Washburn Rural girls wresting defends state title by making it 'about relationships'
PARK CITY — It was a magical day for Washburn Rural girls wrestling on Saturday. The Junior Blues secured back-to-back Class 6-5A state championships in Park City’s Hartman Arena on Saturday.
Washburn Rural finished with 118 points to win the championship. Garden City followed with 96 points and Dodge City ended in third place with 87 points. The Junior Blues did it collectively, as a whole.
The team's camaraderie was on full display when they received the state championship trophy. Head coach Damon Parker spoke to his team on the arena floor with parents and friends surrounding the group. With smiles on everyone’s faces, the Junior Blues were together soaking in the moment.
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“When you really got to earn it, it is so much more rewarding, so much more valuable,” Parker said. “If we had come here and finished seventh, I would have said the same exact thing, this is still my favorite team that I have ever worked with. Once you stop making it about championships and make it about relationships, make it about loving each other then the championships start happening.”
Molly Spader was the top finisher for the Junior Blues. The 105-pound wrestler secured an opening-round victory by an 11-7 decision. Spader followed it with two pins to advance her to the first-place bout. Derby’s Amara Edhsa outlasted Spader in a 6-4 decision for the state title. Spader had to settle for second place, but it was still an incredible weekend for the junior.
“Of course, I wanted to win, but I am so proud of the team. I tried my best,” Spader said. “I knew our team could do it. Since the beginning, we didn’t care about winning one. We just wanted to go out there and wrestle. If we won, we won, we just wanted to have fun this year.”
When asked if the team had fun this year, Spader responded with a huge smile.
“Yeah, we had a lot of fun,” she grinned.
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Five other Washburn Rural wrestlers reached the podium in the state championship. Laiken Clark in the 135-pound division and TaAni Rhoten, 170-pounds, both finished in third place in their respective division. Fatima Escobar (145 pounds) finished in fourth place while Lacey Middleton (120) and Madison Blanco (130) took sixth place.
Kamiryn Clark (100), Maddy Blow (115), Annie Gallegos (125) and Elia Smith (190) represented Washburn Rural at the state meet. Although this team’s performances were striking, the most notable occurrence during the weekend was the program’s volume.
The loudest cheers rang from supporters of Washburn Rural. Around the arena, fans would chant the name of each wrestler, providing a euphoric atmosphere that helped drive the team to victory.
“Our fans bring it and we are very intentional about having them get down here,” Parker said. “Not just the parents, but bring those freshman that are JV kids. So they can get a look at this, they know the expectation is so when they come here there is no surprise. Then we just pass it on to the next generation that is coming through.”
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Class 6A-5A girls medalists
100 lbs: Seaman’s Ellie Ayres, 6th
105 lbs: Washburn Rural’s Molly Spader, 2nd
120 lbs: Seaman’s Taylie Heston, 3rd; Washburn Rural’s Lacey Middleton, 6th
125 lbs: Shawnee Heights’ Reece Taylor, 4th
130 lbs: Washburn Rural’s Madison Blanco, 6th
135 lbs: Washburn Rural’s Laiken Clark, 3rd
145 lbs: Washburn Rural’s Fatima Escobar, 4th; Shawnee Heights’ McKenna Haltom, 6th
155 lbs: Shawnee Heights’ Cianna Graves, 5th
170 lbs: Washburn Rural’s TeAni Rhoten, 3rd
Class 4A-1A girls medalists
115 lbs: Rossville’s Keera Lacock, 4th
120 lbs: Rossville’s Kendra Hurla, 1st
155 lbs: Rossville’s Hailey Horton, 1st
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Washburn Rural girls wrestling wins back-to-back KSHSAA state titles
