Kansas conquered, it’s on to national competition for this KCK high school wrestler

Sweeping a leg out from under her opponent, Piper High’s Sara Lake came down heavy on top of her foe to a chorus of “Go get ‘em, Sara!” around the mat.

Lake moved into position on top of Andover Central’s Xara Bacci. About 20 seconds later, Lake twisted Bacci into a barbwire pin — an effective move in which the wrestler on top pins down one shoulder of the opponent before using a leg to flip over the bottom wrestler and pin down the other arm.

Fifteen seconds later, Lake was crowned the first-ever official girls wrestling state champion in Kansas.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting that, I was just expecting hopefully first for Piper and then I ended up getting first Kansas as well.”

After gracefully shaking her opponent’s hand, the junior quickly ran toward her coach.

“Hopefully he could catch me, because I jumped at him,” Lake said with a laugh.

Lake finished her junior year a perfect 27-0, the first state champion, boys or girls, in wrestling for the Pirates.

Entering the state tournament as the top seed in the 136-pound bracket, Lake dominated. Grinding out a perfect day, she pinned all three of her opponents without conceding a single point.

“It was phenomenal,” Piper coach Todd Harris said. “Definitely for her, this is historic in a lot of ways, not just being the first girl in the state of Kansas to be a state champion.”

“For her, it doesn’t get much better than that. It’s literally the best you can be at that moment and I was so proud.”

Lake was the only girls state champion from the Kansas City area in the inaugural state tournament for girls in the Sunflower State. Olathe West freshman Makayla Rivera came close to joining her, earning silver in the 235-pound weight class.

But for all the positives, the first Kansas girls competition endured some growing pains. Eleven wrestlers were forced to forfeit placement matches due to hitting the National Federation of State High School Associations’ daily limit of five matches.

The problem arose when the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) entered a contract with host Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina for a one-day state tournament. When participation numbers unexpectedly swelled statewide ahead of the 2019-20 season, KSHSAA expanded the tournament from an eight-bracket format to a 12-bracket format.

This meant some wrestlers would have to compete in more than five matches in a tournament that only lasted one day. Just four points separated winner Washburn Rural and runner-up Great Bend, and forfeited individual matches could’ve been the difference between the two schools.

“Obviously we know that things are going to have to change for next year and we’re going to grow from this year,” KSHSAA assistant executive director Mark Lentz admitted before the tournament. “So our board will have to look at we may grow into or have the conversation that it becomes a two-day state tournament next year for girls.”

With the possibility of moving to a two-day tournament next year, Lake will continue to be a part of the sport as it grows in Kansas.

But the next move for Lake? National competition.

“Sara has been invited to wrestle for Team Kansas, and so she’s planning on that coming up into the spring,” Harris said, “so we’re looking forward to that and just kind of seeing how she can take this whole thing.”

Alongside some of her fellow state champions, Lake will continue to wrestle in the 136-pound weight class against the best wrestlers in the nation. She be seen by more college coaches, a prospect that excites her as she looks to continue wrestling in college.

“Hopefully she’ll represent very well,” Harris said. “That’s kind of where a lot of the big-time college coaches will be looking and things like that, so definitely looking forward to it.”

KC-area results

Hannah Glynn — Blue Valley Southwest (123 pounds, 4th place)

Sara Lake — Piper (136, champion)

Alicia Martin — Olathe North (191, 6th)

Makayla Rivera — Olathe West (235, runner-up)

Kianna Skinner — Olathe South (170, 5th)