On Saturday, Bonner Springs High School hosted the KSHSAA 5A regional girls’ wrestling tournament. Thirty girls from seven Wyandotte County high schools qualified for the state tournament by finishing in the top eight in their weight classes.
Wyandotte High School also had a state qualifier from the 6A regional tournament at Shawnee Mission Northwest. This is the first year that KSHSAA has split 5A and 6A schools for girls’ wrestling competition.
Piper’s Rylee Burke (120), Maia Dolinar (135), and Malia Martin (170) were regional champions, among seven qualifiers for the Pirates. Dolinar was named the regional’s Wrestler of the Year by a vote of the coaches.
Dolinar, a junior, now has a season record of 34-1 — her only loss early-on to a Missouri wrestler. She finished as a state runner-up last year and has 97 total career victories.
Bonner Springs also had seven state-qualifying wrestlers. Three Lady Braves qualified for the tournament’s championship round, including junior Addison Vogel, who faced off with junior Cianna Graves of Shawnee Heights for the third consecutive year.
Vogel won last year’s match for the regional title, but Graves got ahead early in this year’s final and held on despite Vogel’s late reversal.
Washington’s Reddi Johnson came into the regional undefeated but gave up her first loss of the season in the 130-pound semifinal to 32-1 senior Isabel Reyes of Shawnee Heights. Johnson recovered to take third place, pinning De Soto’s Leah Marovec in the first period of their placement match.
Basehor-Linwood took the team championship, and the Ladycats’ coach Jay Johnston was named Coach of the Year by a vote of his peers. Shawnee Heights finished second, led by senior Reece Taylor, who notched her 100th win.
Piper finished third in the team standings and Bonner Springs tied with Spring Hill for sixth.
The boys’ regionals take place next weekend, running Friday and Saturday. The 5A regional is at Basehor-Linwood High School, and the 6A regional is at Olathe Northwest.
The KSHSAA state wrestling tournaments will take place on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1. The 5A tournament is in Park City, and the 6A tournament is in Overland Park.
Visit Dotte Sports for lots more photos from the event.
