The inaugural Kansas Girls State Wrestling Tournament meant different things for different people.

For some, the event in February 2020 was the culmination of years of hard work. For others, it provided an opportunity to show what was possible for a group of determined female athletes when given the chance.

Sports such as track and field, basketball and volleyball have all held annual girls state championships in Kansas for nearly 50 years. Girls wrestling, now in its third year as a sanctioned sport in the state, is still in its relative infancy while growing in popularity.

Paola senior Kailyn Younger got her first real experience with competitive wrestling as a sophomore, the first year the sport was sanctioned by the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

She likely would not have attempted to compete in the sport had a girls division not been sanctioned prior to the 2019-20 school year. Now she is a two-time state runner-up and was ranked No. 2 in Class 4-3-2-1A at 126 pounds this season.
"Wrestling is a hard sport, both mentally and physically," Younger said. "I never would have imagined I would have that kind of success that quickly.

"Actually, I didn't win a match until the third tournament of my first season and then things started to turn around. I started getting confidence on the mat and started getting into the flow of things."

One thing that is common to both boys and girls athletics is the excitement that a first state tournament experience can bring. That excitement can typically be accompanied by nerves and pressure for boys and girls alike.
Such was the case for participants that day at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina.

"I remember my leg was shaking a lot when I put my foot on the line," Younger said of her first match at the 2020 state meet. "I went and shook the girl's hand and was looking in her eyes, and I could feel all my nerves go away.

"Everything finally clicked and I thought 'I'm doing this for my team.' Having everyone in my corner really helped. It was nerve-racking and it felt like a lot of pressure, but it was something that was bigger than all of us there so it was pretty cool to be part of it."

"It was crazy because I don't normally wrestle in big events like that," said Washburn Rural's Jaliah Johnson, who was also a sophomore while competing in the 2020 state meet. "My first match was a bit overwhelming, but after I got that match down, I was ready to go for the rest.

"I also remember that it was a great feeling, like I'm finally doing something. When I wrestled in middle school, I wasn't winning anything big. I might win a medal for third or fourth place.

"To have a girls division and winning more than medals … to win championships and titles, it's a great feeling."

Johnson is a two-time state medalist, placing third in both 2020 and 2021. She was one of six Washburn Rural individuals who qualified for the inaugural state tournament and one of four team members to earn a state medal with a top six finish. That enabled the Junior Blues to edge Great Bend by four points for the team title.

"That first state meet was incredible," said Rural coach Damon Parker, whose team also won the Class 6-5A team title in 2021. "It's always fun to be part of something new and we were seeing this sport being introduced to an entirely new gender that for the most part had never done it before.

"It was the culmination of a lot of people's hard work and to see everybody under one roof was pretty cool."

Among those individuals who worked hard to have girls wrestling become a sanctioned sport in Kansas was Doug Kretzer. The longtime McPherson High coach, Kretzer began his campaign in the fall of 2013, receiving support from the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association and later the backing of the Kansas Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association before getting final KSHSAA approval prior to the 2019-20 school year.



"As I remember that day, it was a total fulfillment," Kretzer said of the 2020 state meet. "It seemed like an epic and almost impossible venture at times. To be able to show people, show the state and all of my peers that it was worthy and see that come to fruition was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever accomplished.

"There's no way it would have ever been done if it was just me. There were a lot of us that day who felt the same way. People like Doug Vander Linden and Nate Naasz and others that were on the KWCA board. It was just a big smile all day. Every time an official blew a whistle to start a match, it was like the ultimate success that the event was taking place."

"There was a lot of pride at that first state meet because there was a lot of effort to make it happen," said Paola's Joe Knecht, former women's director for USA Wrestling Kansas.

"There was girls wrestling long before it became a KSHSAA sport, but being able to have their own state championship helped legitimize it for them. It was less of a niche thing and I think they were grateful to have that same opportunity as their male counterparts."

Rural's Addison Broxterman got her initial wrestling experience as a freshman during the 2019-20 season. She qualified for state in her first season, then earned her first state medal as a runner-up at 120 pounds in 2021.

Broxterman understands the significance of that inaugural state tournament, so much so that she ranks the experience ahead of stepping up on the medals stand a year ago.

"Honestly, qualifying for state that first year was kind of the biggest achievement of my life," Broxterman said. "I would put it above getting second at state last year.

"It was such a great experience with 1A through 6A girls and it being everyone at state. The atmosphere was cool with my family there to watch. And there were so many wrestlers that I was meeting for the first time and all the girls were cool."
Even athletes who had considerable experience in the sport of wrestling prior to high school were able to recognize the significance of that first state meet.

Paola's Jordyn Knecht was a junior during the 2019-20 school year, but had been wrestling since the age of six. Knecht had competed in tournaments at the national level before the sport was sanctioned in Kansas, but was still excited to see wrestling finding a place at the high school level.

"The feeling was amazing," Knecht said. "I had participated in big tournaments and traveled to many national tournaments, but participating in an actual sanctioned high school state tournament was a huge deal for me.

"One of my goals when I first started wrestling was to win a state title. I genuinely didn't think that was ever going to happen. I was dealing with injuries during my freshman and sophomore years when I was wrestling guys. I was cutting lots of weight and my goal was starting to feel out of reach.

"Then they allowed it to be sanctioned and I was able to have that goal right there in front of me. Being on that mat at state and being able to reach a goal that I had been chasing for so long, it felt so good."

"Another thing I remember is the amount of support the girls had, even from girls from other schools," Younger said. "It was all different girls, all going through the same emotions and all nervous.

"When we had to do the walkouts, everyone was behind the curtain and supporting each other and telling each other good luck. It was a great type of energy and aura in the room and you could definitely feel it. It was awesome."
The first state meet was a one-day event, limited to 12 qualifiers in each weight class and athletes from all classifications, 6A through 1A, competing against one another.

With the increase in participation numbers, this year's event will be held over two days and will have 16 qualifiers in each weight class. The meet also expanded in 2021 to two state championships, with 6A and 5A girls in one division, while athletes in 4A through 1A compete for their own state titles.

Before the sport was sanctioned by the KSHSAA, Kretzer and McPherson High hosted the first of three Kansas Girls Wrestling Championships in 2017.

According to KSHSAA numbers, there were 112 girls from 60 schools competing in girls wrestling in 2017. That number ballooned to more than 900 athletes in the first year the sport was sanctioned, and has now topped 1,500 individuals from 178 schools this season.

"You can definitely see the change in the tournaments we go to now," Younger said. "It definitely is a hard sport to compete in so it's great we are having that many people show up and put in the work."

"Honestly, I'm not really surprised," Johnson said of the increase in participation numbers. "I feel that once the doors were opened and everyone saw the opportunity, that a lot of people would come in and enjoy their time with wrestling."

"It was so many years of chasing the dream of a state tournament that when it happened, it was kind of like a deep sigh of relief," Kretzer said. "Here it is and we know it's not going anywhere ever again.

"That's all we were really fighting for. We wanted these girls to have the same opportunity as the boys. Looking back now, this is the third year and girls wrestling is now the norm."
 
We are grateful to partner with WIN for KC, an organization with the mission to empower the lives of girls and women by advocating and promoting the lifetime value of sports through opportunities for participation and leadership development. WIN for KC and the KSHSAA believe involvement in activities and sports lay the ground work for supporting well-rounded citizens in our communities and beyond. For more on WIN for KC visit: https://www.sportkc.org/win-for-kc