BASEHOR -- Of the 14 individual champions at the Basehor-Linwood LadyCat Classic, Washburn Rural’s Lacey Middleton had one of the toughest paths and most memorable runs to a title. 
 
Middleton went through a gauntlet that included a returning state champion and a returning state runner-up to win the LadyCat 125-pound division on Dec. 20. 
 
“I stopped being surprised by Lacey Middleton a long time ago,” Washburn Rural coach Damon Parker said. “She's going to surprise other people because she's not a household name with everybody, but she will be. 
 
“There is nobody here that went through more hammers than Lacey Middleton did.”
 
Middleton handed Wellsville’s Olive Dubois and Kapaun’s Courtney Nye their first losses of the season in thrilling matches in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Dubois was a state runner-up in 4A last year while Nye is a reigning Class 5A champion. 
 
“It was very exciting,” Middleton said. “I never thought that I was going to exceed this high, and I was just very proud of myself.”
 
Middleton was joined as a LadyCat individual champion by teammate Madi Blanco, who captured the 140 crown. Rural won the team title with 184.5 points, clearing second-place Basehor-Linwood by 37.5 points. 
 
Middleton, ranked No. 10 in the all-class rankings at 125, edged out No. 3-ranked Dubois by an 8-7 decision in the semifinals thanks to a clutch escape. 
 
“I was very anxious at the beginning, but then I just said, ‘What if?’” Middleton said. “Anything can happen.”
In the final against Nye, the match was locked at 1 in the closing moments before Middleton secured a takedown with about 15 seconds left to outlast Nye by a 4-1 decision. 
 
“I was just watching the clock, and I knew I had to do something for it to not go into overtime,” Middleton said. “(The takedown) felt amazing because I knew with how little time was left that she wasn't gonna get up and score.”
 
Middleton, a two-time state placer, moved to 14-2 on the season. 
 
“I have never coached a kid, male or female, that's tougher than Lacey Middleton,” Parker said. “There were certain situations during the matches that the average fan or most of the parents don’t realize the amount of toughness it took. The amount of toughness that she showed today, I wouldn't want to wrestle her.”
 
Blanco, a senior who moved to 13-1, showed strong resolve as well, rallying to find a second-period pin of Dodge City’s Alejandra Delarosa in the 140 final.
 
“She is the Tasmanian devil,” Parker said. “She used to get by on just basically spazzing out and being more athletic than the other person. But now she knows how to wrestle. 
 
“So people better look out, man, because the best thing about her is there's no situation where she’s really down. She got down 7-2 at the end of the first period (of the final) and fights off her back, gets up with the biggest smile ever on her face. That’s just who she is as a human. It’s such a rare gift to be able to look at the scoreboard, see yourself in a humongous hole, and be like: ‘Oh, cool, what a challenge. I can't wait.’”
 

 
The Junior Blues also got third-place finishes from freshman 105-pounder Aliyah Tangpricha and senior 170-pounder Elia Smith, a fourth from senior 155-pounder Emme Blanco and sixth-place finishes from junior 130-pounder Rylee-Jade Ebanez and 235-pound sophomore Emma Mehl. 
 
“I was impressed with our mental fortitude, because this is always a crazy tough tournament,” Parker said. “We go to a national level tournament (Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic) the week before this, and then they've got finals week. And then we come to this, which is the toughest tournament in the state of Kansas. It’s the fact that they were able to keep it together. 
 
“We always have some kids that struggle this week because of all of those external stressors. And this is the first time that I really saw us mat-side supporting each other and doing the relationship stuff that we really preach. They showed what they're capable of. I was impressed.”
 
Parker noted the champion of the LadyCat Classic has gone on to win a KSHSAA state title the same season only once in the history of the tournament. The Junior Blues accomplished that feat in 2020 and also won the LadyCat in 2022, but Dodge City won the 6A title that year. Rural will look to end that pattern this season as it looks for a fifth state championship in program history. 
 
“Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with the way they wrestled,” Parker said. “But the coolest thing about this squad is they understand the way we performed here has absolutely no bearing on what's going to happen six weeks from now in February. They're going to enjoy it, but we'll get back to work once we get back from the Christmas break.”
 
At the Council Bluffs Tournament, both Blancos, Smith and Lily Davis (190) pinned their way to the finals before settling for runner-up finishes.
 

 
OTHER WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• Wamego freshman Leolyn Karnowski has quickly established herself as one of the state’s best. Karnowski, ranked No. 1 in all classes at 155 pounds, earned a first-period pin of No. 2-ranked Yareli Garcia from Dodge City in the LadyCat Classic semifinals then pinned No. 3 Addison Vogel from Bonner Springs in just 28 seconds in the final. Karnowski is 11-0.
• Shawnee Heights’ Olive Jones pulled out an action-packed 135 final in the LadyCat Classic against Nemaha Central’s Autumn Feldkamp. Feldkamp started strong but Jones found the pin late in the second period. Jones is 13-1 on the season. Teammate Cianna Graves had won titles at 155 at her first two tournaments, going 5-0 at both the Olathe West and Clay Center Invitationals. Graves won her 100th match at Clay Center. Jones also won a title at Clay Center with five pin wins and Olivia Stevens was a champion at Clay Center at 145 with pins in all three matches.

 

 

• Landen Kocher-Munoz became Washburn Rural’s first-ever champion at the Coucil Bluffs Classic in Iowa as he captured the 144-pound title. Kocher-Munoz went 7-0 at the tourney, winning three of his first four matches via pin with the other at technical fall win. After posting major decision wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, he won 4-0 in the finals against Brodee Scobee of Bennington (Neb.).
• Maur Hill’s Jaxson Vice has opened the season with titles at both the Highland Park and Onaga Invitationals, winning at 126 pounds. Vice’s title at Onaga was his fourth straight at the tournament. Emma Vice (125), Cate Swafford (135), Hollie Finneran (140) and Natalie Peltzer (145) all captured titles for the girls team at both Maur Hill and Onaga.
• Abilene’s Jade Wilson captured the 105-pound title at both the McPherson doug Kretzer and Douglass Goodwill Invitationals, earning Outstanding Wrestler honors at Dougless. In the finals at both tournaments, Wilson went up against Newton’s Brookelyn Treaster, last year’s 105 state champion in Class 5A, and took a 9-7 win over the Railer at McPherson and 4-2 victory at Douglass. Sister Josie Wilson also won titles at both tourneys, beating Class 5A No. 1 Krislynn Martinez of Maize South 7-4 in overtime in the McPherson finals. The Wilsons also swept titles at the Abilene Invitational.
• Abilene’s boys finished runner-up as a team at Douglass, getting a trio of champions. Keyen Taplin won the 106 title while Murphy Randolph took the crown at 150 and Cael Casteel won at 175. Noah Wuthnow (138), Dayven Cuba (157) and Pierce Casteel (190) all took second. At the Abilene Invitational, Taplin, Randolph and Wuthnow each claimed titles.

 

 

• Atchison County’s Max Bottorff secured his 100th win at the Colby Dual Tournament to start the season. Bottorff took a 6-3 win over 175-pound All-Class No. 1 Max Harris of Hutchinson at the tourney.
• Perry-Lecompton’s Chance Gray is off to a 10-1 start with all 10 wins coming via fall.
• Anderson County won its home tournament highlighted by a big day from Zach Schaffer, who picked off a pair of ranked wrestlers on his way to the title at 157 pounds.
• Shawne Heights boys won the title at the Shawnee Mission Northwest Dual Tournament, going 5-0 on the day. Jacob Bonebrake (113), Brody Brown (150) and Evan Johnson (175) all went 5-0 with Brown and Johnson each pinning all five foes.
• Junction City’s Bre Villanueva was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Christmas Clash in Great Bend as she pinned her way to the 115-pound title. Villanueva was 8-0 after the tourney, which included a pin win over Oakley’s Hadlie Younkin in the finals. Villanueva also won the 115 title at the Doug Kretzer Classic at McPherson, pinned Newton’s Avery Hinojos in the finals.
• Hayden picked up a pair of champions at the Highland Park Invitational as Jude Krentz won at 190 and Caleb Menke took the 175 title.
• Topeka High had five champions at Highland Park as Luis Morones (120), Michael Weatherly (144), Brandon Blancas (150), Jordan Stiner (157) and Rehabiah Williamson (165) all brought home titles.
• Concordia had four individual champions on its way to taking the team title at the Wamego Red Raider Classic. The Panthers got titles from Jacksen Whitley (113), Drake Blochlinger (165), Deekon Holbert (175) and Max Johnson (215) to score 209.5 points to beat runner-up Chapman by 31 points. The Irish had three individual champions in Brenden Westfall 9120), Audiel Becker (150) and Ian Sayers (157).
• Wamego had a trio of champions at its home tourney as Isaac Costa won at 106, Harry Costa won at 126 and Josh Flanigan was the 285 champ.
• Manhattan’s girls had a pair of champions at the Christmas Clash in Great Bend at Alayna Slifer took the title at 135 and Sophia Hoeme won at 140. The Indians had eight top-four finishers overall and took the team title with 268.5 points, 69.5 ahead of runner-up Dodge City.