Last weekend, the Manhattan High School boys Wrestling team won the State tournament, catching 185 team points. 

Almost every Varsity wrestler qualified for State at the Regional meet last weekend, the result of coaches preparing them for the moment. After ruthless hours wrestlers have put in and dedicated to this sport, continuously playing a motivational Instagram reel with the song “Neverland,” they finally made it to the biggest tournament of the season: the State tournament in Wichita.

With the boys Team placing first for the first time since 2017, and girls placing 10th, it is a very big comeback for Manhattan High. Junior Sage Rosario, sophomore Caeleb Hutchinson and senior Ezekiel Witt placed first in their brackets.

“It hasn’t yet hit me that this tournament was my last high school match, but I’m glad I could represent Manhattan,” Witt said.

Junior Logan Lagerman and junior Landon Dobson placed third, sophomore Alayna Slifer, senior Jameal Agnew and junior Ben Uher placed fourth. Freshman Kayla Cramer, senior Raymond Gary-Hernandez, senior Clayton Frehn and sophomore Cameron Coonrod placed fifth in their weight classes. 

“After finishing second to Washburn two weeks in a row at League and Regionals, the team was faced with some real adversity,” Uher said. “Not having the outcome we really wanted really lit a fire underneath us. We made a decision collectively as a team that we aren’t going to let that happen again and we accomplished it and got first.’’