By CONOR NICHOLL for Sports in Kansas
Week 3 brought four major tournaments, the Ladycat Classic at Basehor-Linwood, the Wichita North girls’ tournament and the Goodland tournament that featured boys and girls, and the 25-team Johnson County boys Classic.
SIK significantly focuses on the girls this week, and after a holiday break, will focus more on the boys in the first week of January.
Washburn Rural, Madyson Gray, Olivia Stean among standouts at prestigious Lady Cat tournament
Washburn Rural won the Ladycat Classic, the fourth annual tournament that is high on the list for the biggest girls’ regular season competition. Rural is the two-time defending state champion. Dodge City, a key challenger for Washburn Rural in 5/6A, took second. Rural easily won with 295 points. Dodge City took second at 221. Emporia was third with 184. Olathe North took fourth at 180.5. Baldwin, which is the defending 4-1A champion, was fifth at 167.5. Burlington took sixth at 138.
For Rural, Kristen Rezac (10-4) was second at 101. She finished 4-1 with four wins by fall in 11 seconds, 23 seconds, 1:08 and 1:25. In the finals, K.C. Turner’s Arianna Ortiz won by tech fall against Rezac.
Ortiz is ranked first at 101 in 5/6A. Rezac is unranked.
At 120, Rural’s Addison Broxterman rolled to the title with five wins, all by fall. She won in 1:52, 1:39, 1:07, 3:04 and 5:30, the final against Holton’s Macey Gross is ranked second at 132. She improved to 14-1. Broxterman is ranked second at 120.
At 132, Alexis Frederickson (13-2) captured the title. She won her five matches by fall in 1:43, 43 seconds, 41 seconds, 1:45 and 3:06. In the finals, she beat Dodge City freshman Hailey Ramos, who is 13-2 this season. Frederickson is ranked second, and Ramos is sixth at 132.
At 155, Jaliah Johnson (12-1) earned the crown. A highly experienced wrestler, Johnson held off Prairie View’s Alyssa Page, 9-8, in the final four. In the finals, Johnson beat Olathe Northwest’s Chloe Harris, 10-4. Johnson is ranked second, and Harris is unranked.
For Dodge City, Ashley Alonso (12-3) was second at 109. At 170, Jolette Almaraz (11-2) earned third place. Alonso is unranked, and Almaraz is ranked third at 170.
Among other champions, Turner’s Ortiz improved to 8-1. At 109, Burlington’s E’owynn Codney won the championship by fall over Alonso. Codney, a senior, is 16-0. She is ranked second at 4-1A.
At 115, Gardner-Edgerton’s Lilly Kepler was first, and Olathe North’s Kaylan Hitchcock was second. Kepler, a senior, improved to 12-4 with a 1-0 win versus Hitchcock, a freshman. Hitchcock is 11-3. Kepler is third with 120.
At 126, Olathe South sophomore Nicole Redmond was first, and Emporia senior Madelynn Griffin took second. Redmond is 9-1, Griffin 12-1 after the 4-1 decision. Redmond is ranked first at 126.
Gray earns Outstanding Wrestler honor
At 138, Lawrence Free State’s Madyson Gray continued her dominant career and is ranked first. Gray has never lost a KSHSAA match in three years. Gray beat Baldwin’s Audrey Darnell for the final. Gray, a senior, improved to 14-0 with a win by fall in 5:01. This marked Darnell’s first loss, and she dropped to 13-1.
Gray earned Most Outstanding Wrestler.
In 143, Leavenworth junior Hannah Jackson picked up the title over Spring Hill senior Nevaeh Turner. Jackson is 12-0, and Turner is 9-3 with a win by fall in 1:18. Jackson is ranked second at 143.
At 170, Bonner Springs sophomore Olivia Stean, a defending state champion, continued her unstoppable career. She took first, and B-L’s Mandy Wilson earned second. She improved to 15-0. Wilson, a senior, dropped to 10-1 after Stean won in 1:22. Stean is ranked first, and Wilson is fourth at 170.
At 191, Olathe North’s Elizabeth Ruggles earned the championship over Baldwin’s Elee Pittman. A senior, Ruggles improved to 8-0. Pittman, a sophomore, dropped to 12-3 after a fall in 5:13. At 235, Olathe North sophomore Hailey Conley won against Basehor-Linwood senior Cadence Christenson. Conley is 9-2, and Christenson stands at 10-3. Conley won by 14-1. Ruggles is ranked third at 191.
Wichita North and Pratt pace at Wichita North tournament
The other top girls’ teams generally went to the Wichita North Girls Invitational. In the 11-team field, Wichita North was first at 147, Pratt second at 108, and Valley Center is third with 84.5. Last winter, North finished second as a team to Washburn Rural in 5/6A. Pratt was runner-up to Baldwin in 4-1A.
Wichita North is currently ranked first in 6/5A, ahead of Washburn Rural. Pratt is ranked first in 4-1A, ahead of Burlington and Baldwin.
Wichita North’s Bilhah Bengi was first at 101 pounds and improved to 13-4. At 109, Larisa Garcia (12-2) won the crown. Bengi was 4-0 with four wins by fall. Garcia went 4-0 with three wins by forfeit and one by medical forfeit. At 115, Rodah Bengi (14-0) won the crown with four wins by fall.
At 132, Sandra Arellano (8-1) was first with three victories, all by fall. Jaycee Tyler (13-3) took second at 143.
For Wichita North, Bilhah Bengi is ranked sixth, Garcia is second at 109. Rodah Benji is ranked first at 115, and Arellano is third at 132.
For Pratt, the Greenbacks had big showings from their stars. At 101, Lilly Herman (5-4) was second with only a loss to Bilhah Bengi. At 120, Jadyn Thompson (12-0) had a dominant run with five wins by fall.
At 143, Livia Swift, a two-time state champion, improved to 10-1. All four of her wins came by fall in 56 seconds. Wichita North’s Jaycee Tyler was second. At 191, Ava Mull (12-0) had five wins by fall, all by 1:18 or less.
For Pratt, Herman is ranked fifth, Thompson first, Swift first and Mull second.
Other champions included Winfield’s Mikayla Konrade at 126. The senior is 13-0. She is ranked second at 126.
At 138, Bishop Carroll’s Cadence Means and Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Jayla Johnson went 1-2. A senior, Means is 8-0, including an 11-10 win versus Johnson. A sophomore, Johnson is 11-3. Means is sixth at 138.
At 155, Valley Center’s Grace Timmons was first, and Campus’ Alexia Wright finished second. A junior, Timmons is 14-1 and is ranked third at 155. At 170, Kapaun’s Gianna Redcorn was first, and Wichita South’s Delilah Sherbin finished second.
Goodland tournament features major boys and girls fields
The Goodland tournament had 17 boys’ teams that scored points, 11 on the girls’ side. For the boys, Hoxie absolutely dominated the field with 219.5 points. Host Goodland was second at 105. Hoxie is the defending 3-2-1A champion when it cruised to the state championship. Hoxie boys had seven first place finishes.
At 126, Carson Ochs (16-0) stayed perfect, along with Drew Bell (17-0) at 138, Drew Bretz (16-0) at 152, and Derek Johnson (17-0) at 160. Duncan Bell improved to 15-3 with a title at 145. Sam Watkins (17-1) earned the championship at 170.
At 113, Tate Weimer (16-2) finished second, while Wayne Shepard (12-4) was second at 120. Dayton Bell (14-3) was second at 132. Donovan Balluch (13-5) was second at 195.
The girls’ side was much closer with 11 teams scoring points. Colby was first at 63, Ellis second at 47, Goodland third at 46.5, and Stockton fourth with 38.5. Hoxie’s Derek Johnson and Marissa Porsch earned most outstanding wrestler. Sam Bretz had the fastest pin award with 12 seconds.
Porsch earned a key girls’ win with an 8-1 decision against Ellis’ Kaydawn Haag. Porsch is 17-0, and Haag is 10-3. Porsch is ranked first at 138, and Haag fourth.
Shawnee Heights wins Johnson County Classic
Shawnee Heights’ Caden Walker earned his 100th career pin. He has 123 total victories, 101 by fall. A senior, Walker is ranked third at 160.
Shawnee Heights won the Johnson County Classic with 25 teams. SH girls finished in the top-2 of the Atchison County tournament.
At Christmas Break, Salina South’s Kayson Dietz leads his team in wins (15), falls (11) and takedowns (35), among other categories. Ashley Lawler paces the South girls in wins (five) and falls (five). Ninel Garcia leads with eight takedowns.
Topeka Seaman’s Jaxson Thomas was a Lee’s Summit Champion with a 7-1 record.
Dodge City boys finished fifth at the Northern Colorado Christmas tournament.
