Sixteen WYCO wrestlers qualify for state at girls' regional tourney in Bonner

Stean, Vogel and Dolinar are regional champs

Feb 11, 2024

Piper sophomore Maia Dolinar wrestled Shawnee Heights junior Reece Taylor in the 125-pound championship match at the KSHSAA 6-5A regional girls’ wrestling tournament. Dolinar won the match in a close 2-1 decision for the title.

On Saturday, Bonner Springs High School hosted the KSHSAA 6-5A regional girls’ wrestling tournament, one of four across the state that qualify wrestlers for the state tournament in Park City Feb. 22 to 24. The regional’s top four finishers in each weight class make the cut for state.

Update: Breanna Neal of Washington was disqualified after her third-place match against Goldy Stephens of Lawrence and will not be eligible for the state tournament, pending appeal. She disputes the disqualification, and you can read her account here.

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Bonner Springs led the local schools with six qualifiers, including Addison Vogel (155) and Olivia Stean (170) who both won their weight classes.

Stean defeated Leavenworth’s Jacqueline Goodman in the final, avenging a January loss at the Washburn Rural tournament. In Park City, she will be competing for her fourth consecutive state title, an extremely rare accomplishment.

The regional title continues a remarkable comeback by Bonner sophomore Vogel, who started the season late due to a car accident.

She defeated Cianna Graves of Shawnee Heights in the 155-pound final, having lost to her in the 2023 regional.

Unlike last year’s 11-10 result, this year’s rematch was a low-scoring one. With neither wrestler able to get the other to the mat, the match went to overtime with the wrestlers tied with one point each.

Vogel credited Graves’s toughness, and said after the tournament, “I really just felt like I had to push through, and I couldn’t give up.” The Braves’ wrestler responded with two near fall points in the second overtime period, and put the match away with an escape in the third.

Piper has four qualifiers for this year’s state tournament, up from two last year. First-year head coach James Thompson has seen the Pirates girls’ wrestling program explode over the past year, from five to 16 wrestlers.

Piper sophomore Maia Dolinar has been on an amazing run this season, holding a 37-2 record, number two spot in the KWCA rankings, and and now a regional title. She defeated Shawnee Heights junior Reece Taylor in the championship match.

About her improvement, Thompson said, “Last year she was a little bit timid, a little bit unsure of herself. This year she’s gotten a little bit stronger, gotten a year under her belt, and really started putting in the work in the weight room.”

Turner sophomore Izzy Brown qualified for state with an amazing comeback in her “blood round” match against McKinzie Carter of Shawnee Heights. Barely surviving a near fall and down 5-1 after one period, Brown recovered to 8-6 in the second and pinned Carter in the third period.

One noticeable absence from the regional tournament this year was Harmon. Junior Kamahni Jackson, a state medalist the past two years, is recovering from a knee injury, and the Hawks have not fielded a girls’ wrestling team this season.