With Kendra Hurla, Nicole Redmond and Olivia Stean each winning their fourth straight girls wrestling championships on Saturday, the chance to make history is no longer there for Oskaloosa’s Holly Thacher and Clay Center’s Gabi Koppes.
 
But that duo made sure they can still cement their place in girls’ wrestling history next season, capturing their third straight championships at the Class 4-1A state tournament at Salina’s Tony’s Pizza Events Center.
 
And you can be sure that both have their sights set on joining the four-timer club.
 
“I’m ready for it,” said Thacher, who captured the 115-pound state title with a 4-2 win over Oakley’s Kylee Hodges. “I’m ready for all the competition and I’m going to go get that fourth state title.”
 

 
Koppes agreed.
 
“That’s the next goal,” she said.
 
Koppes actually is poised to make a little history over her own. Her state title Saturday at 125 pounds not only was the third straight at the weight class, it was marked the third straight year she’s finished as an undefeated state champion, going 36-0 this season.
 
If she can run the table again next year, Koppes would be the first girl in state history to go undefeated in her career with Manhattan’s Sage Rosario in the same position in Class 6-5A after posting her third straight undefeated state title at 155 pounds in Wichita on Saturday. Only two boys have accomplished that feat as well, Blue Valley Northwest's Zach Roberson (153-0 from 1996-99) and Salina South's Bo Maynes (130-0 from 1995-98). 
 
The burden of carrying that perfect record hasn’t affected Koppes one bit just yet.
 
“I just set that aside and don’t worry about it,” Koppes said of what now is a 98-0 career record – one that includes a win over four-time Hurla of Rossville last year and 86 pins overall. “It’s a lot of pressure when I think about it, so I just don’t.”
 
Koppes has been put to the ultimate test on only a handful of occasions during her first three years, including her match against Hurla, who had moved up a weight class for a chance to wrestle Koppes. The bulk of those serious tests for Koppes, however, have come from her opponent in Saturday’s championship match, Augusta’s Jill High.
 

 
A year ago, their two clashes were epic ones. Koppes pulled out a 4-2 double-overtime win in a late January meeting. In the rematch in last year’s state championship match, Koppes needed a four-point move in the final seven seconds of the match to pull out a thrilling 7-4 win.
 
Though Koppes had pinned High in the regional finals the previous week, she knew Saturday’s rematch would be a similar battle as their meetings a year ago.
 
“Even at regionals, it was back and forth before I got the pin,” Koppes said. “Going in, I knew we were probably going to go all three periods and it was going to be a close match.”
 
Just as was the case a year ago, Koppes had to come from behind. After a scoreless first period, High got a reversal 40 seconds into the second period to go up 2-0. Koppes tied the match with escapes in the second and third periods and then finally got through on a shot for a takedown with 59 seconds left in the match that proved to be the decisive points.
 
“Any time you wrestle a state match, you know it’s going to be like that because they’re coming out and giving it their best to get that state title,” Koppes said. “Even though it’s tough matches with her, having to go, go, go the entire time, it’s exciting for me -- the adrenaline you get in those matches with high intensity competition.”
 

 
While Koppes was the unquestioned favorite going into the state tournament to win her third straight, Thacher was a little bit of an underdog in a loaded 115-pound bracket despite being a two-time champion at 100 and 105 pounds the past two seasons.
 
In addition to jumping up two weight classes from her sophomore season, Thacher also was making the move coming off surgery to address bursitis in her left knee. The issues started bothering her after Thacher hurt her knee in her second-to-last match at the Fargo Nationals in July and when an extended rest and draining the knee couldn’t resolve the swelling, she had surgery in September.
 
“I was definitely stressing out a little bit, especially since I got a late start to the season,” Thacher said. “And then the season didn’t go as planned.”
 
Owning a 56-3 record going into her junior season, Thacher lost four matches in the regular season, although all were high-quality defeats. Two came to Tonganoxie’s Stella Bradley, whom she also beat once, and the other two came to Rossville’s Keera Lacock and Fredonia’s Layla Tindle – that trio occupying the top-three spots in the weight class rankings going into state.
 
Despite those setbacks, Thacher maintained her confidence that she could come through at the state meet.
 
“It definitely affected me mentally, but you have to keep going,” Thacher said. “Your downs are going to be ups. You just keep fighting through it. I think I perform well on big stages.”
 
That certainly was the case again in Salina where a year ago she pulled out a 2-1 win over Buhler’s Kimber Crabbs in the 105 finals.
 
After pinning her first opponent, Thacher took a 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Frontenac’s Mya Courtney in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal showdown with top-ranked Tindle. Despite not getting a takedown in that match, Thacher was enough of an aggressor that she forced a handful of stalling calls on Tindle that gave her points and helped her win 4-3.
 

 
Facing Hodges, a freshman who was ranked one spot ahead of Thacher at No. 4, in the finals, Thacher again forced the action enough that Hodges got hit with multiple stalling calls, the second tying the match 1-1 in the third period. Thacher then took a 4-1 lead when Hodges was penalized for locking hands as Thacher worked a reversal.
 
“When you wrestle me, you’ve got to pressure back,” said Thacher, who capped a 30-4 season with the 4-2 win. “You can’t just run away. That’s my thing. If you run away, you’re losing the match.”
 
After surviving arguably the deepest bracket at the state meet, Thacher said any anxieties she had about moving up to the weight this year were put to rest.
 
“I didn’t really care where I was at because I was going to go in and wrestle my matches,” she said. “In the end, I got what I wanted.”
 

 
CHANUTE DUO ADDS INDIVIDUAL TITLES TO 2023 TEAM CROWN
 
As thrilling as capturing the program’s first girls’ wrestling team championship was for Chanute a year ago, there was something missing to make the experience even better.
 
Not a single Blue Comet came away with an individual championship to go with the team title. In fact, the only Chanute wrestler in the finals a year ago was Brinly Bancroft, who lost to Oskaloosa’s Allison King in the 155-pound finals.
 
Not everything fell into place for Chanute to defend its team title Saturday in Salina as the Blue Comets came up just 2.5 points shy of champion Rossville and 2 points behind runner-up Oakley. But the consolation prize was more than satisfying as the Blue Comets got the individual champion they missed out on a year ago.
 
Two in fact.
 
Reese Clements delivered the first girls’ title in Chanute history, taking a 10-1 major decision over Paola’s Jailynn Taylor in the 135-pound final. Four weight classes later, Kiley Dillow joined her, dominating a showdown of unbeatens in the 170-pound final with a 9-3 win over Oakley’s Atavia Cain.
 
“It’s really cool and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates at my side,” a highly emotional Clements said well after wrapping up her state title. “I have the best coaches in the state and the best family that supports us all. We couldn’t have done it without any of them.”
 
Dillow was just as excited in getting to share her individual title experience with Clements.
 
“Me and her wrestled all throughout the summer, non-stop,” Dillow said. “I dragged her to practice, she dragged me to practice. We held each other accountable and that’s what makes it so special. We worked hard for this, I know I did and I know she did.”
 
Both Clements and Dillow come from strong wrestling families, each having older brothers that helped Chanute’s boys capture the Class 4A team championship in 2020. Trent Clements and Brayden Dillow also won individual state titles that year and Brayden added a second the following year as well.
 
While Reese immediately followed in her brother’s footsteps and took up wrestling at a young age, Kiley was much later to the sport. In fact, she didn’t start wrestling until her freshman year last season, having grown up a basketball player.
 
“I just said, ‘I’m going to wrestle instead,’ and it was mainly because of the older girls like Reese, who was a big, big part of that,” Dillow said. “She made the sport fun, made it fun to go to practice. Kadynce (Axelson) was another one who really encouraged me and Brinly being my practice partner last year.”
 
Dillow was a quick learner and finished third at state last year, going 33-6 overall. The early success only fueled her fire and throwing herself into the sport, Dillow was an unstoppable force this season.
 
Among the 40 victories she racked up prior to the state meet was one that really punctuated her confidence and desire. Early in the season, she met up with three-time state champion Olivia Stean of Bonner Springs, who on Saturday became a four-time state champion.

Stean hadn’t lost since her freshman year, but Dillow ended that run. Maybe there was a bit of an asterisk to the victory with Stean having to injury default after being ahead in the match. But at the same time, Dillow was within 9-6 at the time of the second-period default, giving the four-timer all she could handle.
 
“It was definitely a turning point for me that, ‘Oh wait, I am good. I can win,’” Dillow said. “I kind of knew all along I could win a state championship, but that drove it home. And now I want to be ranked nationally. I want to go big or go home.
 
“I said last year when I lost in the quarterfinals, ‘I can’t be a four-timer, but I want to be a three-timer.’ This is just one step to that plan.”
 

 
Standing in the way of that plan was a fellow unbeaten in Cain, last year’s state runner-up at 170 who brought a 33-0 record into the state tournament. Like Dillow, Cain had pinned her way to the finals and had extra motivation in knowing that a potential team title for the Plainsmen rested on the outcome of the 170 final.
 
A win by Cain and Oakley would be champs. A loss and Rossville was going to beat the Plainsmen by a half-point.
 
All the extras attached to the match – a Dillow pin victory also would tie Chanute for second with Oakley in the team standings – simply fired the Blue Comet sophomore up even more.
 
“I was so excited,” Dillow said. “I’ve been wanting to face her all year. She didn’t go to any of the big tournaments I went to all year and I didn’t think she’d seen as good of competition as I had. I saw Chloe Harris (of Olathe Northwest, whose only loss going into state came to Dillow) and beat her. I saw Stean. I was ready to take her on.”
 
Dillow’s eagerness for the match showed as less than 30 seconds into the match, she took Cain right to her back. Though she couldn’t work the pin, the five-point move sent Dillow on her way. She added another takedown in the third period and never gave up anything but an escape or penalty point to Cain, winning 9-3.
 
“That was definitely a confidence booster,” Dillow said of the early move. “That’s my go-to shot, I love the double-leg takedown. That’s how I won my semifinal match, won my finals. I was ready.”
 

 
Clements also was ready for her finals match, but unlike Dillow knew plenty about Paola’s Taylor. The two had met twice previously this season with Clements taking 1-0 and 3-1 wins, the latter coming in the regional finals.
 
Taylor knocked off top-ranked and defending champion Keira Mullen in the quarterfinals on Thursday to help propel her to the finals rematch, where Clements knew she had her hands full.
 
“I knew it was going to be a tough match and I knew she was good at keeping her base,” Clements said. “So I just had to try to score my points and if I could get her turned, take advantage of those back points and keep on her.”
 
The match seemed headed for another tight contest after a scoreless first period, but Clements changed that in the second period. After escaping midway through the period, she took Taylor down and turned her for a five-point move, which like Dillow, essentially was the match.
 
When Taylor chose the neutral position to start the third period, Clements repeated the takedown, three-point near fall to build a 10-0 lead and clinch the title and cap a 38-5 season.
 
“It’s crazy, and it feels like a flow of all the emotions all at once,” Clements said.
 

 
COLBY’S JAEGER, RUSSELL’S NEY COMPLETE PERFECT SEASONS
 
A year ago, Colby’s Amanda Jaeger flew a bit under the radar.
 
Despite suffering just one loss prior to the state tournament, she was ranked only fourth at 130 pounds.
 
“People didn’t think I could do it,” Jaeger said. “It was only my fourth year wrestling.”
 
After knocking off the top-two ranked wrestlers in her weight class on her way to capturing her first state title, Jaeger was clearly on everyone’s radar this season. And as she navigated her senior season without taking a loss, that target got even bigger.
 
“There were many times I almost broke,” Jaeger said of the increased pressure. “But my team, my coaches, they were there to support me and get me through it.”
 
For Russell’s Jaden Ney the pressure of a taking a perfect record into this year’s state tournament was more from within. As a sophomore last year, she also went to the state tournament undefeated, albeit with a smaller sample size after missing a bulk of the season with broken wrist.
 
In her 135-pound final match, moments after Jaeger completed her run to a title, Ney got caught by Smoky Valley’s Keira Mullen who pulled the upset with a second-period pin.
 
“After I lost, I walked into the hallway and one of my coaches said, ‘Remember this feeling throughout the offseason so you can work toward your goal of being a state champion,’” Ney said. “I remembered that in the weight room and would do extra reps to make up for that loss. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.”
 
Wherever the pressure came from, both Jaeger and Ney handled it to cap their 2023-24 seasons as undefeated state champs. Both turned in convincing performances in their championship matches with Jaeger defending her 130-pound title with a 7-2 win over Halstead freshman Callyn Divine and Ney taking the title at 145 pounds with a 4-0 win over Santa Fe Trail’s Hailee Crosland.
 
“They’re both pretty important to me,” said Jaeger, who finished her senior season 41-0. “The confidence I got from last year when people didn’t think I could do it and I did. This year, it was my last run and I’ve got to prove I belong in the college world.”
 
Divine also took an undefeated record into the title match against Jaeger, also pinning her way to the finals. But like Jaeger a year ago, Divine was lurking a bit under the radar this season, especially to Jaeger.
 
“I really didn’t notice her until regionals,” Jaeger said. “A lot of my younger teammates were like, ‘Oh, she’s undefeated too. That started to worry me, but I knew I could pull through.”
 
Jaeger never let Divine get comfortable in the title match, taking a 2-0 lead after the first period and a 4-0 lead after the second with takedowns in each. Another takedown early in the third period pushed the lead to 6-0 before Divine finally scored on a reversal.
 
But after Jaeger escaped, the title was hers.
 
“I just trusted myself and my coaches trusted me,” she said. “They gave me a game plan and the game plan was executed. I usually don’t shoot early like I did, but I’m glad I did because it was there and it felt right.”
 

 
Ney moved up two weight classes this season and in her finals faced one of the strongest wrestlers at 145, with Crosland a state powerlifting champion.
 
But Ney also said that though “I’m really tall, I’m pretty strong and I just had to staybehind her hips. I was trying to be a smart wrestler.”
 
Ney never let Crosland get into position to use her strength to her advantage. She sandwiched takedowns in the first and third periods around a scoreless second period where she rode the Charger senior out, taking the shutout victory.
 
In getting the title and finishing 38-0, Ney became the first Russell wrestler to claim a championship since 1969. Her season also included two wins over 140-pound champion Destiny Gonzalez of Goodland.
 
“I just wanted to make my town proud and set an example for the younger girls to give them someone to look up to because I want there to be several more state champs after me,” Ney said. “it was my goal from the start of the season and I knew I had the potential to do this..”
 
Once again, her coach had a message for her in the hall afterwards.
 
“He said, ‘Let’s enjoy this and tomorrow let’s turn it up for next year,’” Ney said.
 

 
CIRCLE’S WALL FINALLY GETS HER DANCE PARTNERS AFTER 100 TITLE
 
The wave of emotions that Alexis Wall experienced Saturday were something the Circle freshman had been waiting for all season.
 
For starters, there was the flood of tears that came streaming from her face after she avenged her regional title loss to fellow freshman Charlie Elliott of Abilene with a 4-2 overtime win in the 100-pound championship match.
 
That victory, however, led to what Wall was seeking perhaps just as much. Dance partners.
 
“At the very beginning of the year, I would always do The Wave and they would never do it with me,” Wall said of Circle coaches Casey Gobel and Hagen Taylor. “They told me if I placed at state, they’d do it.”
 
Wall not only placed, but got a state title as a freshman and both Gobel and Taylor delivered on their promise and bookended Wall in an impromptu dance party in the Circle corner of the mat.
 
Wall assured herself of her celebration on Thursday when she pinned regional champion Caellen Wescoat of Fort Scott in the quarterfinals. She then stunned the Salina crowd – and herself – in knocking off defending champion Sheena Gocela of Winfield with a 7-5 semifinal win.
 
Gocela had pinned Wall in 38 seconds in their prior meeting of the season. Being able to reverse that outcome certainly helped Wall’s mindset going into the finals against Elliott, who had pinned her in the regional finals last week.
 
“I knew it was going to be a good match and that I had to try my hardest,” Wall said. “I was pretty scared honestly.”
 
Wall kept away from one of Elliott’s go-to moves, a Peterson, and turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 tie when she reversed Elliott with 15 seconds to go in the first period. Neither could manage points in the second or third period with Elliott on the verge of turning Wall in the final period when time ran out, sending the match to overtime.
 
“I was like, ‘Thank god,’” Wall said.
 
A tiebreaker period seemed in order as time ticked away in overtime. But with 20 seconds left, Wall was able to secure a takedown to win a somewhat improbable title. She finished the season 26-3.
 
“I just had to keep my head up and not get Petersoned,” she said. “That’s how I got pinned the last time. It means a lot. I’ve been wrestling eight years already and now I’ve got something to show for it.”
 

 
STEP IT UP: GOODLAND’S GONZALEZ, WELLINGTON’S HUNT KNOCK OFF NEMESES TO GET TITLES THAT ELUDED THEM IN 2023
 
Goodland’s Destiny Gonzalez knew her track record against Ellis’ Kaydawn Haag wasn’t the greatest.
 
“I lost to her multiple times,” said Gonzalez, who not only lost but was pinned by Haag in their previous meetings after Gonzalez moved down from her initial 145 weight class to start the season. “I was kind of prepared to lose again, but hoping to win.”
 
Gonzalez not only changed her mindset after an impressive run to Saturday’s 140-pound final, but also changed the narrative in her story with Haag once she got the rematch. After taking finals losses to Haag at the Goodland Holiday Classic in late December and JR Durham Invitational in early January, Gonzalez turned the tables on Haag in the state finals.
 
Getting an escape and takedown midway through the third period after two scoreless periods, Gonzalez built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win to upset Haag, last year’s 140-pound champion. She also got her first state title after losing in last year’s state finals, finishing the season 34-6.
 
It was that loss to Schanz that helped Gonzalez get her head right for her rematch with Haag.
 
“I learned you always have to keep your head up because anything can happen in a match,” she said. “You just have to wrestle it out.”
 
In making the finals, Gonzalez knocked off No. 2 Nakita Lawrence of Sabetha in the quarterfinals with a pin and then took out Eureka’s Lyndsey Escareno in the semifinals with an 8-4 win. Given her recent history with Haag and the Ellis senior’s position as the defending champion, Gonzalez knew she had nothing to lose in the finals.
 
“I went in there leaving everything on the mat,” she said. “It means a lot to me. It’s the best thing.”
 

 
Wellington’s Aubrey Hunt also had to deal with a familiar rival in her return to the 190-pound finals for a second straight year. It wasn’t Buhler’s Emilie Schweizer, who pinned her for the title a year ago.
 
Instead, it was Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League rival Abby Brenn of Winfield, whom Hunt had already faced  three times prior to their clash for the state title on Saturday.
 
“She’s a really great opponent and I’m really glad I got to wrestle her,” Hunt said. “She’s really made my senior year very memorable.”
 
In different ways.
 
Hunt won their first meeting this year, pinning Brenn in the finals of the Kan-Okla Invitational to start the season. That was Brenn’s only loss of the season going into the state tournament, a run that included a pair of wins over Hunt – a pin in the finals of the Wellington Invitational and a 16-1 technical fall victory in last week’s regional finals.
 
Looking to even the score in Saturday’s finals, Hunt was able to get it done without having to generate much offense. Instead, she simply used Brenn’s inability to keep her on the mat to her advantage.
 
Trailing 1-0 going into the final period, Hunt started on the bottom position and repeatedly managed to not only get to her feet, but keep Brenn from getting her back to the mat. The second of those instances resulted in a stalling penalty that tied the match, the third forced Brenn to lock hands for a penalty point and the fourth led to another stalling and point for Hunt.
 
Without getting out of Brenn’s grasp, Hunt had built a 3-1 lead.
 
“I was just trying to get up and get away mainly,” Hunt said. “I was basically going through the game plan I had with my family and coaches and that was to get up and run, break away and try to make her keep me down.”
 
Hunt never did get an escape, but instead scored a reversal with 30 seconds left that clinched what became a 6-2 win to cap a 33-3 season in which her only other loss came to Class 6-5A champion Hayleen Martinez of Liberal.
 
For someone in just her third year of wrestling, the title capped a whirlwind progression from newbie to state champion.
 
“Last year, it was a shock to me that I even made it that far being just my second year of wrestling,” Hunt said. “I wasn’t even planning to get past semifinals. I think I just got lucky but it was a great experience to wrestle Schweizer.
 
“I did not know what I was doing my first year. I was just asked by my coach to come try it out. I fell in love with the sport and I’m very happy I stayed with it.”
 

 
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? DANCING BACKGROUND, MENTALITY PROPELS FORT SCOTT’S MILES TO TITLE
 
As a life-long dancer, Kenna Miles not only doesn’t mind being on the big stage, but rather enjoys putting on a show.
 
It’s true when she’s on a wrestling mat as well.
 
“It’s very entertaining for other people,” Miles said. “People don’t want to watch a boring match. My matches are very entertaining.”
 
Miles certainly thrilled the Fort Scott faithful with her performance at this year’s state meet. The sophomore recorded first-period pins in her first two 110-pound matches and then added a third pin when she stuck Holton’s Piper Robinson late in the third period of their semifinal match.
 
But she saved her best show-stopping performance for the finals. Going up against Chase County’s Kinzie Rogers, who had beaten her in overtime in last week’s regional finals, Miles pulled out an 8-5 victory in a match that went back-and-forth throughout.
 
Miles led 2-1 at the end of the first period but saw Rogers get a reversal early in the second period to put the Bulldog up 3-2. It didn’t take long for Miles to get the lead back with a reversal of her own and then early in the third period, she upped the lead to 6-3.
 
Once again, Rogers got a reversal to pull within a point. But Miles clinched the title with one final reversal for an 8-5 victory.
 
“I think it was just the mindset, I was really locked in today,” said Miles, who finished the season 40-3 and became Fort Scott’s first girls’ state champion. “No matter what, I was thinking in my head to fight hard. I just had to be smart when I wrestled her and have a positive mindset no matter what happened.”
 
The entire 110-pound bracket’s mindset changed immediately in Thursday’s opening round when defending champion and unbeaten No. 1 Alyssa Calovich was upset by Colby freshman Cora DeGood with a stunning 12-2 decision. Just like that, the tourney favorite was gone and the door was open.
 
“It took a lot of relief off me,” said Miles, who was on the same side of the bracket. “Obviously (Calovich) is amazing and I love her, but it just made me believe in myself I could make it to the finals.”
 
Just a sophomore who took up wrestling three years ago after being a dancer for much of her life, Miles has plenty more shows to put on in her career.
 
“I guess it’s just keep grinding and having fun out there on the mat,” Miles said.
 

 
FRONTENAC FRESHMAN HOLMES DELIVERS ON PROMISE WITH 105 TITLE
 
Even before the her first high school match, Frontenac’s Harper Holmes was touted by many in the wrestling community as someone to keep an eye on, beginning the season as the lone freshman ranked in the 110-pound All-Class girls rankings.
 
Even if winning a state title wasn’t necessarily something she thought she was capable of.
 
“It was definitely a goal,” Holmes said. “But I thought it was kind of unreal that it would happen.”
 
Holmes eventually moved down from 110 to 105 in early January and established herself as a serious contender for the title. She lost just once at that weight, to Rose Hill’s Ryleigh Page in the Circle Invitational finals, and capped her late-season surge with the 105-pound state title on Saturday.
 
In doing so, she became Frontenac’s first girls’ state champion.
 
“I kind of just got in a zone and did my work,” said Holmes, who finished with a 35-4 mark as a freshman.
 
Holmes’ side of the bracket at state looked daunting with four of the top-six ranked wrestlers on that side, including No. 2 Kimber Crabbs of Buhler as well as Page (No. 3), Wichita County’s Jentri Porter (No. 6). Holmes (No. 5) avoided a rematch with Page in the quarterfinals when Page lost her opening-round match Porter and after pinning Porter in the quarters, she didn’t see Crabbs either after she was pinned by Burlingame’s Maliyah Lopez in her quarterfinal.
 
Holmes pinned Lopez in the first period of the semifinals, earning a rematch with Coffeyville’s Emma Hall in the finals after Hall upset No. 1 Alissa Cowing in their semifinal match. Holmes and Hall met on multiple occasions this year with Holmes holding the upper hand with wins in all those meetings.
 
Still, she wasn’t taking anything for granted in the finals.
 
“We wrestle really similar and know how each other wrestles so it’s kind of fun to just get after it,” Holmes said. “We talk a lot and I was pretty nervous and shaky going in.”
 
Holmes didn’t let the nerves get the best of her in the finals and continued her mastery of Hall, pinning the senior with 33 seconds left in the second period to win the state title.
 
You can’t win four straight without getting the first and now Holmes has that path before her.
 
“I’ve got a lot more confidence now,” she said, “but a lot more pressure. But I’m looking forward to it, 100%.”
 

 
PAOLA’S LEONARD TAKES QUICK PATH TO STATE TITLE
 
Had Paola’s Kena Leonard known a year ago what she knows now, who knows how her junior season might have ended.
 
In the 235-pound state semifinals a year ago, Leonard was on the verge of reaching the state finals when she made a rookie mistake and let Santa Fe Trail’s Sierra Demspey reverse and pin her.
 
“Last year was my first year wrestling and I think had I known more, I would have been fine,” Leonard said. “Knowing that I could have had a chance to win in the finals, that fueled me to come back and win it this year.”
 
Leonard completely devoted herself to wrestling in the offseason to prep her for her senior year and it paid off. After pulling out a 6-5 win over El Dorado’s Cheyenne Jones in Friday’s semifinals, Leonard upset No. 1 Ciara Rawson of McPherson in the finals with an 8-1 win to become a state champion in just her second year of wrestling.
 
“It’s just very exciting and my dad and coaches have just helped me so much in a short time,” she said. “They gave me what I needed to do to be the best of my ability. I knew I had put in a ton of work over the summer, so I was pretty confident in myself.”
 
Leonard had previous experience against Rawson, having pinned the Bullpup standout in the consolation semifinals of last year’s state tournament on her way to a third-place finish. The knowledge gained from that meeting showed up in their finals rematch this year.
 
“She’s very physical and loves the collar tie,” Leonard said. “I just had to make sure she couldn’t get her moves and I had to control the match from beginning to end. If she couldn’t get the moves she wanted, I would be fine.
 
“She loves to control the match. When she’s in control, it fuels her. So I knew if I could knock her down a few notches I could win the match.”
 
Leonard literally knocked Rawson down, using a bull rush with 30 seconds left in the first period to take Rawson down. Leonard never let up and even though a second bull rush in the third period didn’t yield points, she did manage another takedown and back points to dominate the match.
 
Leonard finished with a 35-2 mark, her only losses coming to out-of-state wrestlers at the KC Stampede in mid-December.