By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Returning state champion Kendra Hurla rolled to the 120-pound championship last Saturday in a Class 4A-1A girls regional wrestling tournament at Baldwin, improving to 35-0 on the season.
A sophomore, Hurla received a first-round bye before recording three straight wins by pin. Hurla posted pins in 1 minute, 51 seconds and 31 seconds before pinning Holton's Macey Gross in 1:28 in the championship match to punch her ticket to the state tournament at Salina.
Hurla, ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds in 4A-1A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, will compete in the state meet Feb. 23-24 at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Rossville finished sixth out of 23 schools in the regional tournament and also qualified sophomore Keera Lacock, second at 126 pounds, and junior Reagan Wonnell, third at 138, for the state tournament.
• Silver Lake finished fourth as a team in the regional tournament, with freshman Karley Holmes, freshman Ellen Doty, junior Maddie Spreer and sophomore Hailey Horton qualifying for state.
Holmes (18-13 on the season) was second at 109 pounds and Horton (33-11) the runner-up at 155 while Doty (16-14) was fourth at 115 and Spreer (16-16) fourth at 143 pounds.
• Hayden sophomore Elaina Wolff became the Wildcats' first-ever girls state qualifier, taking fourth in the regional tournament at 101 pounds.
Wolff will take an 8-11 record into the state tournament.
T-BIRD SWIMMING SECOND IN UKC
Luke Perkins earned three gold medals and a silver to lead Shawnee Heights' swimming team to a second-place finish in last week's United Kansas Conference meet.
Perkins won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 06.21 seconds and the 100 butterfly (54.11) and teamed with Truman Brede, Guillaume Hamblet and Tanner Zerger to win the 200 medley relay.
Perkins, Zerger, Evan Hoobler and Humblet finished second in the 200 free relay in 1:37.18.
The T-Birds also got individual wins from Zerger in the 50 free (23.26) and Humblet in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.06).
Lansing won the UKC team championship by a 332-196 margin over Heights.
The Class 5A-1A state meet will be held Friday and Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
CENTENNIAL, UKC BOWLING ON WEDNESDAY
The 2022 Centennial League boys and girls bowling tournaments will be held at West Ridge Lanes on Wednesday while the United Kansas Conference boys and girls tourneys will be contested at Gage Bowl.
The Centennial boys tournament is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, followed by the girls event at 1 p.m.
Seaman is the defending team champion in both the boys and girls divisions, with Washburn Rural finishing second in both tournaments a year ago.
Seaman's Katie Price won the girls individual title last season with a 658 series while the Vikings' Makenzie Millard was third with a 590.
The Vikings' Ethan Price finished third in the boys standings with a 660 series last season.
The UKC tournament is set for a 1 p.m. start.
Shawnee Heights' girls are the defending UKC team champion, with Karli Gilliland finishing third with a 568 series.
Heights boys finished second to De Soto last season, with Aidan Van Metre finishing fifth with a 592 and Jonathan Egly sixth with a 589.