Junior Serrano grabs 5th place medal at inaugural girls state wrestling tourney

BUFFS ROUNDUP: Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

GIRLS WRESTLING

Garden City High School junior Anjelina Serrano placed fifth on Thursday at the Inaugural Kansas State High School Girls’ Wrestling Championship in Salina, held at Tony’s Pizza Events Center.

Serrano, who had placed fourth a year ago in the unofficial state tournament, posted a 2-2 record in the one-day competition and finished her season with a 34-8 won-loss record.

She becomes the first GCHS girl to win a medal at a state wrestling tournament and will be among a core group of returners for the 2021 season.  Serrano had received a first-round bye in her 130-pound division based upon her regional title two weeks prior.

Serrano then defeated Kaitlyn Hain of Wellington by virtue of a pin at 2:22 of the second period. In the semifinals, she lost via a fall at 1:20 of the first period to Brianna Randles of Topeka-West. That dropped her into the consolation semifinal match where she lost a tough 3-1 decision to Marissa Porsch of Hoxie. In her fifth-place medal match, she pinned Amber Martinek of Silver Lake at 0:58 of the first period.

Senior Destiny Avila (18-10) opened with a pin of Shelby Kesler of Mission Valley at 5:44 of the third period. In her quarterfinal match, Avila lost by fall to Maritza Jimenez of Hutchinson at 1:51 of the first period. In her consolation round two scheduled match, Avila won by injury default just 44 seconds into the bout with Breanna Ross of Erie. In the Consolation round 3 match, she lost a 5-3 decision to Mikayla Konrade of Winfield to exit the tournament.

The remainder of the Lady Buffs’ roster all went 0-2 in their respective weights, with Esmerelda Corado (24-11) dropping matches to Amelia Jungwirth of Shawnee Heights and Olivia O’Donnell of Basehor-Linwood, both by falls. At 136 pounds, Belle Hernandez (16-9) lost a 6-0 decision to Ellington Hogle of Silver Lake and then dropped a tech fall match (20-4) to Cakia Tucker-Dunbar of Wichita Heights at 4:45 of the third period.

Alondra Guzman (17-15) lost by fall to Halley Robinett of Topeka-Washburn Rural in her opening match at 1:42 of the first period and then to Bailey Sanders of Hoisington by fall at 0:56 of the first period in her 155-pound division.

Chloe Sullivan (25-12) was qualified to compete at 101 pounds but missed weight in the Thursday morning weigh-in and was unable to participate. All of the Lady Buffs, except Avila, will return for the 2021 season.

Topeka-Washburn Rural won the team title with 84 points and Western Athletic Conference’s Great Bend was second with 80. Garden City’s 20 points put them in a seven-way tie for 22nd. There were wrestlers from 80 different schools competing.