The Hays High School boys wrestling team went to west regionals in Newton on Feb. 21, while the girls went to west regionals at Topeka-Seaman on Feb. 15 to compete for a trip to the state tournaments. At regionals, the top eight out of each weight division qualify for state.

For the boys, senior Dalton Meyers placed second, gaining 22 points for the team; sophomore Tanner Geist placed third with 23 points; junior Jonathan Rigler placed third with 20 points; junior Jaxson Chartier placed fourth with 19 points; sophomore Cyler Luck placed fifth with 14.5 points; junior Grady Lind placed sixth with nine points; and senior Roberto Macias placed eighth with seven points.

Each of the boys above qualified for the state tournament, which was at the Park City Arena from Feb. 21 to Feb. 22.

Also competing were senior Camdyn Copper, junior Cade Lind, junior Jace Myers, sophomore Ethan Branaman, sophomore Camden Luck and freshman Brian Prough, although none qualified for state.

As a team overall, the boys placed seventh with 120 points out of the 18 teams present at the tournament.

“The west regional is always tougher than the east in wrestling,” head coach Heath Meder said. “For regionals, we qualified seven. So, anytime you come out of a really tough regional and more than half of what we took qualified is always a good day, and I’m happy with how we finished overall. We finished higher than our seed in most of the regional brackets that we were in.”

For the girls, junior Lexi Barnett, sophomore Timber Lovewell and sophomore Eleanor Stoffel placed first in their respective divisions. Barnett gained 27.5 points, Lovewell gained 28 points and Stoffel gained 26 points for the team.

Senior Tionna Napue and sophomore Kenlee Vehige placed third in their divisions, with Napue gaining 18 points while Vehige gained 16 points for the team. Senior Ava Ruiz placed fourth with 18 points; sophomore Emersyn Copper placed fourth with 16 points; junior Addison Neuberger placed sixth with 11 points; junior Reese Vehige placed sixth with nine points; and freshman Jenessa Carillo placed eighth with one point.

All the girls mentioned above qualified for the state tournament.

Also competing, but not qualifying for state, were junior Audrey Guiterrez, freshman Chassidy Carlisle and freshman Chloe Robben.

For the team results, the girls placed second with 180.5 points out of 18 schools at the tournament.

“I was really proud of how we did,” Meder said. “Ten is the most girls we’ve ever qualified for a state tournament. A lot of girls finished in that top four, so they did really good.”

27bstaleyherman@usd489.com