By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team entered Saturday's United Kansas Conference Championships as the four-time defending conference champion and the No. 4-ranked team in Class 6A-5A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association.
But Heights coach Chad Parks knew the T-Birds couldn't afford to take anything for granted and would need to be on top of their game to stretch their title reign to five straight seasons.
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team celebrates its fifth straight United Kansas Conference team championship Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The T-Birds were up to the task and then some, earning five individual championships and adding three runnerup finishes on their home mats on the way to a 217-179.5 victory over Basehor-Linwood, while short-handed Seaman finished third (129).
"We knew Basehor was going to be really tough,'' Parks said. "They're solid all the way through and when you wrestle a team that's solid all the way through they're going to give you a run. That's all there is to it.
"We needed to come out like always and just focus on doing our job one match at a time and then see how it plays out. I felt we wrestled really well. The girls stayed focused, they worked hard. We were out there battling every match and that's all we ask of them.''
Junior Madison Freeland (left) won the 135-pound title on Saturday, helping Shawnee Heights win the team championship. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights sophomore Olivia Stevens (top) won the 140-pound UKC championship Saturday, helping the T-Birds win the team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights got girls individual titles from senior 110-pounder Odessa Schmidt, junior 130-pounder Isabel Reyes, junior 135-pounder Madison Freeland, sophomore 140-pounder Olivia Stevens and sophomore 155-pounder Cianna Graves while sophomore Connie Burns (105), junior Reece Taylor (125) and senior Theo Ofusia (235) all posted runnerup conference finishes.
Reyes (24-3) posted a 4-0 record on the day with four pins between 17 and 56 seconds while Freeland (22-2) went 3-0 with three pins between 45 seconds and 2:33 and Stevens (24-7) went 3-0 with three pins between 1:38 and 3:49.
Graves (26-5) went 4-0 with a pair of pins while Schmidt (22-7) went 2-0 in her two matches.
Seaman junior Taylie Heston (right) won the UKC 126-pound championship Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman was without injured standouts Jenna and Koti Best but the Vikings got an individual championship from junior 120-pounder Taylie Heston and second-place finishes from senior Ellie Ayres (100), freshman Vanessa Scott (115) and junior Abagail Soppe (190).
Heston (25-8) went 3-0 on the day with three pins, including a 35-second pin.
Topeka West finished sixth in the girls standings with 42 points, led by third-place Nephtali Lenth (105), Dadriona Anderson (140) and Azmerae Jones (190).
On the boys side, Lansing won the UKC championship by a 193-181.5 margin over Basehor-Linwood while Seaman (165) and Shawnee Heights (156) finished fourth. West finished ninth with 22 points.
Shawnee Heights senior Andrew Bonebrake won his fourth straight UKC title on Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior 138-pounder Andrew Bonebrake, senior 175-pounder Allen Baughman and senior 285-pounder Rykan Caver also captured individual UKC titles, with Bonebrake winning his fourth straight UKC crown.
Bonebrake (28-5) pinned Basehor-Linwood's Noah Gutierrez in 2:53 of the championship match while Baughman (25-6) pinned Seaman freshman Michael McCullough in 55 seconds in his final and Carver (30-8) won by 5-3 decision over De Soto's Kimbal Sweeney.
Seaman senior Hunter Reno earned his 100th career victory in Saturday's UKC tournament en route to a second-place finish at 215 pounds. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
McCullough was one of five Seaman wrestlers that posted runnerup finishes, including 215-pound senior Hunter Reno, who recorded his 100th career victory in the tournament.
The Vikings also got second-place finishes from freshman Deegan Frazier (126), senior Colin Little (144) and junior Samson Tootle (165).
In addition to its three champions, Shawnee Heights got runner-up finishes from sophomore Tristan Buce (106) and sophomore Evan Johnson (157).
Topeka West got a third-place finish from Vincent Redmond (285).
United Kansas Conference
Girls
Team scores
Shawnee Heights 217, Basehor-Linwood 179.5, Seaman 129, Leavenworth 102, Kansas City-Piper 73, Topeka West 42, Lansing 36, De Soto 30, Kansas City-Turner 15.
Individual results
100 -- 1. Lainie Galvan, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Ellie Ayres, Seaman; 3. Imani Akins, Shawnee Heights.
105 -- 1. Miley Locke, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Connie Burns, Shawnee Heights; 3. Nephtali Lenth, Topeka West.
110 -- 1. Odessa Schmidt, Shawnee Heights; 2. Delaney Locke, Basehor-Linwood.
115 -- 1. Karla Barrios of Basehor-Linwood; 2. Vanessa Scott, Seaman; 3. Callie Ross of Kansas City-Piper.
120 -- 1. Taylie Heston, Seaman; 2. Rylee Burke, Kansas City-Piper; 3. Addison Cooper, Shawnee Heights; 4. Annabelle Tobin, Basehor-Linwood.
125 -- 1. Maia Dolinar, Kansas City-Piper; 2. Reece Taylor, Shawnee Heights; 3. Haylee Morris, Basehor-Linwood.
130 -- 1. Isabel Reyes, Shawnee Heights; 2. Margo Crismas, Seaman; 3. Amari English, Lansing.
135 -- 1. Madison Freeland, Shawnee Heights; 2. Ava Taylor, De Soto; 3. Kaylin Dunlap, Lansing.
140 -- 1. Olivia Stevens, Shawnee Heights; 2. Lexi Dickerson, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Dadriona Anderson, Topeka West.
145 -- 1. Avari Johnson, Leavenworth; 2. Makayla Faulkner, Basehor-Linwood; 3. McKenna Haltom, Shawnee Heights.
155 -- 1. Cianna Graves, Shawnee Heights; 2. Chloie Knapp, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Ashlyn Prokop of Topeka-Seaman.
170 -- 1. Jacqueline Goodman, Leavenworth; 2. Malia Martin, Kansas City-Piper; 3. Isabella Brown, Kansas City-Turner.
190 -- 1. Izzy Renfro, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Abagail Soppe, Seaman; 3. Azmerae Jones, Topeka West.
235 -- 1. Saryja Nelson, Leavenworth; 2. Theo Ofuasia, Shawnee Heights; 3. Gabby Chaney, De Soto.
Boys
Team scores
Lansing 193, Basehor-Linwood 181.5, Seaman 165, Shawnee Heights 156, De Soto 129.5, Kansas City-Piper 87, Leavenworth 58, Kansas City-Turner, 24, Topeka West 22.
Individual results
106 -- 1. Trevor Christenson, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Tristan Buce, Shawnee Heights; 3. Caden Garcia, Lansing; 4. Shepherd Young, De Soto.
113 -- 1. Jet Millison, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Elijah Dickson, Lansing; 3. Dawson Dunn, Kansas City-Piper; 4. Jacob Garner, Leavenworth.
120 -- 1. Sawyer Jorgensen, Lansing; 2. Aj Ward, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Samuel Vasquez, Leavenworth; 4. Jayden Foster, Seaman.
126 -- 1. Cael Puderbaugh, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Deegan Frazier, Seaman; 3. Jacob Garner, Lansing; 4. Brody Brown, Shawnee Heights.
132 -- 1. Evan Vielhauer, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Riley Dilka, Lansing; 3. Ross Shipley, Seaman; 4. Eli Anderson, De Soto.
138 -- 1. Andrew Bonebrake, Shawnee Heights; 2. Noah Gutierrez, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Keith Slaughter, Kansas City-Piper; 4. Cody Lord, Seaman.
144 -- 1. Emerson Tjaden, De Soto; 2. Colin Little, Seaman; 3. Christian Labrador, Shawnee Heights; 4. Kyren Padilla, Topeka West.
150 -- 1. Justin Shields, Lansing; 2. Casey Bowlin, De Soto; 3. Ruben Escalante, Kansas City-Piper; 4. Gavin Hartman, Shawnee Heights.
157 -- 1. Aidan Sullivan, De Soto; 2. Evan Johnson, Shawnee Heights; 3. Gabe Brannick, Seaman; 4. Caden Puderbaugh, Basehor-Linwood.
165 -- 1. Tucker Hutchison, Basehor-Linwood; 2. Samson Tootle, Seaman; 3. Kaden Roebuck, Kansas City-Turner; 4. Arnez Woods, Leavenworth.
175 -- 1. Allen Baughman, Shawnee Heights; 2. Michael McCullough, Seaman; 3. Elijah Townsend, Lansing; 4. Jack Beaulieu, Leavenworth.
190 -- 1. Noah Mathis, Lansing; 2. Jacob Patrzykont, Kansas City-Piper; 3. Deyton Mentzer, Seaman; 4. Dylan Roy, De Soto.
215 -- 1. Elijah Mathis, Lansing; 2. Hunter Reno, Seaman; 3. Josh Tait, De Soto; 4. Jordan Kramer, Basehor-Linwood.
285 -- 1. Rykan Carver, Shawnee Heights; 2. Kimbal Sweeney, De Soto; 3. Vincent Redmond, Topeka West; 4. Wyatt Koenig, Kansas City-Piper.
