Garden City, Dodge City boys; Lakin girls rise in KWCA polls

Grapplers from Southwestern Kansas schools continue to make a name for themselves as evidence by the latest Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association rankings, which were released Tuesday.

The Lakin girls were among three teams to climb in the Girls Wrestling rankings, going up from 4th to 3rd in this week's poll. The Broncs continue to have two wrestlers ranked No. 2 in their respective weight classes - Josiah Ortiz at 101 pounds, and Isabella Ortiz at 109 pounds.

Three other area girls wrestlers are also ranked this week. Liberal's Maria Chanthanson is ranked sixth at 101 pounds, Amelia Martinez of Holcomb is ranked fifth at 109 pounds, and Garden City's Anjelina Serrano is ranked fourth at 130 pounds.

On the boys side, both Garden City and Dodge City gained a spot in the Class 6A team polls, moving up to 2nd and 4th, respectively. And of the 14 weight classes in boys wrestling, 12 of them include a wrestler from Garden City or Dodge City in the individual rankings.

Garden City has two wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weights - Silas Pineda at 120, and Jacob Holt at 138. They are joined by seven fellow Buffaloes - Ryan Heiman (4th at 126), Diego Hernandez (3rd at 132), Erick Dominguez (6th at 145), Josh Janas (2nd at 152), Jared Arrelano (4th at 160), Alexander Rodriguez (6th at 170) and Matt Smith (5th at 220).

Dodge City has a total of seven wrestlers individually ranked, led by Damian Martinez, who is ranked No. 1 at 113 pounds. Martinez is flanked by teammates Garrett Edwards (2nd at 145), Lucas Barker (4th at 152), Ruben Rayas (2nd at 160), Jashon Taylor (3rd at 170), Ryan Parga (6th at 182) and Cody Terrell (5th at 285).

In Class 4A, Scott Community - fresh off of winning their own tournament this past weekend - stays at No. 4 in the latest team rankings. The Beavers are buoyed by five wrestlers ranked individually, led by Justus McDaniel, who is ranked No. 1 at 145 pounds, and Kaden Wren, who is top-ranked at 138 pounds.

Other Scott Community wrestlers individually ranked are Zach Rohrbough (5th at 126), Noah Kilesen (6th at 152) and Gabe Bowers (5th at 285).

Both Colby and Ulysses have three individuals ranked in the top six of their respective weight classes. The Tigers are led by No. 1-ranked Ayston Perez at 285 pounds, and also have Quentin Padua (3rd at 106) and Jace Garrison (6th at 220) in the rankings.

The Eagles are led by Hagan Booi, who is ranked second at 195 pounds. Aiden Cook (5th at 113) and Tyler Voss (5th at 120) are also ranked individually.

Also ranked in Class 4A is Michael Mendoza of Hugoton, who is the 5th-ranked wrestler at 160 pounds.

In Class 3-2-1A, only four area wrestlers - and no teams - are in the rankings, but two of them are ranked No. 1 at their weight - Goodland's DJ Knox (106) and Cimarron's Tate Seabolt (170). Jesse Gardner of Wichita County is ranked third at 160 pounds, and Kayden Christiansen of Lakin is ranked fourth at 182 pounds.