By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The blood round lived up to its name Saturday in Dodge City. At least for the Great Bend wrestlers. Five Lady Panther wrestlers came up just one win shy of advancing to the state championships, but four Great Bend wrestlers did survive and advance. The five Western Athletic Conference schools dominated the loaded Class 6-5A regional with Dodge City beating Garden City for the title. Hays placed third, and Liberal and Great Bend finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Just one Lady Panther wrestled for a regional title. At 125 pounds, third-ranked Daizy Gomez pinned her way to the finals for another rematch against top-ranked Ariana De La Rosa of Dodge City. After some quiet finals matches, the gym came to life as Gomez took an early lead but was eventually pinned by De La Rosa in the third period. Gomez takes a 29 record to state.
Freshman Kaylea McMullen heads to state after a third-place finish at 120 pounds. She pinned her first opponent, then won in sudden victory against a tough Hays opponent. That pitted McMullen against second-ranked Julissa Rodriguez of Garden City of the semifinals. Rodriguez pinned all three of her opponents in the first period en route to the championship. Needing one more win to qualify for state, McMullen pinned her Liberal opponent, then pinned her Wichita West opponent in the consolation finals. McMullen heads to state with a 26-12 record.
Senior Katie Kuhlman pulled out a third-place finish at 135 pounds the hard way. After a bye, she was pinned by Arkansas City in the quarterfinals. A bye on the backside put Kuhlman one win away from state. She answered the call with a 10-2 major decision against Liberal. Kuhlman defeated her Garden City opponent 5-2 in the consolation finals to secure third place. She takes a 17-12 record to state.
Freshman Natalee Daniels is headed to state at 190 pounds after a fourth-place finish. She opened with a 5-2 decision before being pinned by second-ranked and unbeaten Druzzla Johnson of Wichita West. Needing a win to advance, Daniels pinned her Dodge City opponent before getting pinned by Bishop Carroll in the consolation finals. Daniels takes a 23-11 record to state.
Then there was the heartbreak. Sophomore Kirra Stevens pinned her first two opponents to reach the 155-pound semifinals. She was in a competitive match against the eventual-runner up from Garden City before suffering a broken arm in the second period. With the injury, Stevens came up one win shy of state qualification.
Sophomore Leah Nokes opened with a bye and a pin to reach the semifinals at 170 pounds. After a loss to fourth-ranked Jolette Armaraz of Dodge City, Nokes needed just one more win on the back side of the bracket. She was pinned by Goddard-Eisenhower to end her season.
A mild 235-pound bracket was wide open for the top-four to qualify. Freshman Yarlene Granados opened with a bye before getting pinned by the eventual runner-up from Derby in the semifinals. Just one win from state, Granados fell behind 5-4 late in her consolation semifinal match against Wichita Northeast. That proved to be the final in one of the most exciting blood round matches of the day.
Junior Sierra Ferguson lost another exciting match at 130 pounds. Ferguson pinned her first opponent before giving sixth-ranked Belle Hernandez of Garden City her best match of the day in a 2-0 loss in the quarters. Ferguson pinned her Hutchinson opponent and won a 7-2 decision against Campus to reach the blood round. There, Ferguson trailed Derby before a late really nearly gave her the edge. Freshman Brooke Downs was ultimately able to get the pin to end Ferguson's season.
Danica Cline came up one win shy of state at 145 pounds. After a bye, she was pinned by Liberal's state qualifier in the quarters. Cline pinned her next two opponents from Wichita Northeast and Eisenhower to reach the blood round where she lost an 8-1 decision to the eventual third-place finisher from Hays. The bracket also featured top-ranked and unbeaten Ashley Arroyo of Dodge City.
Senior Jaydon Davis entered a 140-pound bracket with the top-two ranked wrestlers. After a bye, Davis was pinned by second-ranked Yareli Garcia of Dodge City in the quarters. Davis came up with a pin to stay alive, but missed the blood round after a competitive match against Derby where she was pinned in the third period.
Senior Karley Stuckey had a tough road at 105 pounds. A first-round bye meant a quarterfinal match against second-ranked and eventual champion Amara Eshe of Derby. Stuckey was pinned by her Campus opponent on the backside. Sophomore Hannah Crathorne posted an 0-2 record at 115 pounds.
The four Lady Panther state qualifiers head to the Class 6-5A State Wrestling Championships at Park City's Hartman Arena on Feb. 22-23.