By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- Washburn Rural's two-year girls state wrestling title reign came to an end Thursday in the Class 6A-5A state tournament at Hartman Arena.
But the big smile that Junior Blues coach Damon Parker wore after his team was awarded the second-place trophy showed the immense pride that Parker feels for this year's Rural team.
Dodge City won the state title by a slim 118.5-111 margin over the Junior Blues, with junior state finalist Addison Broxterman leading five state medalists for Rural.
"With the way our girls wrestled this week, even if we finished fourth and didn't bring home something to put in the trophy case, I would have been ecstatic,'' Parker said. "There were absolutely incredible.
"We knew coming into this that we were the underdog and we knew that we would have to wrestle our tails off to finish first. We wrestled our tails off and we were close. We were in this thing until the very last match of the medal rounds, so we had an opportunity down the stretch and to even be in shooting range I really couldn't be more proud of this crew.''
Washburn Rural 120-pound junior Addison Broxterman exchanges a hug with Blue Valley Southwest's Hannah Glynn after Thursday's Class 6A-5A state championship match. Broxterman posted a state runner-up finish for the second straight season. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Broxterman, Washburn Rural's standout 120-pounder, finished second in the state tournament for the second straight season, but like Parker, she was proud of what she and the team accomplished.
"I kind of look at it as I've made it to the state finals two times,'' said Broxterman, who dropped an 11-1 major decision to Hannah Glynn of Blue Valley Southwest. "Honestly, winning the first three matches this year and then the first two matches last year at state, it's been a big accomplishment compared to my first year.
"I just look at it as a milestone that first place is something that I need to cross later on and I've got one more try.''
Broxterman was also proud of her team, which challenged for a third straight title despite graduating state champs Dajia Anderson and Rebekah Smith.
"I feel proud about our team getting second place,'' Broxterman said. "I don't see it as we didn't get first. I see it as we got second place.
"Honestly, this year has been the best year. We've gained a lot of freshmen that are going to come a long way and I have no doubt in my mind that later on we're going to take back our first place.''
The Junior Blues also got a third-place finish from junior Alexis Fredrickson (132 pounds), a fourth from sophomore Kristen Rezac (101), a fifth from senior Jailyn Johnson (155) and a sixth from freshman Annie Gallegos (126).
The Washburn Rural girls wrestling family poses for a picture with its Class 6A-5A second-place trophy Thursday at Hartman Arena. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman freshman Koti Best finished fourth at 132 pounds while Viking senior Rylee Murray finished fifth at 126 pounds.
Topeka West sophomore Trystan Johnson finished fifth at 235 pounds while Topeka High junior Marilena Zuniga finished sixth at 138 pounds.''
