Litif racking up hardware

For Anissa Litif, all of her hard work during the high school wrestling season may not have translated into a trip to the Kansas State High School Activities Association state meet, but it has helped her earn a couple of state medals. Litif, the first and only girl to ever go out for the Leavenworth High School wrestling team, recently took second at the Kansas United State Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) state championship and third at the Missouri USGWA state tournament.

“I wrestled really good,” Litif said of her weekend run in the two state meets. “I’ve improved a lot since last year. Last year I wasn’t really able to pin and this year I’ve pinned a total of four people.”

On Sunday, Feb. 28, Litif competed in the 180-pound division of the Kansas state meet at Central Christian College in McPherson. She pinned Malissa Carey from Princeton, Kan. in 3 minutes 16 seconds  and was edged 3-2 by Melissa Bublitz from Marshall, Mo. in preliminary action. Litif earned another pin, this one on Victoria Francis of Litchfield, Ill. in 3:12 to seal second place and earn a chance at the title. Lincoln, Neb.’s Ericka Rutt was able to pin Litif in the championship bout, leaving the junior with the silver.

Justin Bode, an assistant coach for Leavenworth High School who traveled to McPherson with Litif, said that she really impressed him with her performance Sunday.

“She looked really good,” Bode said. “She was by far the smallest, lightest competitor in her bracket and you can tell that all the hard work she did in the room with all the guys really paid off because of all the girls in all the weight classes she was in the best shape. The others were huffing and puffing and she never really got tired.”

The day before, Saturday Feb. 27, Litif took third in the 175-pound weight class at the Missouri state tournament at Center High School in Kansas City, Mo. Rutt was the champion at the Missouri meet as well, pinning Litif twice on the day. Although she’d get the best of her at the Kansas meet, Litif was also pinned by Francis at Saturday’s meet, but she took third with a 3-0 win over Bublitz. 

The silver at the Missouri meet, Litif said, was just out of reach.

“It was a really close one,” Litif said of her matchup with Francis on Saturday. “I was beating her 6-2 and she pinned me in the last 20 seconds.”

The junior competed in just one event, the Kansas USGWA state championship, last year.  This year, Litif said, she’s worked hard and wants to show that off by competing in even more girls’ wrestling events.

“I went to the gym and I’ve gotten a lot stronger since last year,” Litif said.

Bode too said he’s seen Litif take big strides since joining the Pioneers’ team.

“She’s absolutely improved from last year,” Bode said. “Last year was a little of a struggle, she didn’t really have any offense she was just out there. This year she’s starting to think like a wrestler and she’s putting moves together. ... She’s started to really mature as a wrestler.”

Although she said she doesn’t have a preference on who her opponent is, Litif admits that there’s a big difference between competing against other girls and competing about guys.

“It took me a year to get adjusted to high school and the boys,” Litif said. “My weight’s dropped a lot since last year. Against guys, it’s more muscle and against girls it’s more about technique. I feel like I have the advantage when I wrestle girls because I’ve been competing against guys for three months with the high school team. It seemed like I wasn’t as tired because we work (during the high school season) to make sure we’re not tired in the third period. There’s a difference, but wrestling against either one is good.”

Her high school wrestling experience, Bode agreed, does give Litif an edge when she’s competing in USGWA events.

“What she really learns during the high school season is she learns toughness,” Bode said. “Most of the time (in the high school season) she wrestles people who are physically stronger than her. They may not be better wrestlers, but they’re stronger and she keeps coming back and sticks it out. ... (Then) she turns around against girls and she’s stronger or as strong and the technique she’s learned comes in.”

Litif’s USGWA wrestling isn’t yet complete, she’ll compete at the Iowa state championship in Des Moines on March 20.