.png)
Correction - Track wrestling was incorrect at the time of article publication, team Colby was deducted 47.5 points due to a few wrestlers not being eliglable to earn team points. New scores: Norton 190.5, Oakley 152, Junction City 123, Plainville 116, Russell 110.5, and Colby 108.5.
The day was frigid cold, but wrestling was in order and Northwest Kansas was on full display. In the sport that is growing faster than any other, the small communities of this corner of the state proved that girls can be dominant in a physical and individual sport such as wrestling.
On Saturday Jan. 18, Hays High School hosted their annual Girls Prairie Classic wrestling tournament, with twenty-four teams in attendance and 210 athletes. Norton, Colby, and Oakley ended up dominating the field in that order, competing with high quality teams such as, Junction City, Hays, Plainville, and Russell.
Norton
Taking first place as a team, Norton scored 190.5 points leading the second place Colby team by 37.5 points. Led by two outstanding freshman Kaison Miller at 115 pounds and Halle Pfannenstiel at 140 pounds, the Bluejays look to be competing for a state title in 321A immediately. Both girls had already surpassed sixteen wins on the season with only two losses. Junior Cadence Greeson is also having an outstanding season sitting 17-1, followed by the sole senior Isabella Garrity at 15-6.
The Bluejays weren’t successful in putting either of their 100 or 105 pounders on the podium, and they were open at 110 pounds. Miller then walked through the 115 pound bracket, collecting two falls against Beloit’s Hannah Koenig, and Russell’s Mya Trevino to reach the finals.
In the finals she met Junction City’s Juliana Villanueva who won this tournament last year at 115 pounds, and placed second at KSHSAA’s 2024 6A state tournament. The match ended in decision 7-0 for Miller to take first, but it felt like she had complete control the entire three periods.
Missing the podium at 120 pounds led to Garrity meeting Hoxie’s Josie Bell in the finals at 125 pounds. Garrity pinned all her opponents leading to the finals, but found a tough match against Bell leading to a Hoxie win by fall in the second period.
Norton missed the podium at 130 pounds, but freshman Kieryn Aitken won fourth at 135 pounds after falling to Garden City’s Clara Ford in the consolation semifinals. Pfannenstiel ended the day 3-0 at 140 pounds earning a win by fall over Pratt’s Brylee Richardson, and she pinned Salina South’s Dajah Jenkins to reach the finals after a first round bye.
In the finals, Pfannenstiel won by fall in the second period over Andover’s Olivia Randle who was 16-2 entering the tournament. The Bluejays then missed the podium at 145 pounds, but found success at 155 pounds with Dali Braun taking third place. She claimed bronze after defeating Phillipsburg’s’ Johnna Ebner by fall in the first period.
Then at 170 pounds freshman Sophia Kane finished in third place after a 4-1 decision over Colby’s Alana Fabrizius. At 190 pounds Greeson took second place against Plainville’s Caydance Carter who took the match by fall in the second period. Greeson’s road to the finals consisted of two falls against Hays’ Crystal Walters and Phillipsburg’s Kaitlyn McCreery.
Sophomore Adriana Winters rounded out the Bluejays team with a gold finish at 235 pounds after pinning Stockton’s Rivver Long in the first period of the finals. She also earned her way to the finals after pinning both Hays’ Jenessa Carrillo and Junction City’s Ka’ Ori Herring.
Colby
Coming in second place as a team Colby scored 153 points and just barely edged out Oakley for the silver finish. Colby came into the tournament with four open weights due to two injury scratches. Standout sophomore Morgan Hills was out at 135 pounds with an injured shoulder, and freshman Dallis Steiben with an injured elbow.
Colby still managed to send eight girls to the podium with four making it to the finals. Junior Cheyanne Hill, and sophomore Heidi Gray both took gold to help the Eagles finish in second place.
At 100 pounds, sophomore Adrian Salcido finished in third place after a fantastic match against Stockton’s Carolina Northrup. The match went into overtime at 1-1, with both girls just missing their takedowns to send the match into extra periods. After a quick scramble Northrup would end up on top securing the takedown winning the match 4-1 in sudden victory.
At 105 pounds senior Aspen Sharpe was defeated by Smith Center’s Keleigh Ochoa by fall in the second period of the final. Until then Sharpe had put on a clinic defeating Junction City’s Alexia Zink by fall, Beloit’s Daytona McMillan by technical fall 19-2, and then another fall over Phillipsburg’s Arianna Ebner.
Sophomore Gala White ended in fourth place after suffering defeat to Oakley’s Cadence Koch by decision 1-0. At 115 pounds Gray took gold after earning a technical fall 15-0 against Hoxie’s Venessa Schutte in the quarterfinal, then a win by decision over Salina South’s Anna Cordero in the semifinal. In the finals, she collected a win by fall over Salina South’s Josie Rivera in the third period to earn her first gold place finish.
Colby sophomore Joslyn Bartlett ran into Oakley’s Kylee Hodges in the finals for a fourth time this season. All matches went to Hodges so far, but this was the closest the gap has come. Bartlett ended up losing by fall in the third period, but she earned her way to the finals after a first-round bye, and then a pin over Pratt’s Gabriella Cervantes and a major decision 10-1 over Ellinwood’s Jenna Borror.
In the 125 pound division, sophomore Faith Hoover ended up in sixth place after losing by fall against Garden City’s Raygen Meza-McDermott. Hill then took first place over Salina South’s Sydni Leonard by major decision 13-0. She also earned two falls prior to that against Oakley’s Shayden Selzer, and Norton’s Mayte Villegas.
Colby was open at 135 pounds with Hills injury, and missed the podium at 145 pounds, and then again were open at 155 pounds due to injury. At 170 pounds sophomore Fabrizius ended the day in fourth place after suffering defeat by decision 4-1 against Norton’s Sophia Kane in the consolation semifinals.
Ending with the last two weights open at 190 and 235 pounds, Colby ended the day in second place.
Oakley
Coming up one point short of tying for second place Oakley tallied 152 team points, eighteen ahead Hays with 134 points. The 321A first ranked Oakley team put six girls on the podium, with four of them being champions.
Starting out open at 100 pounds, and then unable to land on the podium at 105 pounds, the Plainsmen then found success at 110 pounds with senior Cadence Koch finishing in third place. In her first year of wrestling, Koch won up to the semifinal before being put on the backside of the bracket by Ellinwood’s McKena Parker. She then climbed her way to third place after defeating Plainville’s AaLeyah Becker by decision 3-2 in the consolation semifinal. Then she defeated Colby’s Gala White by decision 1-0 to secure bronze.
Oakley then was open at 115 pounds, but at 120 pounds they’ve been riding on sophomore Hodges undefeated season. She took gold after two technical falls over Salina South’s Mia Matute and Pratt’s Morgan Prieto. She then won by fall over Hays Kenlee Vehige before wrestling Colby’s Joslyn Bartlett in the finals. Hodges won by fall in the third period putting her season record at 25-0.
At 130 pounds Oakley was open, but at 135 pounds junior Abbygayl Jackson earned gold after collecting two falls over Salina South’s Haylie White and Stockton’s Mia Odle. She then won by major decision 10-2 over Garden City’s Clara Ford to make the finals. Winning by fall Jackson defeated Hays’ 5A first ranked Tionna Napue in the first period.
Open again at 140 pounds, then sophomore Brooke Smith ended the day in fifth place after defeating Garden City’s Jaslene Moncada by fall at 145 pounds. Junior Cali Wagoner finished the day a champion after a first round bye, then two win by falls over Andover’s Claire Compton and Russell’s Ashlynn Henley. In the finals, Wagoner secured gold after winning by decision over Plainville’s Zoe Brown 4-3.
Then undefeated junior Atavia Cain earned her way to the finals by pinning Goodland’s Ashlyn Franz and Phillipsburg’s Isabelle Epley. She then won by major decision in the semifinals against Norton’s Sophia Kane 17-3. In the finals Cain collected the win after Dodge City’s Erika Sandoval suffered a lower leg injury resulting in forfeit.
Oakley then missed the podium at 190 pounds, and was open at 235 pounds to end the day in third place.
To round out the top ten, Hays finished fourth with 134 points and Plainville in fifth with 130 points. Junction City ended in sixth with 123 points, while Russell finished in seventh with 110.5 points. Ellinwood, Garden City, and Salina South ended the top ten with 86, 81.5, 81 points respectively.
Comments