Homolka places second, Donley sixth at state

HAYS — The Ellsworth girls’ wrestling team sent qualifying wrestlers to compete in the KSHSAA 3-2-1A State Wrestling Championships Feb. 27-28. Wrestlers qualifying for the state event were juniors Sophie Homolka and Brooke Webb, sophomore Kiya Schultz and freshman Kit Donley. Homolka was the Bearcats’ top finisher, placing second in the 145-lb. bracket, with Donley also earning herself a podium finish, coming in at sixth place in the 120lb. bracket.

Placing sixth last season at the state meet, Homolka went 3-1 in the tournament, starting with a win over Taytum Crisswell of Douglass. She followed that with wins over Jacqalyn Parde of Republic County and Madelyn Wonnell of Rossville, before falling to Kinsey Zorn of Russell.

“I’m grateful for the experience of making it back to state, especially being able to share it with more of my teammates,” Homolka said. “Going into the season, my goals were to return to state and place higher on the podium than I did last year. I achieved both of those goals by placing second, and I hope to continue to grow for my senior season.”

Donley, who went 2-3 in the tournament, started with two wins over Kinsey Loecker of Riley County and Briley Cannon of Northern Heights. She then fell in her final three matches with losses to Arianna Weigel of Russell, Addison Morgan of Sterling and Madison Seigfried of St. Francis.

Webb, wrestling in the 130-lb. bracket, sandwiched a win between two losses. Webb fell to Tessa McAlexander of Atchinson County, then defeated Naomi Black of Fredonia, before falling to Quinley Bohl of Minneapolis.

Schultz, competing in the 110-lb. bracket, also placed a win between two losses, as she fell to Reagan Neal of Bluestem, before defeating Rowan Day of Jayhawk-Linn, then fell to Emma Baumgartel of Eureka.

“I’m extremely grateful for the team I was given this year, boys and girls,” Webb said. “Personally, I’m happy with my performance at regionals and my last two matches at state. I am so proud of all of our wrestlers and their hard work