HAYS – After quick exits in her past state tournaments, Douglass’ Cheyenne Wagoner was on a mission in her final meet.  

“The last couple years I’ve got in my head and gone 0-2 (at state),” Wagoner said. “I came here on a journey. I was ready to be remembered.”

Wagoner completed that journey in spectacular fashion, notching arguably the biggest upset of the Class 3-2-1A tournament.at Gross Memorial Coliseum. 

Wagoner survived a fast start from reigning champion Jaden Ney from Russell to turn the match around and  win the 145-pound championship by pin. 

“I just worked my butt off all season for this, and here we are," Wagoner said. 

After Ney jumped out to a 9-0 lead, Wagoner got a big momentum boost at the end of the first period, spinning out from underneath Ney for a reversal and getting three back points before time ran out in the first. 

“It gives you confidence because I know I can get there in that position again,” Wagoner said. “But it’s also like, ‘Dang, what if that was my only shot and time runs out?’

“Wrestling is just one of those sports where anything can happen, no matter how good you are.”
 

When another opportunity presented itself midway through the second, Wagoner seized it. 

Wagoner threw a chin whip and tripped Wagoner to the mat, securing the pin with 16 seconds left in the second period. 

“I’ve worked (the chin whip) a couple times in practice and hardly ever in matches,” Wagoner said. “Every time I get in that situation, it’s just there. I don’t really set up for it or anything. If it’s given to me, I’ll take it.

“When I threw it, I knew I could get it, I just had to keep it tight. She’s very strong, so it was a challenge keeping her shoulders down, but once we got circled back around the head, I was fully confident I was going to get it.”

A strength for Wagoner has been dictating the pace against her opponents.  

“I’m definitely more of a slow wrestler,” Wagoner said. “I slow people down to wrestle my pace, I don’t wrestle theirs. She starts off fast, and I just have to slow her down as we go and make her wrestle my match.”

It was just Ney’s second loss over the last two seasons. She finished her career with two second-place finishes and a title that she won with an undefeated season as a junior. She was 39-2 as a senior with her only other loss coming to Alexis Means, a Class 5A state champion from Bishop Carroll. 

It was an extremely rewarding way for Wagoner to close out her career. She finished her senior season with a 34-5 record.  

“This was my last match ever,” Wagoner said. “It was an amazing feeling to end it on such a high note against such an amazing opponent. I'm just so thankful for my teammates and the people here supporting me.”

It was also a big day for Douglass. 

Ginger Landis got the championship round start by winning a title at 100 pounds. And on the boys side, Carter Green won the 215-pound title for the Bulldogs. 

“My community is such a big wrestling community,” Wagoner said. “We haven’t had such success in so long. We had three state champs today and it’s such an amazing feeling for everyone.”
 

 

Landis put together a strong all-around performance in the 100 final against Stockton’s Carolina Northup, taking a 13-0 major decision to become a state champ as a junior. 

Landis opened with a quick takedown and got back points at the end of the period to jump out to a 7-0 lead. She remained in control the rest of the match. 

“My mindset was just to keep wrestling, it was just another match. Just keep doing what I’ve been doing all year long,” Landis said.

Landis went 32-6 on the season while Northup, also  a junior, finished 34-7. 

“It feels pretty great,” Landis said. “I just tried to calm my nerves before the match and just go out there and wrestle. 

“This is a goal I’ve had for a long time and it’s something I definitely worked hard for every practice.”
 

STOCKTON'S HAHN COMPLETES PERFECT SEASON

Stockton’s Ashlyn Hahn was the only 3-2-1A wrestler to make it through the season unblemished. 

Hahn pinned her way to a state championship. She secured the fall 1:35 into the 130 title match against Russell’s Averie Counts to cap a 41-0 season. 

“It was kind of a relief,” Hahn said. “Going the whole season undefeated is kind of a stress every match. I don’t really get worked up before matches, but after having that kind of stress, being done is a big sigh of relief for sure.”

Counts, a freshman, scored an early takedown but Hahn quickly recovered to get Counts on her back. 

“We had wrestled quite a lot before that, so I was expecting her to come out strong and be able to adjust to me and my shots,” Hahn said. “I really wasn’t expecting a takedown from where she was. It was kind of a shock to me. But I just took my time and caught her where she wasn’t really in a good position and got her on her back.”

Hahn wasted no time in finishing her matches, getting first-period pins in each match at state. 

“I didn’t really want to take anything too long if I didn’t need to,” Hahn said. “I don’t really care for tech falls and I wanted the team points, because we really have been doing pretty good as a team.”
 

It was the first state championship for Hahn, a four-time state qualifier. She didn’t place last year after taking fourth as a sophomore and third as a freshman. 

“I had a lot of emotions because that was my last high school match,” Hahn said. “It wasn’t nerves, but you’re realizing it’s the last time you’re stepping out there. A lot of emotions for sure.”  
HOXIE’S BELL JOINS BROTHERS AS STATE CHAMPION

Josie Bell made it a quartet of champions for Hoxie’s Bell siblings. 

The Hoxie sophomore joined her three older brothers – Drew, Dayton and Duncan – as a state champ after claiming the 125-pound title. 

In fact, Duncan and Josie Bell both celebrated titles this year, both winning down-to-the-wire matches. 

First, Josie used a late escape  to pull out a 5-4 decision in her 125-pound final against Norton’s Isabella Garrity. 

Shortly after watching his sister win her championship, Duncan capped his career as a two-time state champ, securing a takedown at the last second to win a 6-4 decision over Atchison County’s Max Bottorff in 165 boys' title bout. 

“(Hoxie fans) were saying they didn’t know who gave them a bigger heart attack (Duncan) or me,” Josie said. 

The Bell siblings have now produced seven total state championships. Drew, now wrestling at Fort Hays State, was a three-time state champ from 2020-2022. Dayton won his title as a senior in 2023 before Duncan won back-to-back titles over the last two seasons and Josie won her first this season.

“I’ve just been around (wrestling) all my life. I started in third grade,” Josie said. 

“Her being in a family of three wrestlers, she just naturally got into it,” Duncan said. “We definitely tried to make her the best she can be and tried to motivate her the best we could, tell her the best tips we know. Hopefully it translated, and I think it did.

“It’s pretty crazy (to have four champions in the family),” Duncan added. “It’s a huge accomplishment as a family.”
 

Bell and Garrity were tied at 4 entering the third period. After a restart with 22 seconds left in the period, Bell was on the bottom but got to her feet and broke away from Garrity’s grasp for the escape with five seconds left

“I was just trying to do everything I could,” Bell said. “I didn’t have much time left. I just had to do what I had to do.”

Bell’s championship comes after she didn’t place at state last year as a freshman. Bell, who bounced back from a fourth-place showing at regionals,  went 38-10 this season.

“It didn’t even process in my head until like an hour later,” Bell said. “I just couldn’t believe it -- from not placing last year and being a state champ this year.”

Garrity finished her senior season with a 21-8 record. 
 

CAIN, WAGONER CAPTURE STATE TITLES FOR RUNNER-UP OAKLEY 

The Oakley Plainsmen went through an emotional roller coaster in the state tournament. 

A strong first day of the first tournament was marred by a tournament-ending injury for Oakley senior Cadence Koch in the 110 semifinals, forcing the Plainsmen to mentally regroup heading into their semifinal matches. 

The rest of Oakley’s four semifinalists all punched their tickets to the title matches.

The Plainsmen went 2-2 in the finals, finishing off an overall strong tournament on a high note with championships from Cali Wagoner and Atavia Cain. 

“It was ups and downs over the two days – from Cadence up 7-0 (in the semis) and then falling funny on her arm, to Atavia finally getting her finals match won,” Oakley coach Bryce Lewis said.

A state runner-up in each of the previous two seasons, Cain met up with Hoisington’s Nevaeh Graves in the 170 in the finals for a rematch of the regional final that saw Graves pin Cain with 30 seconds left in the third period. 

In the state final, Cain was in control throughout the match. She took a 6-1 lead into the second period and then got two more takedowns to take a 12-2 advantage. Cain got a quick reversal in the third period and turned it into a pin to cap her career with a state championship.

“After (Cain’s) loss at regionals we had been staying super late after practices and working together,” Wagoner said. “Just pushing each other to our limits and trying our hardest. It’s definitely been good for both of us, helping us be able to break through. 

“I’m so proud of her. I’m so glad she got it. She deserves it so much.”
 

Cain went 42-1 in her senior season and had just two losses over her last two seasons.  

Wagoner, also a runner-up last season as a sophomore, met a familiar opponent in the 155 finals in Plainville’s Zoe Brown.

“She is a really strong wrestler and I’ve wrestled her a lot of times,” Wagoner said. “It’s been really nice to have tough competition. You’ve got to have your mind right and fight like it’s your last.

“I love that I know what she’s going to do and she knows what I’m going to do.”

Brown led 3-2 going into the second, Wagoner got to her feet to start the second period and tie it. She secured a takedown on the edge of mat, and later got the pin with 26 seconds left in the second period. 

“It was all just about mentality,” Wagoner said. 
 

 

Oakley was the state runner-up for the second straight year. The Plainsmen finished 11.5 points behind team champion Norton. 

Oakley sophomore Kylee Hodges took her first loss of the season against Oskaloosa’s Holly Thacher, who captured her fourth straight championship by taking a 10-2 major decision over Hodges in the 120 final. Hodges met up with Thacher in the final for the second straight year. 

The Plainsmen also got a runner-up finish at 135 from junior Abbygayl Jackson, who lost a15-9 decision to Russell’s Kinsey Zorn. Brooke Smith placed fourth at 145 pounds for Oakley and Koch ultimately placed sixth after being unable to compete in Day 2 of the tournament.  

Lewis credited the Plainsmen for bouncing back emotionally after Koch injury in the semifinals. 

“They were all pretty shaken up for her,” Lewis said. “This team is really close. They do everything together, they hang out, they wrestle together, they cheer for each other. After (the injury), they were pretty torn up. As Cadence was coming off, she said, ‘Now go win yours.’ I think that helped them rally  and win their semifinals.”

“It was really tough for us,” Wagoner said. “We all just got in a group and cried for a solid 10 minutes. And then we were all like, “Ok, we need to win this for her.' We prayed for her, and we knew we had to do it for her.”

It was a tough end to a tremendous season for Koch, a first-year wrestler who finished 35-12.

“She does everything the right way,” Lewis said. “She’s coachable. She works hard, she’s mentally tough. She’s a wonderful kid.”
 

HOISINGTON'S HOLINDE COMES UP CLUTCH FOR 235 TITLE 

Leading up to her title match with Onaga’s Emmarsyn Fordham, Hoisington senior Haylee Holinde made sure she did her homework. 

“I watched (Fordham’s) matches, watched how she wrestled just so I knew what I was doing going into the match,” Holinde said. “I’ve never wrestled her. I didn’t know how she was going to be and what she was going to try to do. I had to prepare myself mentally and physically before I went out there and wrestled her.”

Not only that, but Holinde also had to manage her nerves. 

“Watching everyone wrestle and having to sit all day and wait, it’s nerve wracking,” Holinde said. “Just walking kind of helps my nerves, so I walked around, and being able to talk to my family and friends really helped too.

“Being by my coaches’ side really helped too because I knew that they believed in me, and having my team beside me and supporting me.”

By the time the 235-pound title match finally arrived, Holinde found herself in the right headspace to deliver in the biggest match of her career. 

Holinde came up clutch in the closing moments to take a 9-1 decision over Fordham and complete her career with a state championship. 

Holinde was up 2-1 late in the third period. Fordham threw a headlock but Holinde fought it off and turned the tables for seven points in the closing moments. 

“Those last 15 seconds of the match, looking at the time and realizing time was about out, my nerves were going crazy,” Holinde said. “When she put that headlock on me, I was so scared. She had me pretty good there. I just had to make sure I drove through her before I let her drive into me first.”

Holinde, who transferred to Hoisington from Great Bend as a junior, missed part of this season after battling a knee injury. 

“I didn’t get back to wrestling until about mid-January,” Holinde said. “I had to wear a really big brace and it was hard to maneuver. It was definitely painful, but my pain went away after a little while. It’s still there when I do certain things. 

“When I was going into state, it was really scary. I was scared that something else was going to happen.”
 

Holinde (22-3) secured her spot in the finals with a 5-0 win over Douglass' Braylie Knisley in the semis. 

“Going into the championship was definitely something that was an eye-opener,” Holinde said. “It was like, ‘Gosh, you made this. You did this on your own. You had your family and friends supporting you, but you had to do this yourself to get here.’

“(Winning a state title) was amazing, all the emotions running through my head and knowing that I proved everyone wrong that doubted me and just knowing that I finally did it and accomplished one of my biggest dreams.”

Fordham, a first-year wrestler, finished her junior season with a 26-6 record.
 

REMINGTON’S MARTINEZ QUICKLY TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS IN 110 TITLE MATCH 

The 110-pound title match was a blur for Remington senior Camila Martinez.

“Once I hit the mat, everything went blank,” Martinez said. 

Forty-eight seconds later, Martinez was a state champion. 

Martinez got a quick takedown and wasted no time in securing the pin against Central Heights’ Ebony Hughes to cap her senior season with a championship. 

“My mind was just in the right place, I guess,” Martinez said. “I just thought I really had to get that pin to be a state champ.”

Martinez also won by fall over Hughes in the regional semifinal on her way to the regional title. She entered state ranked No. 1 and finished with a 36-4 record. 

“At the beginning of the year, I never thought I could be a state champion,” Martinez said. “Once I got first at regionals, that really turned my head, and I was like, ‘Oh, I actually can do this.’ ”
 

Martinez won by injury default in the semifinals after Oakley’s Cadence Koch seriously injured her arm after landing awkwardly on the mat.

“I felt horrible,” Martinez said. “I knew it wasn’t my fault but at that same time you still have the guilty feeling that someone got hurt. It was a shocker.”

Martinez got back locked in for the finals to get the quick pin. 

“It felt so good in that moment, having a pretty fast pin,” Martinez said. “It meant a lot because my family has put in a lot of work for me to be able to get where I am. It just made me feel a lot of relief. It took away the big weight I had on my shoulders.” 

Hughes finished her freshman season with a 26-15 record.
 

SMITH CENTER'S OCHOA GETS FAST PIN TO BECOME CHAMPION AS FRESHMAN 

Smith Center’s Keleigh Ochoa went into the 105-pound title match prepared for a three-period battle. 

Instead, Ochoa needed just 41 seconds to get the pin in an all-freshman bout with Bluestem’s Reagan Neal. 

“It felt unreal,” Ochoa said. “Honestly, I was not thinking it was going to go that fast. I thought it was going to go three periods. It just kind of put me in shock.

“I watched some of her matches and she was so far out when she shot. I got my underhook and I just kind of drove her.”

Ochoa burst on the scene this year to become Smith Center’s first girls’ wrestling champion. She entered state ranked No. 1. 

“I was really nervous,” Ochoa said. “When I talked to my coaches they told me to go in thinking it was just another match and wrestle how you usually wrestle. That kind of calmed me down. After I warmed up I felt pretty good and confident about it.”

Ochoa (37-6) earned her 27th pin of the season. Two of her losses came against Abilene’s Jade Wilson, a Class 4A state champ. 

“I knew that was going to be tough so I was kind of in my head already, so I didn’t wrestle my best against Jade Wilson,” Ochoa said. “It did not go well. I hit some rough patches but it definitely made me learn.”
 

Ochoa finished three of her four matches at state in under a minute. 

“I definitely feel like everything came together at the right time,” Ochoa said. “I was definitely ready.”

This was only Ochoa’s third year of wrestling, and she was injured last year. 

“(The state title) makes me have a lot of confidence in myself,” Ochoa said. “At the beginning of the season, I didn’t know how good I was. I didn’t know how my season would end up going. I did not have any confidence. My coaches were like, ‘You’re better than you think.’ Regionals and state really proved that to me.”
 

DECISION TO KEEP WRESTLING PAYS OFF FOR RUSSELL’S ZORN 

Kinsey Zorn needed a little extra convincing to go out for wrestling again this season. 

“I wasn’t even going to wrestle,” Zorn said. “The day before weigh-ins, when they announced it on the intercom, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I should probably do it. I talked to my brother that night and he encouraged me to do it.

“Last year the weight cutting and everything really made me not like it that much. I just focused on dance more this year. And then I decided I was going to miss it and miss watching my teammates wrestle, so I just did it.”

That decision paid off in the form of a state championship.

The Russell sophomore won the 135-title in thrilling fashion, outlasting Oakley’s Abbygayl Jackson with a 15-9 decision in the 135 final. 

“It’s really crazy,” Zorn said. ‘I’m just so grateful that I went out (for wrestling) so I could have this moment.”

It was the fourth time Zorn and Jackson had met up this season. Zorn won the first meeting before Jackson
won the next two heading into state. 

“I was actually really excited all day to meet up with her again and go out there and do my best,” Zorn said. “I had nothing to lose.”

Zorn led 3-1 at the end of the first period before getting two takedowns in the second period to take a 9-2 lead heading into the third. 

“I knew I was going to have to go in there and shoot,” Zorn said. “I came in there confident, knowing that I had to move on my feet and not sit there in the first period, so I could get some points on the board.”

The third period, Zorn got an escape on the restart to go up 10-2. Jackson then went on the offensive, getting a pair of takedowns to make it 11-8. Zorn held off Jackson the rest of the way and sealed it with a takedown in the closing seconds. 

“I just knew that I could not let her have my head,” Zorn said. “I just trying my best to defend and not let her get any points.”

Zorn, who made state as a freshman but did not place, finished her sophomore campaign with a 37-6 record. 

“It was just amazing,” Zorn said of her title. “It was just a speechless moment. It was incredible to experience that.”

Jackson, a junior, finished with a 23-4 record.