Yuma High School’s girls wrestling team is riding high in Class 4A.
The Outlaws are ranked No. 5 in the classification, courtesy of the On The Mat rankings released this week.
“I think the rankings show what could be possible and it shows what kind of potential the girls have for regionals and state wrestling,” coach Brandon Newton said. “It is also cool to see Yuma on the rankings simply to get our name out there throughout the state and community to show off how hard the girls work. The rankings rarely pan out the way as expected when it comes to postseason, so I also feel there is potential for a higher spot then No. 5 for Yuma.
Pueblo Central, Lamar, Sedgwick County/Fleming, and Severance are ranked above the Outlaws.
They have a dual today, January 23, at No. 7 Wiggins, then compete in the Patriot League Tournament on Friday at Platte Valley in Kersey. Their busy week concludes Saturday at the Chatfield Invitational.
“Chatfield should be our toughest tournament of the year,” Newton said, “with a lot of teams from the 5A classification to compete against. I am looking forward to seeing how we stack up against these teams and also some of the girls we haven’t seen this year in the 4A division. This is a great one as we approach regionals.”
The Outlaws competed in the Chase County Invitational, last Saturday in Imperial, Nebraska. They enjoyed another great day on the mat, finishing third in the 14-school field with 112.5 points. Southwest, NE, won the team title with 125.5 points, and Sidney, NE, was second with 112.5. Sedgwick County/Fleming finished in fourth with 107.
Yuma was paced by two individual champions, and all seven wrestlers placed at least fourth.
Taelynn Robinson won the 105-pound title. She won all five of her matches in the round-robin format, all of them by fall and four coming in the first period.
Chloe Smith went 5-0 to win the 110-pound title. Four of her wins were by fall, including one in 43 seconds, and the other was by technical fall (20-4).
Gese Sanchez went 3-1 while placing third at 190 pounds. She wrestled in a tournament bracket, losing in the semifinals, but winning her other matches. All three wins were by fall, including one in 49 seconds and the other two in the first period.
Danika Dischner was in a regular bracket at 235, placing fourth while going 2-2. Both her wins were by fall.
Kenya Arvizo was a regular bracket also, placing fourth at 120 while going 2-2. Sierra Brown won two in her round robin to place fourth at 145. Kaydence Hansen competed at 115 pounds, placing fourth in her round robin.
“It was a good day at Chase County, with a couple of the girls really showing improvement,” Newton said. “Also with some unexpected tough competition for some other weight classes. Another great stepping stone for progress and learning on what we need to do going forward.”