The 5th Annual Newton Girls Tournament of Champions lived up to its name, featuring loaded 32-man brackets at every weight and drawing elite competition from across the state, in all classes. Eureka sent three Lady Tornadoes into the gauntlet, and all three battled through deep fields, facing ranked oppo nents and showcasing grit, resilience and growth on one of the toughest stages of the season, with two of the Lady Tornadoes walking away with hardware.
Lady Tornado sophomore Maela Neill claimed 7th placed in the 125-pound weight class. She claimed back-to-back first period pins to reach the quarterfi nal round. She lost in quar- terfinals to a 5A student with just one loss on her record. She then worked her way through the consolation bracket and placed 7th.
At 110-pounds, freshman Emma Baumgartel fought her way to an 8th-place finish. She also started the tournament with a first- round fall, then moved to quarters with a major decision over her next oppo- nent. After a quarterfinal setback, Baumgartel rebounded in the consolation round to ensure hardware at the event.
Eureka senior, Harlie Owings, faced a very competitive bracket in the 170-pound weight class. She quickly made her way to quarterfinals where matches were decided by 1-2 point decisions. Unfortunately, Owings came up short in the quarters, falling in a tie-breaker, 1-3, and moving to the consolation round. She lost her next match, again by decision and concluded her run for hardware at this year’s Tournament of Champions.
Following are the individual match results for Eureka participants: 110: Emma Baumgartel (15-10) placed 8th. She won by fall over Tazuko Spangler (Goddard High) 5-14 (Fall 1:38); won a 15-4 major decision over De`ja Giles (Newton ) 13-9; lost by fall to Camdyn Post (Great Bend) 16-6 (Fall 1:08); won a 9-5 decision over Kimberly Altamirano- Cruz (Manhattan ) 1712; lost a 1-11 major decision to Reagan Neal (Leon Bluestem) 19-3; and lost by fall to Miley Locke (Basehor- Linwood) 16-7 (Fall 1:50).
125: Maela Neill (17-10) placed 7th. She won by fall over Brooklyn Smith (Goddard High) 2-6 (Fall 1:02); won by fall over Elizabeth Miller (Olathe South) 12-9 (Fall 1:04); lost by fall to Courtney Nye (Kapaun Mt. Carmel) 22-1 (Fall 3:12); won an 11-3 major decision over Charlee Nehl (Tonganoxie) 14-9; lost a 6-8 decision to Payton Charles (Basehor-Linwood) 16-13; and won by fall over Alexandria Streck (Newton ) 17-9 (Fall 2:01).
170: Harlie Owings (163) received a bye; won by fall over Jasmine Olivares (Valley Center) 7-7 (Fall 1:32); lost a 1-3 decision in tie-breaker - 1 to Chloe Spears (Derby) 21-5; and lost a 2-6 decision to Rydlie Swanson (Great Bend) 13-12.
Up Next
The Eureka Tornadoes will host their annual Junior Varsity Mixer on Friday, Jan. 23, beginning at 4:30 p.m. and their annual Eureka Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, beginning at 9:30 a.m. See related article.
Maela Neill
