State Girls Wrestling Recap - Day 1

Stean and Ortiz win through to finals

Twenty wrestlers from Wyandotte County high schools competed in the first day of the KSHSAA 6A-5A girls’ state wrestling tournament at Hartman Arena, in Park City, Kan.

Two are still in contention for a championship, while eight others are still fighting for a medals and a place on the podium.

Here’s a recap by school of the Day 1 action:

Bonner Springs

Olivia Stean pinned three opponents to punch her ticket to the 170-pound championship tomorrow afternoon. She will face Valley Center's Grace Timmons tomorrow for the top step on the podium.

Jenna Knight won her first-round 115-pound match, but lost a decision to Eisenhower's Lainie Burkhart in the quarterfinal. Knight will face Wyandotte's Aumunique Johnson in the backside of the bracket to fight her way for a podium placement.

Emmalee Foya lost her first-round match against Washburn Rural's Laiken Clark but battled back to beat Gardner-Edgerton's Ellie Rhea to stay in contention in tomorrow's wrestle-back rounds.

Aaryn Krebs was pinned by Valley Center's Gracie Orr in the first round, but dropped Kenzie Etim of Shawnee Mission Northwest in just 20 seconds in the consolation match to qualify for day 2 action.

Kylie Enriquez, Neveah Brown, Autumn Ashford, Braelyn Morris, and Addison Vogel were eliminated from the bracket.

Turner

Arianna Ortiz defeated top-ranked 100-pound wrestler Jaidyn Alvarado of Junction City to ascend to the championship final. She will face Salina South's Mykayla Sutton for the title.

Ortiz also won a 5-0 decision over Haylie James of Salina Central in the first round and pinned Olathe South's My'Riah Hopkins in the quarterfinal.

Madelyn Knight lost her two opening matches and was eliminated in the 105-pound bracket.

Harmon

Kamahni Jackson won her two opening matches in the 135-pound class with a 33-second pin and a 9-0 major decision, but she suffered an unexpected reversal and pin at the hands of Gardner-Edgerton's Shelby Davis. Jackson can still finish as high as third with a good showing tomorrow.

Sumner

In the 135-pound class, Alissa Harris pinned Olathe West's Gianna De Cicco in the second period of their first-round match, but she lost a narrow decision 6-5 to Garden City's Bethanie Cruz in the quarterfinal. If she beats Olathe South's Lauren Peel in her first day 2 match, she'll find herself up against Kamahni Jackson to advance further. Harris gave Jackson a run for her money in the finals of the WYCO championships.

Janetia McGee was eliminated with two losses in the 155-pound bracket, but came oh-so-close in both matches, the first a sudden-victory loss to Wichita Northwest's Kimberly Valdovinos, and the second a 3-2 decision for Haley Flores of Blue Valley Southwest.

Valery Chacon took two losses by fall in the 125-pound bracket to fall out of contention.

Piper

Piper's two state qualifiers advanced to the second day of action, though they both will need to climb up the back side of the bracket.

Malia Martin won her opening match by fall in just 22 seconds over Aariyah Jackson of Wichita Northwest, but lost in the final to highly-ranked Grace Timmons of Valley Center.

Maia Dolinar was pinned by Newton's Avery Hinojos in the opening round, but recovered in the consolation match to pin Paige Peterson of Spring Hill in the first period.

Schlagle

In the 155-pound bracket, Emily Velasquez (wrestling in a combined team with Washington)beat Goddard's Breann Kellogg with a third-period fall but was overmatched by Manhattan's Sage Rosario in the quarterfinal. Velasquez will have the chance to wrestle for a podium spot tomorrow, but faces a tough match-up with Washburn Rural's Ashley Schwarz.

Washington

Breanna Neal won her opening round match with a 6-3 decision over Spring Hill's Avery Feeback, but lost to Salina Central's Alison Coykendall 6-3 in a tie-breaker. Neal will get the chance to earn a podium spot in Thursday's wrestle-back rounds.

Wyandotte

Aumunique Johnson lost her opening round match to Xitlaly Meraz of Wichita North, but won by forfeit in the consolation round. She'll have a tough road up the back side of the bracket, starting with Bonner's Jenna Knight, but there's a chance.