Wellington girls wrestling team is No. 2 in Class 4-1A in latest KWCA poll
2021-22 WHS girls wrestling team. (Click to enlarge)
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — While the Wellington girl basketball team is ranked No. 1, the Crusader girl wrestlers are receiving similar respect across the state of Kansas.
Wellington girls are ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 4-3-2-1A Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll released today.
Pratt is ranked No. 1 with Wellington following at No. 2. Other team rankings are 3. Lakin, 4. Burlington, 5. Baldwin, 6. Holton, 7. Hoisington, 8. Chapman, 9. Rose Hill and 10. Rossville. (See the full rankings here)
The Crusaders also have three girls ranked individually. Anna Cullens is ranked No. 1 at 101. Kaitlyn Hain is ranked No. 4 at 138. And Averie Burns is ranked No. 3 at 235.
Wellington has concluded its regular season and will be preparing for the regional tournament in two weeks in Remington. It will be a tough one. Wellington and Pratt are pitting against other with Rose Hill also participating.
Wellington head coach Mitch McComb says the regional on Feb. 12 will go a long way to determine who wins the state tournament.
“On paper, Pratt probably has too many horses,” McComb said. “They could get more than eight wrestlers to state. We will need to match them to even have a chance.”
While the ranked girls are favorites to go, McComb is hoping for Deighlynn Lea at 109, Nexy Young at 115, Isabelle Cullens at 120 and Kaylee Horninek at 155 with Sophie Parkey at 126 with an outside shot.
The trouble with Pratt is there are three girls from the same family. Tate Thompson, the head wrestling coach, has three daughters who are either ranked No. 1 or 2.
Wellington recently won the Wichita South Tournament Saturday scoring 114 points. Salina Central finished with 95, Lakin 72, Bishop Carroll 70, Wichita West 69, McPherson 60, Mulvane 45, Wichita South 38, Labette County 33, Newton 32, Wichita North 31, Buhler 24, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 22, Wichita East 20, Eureka 16.
Wellington individual results for the tournament:
101- Cullens (20-1) – pinned all three of her opponent for first place.
109- Lea (16-12) – went 1-2 and did not place.
115- Young (19-4) placed second. She pinned her first two opponents but lost by pin to Isabell Ortiz of Lakin in the championship.
120- I. Cullens (9-5) placed second. She pinned her first two opponents but was pinned in the championship to Giulia Viliani of Newton.
126- Parkey (1-18) was pinned in her two matches.
138- Hain (24-1) pinned all three of her opponents for first place.
155- Horinek (13-11) placed third. She was pinned by Kammi Schanz of Mulvane before pinning her three other opponents.
235- Burns (19-5) placed third. She was pinned by Bailey Morales of Salina Central but pinned her two other opponents.
