By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– It wasn’t the way that Silverton senior McKayla Bonham would’ve hoped her senior District Meet would’ve ended, but it has motivated her going into the 5A/6A State Meet next weekend following her District Runner-Up finish at 120 pounds.
The senior grappler reached the finals with three-straight pins and was in a dogfight with West Albany’s Naudia Edmiston until Edmiston got Bonham in a jam and turned her for the pin to clinch the District Title Saturday afternoon at McNary High School.
“It motivates me a lot this week to drill on what she got me on, and it really wants me to come back and beat her to get first. That’s my goal,” said Bonham.
A year ago, Bonham became the first Girls Wrestler within the Foxes program to win a District Title. And now to have a second place District Finish to her resume going into her final run at a State Title, she hopes that she’s a motivation for future Silverton wrestlers to pick up and run with what she built upon.
“I feel like a lot of people are going to look up to me in the future, and they already have. Making that record, it kind of shows that women’s wrestling is growing, and it’s awesome to know that I’m breaking records,” Bonham said. “What I’m going to do is show up a half an hour early to practice every single day, I’m going to try to get my mile-and-a-half run that I like to do every week. I’m really going to focus on getting perfect drills in and not sitting on the sidelines messing around. I’m going to pick partners that are going to push me to be my best so that when I’m competing that I can be at my best.”
Silverton saw Nora Graham finish third at 135 pounds, and Saylor Graham finished fourth at 130 pounds at the District Meet this weekend at McNary High School as the Foxes finished tenth as a team.
