By CONOR NICHOLL
Highlights from each girls’ wrestling regional, plus superlatives, top records and rankings and early look at the state tournament:
Top-four qualified from each weight class. Class 5-6A will be Feb. 22-23 at Hartman Arena; 4-1A is the same days at Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina. In 5-6A, Dodge City edged Washburn Rural for the championship last season. Those two are the likely favorites again.
Pratt rolled to a 4-1A title last winter. Pratt is a favorite with its mix of depth and elite wrestlers, along with Hoisington, Chanute, Columbus, Baldwin and Santa Fe Trail are in the mix.
Updated rankings as of Feb. 14:
5-6A: Dodge City, Washburn Rural, Garden City, Leavenworth, Junction City, Hays High, Gardner-Edgerton, Olathe North, Olathe Northwest and Olathe West
4-1A: Pratt, Baldwin, Columbus, Chanute, Santa Fe Trail, Oskaloosa, Rossville, Mulvane, Fort Scott and Winfield.
Class 5-6A Regionals:
Dodge City:
Defending state champion Dodge City won the regional with 233 points. The Western Athletic Conference finished 1-2-3-5-6 with Garden City, Hays High, Liberal and Great Bend in the other spots.
Dodge City qualified wrestlers at 100, 105 and 110 with Jasmin Beltran, Jessica Rivera and Ashley Alonso. Ariana De La Rosa (28-1) won the regional title at 120, and Andrea Yates also qualified at 130. Hailey Ramos (31-6) was first at 135, Yareli Garcia took second at 140, and Ashley Arroyo (24-0) remained undefeated at 145. As well, Jolette Almaraz (28-5) was first at 170, and Naomi Orozco (5-3) won the 235-pound crown.
Hays High’s Sarah Zimmerman (27-1) won at 110 and earned regional wrestler of the year honors. Also for Hays High, Tionna Napue (28-3) earned the title at 115. Napue, a sophomore, had a big freshman season for Russell, though did not qualify for state.
Garden City’s Alyxia Serrano had five pins. Seven wrestlers had four pins: Garden City’s Julissa Rodriguez and Anahi Cervantes, Goddard’s Breann Kellogg and Ashlynn Goodwin, Dodge City’s Almaraz and Ramos. Four wrestlers led with 28 points: Goodwin, Rodriguez, along with Dodge City’s Ramos and Almaraz.
Blue Valley West:
Olathe Northwest scored 145 points, which edged Olathe West by five, Gardner-Edgerton by seven and Spring Hill by 14. For ONW, Camryn West (15-7) won at 105, and Emmy Keller (20-5) earned the regional title at 115. Northwest picked up three titles with Hailey Arthur (21-9 at 140), Chloe Harris (26-0 at 155) and Val Gilligan (32-2 at 170).
Olathe Northwest’s Megan Vasquez and Olathe South’s Nicole Redmond each had four pins. Redmond, a defending state champion, paced Olathe South with 28 points. Spring Hill’s Campbell Mermis and Shawnee Mission South’s Stella Segura each had 27 points.
Olathe West’s Makayla Rivera won at 190, improved to 29-1 and reached 100 career victories.
Topeka Seaman:
Shawnee Heights was first with 173 points, Topeka Seaman second at 147.5, and Bonner Springs third at 128. SH’s lone regional titlist came at 190 when Lilly Blair (19-9) won all three matches by fall. Seaman’s Abagail Soppe had four pins. Blair led all wrestlers with 26 points, Seaman’s Koti Best had 25.5 points, KC Harmon’s Kamahni Jackson, Bonner Springs’ Olivia Stean, and Seaman’s Kaidence Heston each had 24 points.
Wichita Southeast:
Washburn Rural, which has finished first, first and second at state the last three years, rolled to another title with 221 points. Wichita North took second at 135. At 105, Kristen Rezac (31-5) won the regional championship.
Addison Broxterman, who has held the mantle for most wins in Kansas’ girls wrestling history, went 40-3 and won the 125-pound title. She won three matches by fall and a 4-2 decision.
For WR, Laiken Clark (35-7) won the 130-pound championship. Plus, Madison Davison (23-12) captured the 145-pound title, and Sophia Ross (25-9) won at 235.
Class 4-1A Regionals:
Coffeyville:
Chanute edged Columbus, 151-149. Chanute has significantly improved this year. The Blue Comets had 103 regional points last winter. Reese Clements (29-3) won the 125-pound championship. Grace Thompson (31-5) was first at 130. Brinly Bancroft (28-6) and Kylie Dillow (28-5) were first at 155 and 170.
Eureka’s Brenn Hilton and Winfield’s Cara Moon both had five falls. Columbus’ Addison Saporito (38-1) won the 120-pound championship and was the regional wrestler of the year.
Hoisington:
Host Hoisington won its regional with 107.5 points. Oakley was second at 78, Ellis third at 68, Colby fourth at 66 and Scott City fifth with 63. Hoisington did not have any regional champions, though multiple second place showings: Kiana Grandclair (33-4 at 120), Daijah Jones (36-4 at 130), Tally Wikum (26-6 at 140), and Lyrica Orosco (24-7 at 145).
Ellis’ Callie Priest and Oakley’s Citori Bosserman both had four wins by fall. Bosserman led with 28 points, while Russell’s Jaden Ney and Ellis’ Kaydawn Haag each had 26 points.
Rossville:
Baldwin had 227 points, while Santa Fe Trail had 139 points, and Tonganoxie delivered 122. For Baldwin, Morgan Base went 26-7 for the 100-pound regional title. Canyon Burtis (23-14) took first at 110. Audrey Darnell, who recently cleared 100 career victories, improved to 39-3 with a 140-pound championship. Baldwin had 30 pins. Tonganoxie had 25 pins. No other team had more than 17.
Eleven wrestlers had four pins. The least cumulative pin time came from Rossville’s Kendra Hurla, Baldwin’s Audrey Darnell and McLouth’s Leighanna Patz.
Both of Oskaloosa’s defending state champions won regional titles: Holly Thacher (24-2 at 105) and Allison King (27-1 at 155).
Wellington:
Pratt won with 168 points, well-ahead of Smoky Valley’s 114. Both of Mulvane’s undefeated wrestlers stayed perfect. Leiannah Landreth (34-0) won at 115, and Kammie Schanz (37-0) picked up the title at 145.
Pratt had seven qualifiers: Lilly Herrman (17-14 at 105), Miranda Webb (29-10 at 120), Gracelyn Hembree (28-9 at 125), Jadyn Thompson (33-1 at 130), Wendy Candia (34-2 at 135), Keimarla Thompson (31-5 at 140), and Gloria Webb (24-9 at 145).
Herrman was third, Webb first, Hembree second, Jadyn Thompson and Candia first, along with seconds for Keimarla Thompson and Webb.
Regional superlatives:
Most State Qualifiers (5/6A):
Garden City 11
Dodge City 10
Washburn Rural 10
Shawnee Heights 10
Bonner Springs 9
Most State Qualifiers (4-1A):
Baldwin 10
Santa Fe Trail 8
Pratt 7
Columbus 7
Hoisington 6
Smoky Valley 6
Most wins: 5-6A
Soph. Kaylan Hitchcock, Olathe North, 47-1 (new state record) – currently ranked first at 120
Jr. Nicole Redmond, Olathe South, 44-1 – currently ranked first at 130
Sr. Addi Broxterman, Washburn Rural, 40-3 – currently ranked second at 125
Most wins: 4-1A
Sr. Audrey Darnell, Baldwin, 39-3 – ranked first at 140
Sr. Addison Saporito, Columbus, 38-1 – ranked second at 120
Sr. Kammie Schanz, Mulvane, 37-0 – ranked first at 145
Sr. Josiah Ortiz, Lakin, 36-1 – ranked first at 115
Career wins: (both are the current state records)
Pratt’s Jadyn Thompson 136-13
Washburn Rural’s Addison Broxterman 135-24
Undefeated wrestlers: 5-6A
145: Ashley Arroyo, Dodge City (24-0)…second at 155 last fall.
155: Sage Rosario, Manhattan (31-0)…40-0 in her Kansas career after she transferred late to Kansas last winter. Won the 155-pound title over Arroyo last year.
155: Chloe Harris, Olathe Northwest (26-0)…52-5 in the last two seasons, third at 155.
170: Olivia Stean, Bonner Springs (35-0)…two-time defending state champion, strong case for Kansas’ most dominant wrestler. Won the state title in 49 seconds last winter. Stean is 77-0 the last winters.
190: Dru Johnson, Wichita West (20-0)…44-1 last two seasons, took second at 235
235: Hannah Jackson, Leavenworth (34-0)…Jackson is 65-3 in the last two seasons, won at 143 last year.
Undefeated wrestlers: 4-1A
100: Sheena Gocela, Winfield (29-0)…transferred from Hoisington, took fourth at 101 last season.
115: Leiannah Landreth, Mulvane (34-0)…68-3 in her career, second at 109 last season
125: Gabi Koppes, Clay Center (28-0)…Koppes is 58-0 in her career.
135: Jayden Ney, Russell (7-0)…38-5 in her career, third at state last season
145: Kammie Schanz, Mulvane (37-0)…more than 100 career wins; second, first and fifth at state the last three years
145: Hailee Crosland, Santa Fe Trail (32-0)
190: Emilie Schweizer, Buhler (28-0)..44-2 last two seasons, took third last year
235: MacKayla Miller, Scott City (26-0)….49-1 last two seasons
Returning state champions from 2022:
5-6A
Derby’s Amara Ehsa
Wichita North’s Larissa Garcia
Olathe South’s Nicole Redmond
Leavenworth’s Hannah Jackson
Manhattan’s Sage Rosario
Bonner Springs’ Olivia Stean
Olathe West’s Makayla Rivera
4-1A
Oskaloosa’s Holly Thacher and Allison King
Lakin’s Josiah Ortiz
Clay Center’s Gabi Koppes
Rossville’s Kendra Hurla
Scott City’s MacKayla Miller
Mulvane’s Kammie Schanz and Oakley’s Citori Bosserman both won 2021 championships. Hutchinson’s Anna Cullens won a 2021 title for Wellington.
