at Fargo Nationals (which is the biggest wrestling tournament in the world) to being ranked 3rd in the Nation to now becoming Clinton’s first-ever girl HS State Champ, it’s exhilarating. Wrestling is our favorite sport. We love it because it teaches the kids so much. It teaches accountability. If you lose you can’t blame anybody else but yourself, it teaches you to work harder. The Wrestling community is like family. We have met so many people along the way. It’s the best experience anyone could experience.” Sherry would like to give a special thank you to Brandon Jolly for believing in her and letting her join the team. Coach Brad Bullock for always showing up to her tournaments and supporting her and a big thank you to the entire Clinton Community. Let’s not forget head high school coach Todd Mowrey.
