Even though Rossville’s girls wrestling team had never participated at the Basehor-Linwood LadyCat Classic, Kendra Hurla and Keera Lacock knew exactly what they were in for when the Bulldawgs made their debut at the tourney last weekend.
 
“Basehor is a big name for tournaments and it’s a cool tournament to get to go be a part of,” Lacock said. “Ever since we were young, we’ve gone over to the boys’ tournament and watched our older siblings and their friends wrestle there. We knew the competition was going to be good.”
 
Really good, in fact. The tournament featured four of the top five teams in the Class 6-5A rankings, including No. 1 Dodge City and No. 2 Shawnee Heights, as well as defending Class 4-1A state champion Chanute. The brackets were littered with returning state champions from a year ago and countless other state placers.
 
It was exactly what the Bulldawg duo wanted.
 
“Competition-wise, I was really excited,” Hurla said. “Usually we don’t see a lot of competition in the season before Christmas. I really enjoyed knowing I was going to be seeing some good wrestlers, see what I can do and how much I could grow from it.”
 
Needless to say, their Basehor debut was one they won’t forget. Not only did Hurla and Lacock each come away as tournament champions at their respective weights, they both recorded their 100^th career victories in their championship matches.
 
And with teammate Hailey Horton picking up her 100^th career pin at the tournament as well, the showing almost had fairy-tale ending qualities to it.
 
“Just to be able to go to Basehor alone was big, but to win it and get our 100^th career wins the same way on the same day, it was kind of a fever dream,” Hurla said. “It took a while to set in. It was so cool. I definitely say almost fate. She’s been my best friend all these years and we’ve been wrestling partners all through high school We push each other in the room and lead our team.”
 
Hurla’s 120-pound bracket included a trio of No. 1-ranked Kansas wrestlers – her, 6-5A 120 No. 1 Stella Segura of Shawnee Mission South and 6-5A 115 No. 1 Nicole Redmond of Olathe South, who moved up a weight class for the tourney – as well as undefeated freshman Avaeh Smith of Lewis Central (Iowa).
 
After pinning her first two opponents, Hurla met Segura in the semifinals and gave up an early takedown to fall behind 2-0. But just as she did in winning her third state title a year ago, Hurla shook off the early deficit and handled Segura by a 10-3 decision.
 
“As long as you don’t freak out, it’s not that big of a deal,” Hurla said of the early deficit. “There were still five minutes left in the match so you can’t let it get to you. I really just stayed true to my attacks on my feet and it worked out well. I think it helped a lot for my finals match to get the competition and know it was going to take six minutes and you have to wrestle hard. Things will happen, but as long as you don’t give up, you’ll be good.”
 

 
Hurla had plenty of reason to freak out a little bit in her finals showdown with Redmond, who like Hurla is a three-time defending state champion in her career. The Falcon standout not only got a first-period takedown but with 12 seconds left in the opening period turned Hurla to her back for a three-point near-fall.
 
“I knew she had a really good lefty sweep and I was prepared for it,” Hurla said. “But when someone has something that good, there’s not a lot you can do to stop it. She got her sweep and she’s a hard rider on top and rode out most of the first period before turning me.
 
“Obviously after the first round, down 5-0, my initial thought was ‘That’s going to be tough to come back from, but let’s go do it.’ I was just ready to go and knew it was possible if I stayed to my training.”
 
Hurla chose the neutral starting position to start the second period and this time, she worked a takedown. With Redmond’s leg hooked, Hurla got an upper body hook locked in and turned Redmond to her back, getting the pin 43 seconds into the period.
 
Even though Hurla has won three state championships, she acknowledged the victory over Redmond, who suffered her first loss in 14 matches this season, arguably was the biggest of her career, especially being her 100^th career win.
 
“She was definitely the best I’ve ever faced and getting my 100^th win in that match was kind of like a fever dream,” said Hurla, who was named the tourney's most outstanding wrestler. “She’s an insane wrestler and goes in and out of the state finding competition. To be able to go up against her and prove what I have really just wrestling four months of the year, it was a huge win for me. She’s another three-timer and I put myself out there more and show what I bring to the table.”
 

 
Hurla’s win followed Lacock’s title at 115 in a bracket that included four undefeated wrestlers – Lacock, Wellsville’s Kynlie Stevenson, Labette County’s Pyper White and Oskaloosa’s Holly Thacher, who is a two-time state champion.
 
“When I looked at the 115 bracket I knew I was going to have some good matches and it was going to be tough,” Lacock said. “I went into every match ready to wrestle all three periods if I needed to.”
 
She didn’t. Lacock left no questions about who the cream of the crop on Saturday was, pinning her way to the title. She needed just 28 seconds to pin White in the quarterfinals and then added a pin of Stevenson in the second period of their semifinal match.
 
A potential showdown with Thacher was denied when the Oskaloosa standout was pinned by Tonganoxie freshman Stella Bradley in their semifinal match. Her eyes opened by that outcome, Lacock denied Bradley a second upset, pinning her with 17 seconds left in the first period of the finals.
 
“I was hoping to get to wrestle Thacher but the girl I got in the finals was really good,” Lacock said of Bradley. “Watching her match with Thacher, I knew I had to go into finals ready since she was able to beat Holly. It was good I got to see the girl from Tonganoxie because I’ll see Oskaloosa way more than I would Tonganoxie. There will be plenty of opportunities for me to wrestle Holly if she stays at 115.”
 
Both Hurla and Lacock are now 11-0 this season, each ranked No. 1 in Class 4-1A – a ranking they’ve held since the preseason. Lacock said Hurla has helped her handle the added pressure of being No. 1.
 
“Rankings have never really been that big of a deal to me,” she said. “As my dad put it, they’re for the fans, they’re for the parents and the people going to watch. But they also let you know who’s out there in terms of opponents. I haven’t watched them a ton. I was like, ‘I’m ranked first, people are going to be gunning for me.’ And Kendra told me, ‘Well they’ll be gunning for you anyway because you’re good no matter what you’re ranked.’”
 
Their goal now is to finish that way. They nearly accomplished that feat a year ago but Lacock lost her 115-pound final to Lakin’s Josiah Ortiz while Hurla claimed her third straight crown.
 
“We are very driven,” Lacock said. “Practices we’re ramping it up and we’re learning new stuff and pushing each other a ton. We have to learn new things to wrestle each other because we know each other so well. We’re just adding stuff to our artillery.”
 
Horton picked up her 100^th career pin in finishing third at 155 pounds, getting four pins on the day. She was denied a spot in the finals when she was pinned in the semifinals by Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Hannah Mott.
 
Rossville finished 11^th as a team.
 
Shawnee Heights finished runner-up in the team standings at Basehor, scoring 145 points to finish behind Class 6-5A No. 1 Dodge City, which scored 173.5. The T-Birds had eight top-nine finishers at the 37-team tourney led by a runner-up finish by Connie Burns at 105 pounds with Burns falling 4-0 to Washburn Rural’s Molly Spader. Reece Taylor (125) ad Isabel Reyes (130) both finished third and Odessa Schmidt (110), McKenna Haltom (145) and Cianna Graves (155) each took fourth.
 
Seaman’s Koti Best, No. 1 at 130, pinned No. 2 Ariana De La Rosa of Dodge City in the title match to capture a title at improve to 10-0 on the season. Leavenworth’s Avari Johnson improved to 14-0, pinning Spring Hill’s Campbell Mermis in the finals at 145 in another 1 vs. 2 showdown.
 
Basehor-Linwood’s Izzy Renfro knocked off unbeaten Elee Pittman-Wood of Baldwin in the 190 finals, pinning the Bulldog in the second period for the title.
 
OTHER WRESTLING STANDOUTS
 

• Washburn Rural’s Easton Broxterman was one of just three Kansas champions at the KC Stampede along with the Maize duo of Ayden Flores and Ronan Wunsch. Broxterman topped Staley (Mo.)’s Miller Sipes 5-0 to win the 132-pound title, improving to 18-1 on the season. The tourney featured more than 80 schools from 14 states and Basehor-Linwood got its first-ever placer at the tourney as Trevor Christenson finished fifth at 106 pounds, reaching the semifinals.
• In the girls’ tournament at the KC Stampede, Wabaunsee’s Sienna Jones finished fifth at 170 pounds to make the Chargers the smallest school ever to have a placer at the tournament.
• Seaman’s Hunter Reno claimed the 215-pound title at the Johnson County Classic in a bracket that featured three ranked 6A wrestlers. Reno pinned his first seven opponents, including No. 6 Blaine Larkin of Free State and No. 3 Michael Costello of Olathe East, the latter coming in the semifinals. In the finals, he took a 2-1 win over No. 4 Mason Hopper of Derby for the title.
• Despite having five champions, Abilene fell just short of taking the team title at its home tournament, finishing four points behind Scott City. The Cowboys got titles from Murphy Randolph (126), Cael Casteel (132), Dayven Cuba (138), Joseph Welsh (150) and Tucker Cell (157). Santa Fe Trail had a pair of champions in Bryce Combes (120) and Alex Strother (285) and finished third as a team.
• Chase County’s Micah Cauthers improved to 10-0 on the season with 9 pins, knocking off No. 2 Ace Monihen of Council Grove in the 190-pound finals of the Bulldogs’ home tournament. Brock Griffin added a title for the Bulldogs at 165.
• Herington won the team title at Chase County, edging Council Grove by 5.5 points. The Railers had champions in Reid Griffiths (138), Caleb Darrow (144), Cameron Svitak (150) and Peyton Taylor (285), while Council Grove got titles from Nate Seimears (113), Mason Wilkens (132) and Tyler Hutchinson (215).
• Emporia claimed the title at its home Winter Classic, scoring 233 points to win by 45 points over Hutchinson. The Spartans got championships from Gabe Wassom (106), Isaiah Morales (126) and Jeremiah Huber (175).
• Wamego and Topeka High each picked up a pair of champions at Emporia. Knox Karnowski (138) and Jake Meyer (215) won titles for the Red Raiders and Rehabiah Williamson (150) and Nick Davis (165) were champs for Topeka.
• Burlingame's Logan Courtois is off to a big start after a runner-up finish at state last year. Courtois won the 132-pound title at Emporia to improve to 12-0 on the season with all 12 wins coming via pin. Burlingame opened the season with four champions at the El Dorado Invitational with Courtois joined by Chase Courtois, Jose Arevalo and Maliyah Lopez. Lopez is 8-1 this season.
• Jefferson West’s Sophie Waters improved to 10-0 on the season, winning the 120-pound title at the Atchison County girls Invitational. Payge Vetsch added a title at 130 for the Tigers.
• After winning just nine matches in five duals two weeks ago, Anderson County lost just nine matches in five duals at the Ottawa Dual Tournament, finishing third at the tourney. Colton Wittman won both of his matches before a back injury ended his day.
• Chapman’s Zoey Peterson (105) and Alyssa Calovich (110), Rock Creek’s Brooklyn Burenheide (125) and Abilene’s Charlie Elliott (100) all claimed titles at the Abilene Invitational. Burenheide then led the Mustang girls to a third-place team finish at the Atchison County Invitational on Saturday with six of the nine Mustang entries placing top four. Burenheide was joined as a champion by Joee Perkins (100) and Koda Moeller (145).
• Rock Creek's boys went 4-1 at the Marion County Duals to take third and match the best finish for the program at the tourney. Aidan McKinney went 5-0 to lead the way and is 8-0 on the season.