The Manhattan boys wrestling team entered Day 2 of this year’s 6A state tournament facing a little bit of an uphill battle.

Maize finished the semifinals with 141 points and five wrestlers in the finals, followed closely by Garden City at 133.5 points and four state finalists. 

Manhattan sat in third with 112 points and with three finalists. Behind Manhattan was Olathe North at 105 with four finalists and Washburn Rural with three.

Manhattan head coach Shawn Bammes said his wrestlers started Day 2 knowing that if they were going to catch up with either of the top two teams, or even avoid slipping out of the final team trophy spot, they would need to perform well on the backside of the bracket.

“We knew going into this morning that we had some work to do,” Bammes said. “The first few rounds picked up, took a big chunk, got a big chunk to get us back into the mix. Then we knew going into those medal rounds that if we take care of business, we got a chance.”

By the time they reached their only win in the finals, Manhattan had already locked up its second straight state title.

Manhattan finished with 189 points to clinch this year's title, well ahead of runner-up Garden City at 176. The only trophy actually decided with a finals win ended up being third place, with Washburn Rural's Kristjan Marshal closing out state with victory by pin, pushing the Junior Blues into third place with 169.5 points, one ahead of Maize.

All 12 of Manhattan’s state competitors scored points for the team. While three Manhattan wrestlers reached the finals, the other nine were all still alive on the backside of the bracket. Of those nine, seven picked up wins on Day 2.

Bammes was happy with those results, but not surprised.

“We talk a lot to them about a standard, the standard for the program,” Bammes said. “We try to set that standard and be able to compete for a state title every single year. The kids have bought into that, both the boys and girls teams, and they'll tell you, ‘It's the standard to be able to sit here right now and have a chance to go get that trophy.’ That’s the standard.

“Hopefully, we can keep it that way.”
 

That standard has helped Manhattan win the program’s sixth state title by clinching its first set of back-to-back championships.

It’s a standard that Bammes experienced himself. Bammes, a 1995 Manhattan graduate, won the 160-pound state championship during his senior year. 

His coach at the time, Lee Woodfoord, would lead the team to its first state title in 2004. Woodford’s replacement Robert Gonzales would win three more from 2007 through 2017. Bammes experienced two of those after becoming an assistant coach for the team in 2010.

Now Bammes has won two state titles in his four years of running the program since Gonzales retired. The team finished sixth in his first season and fourth in 2023 before starting this state title run.

It should be no surprise that Manhattan’s ascent to the top corresponds with a run of three straight individual state championships by junior Caeleb Hutchinson.

In three years, Hutchinson has amassed a 123-9 record. He started with winning a state championship wrestling at 106, before moving up to 120 as a sophomore. Hutchinson took the challenge of wrestling up at 132 and posting his best record yet at 42-1.

Hutchinson used his go-to move, a knee pull known as the shin whizzer, to take down opponent after opponent this season and through his state performance. 

He used the move in each of his first three matches, all of which he ended early as he scored two first-period pins and a second-period tech fall.

Hutchinson punched his ticket into the finals to face Vincent Rosas of Maize. Rosas finished second at 132 last year after losing in the finals to Washburn Rural’s Easton Broxterman, who finished this year with his third straight state title by winning the 144-pound final.
 

Hutchinson would clinch his three-peat shortly before Broxterman when he earned a 4-0 decision over Rosas.

Hutchinson took his time to start the finals, waiting for Rosas to present an opening. Rosas even gained wrist control for a split second before Hutchinson lunged forward for the knee pull to take him to the ground and score the takedown.

Hutchinson never found an opening to extend his lead in the second period, but also never gave Rosas a chance to escape for points either as he stayed in control from top for the full two minutes.

Rosas chose to let Hutchinson up for an escape point immediately at the start of the third, knowing that he’d still likely need two more takedowns in the final two minutes to get the victory.

But Hutchinson refused to cede even one. Rosas nearly duplicated Hutchinson’s shin whizzer that scored the takedown in the first period. Instead, Hutchinson got free and squared up to prevent giving up points.

As the match approached the final minute, Hutchinson remained engaged enough to avoid even a stall warning while also never giving Rosas any opening to score points. Hutchinson walked away with the 4-0 decision and his third straight state championship victory.

Despite keeping his opponent scoreless, Hutchinson had high praise for Rosas after the match.

“I feel that Vincent was my hardest opponent that I've faced so far,” Hutchinson said. “It felt really good coming out on top.”

But Hutchinson never displayed the feeling via post-match celebration. He calmly removed his ankle band, allowed the ref to raise his arm and jogged to one corner to shake the hands of the Maize coaches. 

This is when even the tamest of state champions turn up the celebration heading over to their own coaches’ corner. But Hutchinson gave a simple low five to Bammes, before quietly walking off the mat.

For Bammes, he sees that attitude tied to the same thing that allows Hutchinson to make his wins in big matches like the state finals look so easy.

“No moment is too big for him,” Bammes said. “He's ready to wrestle under the lights. Nothing really rattles him and he's a very humble kid. No celebrations at the end. It's job done, getting ready for the next one with Caleb. He just keeps putting in the work.”
 

Hutchinson said after the match that the reason for his muted celebration is because the job’s not done yet. But that doesn’t mean Hutchinson did not take proud in winning his third state title.

“It just comes down to the goal is four and each title is one step closer,” Hutchinson said. “You can't get four without getting one, two, and three. So it felt really good getting this third one.”

To reach the finals, Hutchinson started with a pin over Ethan Leon of Mill Valley with around 45 seconds left in the first period. 

He faced Covell Nichols of Wichita Heights. Hutchinson raced out to a 10-1 lead with a pair of takedowns and a nearfall in the opening period. With another takedown and more nearfall points to start the second, Hutchinson wrapped up the match with a 17-1 tech fall.

His semifinals match against Sam West of Olathe West also got off to a fast start as Hutchinson built up a 7-0 lead with a takedown and nearfall. It took him a little while to turn his double chicken wing into a pin, but he ultimately earned the fall with just over 20 seconds left in the first period.

Bammes pointed to Hutchinson’s strong mat awareness for his ability to control almost all of his matches from start to finish.

“It's almost kinda like the times he's got that clock in his head, too,” Bammes said. “He knows how much time is left. He knows when to apply pressure, when to back off, when to go for things.”

As much as Hutchinson enjoyed his individual success, he’s been equally excited to see his team bring home state championships each of the last two seasons.

“It feels amazing that all of our guys were here ready to compete and did great,” Hutchinson said.
 

Junior Brecken Crist-Funk and senior Landon Dobson joined Hutchinson in the finals and both finished as state runner-ups in their weight classes.

Crist-Funk earned a pair of upsets on his way to finishing second at 144. After powering through his opening match with a pin, Crist-Funk nearly got sent to the backside of the bracket in the quarterfinals with his match against Free State’s Otto Reese.

Reese climbed out to a 11-2 advantage after three takedowns and a nearfall in the opening period. Crist-Funk found himself in a make-or-break situation after Reese scored two more takedowns in the second. Even with two more escapes by Crist-Funk, Reese was closing in on tech fall victory with his 17-4 advantage.

But Crist-Funk avoided that with his own takedown in the third, which led to securing a pin over Reese.

Now facing the top seed in Olathe West’s Derek Sanchez in the semifinals, Crist-Funk decided to surprise everyone again by being the one to take an early lead.

Crist-Funk scored a takedown midway through the opening period, followed by a nearfall before Sanchez scored a reversal to cut Crist-Funk’s lead to 7-2 after one. Sanchez responded with his own takedown early in the second. When he repeated that early in third, Sanchez took a one-point lead in the match. 

But Crist-Funk responded with a reversal, which led to multiple nearfalls. Sanchez scored a reversal in the final seconds, but Crist-Funk held on for the 15-10 decision to punch his ticket to the finals.

Crist-Funk would not be able to keep his Cinderella run going. Washburn Rural’s Easton Broxterman clinched his third straight state title by earning a 16-0 tech fall over Crist Funk in the finals.

Crist-Funk reached state for the first time last year as a sophomore, but did not place. Crist-Funk had his first state outing end after suffering a 12-2 major decision loss at the hands of Sanchez.
 

Dobson made swift work of his first three matches to reach the 215-pound final. He pinned his opening round opponent in 23 seconds. Dobson did not need much longer against Free State’s Blaine Larkin, who finished as the 215-pound state runner-up last year. Larkin earned an escape from Dobson’s first takedown, but Dobson would not let that happen the second time as he scored the pin with just under 30 seconds left in the opening period.

But Dobson would have to go the distance in his finals match against Garden City’s David Holguin. These two faced each other in the regional finals, where Holguin won a 17-8 major decision.

Dobson kept it a lot closer this time, only for Holguin to score an escape point to start the third in a 1-0 decision.

As a junior, Dobson finished third at 190 after not placing as a sophomore. He did not reach state as a freshman.

But before Hutchinson, Crist-Funk and Dobson had their chance to possibly add points in the finals, the rest of the team already did their job to secure the team title.

“They had their goals, coming in third, fourth place,” Bammes said. “But they knew exactly what they needed to do to get it done. That's what I love about this group. They wrestled for each other.”

Manhattan had six wrestlers each the medal rounds on the backside of their brackets. Five of those wrestlers won their last match of the days, including all four of the wrestlers who reached the third-place matches.

Freshman Jack Hutchinson, junior Cameron Coonrod, senior Logan Lagerman and sophomore Max Evans-Pryor were all third-place finishers. All four of the wrestlers were also sent to the backside of the bracket by the eventual state runner-up in their weight class.

Hutchinson started his freshman season 0-3 and had lost four more of his eight total regular season losses during an eight-day stretch in mid-January when the team competed in the Dodge City Invitational and Newton Invitational back to back.
 

Hutchinson’s only loss at state was a 6-5 sudden victory won by eventual state runner-up Zachary Siatka in the quarterfinals. Siatka also beat Hutchinson by 4-3 decision in their regional semifinals match. 

Hutchinson earned a pin and a pair of decisions by 7-0 and 5-0 margins to reach the third-place match. There he beat Damarie Martin of Wichita East via a 12-9 sudden victory.

Coonrod lost in the quarterfinals by 4-3 decision against Olathe North’s Jaxson Scott. Scott also beat Coonrod by 9-5 decision at the Dodge City Invitational. Coonrod earned a third-period pin over Garden City’s Zachary Long in the 126-pound third-place match. Coonrod finished fifth at 126 during his sophomore year.

Lagerman had previously lost to his semifinals opponent, Olathe North’s Blake Saumuelson by first-period pin in the first-place match at the Dodge City Invitational. Lagerman held on longer in this one, but Samuelson still got the pin early in the third period.

In the 150-pound third-place match, Lagerman earned a 6-3 sudden victory win over Brodye Kocher-Munoz of Washburn Rural. Lagerman also took third at 144 during his junior season.

Evans-Pryor joined the younger Hutchinson in finishing in third place despite initially losing in the quarterfinals. After losing to Olathe North’s Ashton Keith by 10-9 decision in the quarterfinals, Evans-Pryor won three of his next four matches by pin, including over Ange Badji of Blue Valley West in the third-place match at 175. Evans-Pryor was eliminated in the blood round at state in 2024.

Freshman Franke Force took fifth at 106 and senior Ben Uher finished in sixth at 190 as Manhattan’s other state medal placers. Uher finished fourth at 157 as a junior.

Junior Joseph Panfill (138), freshman Liam Nider (165) and junior Garrison Vikander (285) rounded out the team’s state qualifiers. All three earned team points at state.
 

MANHATTAN’S SLIFER BATTLES BACK FROM ROUGH SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN, WINS 135-POUND STATE TITLE

Manhattan junior Alayna Slifer started her high school wrestling career with tremendous promise and potential.

Her 33-3 record heading into her regional final made put Slifer on the map as young standout to watch in the future, and possibly the present as she set her sights on the 6-5A 135-pound state title.

But her freshman campaign ended much differently than she would have hoped. She would end up losing three of her next four matches as the regional runner-up did not place at state.

Her sophomore campaign also did not produce the bounce back she would have hoped. Facing a series of illnesses and injuries, Slifer entered state that year with a 22-8 record after finishing fourth at regionals.

After suffering an opening round loss at state, Slifered recovered to win three matches on her way to a fourth-place finish at 140.

Slifer built off of that momentum to return this year for her best campaign yet. She stayed healthy throughout the year, allowing her to amass a 38-2 record on her way to winning the 6A 145-pound state title.

“It feels amazing,” Slifer said. “It's really nice to see all the hard work pay off. Going out there and having fun seeing the results that you deserve, it's real nice.”

To earn that state championship, Slifer needed to win in the finals against an opponent who had bested her multiple times, including in her first state appearance and in this year’s regional finals.

Dodge City’s Hailey Ramos earned a 2-0 sudden victory over Slifer in the second consolation round of the 6-5A state tournament in 2023, sending Slifer home early. 
 

Slifer would have to wait until this year to get another shot at Ramos. They faced off in the finals of the Christmas Clash back in mid-December. Slifer earned a third-period pin over Ramos.

But Ramos would return the favor with a first-period pin in the finals of the Dodge City Invitational. She would also take down Slifer with a third-period pin in their regional finals match.

Although Slifer held a 1-3 record in this matchup, those losses did teach her exactly what she needed to do, or more precisely what she needed to avoid, against Ramos in the finals.

“Right off the bat, I knew she was gonna try to throw me with head throws,” Slifer said. “It's how she's beaten me in the past two times.”

Slifer’s plan to avoid that same outcome?

“I just want to relax,” Slifer said. “It's the last go of the season, just let it fly and have fun.”

Whenever she would find herself staring down at Ramos’s legs while in her clutches, Slifer just kept telling herself one thing.

“I was not gonna let that happen again,” Slifer said. “I just didn't let the throws happen. I didn't look at the score. I just thought, “Next points, next position, keep going,” and then it was over.”

Slifer focused on staying in the moment and the rest just pieced together for her.

To start their match, Slifer earned a quick takedown of Ramos and reached the second with a 3-0 lead. Ramos chose neutral to start the period, which only allowed Slifer to make another quick takedown. This time, Slifer worked her way into the pin to clinch her first state title.
 

To reach this year’s finals, Slifer made quick work of her first two matches, scoring two pins in 2:10 total match time. She more than doubled that time with her quarterfinals match against Washburn Rural’s Madison Blanco.

Slifer started the match with a quick takedown, but that would be the only points in the first period. Slifer would start top in the second and never relinquish control. She scored the pin midway through the period.

Slifer said her previous setbacks, especially the ones from last season, led to her choosing to prioritize her health over everything else. She also credits those setbacks with helping her reach this point.

“Those are just adversities and every time you go through them, you learn a bit more,” Slifer said. “I think they definitely donated to where I am today and it makes it a lot sweeter to see that I did take something positive out of those hard times.”

As a sophomore competing at 140, Slifer suffered an opening round loss against Hailey Arthur of Olathe Northwest. Slifer would win three consolation matches before facing Arthur again. This time Slifer earned a 8-5 decision to reach the third-place match. Slifer would end up taking fourth as she lost that match by 2-1 decision against Audrey Lennard of Olathe East.

Lennard would end up winning the 145-pound state championship this year, dethroning two-time reigning champ Kaylan Hitchcock with a 7-4 sudden decision victory. Arthur, who finished fifth at state that year, returned to finish as the 140-pound 6A state runner-up this year.

As a freshman, Slifer reached state alongside just one teammate, Sage Rosario. Rosario would end up finishing off a 35-0 campaign to win her third state title in just two years. Slifer ended up losing to the eventual 135-pound state champion Shelby Davis of Gardner Edgerton in the quarterfinals, followed by a loss two matches later against Ramos.

Her head coach was glad to see her show resilience and finish her third state performance with this level of success.

“She had her goal set on what she wanted,” Bammes said. “She’s had some ups and downs throughout the season, but her goal was to get back there and to get the job done and extremely proud of her for doing so. 

“She’s put the work in.”