Great Bend Post Sports
The Western Athletic Conference features not only two of the best wrestling teams in the state but also the nation. Wednesday and Thursday, Garden City, ranked behind Dodge City in the 6A polls, dominated the fourth Tournament of Champions in Newton with 283.5 points. Manhattan, ranked No. 8 in Class 6A finished second with 189.5 points, and Tonganoxie, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, placed third with 158 points. Great Bend, which just climbed into the Class 5A ranks at No. 10, finished fourth with 131 points to edge Emporia by just 1.5 points.
Freshman Micah Ellegood advanced to the finals at 125 pounds. She tech-falled her Olathe South opponent and pinned her Salina Central opponent to reach the semifinals where she won an 8-6 decision after returning state qualifier Brynn Lowe of Blue Valley. Top-ranked Crystal Loera of Garden City (6A) was able to pin Ellegood late in the first period to take the title.
Second-ranked Camdyn Post placed third at 105 pounds. The sophomore pinned her first three opponents each in 44 seconds or fewer. She lost a 16-10 battle against third-ranked Kaira Acosta in the semifinals. Post rebounded with pins in 31 and 26 seconds in the consolation bracket to secure third place.
Freshman Sophia Bauer climbed into the rankings at No. 6 at 100 pounds. She battled her way to a fourth-place finish Friday. After a bye, she won a major over Olathe South and pinned her Hutchinson opponent to reach the semifinals. There, she was pinned by third-ranked Eva Lucios of Manhattan (6A). Bauer won an 8-7 decision on the back side but was tech-falled by Douglass in the consolation finals.
Third-ranked Kirra Stevens pulled out a fifth-place finish at 170 pounds. After an 87-second win, Stevens lost a 10-5 decision to fifth-ranked Chloe Spears of Derby (6A) in the quarters. Stevens answered by pinning her next to opponents before losing 8-1 to Blue Valley's fourth-place finisher in the consolation semis. Stevens again rebounded, this time by pinning Eureka's (3-2-1A) sixth-ranked Harlie Owings.
Brooklynn Kelly rebounded from an early loss to place fifth at 130 pounds. She opened the tough bracket with a 44-second win before losing a 10-0 major to two-loss Karoline Kendall of Blue Valley. Kelly won a 3-0 decision early in the consolation bracket, pinned her Salina South opponent, then advanced again by injury default. After beating Derby 3-2, Kelly was pinned by Kendall in the consolation semifinals. Kelly pinned her Manhattan opponent in the fifth-place match.
Keira Leyva advanced to the quarterfinals at 110 pounds. She pinned her Olathe South opponent before getting pinned by McPherson's Lexi Patterson. Leyva won by tech-fall on the back side of the bracket but lost her next match to the sixth-place finisher from Manhattan.
Kayla Baldwin also came up a win shy of the fifth-place match at 115 pounds. She pinned her first opponent before getting pinned by top-ranked Stella Bradley of Tonganoxie in the quarters. Baldwin had a 15-second pin on the back side before losing a 5-3 decision to the fourth-place finisher from Douglass.
Lea Nokes was another quarterfinalist at 155 pounds. After a bye, she pinned her De Soto opponent to run into second-ranked Veronica Madrid of Derby. Madrid pinned two other opponents in 48 seconds or less but needed 99 seconds to get the job done against Nokes. Nokes picked up a pin on the back side before losing a 6-0 decision to sixth-ranked McKinzie Ross of Blue Valley (6A), who placed third.
Riata Stryker lost both of her contested matches at 140 pounds, as did Shatarah Newton at 145 pounds.