GIRLS STATE WRESTLING STORYLINES
 
CLASS 6A
 
At AdventHealth Sports Park, Overland Park
  

 
MANHATTAN’S CRAMER FIGHTS BACK AFTER LOST SEASON
 
Coming off a 40-win season as a freshman in 2023-24, Kayla Cramer was ready to parlay that success into a state title as a sophomore.
 
But before she could even step foot on the mat a year ago, Cramer’s season was lost. Months earlier, even though she didn’t realize it at the time.
 
During track practice her freshman year at Manhattan, Cramer took an awkward tumble in the hurdles and injured her right knee. While the injury was severe enough to keep her from competing in hurdles the rest of the season, it didn’t prevent her from still competing in the pole vault.
 
But when the pain persisted well after the track season finished, Cramer got an MRI and found out some devastating news. She’d completely torn her ACL.
 
“I finished out my track season with it being torn unknowingly,” she said. “When I got the MRI and found out it was torn, it was definitely a big heartbreak. It really didn’t hit me until the (wrestling) season started and I had to just watch everybody go through the season without me.”
 
Coming off a fifth-place finish at state as a freshman, Cramer had to watch as her teammates captured the Centennial League title for the first time, in the process ending Washburn Rural’s reign and dual victory streak. She watched as they battled to an eighth-place finish at the Class 6A state meet.
 
“It hit hard when everyone was going to state, because I wanted to be out there with them so bad,” she said. “It was rough and I tried my best to keep a smile on my face and be there for my teammates. They helped me through it and included me in a lot, which was helpful. And my coaches were very empathetic and helped me through it as well.”
 
Cramer has used the fuel from her lost sophomore season to get back and be a factor in a loaded Manhattan lineup this season. After a runner-up finish at 130 pounds at last week’s regional in Wichita, Cramer is hoping to help the Indians chase a state championship this weekend at AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk in Overland Park.
 
Manhattan goes into the meet ranked No. 2 in Class 6A behind favorite Garden City, which edged the Indians by 8.5 points for the regional title. Cramer is ranked No. 4 at 130 pounds behind Gardner Edgerton's Josie Clouse, Shawnee Mission South's Addilyn Masters and Junction City's Elizabeth Edgerton-Diaz.
 
Now 27-5 on the season after getting pinned by Junction City’s Edgerton-Diaz in the regional finals, the journey back to being a contender hasn’t been an easy one.
 
In a sense, Cramer had to somewhat start from scratch.
 
“I used to shoot on my right leg and now I shoot on my left,” she said. “Everything is flip-flopped. I have to load up on the opposite side, everything opposite. I definitely picked it up a lot faster just knowing wrestling, and when I was completely healthy I did use both in a lot of things besides shooting. I took a couple hours each day learning shots with my opposite leg.
 
“I will say the beginning of the season was rough. I was in a heavy brace and I had to change the way I wrestled. I did a lot of improvising and changing and I didn’t feel like me. Throughout the season, I’ve gained my confidence back. The coaching staff helped me a bunch, encouraging me and all their faith they had in me helped me get through it. I finally figured out my new way of wrestling. I feel a lot more like me, but not 100% the same.”
 
Perhaps the biggest jolt of confidence for Cramer came in mid-January. Already well on her way back to some sense of normalcy and being comfortable on the mat despite dealing with a shoulder injury suffered early in the season at a tournament in Nebraska, Cramer solidified herself when she won the 130-pound title at the Newton Tournament of Champions. 
 
She won a couple tough decisions in the quarterfinals and semifinals before pinning Wichita Northwest’s Nayelli Carter in the finals.
 
“That definitely gave me a huge confidence boost,” she said. “Especially always losing one match at all my other tournaments. It was huge for me, knowing that I’ve been injured and I injured my shoulder earlier this season, too. Having my shoulder and my knee and getting through all of that and winning that title was special for me.”
 

 
Just having Cramer back being a force in the lineup has been special for her teammates and coaches as well.
 
“She brings so much to our team,” Manhattan coach Shawn Bammes said. “She’s a great practice partner, has the strength, the speed the technique so it helps up and down the lineup. Her being back has been a big push for us.”
 
Senior Evelyn Thornburg, who wrestles one weight below Cramer at 125 agreed.
 
“She’s just a great part of our team and it’s so great to have her back,” said Thornburg, who is 29-7 this season and also was a regional runner-up last week. “It was almost like a piece was missing last year. Having her back just strengthens our team. She’s definitely helped take us a different level. We’re trying to run down that championship trophy and having her back in the lineup is huge for us.”
 
Cramer is flanked by not only Thornburg, but returning state champion Alayna Slifer, who is 35-1 at 135 pounds this season, her only loss coming at Newton. Manhattan’s 140-pounder, Sophia Hoeme, is 34-0.
 
“Evelyn and Alayna have helped me a bunch for sure,” Cramer said of her main practice partners. “Alayna gives me that strength, just heavy hips, heavy legs and just strong. And Evelyn really helps with my speed. I’m very thankful for those girls helping me get back and they’re so sweet and encouraging.”
 
In addition to her change in style, Cramer said another change has been just as big of a key to her success.
 
“I think my mental strength has been huge this season,” she said. “I’ve always been physically strong, but my mental state has always been a problem in my wrestling career.”
 
While not at 100% just yet, Cramer said she firmly believes she can contend for the 130 title this weekend, even though it might take avenging the losses she’s suffered to Edgerton-Diaz, who also beat her at the league meet.
 
“I definitely think I have the capability,” she said. “If I was completely healthy, it wouldn’t be as much of a weight on me. I have to try a lot harder to prove myself than if I was completely healthy. But I still think I’m very capable of it.”
 
Bammes feels the same way.
 
“She’s there, we’re just trying to get her to believe that she’s there,” he said. “We all believe in her as coaches. We’re starting to see more and more of it every time out.”


 

WEIGHT-CLASS CLIMB PAYS OFF FOR CAMPUS’ EVANS
 
Campus junior Elayna Evans may not have been an obvious candidate to enjoy a breakthrough wrestling season.
 
Evans made good strides last winter at 155 pounds, qualifying for the Class 6A state tournament for the first time. But she drew 6A East regional champion Siobhan Flanner in the first round, and her tournament was over after two matches that completed a 27-10 season.
 
But all the while, Campus coach Jake Allan kept witnessing Evans’ athleticism and considering alternatives.
 
“Watching her compete at 155 last year, that was one of the toughest classes in the state,” Allan said. “You had (Zjedai) Royal Bey at Olathe North, (Veronica) Madrid at Derby, (Yareli) Garcia at Dodge City, the Garden City girl she wrestled at state (Olivia Dunlap) was a stud.
 
“But then I was looking at higher classes and not that they weren’t great brackets, but I said, ‘Elayna, if you were up here, you’d be running some stuff.’”
 
Allan’s vision has been prophetic. Unranked at the beginning of the season, Evans returns to the state tournament as one of five unbeaten 6A girls, competing at 190 pounds with a 32-0 record.
 
“It feels like 17 bazillion bucks,” Evans said of her climb to No. 1 in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association’s 6A rankings at 190. “I think what I did last year has really helped me this year.
 
“I kind of told myself it’s really all in my head. I just have to work a little bit harder in practice.”
 
Evans’ seeds of competing in a higher weight class were sown during high school offseason competition. She entered the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals last July in Fargo, N.D., posting a 3-2 record at 170 pounds. Then, in October, Allan suggested Evans give the 190-pound weight class a try at the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa after she was battling to make weight at 170.
 
Evans finished fifth with a 4-2 record.
 
“She’s just super strong and super flexible and a stupid-good athlete,” Allan said. “You don’t see 190s who are able to move like Elayna does. I knew the sky was the limit.”
 
Evans caught a bit of a break early in the season, winning by default against reigning Class 4A 190-pound champion Abby Brenn of Winfield after trailing Brenn 9-0 at the Douglass Goodwill Invitational. But Evans continued to put together an impressive string of victories, highlighted by four wins over Wichita Northwest’ Maray Rogers, a third-place finisher at state last year and the preseason No. 1 in 6A.
 
Evans also knocked off Liberal’s Aileen Figueroa – who was No. 1 at the time – on her way to the Rocky Welton Invitational title in Garden City. At the Wichita South regional on Feb. 14, Evans made it through a bracket that featured all six 190-pound wrestlers in the KWCA rankings, pinning Rogers in the first period for the title.
 
“Beating the No. 1 girls was big for me,” Evans said. “It makes me excited to get to state. I’m wanting to see who all is really good from the East regional, as well.”

Moving up in weight classes has allowed Evans to work out more frequently with junior teammate Brooklyn Burling, who is ranked No. 3 at 235 pounds. Burling finished fourth at state a year ago, and is also coming off a regional championship performance.
 
“Knowing that last year we were doing a lot of weight management during the season with Elayna, some weeks were harder than others,” Allan said. “Having that freedom to not have to manage it as much took a lot of stress off her, I think. It’s taken the worst part of wrestling out of the equation for her.”

Garden City will look to ride its depth to a title repeat. The Buffaloes are sending 11 to state, and all 11 are represented in the Class 6A rankings. 

Marina Loera (125) is Garden City’s only top-ranked wrestler. She was one of two regional champions for the Buffaloes last week along with Nicole Abrego at 110 pounds. 

Last year, Crystal Loera won the 125-pound state championship for Garden City. She dropped down to 115 pounds this season where she is ranked second behind two-time state champion Bree Villanueva from Junction City. Marina Loera, Emjay Marez (105), Julissa Rodriguez (120) were all state runner-ups a year ago for the Buffaloes. CLASS 5A
 
At Heartland Credit Union Arena, Park City
 

  
PERFECT 10: KC WASHINGTON SURGES INTO HISTORY WITH UNPRECENDENTED STATE PUSH

The old team photos still hang in the hallway at KC Washington — snapshots of small squads and just a handful of wrestlers. 

This winter, the Wildcats will need a bigger frame. 

In a season that has rewritten the record book, Washington sent 10 girls to the Class 5A regional tournament on Feb. 14 in Bonner Springs — and qualified all 10 for this week’s state tournament in Park City. It marks the most state qualifiers in program history and signals a stunning resurgence under first-year head coach Mario Rodriguez. 

“I think it is great that we went 10 for 10, and it is something that has never been done at this school,” Rodriguez said. “While it is a surprise to many, for me it is not surprising. I see how these girls work every day and that is what sets my expectation so high for them.” 

Washington has emerged as one of the surprise teams in 5A girls wrestling this season. The Wildcats not only boast depth across the lineup, but also feature two of the state’s top-ranked wrestlers in seniors Reddi Johnson (130 pounds) and Jaida Hawkins (170). 

Johnson, ranked No. 1 at 130 with a 28-2 record, returns to state after making history a year ago as the first girls state placer in program history with a fifth-place finish. She claimed her first regional title earlier this month and enters this year’s state tournament with unfinished business. 

“From the second Red stepped on the mat for the first time her sophomore year she has been the fuel to reset this program and create a culture that will continue to affect student athletes at Washington long after she is gone,” Rodriguez said. “She is a competitor at heart, and while being the first state placer in the program's history was special, it only made her more hungry to be on top of the podium.” 

Rodriguez said Johnson believed she was the best wrestler in her bracket last year — a belief that has fueled her intensity ever since. 

“She uses it to have a high intensity throughout practices,” he said. 
 

Hawkins’ rise has been just as dramatic. 

After not qualifying for state last season, Hawkins has blossomed into one of the most dominant wrestlers in Kansas. Also 28-2 and ranked No. 1 at 170, she captured her first regional title and has become a cornerstone of Washington’s surge. 

“Jaida’s first year of wrestling was last year as a junior,” Rodriguez said. “We felt that she underperformed at regionals her first year, getting beat out fired her up and got her working diligently throughout the offseason. She became addicted to the grind.” 

The payoff has been undeniable as Hawkins has emerged as one of the favorites to win her 170-pound class. 

“She has not only shown that she is one of the top wrestlers in the state like we thought she could,” Rodriguez said. “She has gone above that and shown she is one of the most dominant wrestlers in the state.” 

The Wildcats’ breakthrough season extends beyond two stars. Rodriguez, who joined the program as an assistant in 2023 before taking over as head coach this year, has watched participation and belief grow simultaneously. 

“We have pictures of the teams from year’s past in our hallways,” he said. “The years before I got here there were 2-3 wrestlers participating for both the boys and girls teams. Now we are taking 16 boys and girls to the state tournament.” 
 

The turnaround has been fueled by buy-in and leadership and Rodriguez has leaned on his two seniors to help provide the example for others to follow. 

“The key is getting kids that want to be disciplined and committed to the process,” Rodriguez said. “Once you have a few buy in and gain success others want to follow the same path. Red and Jaida have been essential to this process. Not only have they displayed next-level commitment and discipline, but they have shown leadership beyond their age.” 

Rodriguez admitted that while the regional performance was historic, there is more work ahead. 

“I think we came out with the right intensity and focus and then I think after the blood round we kind of let off the gas pedal,” he said of regionals. “We’ve been intentional about making sure that doesn’t happen at state.” 

For a program that once celebrated simply having wrestlers in the lineup, Washington now heads to Park City chasing its first girls state champion with Johnson and Hawkins leading the way. 

“For the girls this is the best season in program history,” Rodriguez said. “I absolutely saw and expected them (Johnson and Hawkins) to be No. 1 in the state. Red and Jaida are the reason coaches join this profession. You can go an entire career and not get the opportunity to mentor an athlete of their caliber.” 

 
CLASS 4A
 
At Tony’s Pizza Events Center, Salina
 

 
NICKERSON’S DICK TRUSTS THE PROCESS IN PURSUIT OF 4A TITLE
 
Time was running out on Nickerson’s Elizabeth Dick during the Class 4A girls regional at Augusta.
 
Dick, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in 4A at 235 pounds, was locked in a 1-1 duel with Winfield sophomore Rheya Cook for the regional title.
 
As both scrambled for leverage in the final minute, Dick ended up seated on the mat with her back against Cook’s right side. Cook had Dick’s left arm locked up, but Dick used a quick move to free herself and spun to cover Cook for a takedown that gave her a 4-1 victory.
 
“I was just super tired and I really didn’t want to go into overtime,” Dick said of the victory that improved her season record to 25-1. “If I had to, I would. But I was trying my absolute hardest at the end to avoid it.”
 
Dick’s high school wrestling career has been a tale of patience and persistence. From a wrestler who went 8-25 as a freshman to now a three-time state qualifier and title contender, the climb has been both challenging and rewarding.
 
“I tried to wrestle in middle school but there really weren’t many people for me to wrestle,” Dick said. “My freshman year was my first real experience into the world of wrestling and how it really is, and it was brutal.”
 
Dick said a turning point for her came when she enrolled in a weightlifting class her sophomore year. The added strength, coupled with improving technique, started to pay dividends.
 
“I saw a big difference in how things were and how things changed,” Dick said. “I saw something different in myself and I was like, ‘Hey, I can do this.’”
 
Dick improved to 18-16 as a sophomore, qualifying for the Class 4-1A state tournament, where she went 1-2. A year ago, Dick reached the 235-pound semifinals of the 4A state tournament, losing 9-6 to eventual runner-up Meaa Allen of Perry-Lecompton.
 
Dick bounced back to finish third, ending her season at 27-10.
 
“That was big for my confidence,” Dick said. “I learned new things and saw new people I’ve never seen before. It kind of showed me even though it’s a bigger tournament, it’s still just another tournament.”
 
Dick has maintained her spot atop the 4A rankings all season, losing only to Campus’ Brooklyn Burling in a second-period pin at the Clearwater Invitational. Dick also defeated Burling twice.
 
“She’s really embraced it,” Nickerson coach Alan Kreutzer said of Dick’s No. 1 ranking. “She’s never really let it go to her head too much because she knew any given match she could lose it.
 
“But she’s definitely used it as motivation. She understands when she out there, she’s the hunted. It drives her to work hard but it also keeps her pretty humble.”
 
After a tough regional final with Cook, Dick said she anticipates a huge challenge trying to end her high school career with a state title.
 
“It won’t be easy because everyone is fighting to get on that podium,” Dick said.

 
CLASS 3-1A
 
At Gross Memorial Coliseum, Hays
 

 
LATE-SEASON REALITY CHECK FUELS WEST FRANKLIN’S CRABTREE IN PUSH FOR STATE TITLE
 
The 2025-26 season was going along awfully smoothly for Mya Crabtree.
 
Coming off a runner-up finish at 140 pounds at the Class 3-2-1A state championships a year ago, the West Franklin senior navigated the early weeks of the season at that weight flawlessly before opting to drop down to 135 where she immediately took over the No. 1 ranking in late December.
 
Her dominant ways continued and the potential for an undefeated season became more and more of a reality.
 
Then reality slapped her in the face. At West Franklin’s home six-team mixer on Feb. 5, just a week before the start of the girls wrestling postseason, Crabtree suffered what could have been a devastating loss.
 
Tied 1-1 with Kansas City Washington’s Reddi Johnson going into overtime, Crabtree was taken down and to her back by the Wildcat 130-pounder, who moved up a weight class for a showdown with Crabtree. Though Crabtree fought off the pin, it was an 8-1 loss and the first blemish on her previously perfect record. 
 
“I am a little bit stinging from it,” Crabtree said at the Class 3-2-1A regional held at Silver Lake. “It definitely put the fire in me for this tournament (regionals) and state. That was most definitely the time for it and it shook my brain loose. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not encased in stone. I can actually lose.’
 
“It was good to get that before regionals and state and it’s been a spark and now it’s built into a bonfire.”
 
Crabtree returned to her dominant ways at regionals, pinning all four of her opponents in the first period, including three in less than a minute. After pinning Silver Lake’s McKenna Harris with 24 seconds left in the first period of the title match, Crabtree will take a 38-1 record into this weekend’s Class 3-2-1A state tournament in Hays.
 
Crabtree is ranked No. 1 at 135 pounds, one of just two top-ranked wrestlers in 3-2-1A from the eastern half of the state along with Onaga 235-pounder Emmarsyn Fordham. The remaining 12 No. 1s all hail from western Kansas and Crabtree admitted it was a pretty big deal to be a rarity in the rankings.
 
“Honestly, it’s really cool, especially when you see those other girls on your side of the state in the rankings,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Oh look, you’re here too!’ But there aren’t many of us, for sure.”
 
Crabtree has certainly earned her acclaim. After going 32-8 as a sophomore and finishing 0-2 at state at 135, Crabtree moved up to 140 last year and took advantage of the split of 4A and 3-2-1A into their separate state tournaments. She claimed a regional title and then pinned her way into the state finals before running into Norton freshman sensation Halle Pfannenstiel. 
 
Taking a 34-2 record into the match, Crabtree was no match for Pfannenstiel, who dominated her in a 19-2 technical fall victory.
 
“I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t close at all,” Crabtree said. “That girl was so good.”
 
That loss served as her first dose of fuel to make sure she finished her senior season on top, and in the process become West Franklin’s first female state champion.
 
“I worked extremely hard over the summer to build myself to be better and I think I have definitely locked down my change in mentality,” she said. “I think I am probably in the best mindset I’ve had to date. I am extremely motivated and have a wonderful coaching staff and wonderful team behind me to help me get there. I have a lot of tools in my toolbox and I plan to use them to get to the top of the podium.”
 
Those tools have ben sharpened by a practice room that includes West Franklin’s first-ever state champion. Fellow senior Logan Courtois became the first Falcon to win a state title a year ago when he claimed the boys’ 3-2-1A championship at 144 pounds.
 
A transfer who moved from Burlingame to West Franklin a year ago along with younger brothers Chase and Waylon, the Courtois’ have been a welcome addition to the program, particularly for Crabtree.
 
“It’s probably one of the main reasons I’ve progressed so much, having them as partners,” said of the brother trio, who each claimed 3-2-1A regional titles Saturday at Rossville. “Our room is small (in numbers) so I just kind of bounce everywhere and I really work out with either (Logan) or Chase, who is a great partner as well.
 
“Just being able to be around them, learn from them, learn their techniques and learn to be a lot looser has been amazing. Learning from Logan especially because he’s been at the top of the state and has been able to get himself there, it was like, ‘Oh, I’ll learn from him.’ Being his partner has just been fantastic and hopefully I can do what he did and get to the top of the podium, too.”
 
Last year’s 135-pound state champion, Russell’s Kinzey Zorn, is now at 145, but Oakley’s Abbygayl Jackson is back after finishing runner-up to Zorn at state last year. Ranked No. 2, Jackson topped No. 3 Mya Trevino of Russell in their regional title match putting Trevino on Crabtree’s side of the bracket. No. 5 Hayden Staab of Plainville also is on Crabtree’s side of the bracket after taking fifth at the west regional.
 

PORTER READY TO CLOSE OUT GROUNDBREAKING CAREER FOR WICHITA COUNTY 

Jentri Porter helped pave the way for girls wrestling at Wichita County. 

Porter was the lone member of the team when the girls program first launched in the 2022-23 season. Since then, she’s racked up over 100 career wins and has earned three top-four state medals. 

Now, Porter is set to write the final chapter of her wrestling journey. The senior 105-pounder is 30-0 heading into the 3-1A tournament at Gross Memorial Coliseum. 

“It’s been really emotional with all the lasts that have been coming – last regular meet, last regional, last practice,” Porter said. “I’ve been trying to soak everything in. I’m not going to wrestle in college so I just have the attitude of going to state and giving it my all because this is going to be my last time.

“I just have to wrestle like I have something to prove.” 

During Porter’s freshman season, Wichita County didn’t have a full girls wrestling schedule, leading to limited matches for Porter. She honed her skills by practicing against members of Wichita County’s boys team. 

She finished 21-5 that season and took fourth place at the 4-1A state tournament. 

Wichita County developed a full schedule for its girls team the next season. The program has gradually grown, with eight girls joining the team at the start of this season. Angela Barreras and Jaelene Vestal will also represent the Indians at state this weekend. 

“I feel like it’s been a good leadership opportunity,” Porter said of being Wichita County’s first girls wrestler. “I’ve enjoyed the past couple years bringing other girls and encouraging them to start. Wrestling to me, I felt like it was different from any other sport and I fell in love with it. I take pride that I’ve led other girls to also fall in love with it.”

Porter has taken third place at state in each of the last two seasons. She made the semifinals last year before losing to eventual runner-up Reagan Neal from Bluestem. 

“This year it’s really motivated me that I can be there if I push even harder,” Porter said. “Rankings don’t really matter at all because it’s anyone’s match.”

Jentri’s father, Brent Porter, is the Wichita County girls and boys wrestling coach. Her younger brother, Beau, has enjoyed a standout sophomore season and is ranked No. 3 at 175 pounds. 

“I’ve really loved having my dad as my coach,” Jentri Porter said. “He’s pretty tough on me. He’s always pushing me because he knows I can do better. It’s always good to have someone who is relentless on you and pushing you to your full potential.”

“She’s matured and she’s a very determined wrestler,” Brent Porter said of his daughter.

Porter has won nine tournaments on the season including last week’s regional. She was tested in the regional final, rallying for an 8-7 win over Minneapolis' Bristol Copple after recording a late takedown. 

“She turned me (in the previous matchup), so I knew she was going to be tough on top,” Porter said. “During the match I had confidence in myself. It was a little nerve-racking at the end when I had to choose (position) in the third period.

“But I know I’m good on my feet and that’s where I’m most comfortable. I knew I had enough in me to take her down.”

Porter is one of seven undefeated wrestlers in 3-2-1A along with St. Francis’ Henzley Matthies (25-0) at 100, Smith Center’s  Keleigh Ochoa (42-0) at 110, Norton’s Kaison Miller (40-0) at 125, Russell’s Averie Counts (40-0) at 130, Russell’s Kinsey Zorn (26-0) at 145 and Norton’s Cadence Greeson (36-0) at 190.

“I’ve really felt like since it’s my senior season I’ve got to go out and give it my all,” Porter said. “Just keeping that positive attitude.”

Russell has been ranked No. 1 throughout the season and is coming off a strong performance to win the regional title. Other team title contenders include reigning champion Norton and Oakley, which has been state runner-up in each of the last two seasons. Russell, Norton and Oakley all have eight state qualifiers.