By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- Washburn Rural's Damon Parker loves every team he's coached, but the 2023-2024 Junior Blues girls wrestling team will always hold a special place in his heart.
Washburn Rural junior state runnerup Molly Spader hoists the championship trophy after the Junior Blues won their fourth state team championship in five seasons Saturday at Hartman Arena. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues spent much of the season-unranked in Class 6A-5A and entered the state meet ranked sixth, but Saturday night Washburn Rural was back on the Hartman Arena floor celebrating their second straight state team championship and an amazing fourth title in five years.
Parker looked at the championship as icing on the cake to what he said has been the most fun he's ever had as a coach.
"Ever,'' Parker said. "It's not like one of the most, it is the most. When you've really got to earn it, it is so much more rewarding, it's so much more valuable and we had to earn everything this year. We have four kids this year that we anticipated having on the roster that weren't able to compete with us this year, and those four kids were state medalists.
"That's worth about 60 team points and you don't take 60 points off the board and then repeat as state champs. It doesn't happen. That's taking Jordan and Scottie Pippen off the Bulls and then expecting them to repeat. It doesn't work that way and (the Junior Blues) somehow found a way. They got it done.''
Washburn Rural junior Molly Spader gains the upper hand on Derby senior Amara Ehsa during Saturday's 105-pound state final. Spader dropped a tough 6-4 decision but Rural won its fourth state team title. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Junior 105-pound runnerup Molly Spader, who earned her second state medal with a 35-3 record on the year, was one of six Junior Blues to earn state medals as Rural posted a 118-96 win over Garden City, with Dodge City third with 87 points.
"I think we did really good and of course I wanted to win but I'm so proud of the team and I tried my best,'' said Spader, who dropped a very close 6-4 decision to Derby's Amara Ehsa in the championship match. "I just knew our team could do it.
"Since the beginning we did not care about winning one but we just wanted to go out there and wrestle and if we won, we won. We just wanted to have fun this year and not worry about it. We had a lot of fun.''
Senior 135-pounder Laiken Clark and senior 170-pounder TaAni Rhoten both added third-place state finishes, with Rhoten's pin in the consolation finals clinching the Junior Blues' title.
Clark posted a 31-5 record as a senior while Rhoten went 36-3 on the year.
Rural senior 145-pounder Fatima Escobar posted a fourth-place finish while sophomores Lacey Middleton (120) and Madison Blanco (130) finished sixth.
Escobar finished her season with a 35-7 record while Middleton went 32-10 and Blanco 28-9.
Shawnee Heights finished ninth in the 6A-5A team standings, with three T-Birds taking home state medals.
Junior Reece Taylor led Shawnee Heights with a fourth-place finish at 125 pounds while 155-pound sophomore Cianna Graves finished fifth and 145-pound senior McKenna Haltom placed sixth.
Taylor posted a 25-10 record on the season while Graves went 32-8 and Haltom 30-9.
Junior Taylie Heston led Seaman with a fourth-place finish at 120 pounds while 100-pound senior Ellie Ayres earned a sixth-place state medal.
Heston finished off a 30-11 season while Ayres finished the year 27-12.
