MHS boys and girls Varsity wrestling took second with 131.5 team points and eighth with 50.0 points respectively at the Dodge City Tournament on Friday and Saturday in their first competition after winter break. 

The wrestlers had steep competition, facing 12 high schools from across Kansas and out of state. 

“[There was] good competition,” head coach Shawn Bammes said.  “There were some really good teams, some out of state teams, 6A through three, two, one A high schools. So it was a really good competition for us and a long day.”

The team had six wrestlers make the podium: on the boy’s side seniors #138 Easton Taylor and #220 Talique Houston as well as junior #195 Jaxon Vikander placed second while senior Blaisen Bammes and freshman Logan Logerman took third; on the girls team junior #191 Haleigh Stokes placed third, and other girls made it to the semifinal bracket including senior #120 Dache Island-Jones and freshman #126 Hannah Caycedo.  

“It was a good experience,” Bammes said. “Freshmen, like Logan [Logerman], for example… are getting some good experience, getting better every time out. The girls are getting better. A lot of them are pretty new to the sport, but every time we get out there we’ll get a little bit better and make some adjustments in practice.”

This is the second tournament the girls team has competed in along with the boys Varsity team this year – both Varsity teams competed together in Grand Island before Winter Break – as many girls Varsity meets are held during JV meets in separate locations to the boys due to limited space. Tournaments with Varsity brackets for girls and boys proved challenging for the inexperienced girls team.

“We’re kind of behind the ball a little bit with this being our first year of having this many girls out,” Bammes said. “A lot of these other towns that we compete against have had girls teams, or have had girls on their teams for several years now. But… it may take a couple years for us to catch up to that experience level.”

The girls Varsity team will travel to a tournament in St. Mary’s next weekend and the boys will compete in the Newton tournament of champions.