By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
City and United Kansas Conference rivals Shawnee Heights and Seaman dominated Saturday's Class 6A-5A girls wrestling regional tournament at Seaman, with the T-Birds and Vikings going one-two in the team standings and the two schools combining for 18 qualifiers for the state meet at Park City.
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team followed up its United Kansas Conference championship with a Class 6A-5A regional team crown Saturday at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman finished second in Saturday's Class 6A-5A regional girls wrestling tournament, qualifying eight of eight wrestlers for state. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior 190-pounder Lilly Blair was Shawnee Heights' lone individual champion, but the T-Birds also posted six runner-up finishes, two thirds and a fourth en route to a 173-147.5 margin over host Seaman.
"Everybody contributes,'' Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks said. "We're freshman and sophomore heavy, which is exciting for the future, and then we have a couple of juniors and a couple of seniors in there, but overall we're a very young team.''
Blair improved to 19-9 on the season with a win by fall over Kansas City-Washington junior Breanna Neal at the 3-minute, 44-second mark of the second period.
Shawnee Heights got runner-up finishes from freshman 100-pounder Connie Burns, sophomore 125-pounder Reece Taylor, sophomore 130-pounder Isabel Reyes, sophomore 135-pounder Madison Freeland, 140-pound senior Hannah Sixkiller and junior 145-pounder McKenna Haltom, thirds from 110-pounder Odessa Schmidt and 155-pound freshman Cianna Graves and a fourth from junior 105-pounder Emberlynn Phillips.
The Vikings also had a big day, with all eight regional entrants earlying berths for the state meet Feb. 22 and 23 at Hartman Arena.
"We're good at taking second,'' joked Seaman coach Jordan Best, whose team had six open weight classes. "I can't complain. At the beginning of the year I looked at the lineup and I was kind of guessing as to what my starting lineup was and who would make it (to state). I had seven down, so getting eight was a good number, especially when that's all we had wrestling today.''
Seaman got regional titles from sophomore 110-pounder Taylie Heston, junior 125-pounder Madison Murray, 130-pound sophomore Koti Best and 140-pound senior Kaidence Heston as well as a runner-up finish from sophomore Natalie Smith, a third from freshman Makenna Stuke and fourths from junior 100-pounder Ellie Ayres and sophomore 190-pounder Abigail Soppe.
Heston improved to 27-5 on the season with a 3-1 decision over Piper freshman Maia Dolinar, while Murray is now 33-5 after a 4-2 overtime win over Shawnee Heights' Taylor, Best improved to 32-5 with a third-period pin over Heights' Reyes (5:04) and Heston is 26-9 after a second-period pin over Heights' Sixkiller (3:07).
Highland Park qualified a pair of wrestlers for state, with Scot sophomore Kimberly Rodriguez finishing second at 105 pounds and 170-pound sophomore Kylisha James taking fourth.
CLASS 6A-5A GIRLS REGIONAL WRESTLING
Team scores
Shawnee Heights 173, Seaman 147.5, Bonner Springs 128, Leavenworth 79.5, Basehor-Linwood 67, KC-Sumner Academy 52, KC-Turner 48, Mill Valley 43, KC-Washington 38, Highland Park 35, Piper 31, Free State 25, KC-Harmon 24, Lansing 21, Lawrence 14, KC-Wyandotte 13, De Soto 10.
Indiviual results
100 -- 1. Arianna Ortiz, Turner; 2. Connie Burns, Shawnee Heights; 3. Narissa Hampton, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Ellie Ayres, Seaman.
105 -- 1. Madelyn Knight, KC-Turner; 2. Kimberly Rodriguez, Highland Park; 3. Finley Rose, Mill Valley; 4. Emberlynn Phillips, Shawnee Heights.
110 -- 1. Taylie Heston, Seaman; 2. Maia Dolinar, Piper; 3. Odessa Schmidt, Shawnee Heights; 4. Emily Summa, Mill Valley.
115 -- 1. Jenna Knight, Bonner Springs; 2. Natalie Smith, Seaman; 3. Aumunique Johnson, KC-Wyandotte; 4. Karla Barrios, Basehor-Linwood.
120 -- 1. Piper Wendler, Mill Valley; 2. Amari English, Lansing; 3. Makenna Stuke, Seaman; 4. Kylie Enriquez, Bonner Springs.
125 -- 1. Madison Murray, Seaman; 2. Reece Taylor, Shawnee Heights; 3. Valery Chacon, KC-Sumner Academy; 4. Ava Corbin, Free State.
130 -- 1. Koti Best, Seaman; 2. Isabel Reyes, Shawnee Heights; 3. Jillian Wallace, Bonner Springs; 4. Emmalee Foya, Bonner Springs.
135 -- 1. Kamahni Jackson, KC-Harmon; 2. Madison Freeland, Shawnee Heights; 3. Alissa Harris, KC-Sumner Academy; 4. Neveah Brown, Bonner Springs.
140 -- 1. Kaidence Heston, Seaman; 2. Hannah Sixkiller, Shawnee Heights; 3. Daijah Preston, Free State; 4. Autumn Ashford, Bonner Springs.
145 -- 1. Avari Johnson, Leavenworth; 2. McKenna Haltom, Shawnee Heights; 3. Braelyn Morris, Bonner Springs; 4. Makayla Faulkner, Basehor-Linwood.
155 -- 1. Janetia McGee, KC-Sumner Academy; 2. Emily Velasquez, KC-Washington; 3. Cianna Graves, Shawnee Heights; 4. Addison Vogel, Bonner Spring.
170 -- 1. Oliia Stean, Bonner Springs; 2. Jacqueline Goodman, Leavenworth; 3. Malia Martin, Piper; 4. Kylisha James, Highland Park.
190 -- 1. Lilly Blair of Shawnee Heights; 2. Breanna Neal, KC-Washington; 3. Kennedie Miller, Leavenworth; 4. Abagail Soppe, Seaman.
235 -- 1. Hannah Jackson, Leavenworth; 2. Aaryn Krebs, Bonner, Spings; 3. Izzy Renfro, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Gabby Chaney, De Soto.
