Manhattan High’s girls wrestling team proved it belongs among the state’s elite Saturday, punching 13 tickets to state and finishing runner-up at the Class 6A West Regional at Wichita South.
The Indians totaled 239 points, finishing just 8.5 behind team champion Garden City (247.5) in one of the toughest regionals in the state.
“It actually taught us a lot,” head coach Shawn Bammes said. “We were closer than we thought at the beginning of the year to running Garden City down. So we learned a lot from it.”
The West Regional featured over half of the top 10 teams in 6A, making advancement a battle from start to finish.
“West Regional is always really, really tough,” Bammes said. “If we make it through that one, there’s a very good chance to place at state. The competition is good for us. We like seeing kids have to work to get there.”
Manhattan’s senior leaders delivered. Alayna Slifer (135 pounds) and Sophia Hoeme (140) each captured regional championships, leading a group that put six wrestlers into title matches.
“They both had good solid days,” Bammes said. “They’ve been feeling their best and still went out there and put on performances and brought home regional championships. I’m proud of the girls, proud of our senior leadership with this group, and those two both kind of leading the way for us.”
Four more Indians finished second: Eva Lucios (100), Evelyn Thornburg (125), Kayla Cramer (130) and Tasia Miller (155). Kalena Borge (105) and Tierra Young (145) added third-place finishes as Manhattan stacked points throughout the bracket.
Additional placers for the Indians included, Erica Li (5th, 170), Kimberly Altamirano-Cruz (6th, 110), Alison Kaupp (7th, 115), Eleanor Radi (7th, 120) and Chloe Ramos (8th, 190).
“We’re to the point where we’re peaking at the right time,” Bammes said. “Everybody’s ready to let it all fly here in a couple of weeks.”
One of the weekend’s biggest breakthroughs came from the freshman Borge. After dropping a match to her opponent from Washburn Rural at league, Borge flipped the script at regionals.
“Kalena Borge, a freshman for us, she redeemed a loss to the Washburn girl from league,” Bammes said. “She not only beat her once this weekend, she beat her twice. She ran into her twice in the bracket and beat her both times. She received a lot of confidence.”
Despite missing out on the regional title by a narrow margin, the Indians left Wichita encouraged.
“We were closer than we thought,” Bammes said. “It gives us hope for state in a couple of weeks.”
The Manhattan boys will compete in regionals starting on Friday.
“I think we should come away from that one comparable to where the girls are, as far as numbers that qualify,” Bammes said. “The kids are ready. They’ve had a little bit of downtime. Everybody’s feeling good.”
After the boys wrap up regional play, the Manhattan program will turns its attention to the Class 6A state tournament Feb. 27-28 in Overland Park.