As wrestling partners, Iola’s Zoie Hesse and Addilyn Wacker do just about everything together on the mat.
 
So why not make history together as well?
 
That’s exactly what the Mustang duo did Friday at the Class 4A state championships, becoming the girls program’s first-ever state finalists.
 
“I knew we both had good shots at it,” Wacker said of becoming Iola’s first finalists. “We’ve been working hard at it.”
 
Wacker technically got there first, getting her spot in the finals with a nerve-wracking double-overtime win in her 130-pound semifinal match. But Hesse got there quicker, needing just 35 seconds to secure her spot in the finals.
 
“I think it’s really awesome since we’ve been practice partners since kids club,” Hesse said. “It feels really good going to the championship together.”
 
At first glance, the Iola duo might seem like a bit of an odd couple as practice partners. After all, there’s a 60-pound difference in the weight classes in which they wrestle. But with limited numbers in the Mustang wrestling room and Iola having only one other state qualifier, their level of ability somewhat dictates they go against each other on a daily basis.
 
And Hesse said, it just works and they find ways to help each other get better.
 
“She does help me with quickness and also helps me with my stamina,” Hesse said. “A lot of 190 girls aren’t going to make it to the third period, so she helps me with that. And feel like I also help her with strength since I’m a lot bigger than she is.”
 

 
Wacker just missed out on making history by herself a year ago when she reached the state semifinals at 130 pounds as the top seed out of her regional. But one win away from the finals, she was upset by Halstead’s Kahlyn Davis in an 11-2 loss.
 
“I definitely wanted it really bad last year,” Wacker said. “But it put more pressure on me, but it was good pressure, not bad pressure.”
 
The pressure was on Wacker not just once but twice on Friday as she had a pair of gut-wrenching wins. The first of those came right out of the gate as she survived a 3-2 win over Nickerson’s Brooklyn Schneider in her opening match, giving up two stalling points in the third period after having a first-period takedown.
 
After a 13-1 major decision win in the quarterfinals over Nemaha Central’s Harper Foster, Wacker was back on the ropes in the semifinals against Smoky Valley’s Brylie Ricketts. Through three periods and an overtime the only points of the match came on escapes by both.
 
That sent it to the two 30-second double-overtime periods and Wacker drew the down position in the first of those. She not only got an escape, but also managed to finally get a takedown to go up 5-1.
 
“All that was going through my brain was, ‘Who wants it more?’” Wacker said. “I knew I had to pick up the pace. I had to push it to my limit and I just had to get my mental space to be good. Getting that takedown and securing points definitely helped because I knew I could work good on my feet.”
 
As thrilling as the win was for Wacker, she said she got even more enjoyment in watching Hesse join her in the finals. 
 
A state qualifier a year ago who went 1-2, Hesse didn’t have the same near-miss fuel as Wacker had from a year ago. But she came out with a fire that made her finals berth look awfully easy in accomplishing.
 
She pinned her first two foes in the first period, needing just over a minute for her first fall and just under a minute and a half for her quarterfinal win. Riding that momentum, Hesse made quick work of Hoisington’s Nevaeh Graves in the semifinals.
 
She had watched Graves’ previous match and learned a nuance in the Cardinal’s style that proved big in their match as she needed just 35 seconds to get the pin victory.
 
“I noticed that all she did was tie with her left,” Hesse said. “I was like, ‘Well, I can’t do anything with my left because I don’t work on that in practice.’ So I tied with her right and once I tried to hit my slide by, she caught me. She tried a throw and I sat back and threw her to her back.
 
“Watching Addy was scary, but me winning was thrilling.”
 
“Definitely Zoie (was more thrilling),” Wacker said. “I know how bad we both wanted it and seeing her succeed was better than me succeeding.”
 
Wacker (22-1) and Hesse (35-3) will now look to make more history and become Iola’s first-ever state champion, boy or girl.
 
Wacker, who is ranked No. 1 at 130, will take on Wellington’s Maddie Fullerton (37-3), who pinned Santa Fe Trail’s Morgan Pickering in her semifinal match. Hesse, who is No. 2 at 190, faces Winfield’s Abby Brenn (22-2), who won the state title at 190 last year.
 

 
TONGANOXIE’S PANKEY PULLS OFF BIGGEST UPSET OF DAY 1, BUT HAS COMPANY IN SPOILER ROLE
 
It wasn’t like Kaylee Pankey didn’t enjoy a successful season a year ago. The Tonganoxie senior went 31-15 as a junior.
 
But after going just 1-2 at state, Pankey said there’s been a big difference in taking things to another level this season.
 
“I feel like I got more technical and more confident in myself, not being so nervous,” Pankey said. “I’d get really nervous last year and wouldn’t perform as well as I would have liked.”
 
Pankey had every chance to test both of those areas of improvement in Friday’s 115-pound semifinal match. After all, her opponent in the match was Circle’s Alexis Wall, who was 26-0, ranked No. 1 and won a state championship in 2024.
 
“I was pretty nervous, but I stayed confident,” Pankey said. “I knew it was going to be tough so I had to hand fight more. But once I got on the mat, I got more confident in what I was doing.”
 
That confidence should be riding an all-time high now. Pankey used a pair of four-point near falls in the second period to take control of the match and dealt Wall her first loss of the season with an 11-7 victory. Now 41-7 on the season, Pankey will wrestle for a state title for the first time in her career.
 
“it’s the biggest win I’ve ever had,” Pankey said.
 
Pankey had some company in the upset department as another No. 1 and a two-time returning state champion both were knocked off.
 

 
Hoisington’s Trinity Graves provided one of the stunners, beating No. 1 Olive Dubois of Wellsville in the 125-pound semifinals. Dubois was a state runner-up a year ago to four-time undefeated state champion Gabi Koppes of Clay Center.
 
But this season she’d posted a 45-1 mark going into the semifinal match with Graves. But the Cardinal sophomore surprised not only Dubois, but herself in taking an 8-4 victory.
 
“I definitely didn’t think I was going to make the finals with how I’ve been wrestling lately,” Graves said. “I’ve always gotten in my head about it and gotten really nervous. Today, I just realized I wanted it more and needed to work more. I just went out there with confidence and didn’t worry about their records.”
 
Graves had pinned her way into the semifinals but figured to face her toughest test of the season in Dubois, who needed 35 and 42 seconds for pins in her first two matches. Instead, it took her just 15 seconds to get the first takedown of the match.
 
Dubois quickly reversed, but Graves responded with her own reversal at the end of the period to lead 5-2. She then chose to start the second period neutral and again caught Dubois with a quick takedown for an 8-2 lead. Dubois reversed again to cut it to 8-4 and then opted for the down position, forcing Graves to keep her down.
 
She was able to ride Dubois out for the entire third period for the upset.
 
“I knew that I had to get my shots to get her down,” Graves said. “I knew right then and there I could not let her take it to me. It makes me feel like I can win it all tomorrow.”
 
The challenge will be a tough one with Chapman’s Alyssa Calovich awaiting in the title match. Calovich won a state title as a freshman in 2023 before health issues hampered her the past two seasons. This season, she’s 39-1.
 

 
Prior to Pankey’s win over Wall and Graves’ upset of Dubois, Scott City’s Haylie McDaniel sent a bit of a shocker ripple through the Tony’s Pizza Events Center when she knocked off Fort Scott’s Kenna Miles in the 110 semifinals. Miles had won the state title each of the past two seasons at 110 and though Frontenac’s Harper Holmes was the favorite in the bracket this year as a two-time returning state champion, Miles seemed destined to be her finals foe.
 
Miles led 3-0 after the first, but McDaniel got a takedown in the second period after Miles had chosen neutral to start the period. Tied 3-3 going to the third, McDaniel started in the down position and Miles successfully kept her there for almost the entire period.
 
But with time winding down, McDaniel was able to work free and got the winning escape in the final seconds for the 4-3 win.
 
McDaniel (35-6) will try to deny Holmes (39-5) her three-peat bid in the finals.
 

 
The younger sister of former Tonganoxie boys’ champion Tyler Pankey, Kaylee didn’t take up wrestling until her sophomore year. But success has come quickly and now she can join Tyler as a state champion, facing Chapman’s Cambree Obermeyer (36-5) in the finals after Obermeyer pinned Wellsville’s Jazz Kirk in her semifinal match.
 
The two met at state last year with Obermeyer ending Pankey’s tournament with a 9-1 win in the consolation second round.
 
Pankey struck early in her semifinal win over Wall, getting a takedown early in the first period. But Wall, who rallied in her regional title match to get the win after being down early, quickly responded and got a reversal and two-point near fall to go up 4-3.
 
But starting the second period in the top position, Pankey was right where she needed to be. Catching Wall with a chicken wing, Pankey turned the T-Bird to her back twice and while she couldn’t get the pin, she got two four-point near falls that proved to be the decisive points in the match.
 
“I’m not sure how I got it, but once I got it, she tried to turn into me and I knew I could run it,” Pankey said. “I just believed in myself.”
 

 
ABILENE LEADS TIGHT TEAM RACE
 
Boosted by dominant showings from twin sisters Josie and Jade Wilson, Abilene took a slight lead in the team race. The Cowgirls sit with 69 points, seven ahead of Colby and 10 ahead of Santa Fe Trail.
 
Both Wilsons stayed undefeated on the season in relatively easy fashion. Josie recorded a trio of first-period pins at 100 pounds, including a 54-second fall of Wamego’s Peyton Brazzle in the semifinals, while Jade had three pins as well, including a second-period fall against Santa Fe Trail’s Jaycee Wiscombe in the 105 semifinals. 
 
Josie (33-0) will take on Santa Fe Trail freshman Kennedy Portlock (34-5) in the 100 finals while Jade (40-0) will meet Nemaha Central’s Renae Keim (31-3) in the 105 finals.
 
Abilene had a third semifinalist, but Kaylee Weibert was pinned by Concordia’s Gabi Lange in the 140 semifinals.
 
Colby had four semifinalists, but came away with just one finalist as No. 1 Morgan Hills continued her quest to win a second straight state title at 135 pounds. Hills pinned Smoky Valley’s Roxana Riedel in the semifinals, improving to 44-2 and will take on Nemaha Central’s Autumn Feldkamp (35-10) in the finals.
 
Santa Fe Trail also had four semifinalists and also got just one into the finals, Portlock at 100. The freshman pinned all three of her opponents, including Colby’s Adrian Salcido in the semifinals.
 
Wellsville had the lead going into the semifinals, putting five wrestlers into the round. But the Eagles had a disastrous semifinal round, going 0-5 with 125-pound No. 1 Olive Dubois and 115 No. 2 Jazz Kirk both getting knocked off.
 
Chanute’s Kiley Dillow continued her winning streak and quest for a three-peat at 170 rolling right along, pinning all three of her opponents in the first period, including a 36-second pin of Scott City’s Dayanara Jimenez in the semifinals.
 
Returning 190 champion Abby Brenn of Winfield also cruised into the finals with two pins and major decision victory.
 
Undefeated Wamego freshman Leolyn Karnowski was dominant at 155 pounds with three first-period pins, including a 36-second pin of Holcomb’s Alexis White in the semifinals.