Ortiz girls lead area wrestling state placers

The Inaugural Kansas State High School Activities Association Girls Wrestling State Championships at Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina produced plenty of excitement, a tight team race that wasn't decided until late in the tournament, and five grapplers from Southwestern Kansas who made history for their respective schools on Thursday.

Led by Isabell Ortiz and Josiah Ortiz of Lakin, four schools all told had their first medalist in girls wrestling at the event. Of the 11 area wrestlers who qualified, five ended up placing in the Top 6 of their respective weight classes.

Topeka-Washburn Rural came from behind to win the team title by four points over Great Bend, 84-80. Lakin was the highest-placing team from Southwestern Kansas, finishing in 7th place.

Josiah Ortiz, at 101 pounds, will be known as the first girls wrestler in state history to win by technical fall, using a pair of takedowns, a reversal and three 3-point near-falls to end the match in 4 minutes, 39 seconds with Towanda-Shawnee Heights' Alexanderia Bruce.

In the quarterfinals, Ortiz (30-7) pinned Rylee Scott of Fort Dodge at 5:56, in a match which Ortiz controlled from the outset. However, Ortiz lost a tough 3-1 decision to Kennedy Leiszler of Concordia in the semifinals. Leiszler broke a 1-all tie with a takedown with 53 seconds left in regulation to secure the win.

Josiah Ortiz then put herself in position for bronze by knocking off Liberal's Mana Chanthansone with an 8-0 major decision. Breckyn Elliott of Great Bend ended up taking the 3rd place match over Ortiz with a 10-4 decision.

Isabell Ortiz (30-4) had a first-round bye in the 109-pound draw, then won in the quarterfinals by technical fall in 4:19 over Holcomb's Amilia Martinez (24-10). Independence's Alexis Allen knocked Ortiz to the consolation bracket with a 7-4 decision.

Sarah Zimmerman of Hays lost to Ortiz in an 8-0 major decision to advance to the 3rd Place Match, where Isabell Ortiz finished off with a walkover win over Skyleigh Pflaster of Abilene.

Chanthansone (25-12) took a 9-4 decision over Chloe Gile of Labette County in her opener, then was pinned by Osawatomie's Amanda Newcomb in 1:37 in the quarterfinals to drop to the consolation bracket. (Osawatomie Hs) 20-0 won by fall over Mana Chanthansone pinned Bruce in 2:38, and Eleanor Breen of Wichita-Southeast in 2:52 before falling to Ortiz in the consolation semifinals. Chanthansone ended up placing sixth.

Dodge City 143-pounder Autumn Perez became her school's first female placer in girls wrestling with a 6th-place finish. Perez finishes her season with a 13-9 record.

Perez lost her opening match to Hanna Vann of Fort Scott by pinfall, then won her first two matches in the consolation round after receiving a bye. First, PErez won a 5-4 decision over Cheyenne Harris of Humboldt, then pinned Baldwin's Emma Grossoehme in 2:02.

Abbie Jones of Labette County then took a 4-3 decision in the consolation semifinals. Perez then lost the 5th place Match in a 6-5 decision to Sydney Boyle of Wakeeney-Trego Community.

Anjelina Serrano of Garden City was the lone Buffalo grappler of the six who qualified to place, finishing 5th in the tournament.

After a first-round bye, the 130-pound Serrano (34-8) pinned Kaitlyn Hain of Wellington in 2:22 in the quarterfinals, before getting pinned by Brianna Randles of Topeka-West in 1:20 in the semifinals.

Marissa Porsch of Hoxie picked up a 3-1 decision over Serrano in the consolation semifinals. Serrano would bounce back and pin Amber Martinek of Silver Lake in 58 seconds to take 5th place.