Two Cardinals girls wrestlers qualified Saturday for the state tournament, including a first-place finish from senior Harper Andrews in the 130-pound weight class.
Andrews will be joined at state by junior Ryan Bretthauer, who took third place in the 235-pound weight class.
Andrews swept through her bracket with a series of dominating matches. She credited her 4-0 performance to her preparation in between rounds, including a routine involving sprints, visualizing and warm-ups.
In the finals, Andrews defeated Skyy Hepner from Perry-Lecompton, someone she had already beaten earlier in the year.
“I was like, I just have to come out tougher than she is,” Andrews said. “I know I have better technique. So, just working on trying to get her out of position so I can get better positioning.”
Head coach Miles Cleveland said Andrews’ performance was not out of character for the senior leader.
“Just Harper doing Harper things,” he said. “She’s been steady all year … She wrestled smart, patient and, I don’t know, after missing out last season due to injury, she’s been waiting on this moment for a long time and she was prepared for it.”
It will be Bretthauer’s first trip to the state tournament, and one she didn’t necessarily expect after battling illness leading up to the regional tournament.
“I honestly didn’t really expect much,” Bretthauer said. “I know I wanted to go and wrestle, like, as hard as I could, but I wasn’t gonna hold myself to too high of a standard.”
The Cardinals placed eighth out of 36 teams, thanks in part to a handful of girls who competed deep in their brackets despite not making it to a top four spot needed to qualify for state.
“They wrestled well,” Cleveland said. “But I know a lot of them didn’t achieve the goals they set out to achieve and so that’s always tough to swallow, but, man, I’m happy for all of them.”
The 4A-1A state tournament is slated for Feb. 22-24 in Salina. Cleveland said he’s excited to see what the wrestlers can do, and hopes they can both take in the moment.
As Andrews looks forward to state, she said her focus is on enjoying the last wrestling meet of her high school career.
“Win or lose, it’s OK,” Andrews said. “I’ll go out there and do my best. So, not really setting goals, I guess, if you would say. Just seeing what happens.”
Bretthauer said she looks forward to taking in her first time at the state championship.
Cleveland said Bretthauer already exceeded expectations by making state despite battling illness. He said she might continue that run.
“Once you’ve made it to state, it’s kind of like a little bit of weight off your shoulders,” Cleveland said. “So I hope Ryan goes out, wrestles well, wrestles hard, has a good time.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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