Three members of the Eureka High School girls wrestling team are headed to the biggest stage of the season after performances last Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1213 at the KSHSAA Class 3-2-1A East Regional hosted by Silver Lake High School.
Competing in a loaded regional field, Emma Baumgartel, Maela Neill and Harlie Owings each earned state berths with topfive finishes.
Junior Harlie Owings (32-6) led the way with a second-place finish at 170 pounds. Owings dominated her path to the championship match, recording three consecutive falls.
She opened with a pin of Tristin Ward of Cherryvale in 2:53, followed by another fall over Savannah Marvin of Leon-Bluestem in 2:34. In the semifinals, Owings secured her state qualification with a third straight pin, defeating Brooklyn Carrillo of Burden-Central in 2:28.
In a tightly contested finals match, Owings lost a 0-3 decision to Brenah Cannon of Allen Northern Heights, finishing as regional runner- up and punching her ticket to state for the second time. She placed third in the 170-pound class lass year.
At 110 pounds, freshman Emma Baumgartel (29-16) put together a gritty performance to claim third place.
After receiving a firstround bye, Baumgartel pinned Aliahna Kepner of Rossville in 2:55 in the quarterfinals. A semifinal loss, a 3-13 major decision to Ebony Hughes of Richmond-Central Heights, dropped her into the consolation bracket, but she responded and worked her way to the consolation finals. Baumgartel defeated Bethanie Kagle of Horton by a 9-3 decision in the consolation semifinals before capping her day with a third-place match pin over Rowan Day of Mound City-Jayhawk Linn at the 3:00 mark. Her third-place finish secured her first career trip to the state tournament.
Junior Maela Neill (3316) added to Eureka’s state qualifiers with a fifth-place finish at 125 pounds.
Neill came out strong, pinning York Wyatt of Burlingame in 1:11 and Riley Mohler of Silver Lake in 1:06 to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinal round, Neill faced Tri-Valley (TVL) League opponent Bryleigh Rigdon of Caney, losing by fall at the 3:12 mark to move to the consolation side of the bracket, where she faced another TVL opponent, Ma’Kiah Collins of Cherryvale, who ran a headlock and pinned Neill at the 1:22 mark. Neill then claimed fifth place over Sheyenne Pinkston of Whitewater Remington, who medically forfeited the match due to an injury she received earlier in the tournament. Neill also qualified for the 3-1A State Tournament during her sophomore year.
The Class 3-2-1A Girls State Wrestling Tournament will be held Feb. 27-28 at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.
A special send-off is planned for Thursday, Feb. 26, at 11:15 a.m. The community is encouraged to line 7th and Main Streets and wish wrestlers well as they head to Hays.
