While some coaches will avoid state championship talk at length, Washburn Rural coach Damon Parker didn't shy away from bringing the topic up at the Junior Blues' preseason meeting.

But once that meeting was over?

"We left the room with the expectation was that that was the last time we'd talk about until we showed up at Hartman (Arena, site of the state championship meet in Wichita)," Parker said. "I know this is the most boring answer, but it really is about just getting a little bit better each day for us. That was my biggest problem here on the boys side the first few years I was here. We were so focused on, 'We've got to win the next thing, have to win the next thing, keep leveling up.' But once we stopped worrying about that, that's when the championships started happening."

By the time Washburn Rural's girls program had the opportunity to compete for championships, Parker said the lesson was learned. Enjoy the journey and good things will come.

And they have for the Junior Blues. Rural captured the team title at the 2019-20 inaugural girls' state championship tournament in Salina and then added a second crown last year, taking the Division I girls title in Wichita.

While Rural had to sweat out the first championship, edging Great Bend by four points for the crown, last year's was a display of dominance by the Junior Blues. Rural went undefeated throughout the season and wrapped up the state championship before the finals began.

Getting two champions -- Dajia Anderson and Rebekah Smith -- was just icing on the cake for the Junior Blues, who won by a whopping 26 points over Wichita North.

Parker said guarding again complacency was something he's addressed with his team prior to the season.

"All the Kansas wrestling world knows is Washburn Rural winning girls state," Parker said. "Girls who are new to our program have the expectation that we're going to win it because we're Washburn Rural. They have to understand that's not the case. We have to keep it in their mind that we have to come back at it as hard as we did that first year and then again as we did last year."

With both Anderson and Smith having graduated, there's certainly work to be done for the Junior Blues to make it a three-peat. Rural does return a quartet of state placers in Addison Broxterman, Shayne Miles Alexis Fredrickson and Jaliah Johnson as well as another state qualifier in Kaitlyn Morris.

Fredrickson was runner-up at 120 pounds last year, going 22-7, and is ranked No. 1 there this season. Johnson (32-6) took third at 170 and is ranked No. 1 at 155 this season, while Fredrickson placed fifth at state and Miles (29-12) took sixth. Fredrickson is ranked No. 4 at 126, while the Junior Blues also have ranked wrestlers in sophomore Kristin Rezac at 101 and senior Kendall Reid at 115.

In all, nine wrestlers are back that posted winning records last year.

"We've got some holes to fill and right now, we're open at a weight class, which is so weird for us," Parker said. "We've got 60 girls on the team, but none of them happen to weigh 170 pounds, so we'll have to be creative."

Johnson was in that spot last year, but has moved down a weight class this season and Parker said his expectations for her season are through the roof.

"She's kind of been in the shadows a bit, but she's got a chance to be a three-time state placer and we expect that from her," he said. "She's gone from being in the shadows to where she's got to control the room. And we needed that. Addie and Alexis have done great job as captains, too."

Rural begins the season ranked No. 2 behind Dodge City, which finished fourth in last year's team standings, but have six ranked wrestlers, including No. 2s Ashley Arroyo (155) and Jolette Almarez (170). Wichita North, last year's runner-up, is No. 3 and is led by top-ranked 191-pounder Meya Howell and returning state champion Larissa Garcia, who is No. 2 at 109 after winning the 101 title last year.

"We'll see how it shakes out and we'll have a better idea soon how strong we're going to be," said Parker, who resigned as Rural's boys head coach last spring after leading them to a state title as well. "It's our job to coach them up and their job to enjoy the journey and see where that takes us."