When Emmarsyn Fordham was a freshman at Onaga, she had a full-court press put on her.
 
And not necessarily on the basketball court, where she was the starting center for the Buffaloes in her first year.
 
“I had so many people that wanted me to go out for wrestling,” she said. “I said, ‘No. I’m not going to go out for that. … I did basketball and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m good at basketball. Why would I drop that sport?’”
 
Fordham had a change of heart, however, and this year as a junior decided to give wrestling a try fior the first time. Turns out, she’s good at that, too.
 
Despite being a first-time wrestler, Fordham has already left her mark on the program. On Saturday, she captured the 235-pound title at the Class 3-2-1A regional held at Rossville, quite a feat in a bracket that contained multiple seasoned veterans in the sport.
 
Making the weekend even more special, Fordham broke two school records that belonged to arguably the best wrestler ever to come out of Onaga, Morgan Mayginnes. In improving to 23-5 on the season and pinning her quarterfinal and semifinal opponents to push her pin total to 21, Fordham eclipsed the girls’ school records for both wins and pins, topping Mayginnes’ records of 20 wins and 18 pins.
 
“I really do look up to her,” Fordham said of Mayginnes, who also happens to be a distant relative of hers. “She was a great role model when I was growing up, even though I didn’t wrestle. It’s really nice to have the feeling to break her records. She was one of the first female wrestlers at Onaga and to do that is pretty awesome. It’s shell-shocked me.
 
“I remember watching her wrestle when I was growing up. When she went to the state finals, everybody at school was watching on the TV because it was the first year girls had wrestling. It was crazy.”
 
Mayginnes was a four-time state champion for Onaga, three of those titles coming before the girls state championship was sanctioned by the KSHSAA. A large percentage of Mayginnes’ matches also came against male competition.
 
But Fordham never envisioned even taking up the sport before finally making the switch after her sophomore season. She credited plenty off offseason work with Onaga coach Brandon Merriman in getting her prepared to hit the mat ready this winter.
 
“I didn’t have much expectations, especially in my weight class where these girls are big,” Fordham said. “I thought I’d get my (butt) kicked. But it really shows that hard work and dedication can take you anywhere. I really do credit Brandon because he made me come over in the summer and wrestle, even though I didn’t want to. That did prepare me for the season.”
 
Merriman said Fordham -- one of five first-year wrestlers on the Onaga team -- was definitely a raw product when he first started working with her over the summer. But at the same time he saw the potential and said assistant coaches Tiffany Sanders and Alex Miller have been instrumental in Fordham’s quick development.
 
“We knew if she took the leap of faith and decided to wrestle this year she’d be uber-successful,” Merriman said. “She put in the work over the summer and een during our team camp I wasn’t quite sure just how good she was going to be yet. But Little Rock’s assistant coach (Albert White) told me, ‘That girls is going to dominate,’ and she has.
 
“It was hard for us to know just how good she actually was at the start of the season. We would go to tournaments and she would win most, but then we’d run into that one girl that was ranked or would ;and wrong and get stuck in a position we weren’t used to yet. 
 
Fordham’s losses have come to Sabetha’s Holidae Banfield, who was the top seed at the regional but got upset in the semifinals, Perry-Lecompton’s Meaa Allen, Wellington’s Natalie Burnett, Osawatomie’s Summer Bradshaw and Bonner Springs’ Aaryn Krebs. Burnett is ranked No. 2 in 4A, Krebs is No. 2 in 5A, Allen was a regional champion and Bradshaw took third at her 4A regional.
 
At regionals, Fordham needed just 27 seconds to pin semifinal foe Braylie Knisley of Douglass. Facing Royal Valley freshman Hanna Myers in the finals after Myers upset Banfield with a first-period pin, Fordham dominated the match from start to finish with an 18-3 technical fall victory.
 
Ranked just No. 6 in Class 3-2-1A going into regionals, Fordham has jumped to No. 1 in the rankings with the previous No. 1, 2, 4 and 5 all falling at regionals this weekend with No. 3 Haylee Holinde of Hoisington claiming the title in the 3-2-1A west regional at Russell last weekend.
 
She’ll be the No. 1 overall seed at state and could see Banfield in the second round. 
 
“I did not think this year would turn out how it has,” Fordham said. “First year wrestler, no way I have that much potential. I’m pretty happy and I’m excited to see what I can do at state. I’d love to be a state champion and that would be crazy.”
 
 
OTHER GIRLS WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• Basehor-Linwood followed up its first United Kansas Conference title by winning the team title at the Class 5A east regional at Bonner Springs, scoring 234.5 points to edge league rival and No. 1 Shawnee Heights by 19 points for the title. The Bobcats qualified all 13 of their entries for the state meet and put five in the finals with four coming away as regional champions. Makayla Faulkner had the biggest win for Basehor in the finals, knocking off No. 1 Campbell Mermis of Spring Hill 5-2 for the 145-pound crown. Basehor also got titles from Lainie Galvan (100), Miley Locke (105) and Izzy Renfro (190) and a runner-up finish from Karla Barrios (115).
• Heights’ runner-up finish saw the T-Birds qualify all 12 of their regional entries for the state meet, putting five in the finals and getting three champions. Fresh off winning her fourth straight league title, Madison Freeland won her second straight regional crown, pinning her way to the 140 title. Top-ranked Cianna Graves (155) and Reece Taylor (125) also came away with crowns while Ava Gutierrez (100) and Isabel Reyes (130) each finished second. Taylor earned her 100th career victory at the regional and Reyes recorded her 100th career pin.
• Piper’s Maia Dolinar was named the wrestler of the year at the 5A Bonner Springs regional after winning the 135-pound title to improve to 34-1 on the season. She was one of three champions for the Pirates, joined by Malia Martin at 170 pounds and Rylee Burke at 120. Leavenworth’s Saryja Nelson was the 235 champion at the regional.
• Seaman’s Koti Best won the 125-pound title at the 5A regional at Seaman, returning from injury to win her second regional title in three years. She also picked up her 100th career win at the regional.
• Emporia’s Kensley Medrano pulled out a 2-1 ultimate tiebreaker win over Taylie Heston to win the 120 title at the 5A Seaman regional, giving the Spartans their lone regional champion.
• Emmerson Blanco was Washburn Rural’s lone champion at the Class 6A regional at Wichita West, taking the title at 140 and pinning all four of her opponents in a combined 1:46. Rural finished third at the regional as a team, getting a school-record 12 state qualifiers with Justice McBurney adding a runner-up finish at 235.
• Junction City had a pair of champions at the 6A Wichita West regional as Jaidyn Alvarado recorded four first-period pins on her way to the 100-pound title and Bree Villanueva took the 115 title with a 3-1 win over Garden City’s Marina Loera in the finals. Alvarado improved to 29-1 and Villnueva moved to 28-1.
• Manhattan qualified 11 wrestlers for state out of the West regional, but came up empty in the finals with a trio of second-place finishers – Evelyn Thornburg (125), Alayna Slifer (135) and Sophia Hoeme (145).
• Wellsville finished runner-up as a team at the 4A Paola regional, scoring 164.5 points to finish a mere 3.5 points behind regional champion Tonganoxie. The Eagles qualified seven for state with Olive Dubois the lone regional champion, taking the title at 125. Jazlene Kirk (110) added a runner-up finish.
• Nemaha Central had a pair of champions at the 4A Paola regional as Renae Keim improved to 37-2 with her title at 100 pounds and Autumn Feldkamp oved to 36-5 with a title at 140. Perry-Lecompton’s Meaa Allen (235), Burlington’s Haylie Potter (135) and Iola’s Addilyn Wecker (130) all were regional champions at Paola as well.
• Rock Creek finished third as a team at the 4A regional at McPherson, the highest regional showing for the Mustangs, who also set a school record with eight state qualifiers. Freshman Liliauna Nold stayed unbeaten at 115 pounds, improving to 35-0 with four pin wins. Brooklyn Burenheide won her third straight regional title, pulling out a wild 21-15 win over defending state champion Destiny Gonzalez of Goodland in the 140-pound finals. Rock Creek also got a runner-up finish from Megan Ryan at 135.
• Clay Center’s Gabi Koppes was named the wrestler of the meet at the 4A regional at McPherson as she continued her quest for an undefeated career with her fourth straight regional title at 125 pounds. Koppes is now 122-0 in her career with 107 pins.
• Abilene freshmen Josie and Jade Wilson won their first regional titles as Josie moved to 35-0 on the season at 100 pounds with three pin wins and Jade moved to 32-2 at 105, beating 2024 state champion Alexis Wall of Circle 17-5 in her finals match.
• Chapman freshman Cambree Obermeyer improved to 38-1 with her title at 110 pounds, pinning all four of her opponents in 47 seconds or less.
• Oskaloosa’s Holly Thacher captured her fourth straight regional title, at the 3-2-1A regional at Rossville, positioning herself to become a four-time state champion. Thacher took the 120 crown with a 10-0 major decision over Jayhawk-Linn’s Alayna McCarty in the finals, improving to 28-2.
• Maur Hill’s Emma Vice (125), McLouth’s Makinley Daniels (130), West Franklin’s Mya Crabtree (140) and Doniphan West’s Layla Kuhnert (190) also were champions at the Rossville regional. Centralia’s Morgan Allen (100) and Riverside’s Bayleigh Cooper (115) and Aurora Gray (155) became their program’s first-ever girls’ state qualifiers at the regional.

 
BOYS WRESTLING STANDOUTS

• Silver Lake won the inaugural Big East League title after claiming multiple team championships in the now-defunct Mid-East League. The Eagles finished with 171 points to beat Holton – a perennial champion in the old Big Seven League – for the crown. Silver Lake had four league champions – Kai Colcher (150), Trent Harris (157), Kayden Clelland (165) and Carter Spreer (215).
• Holton picked up a trio of Big East League champions in its runner-up finish with Kyler Jackson (190) winning his second straight league title and third of his career. Lucas Batz (120) also won his second straight league title and Sean Morrissey (126) claimed Holton’s other title.
• Jefferson West and Riley County each had a pair of Big East champions. Osiris Unruh (285) and Karson Kahler (132) were West’s champions while Kaden Gutsch (144) and Nathan Hammond (175) won titles for Riley. Other league champions included Nemaha Centrals Harry Langill (106), Sabetha’s Korbyn Stinnett (113) and Rossville’s Remington Droegemeier (138).
• Santa Fe Trail took the team title at the Pioneer League meet, scoring 199.5 points to beat runner-up Prairie View by 48.5 points. The Chargers had eight finalists and got titles from Tanner Bolt (106), Tanner Sleichter (120), Bryce Combes (126), Blake Slavin (132) and Atticus Guenther (138).
• Prairie View came away with four champions from the Pioneer League meet with Ryan Nickell (113), Nolan Boyd (190), Parker Schwarz (215) and Josh Goodwin (285) all winning titles. Other league champions included Osawatomie’s Parker Slayman (144) and Dodge Browning (165), Anderson County’s Zach Schaffer (150) and Wellsville’s Jake Doles (157) and Chris McClendon (175).
• Council Grove won the Flint Hill League title with 136 points, 37 more than runner-up Osage City. The Braves had six champions at the meet with Tyler Hutchinson (285), Ace Monihen (215), Caden Honer (165), Hadley Smith (150), Leo DeDonder (132) and Bradley Doornbos (126) getting titles.
• West Franklin’s Chase and Logan Courtois each stayed undefeated with Flint Hills titles with Chase moving to 29-0 with his title at 113 and Logan improving to 38-0 with his title at 144. Other league champions included Mission Valley’s Wyatt Whitten (120), Osage City’s Colton Collins (138) and Noah Martinez (190), Onaga’s Dylan Slifer (157) and Chase County’s Austin Anderson (175).
• Atchison County won the Northeast Kansas League title in dominant fashion, more than doubling the total of runner-up Riverside. The Tigers had 10 finalists and nine champions at the meet with Mason Bottorff (106), Luke Smith (126), Cody Falk (132), Evan Falk (138), Rance Vessar (144), Easton Schletzbaum (157), Max Bottorff (165), Houston Schletzbaum (175) and Elijah Webb (190) all bringing home titles. Other league champions included Oskaloosa’s Charles Thacher (113) and Jared Heuertz (215), Maur Hill’s Jaxson Vice (120), McLouth’s Justin Patz (150) and Riverside’s Noah Wooley (285).