‘They deserve this’: City League puts on emotional first girls wrestling championship
.jpg "Wichita North won the first City League Girls Wrestling Championship.")
During an intermission, a group of Wichita North wrestlers danced in a circle with the kind of joy few high school sports replicate anymore.
In the middle of clapping along to Fitz and the Tantrums’ “HandClap,” a coach from rival school Wichita Northwest joined in. When the song ended, everyone groaned. It was back to wrestling.
The Greater Wichita Athletic League (GWAL or City League) put on the first girls wrestling championship in history Tuesday night at Wichita Heights. It was believed to be the second girls-only league tournament in state history, joining the Pioneer and United Kansas leagues, according to the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association (KWCA).
The night wasn’t about the quality wrestling, of which there was plenty, as much as the opportunity to wrestle. Wichita Heights athletic director Mike Church said it was one of the best events he has ever hosted.
Church said he had wrestlers come up to him all night and tell him how thankful they were the City League put it on.
J Means, the man behind the championship and GWAL athletic director, said the idea started to pick up steam about a month ago and he was thrilled with how everything turned out.
“I just felt like this was our chance to step forward,” Means said. “I’m not going to be in this position much longer, so I’m satisfied to say I was part of something that’s a ‘first-ever,’ just like these girls are.”
Wichita North won the first City League team title, beating runner-up Wichita South by 12.5 points. The Redskins had three individual champions in Daileen French at 109 pounds, Rodah Benji at 123 and Edna Flores at 170. They had five runners-up.
Wichita North has won two boys wrestling state championships, but Tuesday marked the school’s first City League wrestling team title. It was the Redskins’ first GWAL title in a sport since baseball in 2013.
Means and North coach Quinton Burgess said they take a certain level of pride in the historic nature of the tournament. Both said the final results aren’t so much what it was about.
“Wrestling is a brutal sport,” Burgess said. “It’s a lot to ask a 15-, 16-, 17-year-old to come in two hours a day and work out like they’ve never worked out before and then go essentially fight another human being in front of all their family and friends. That’s a tough task, and to do that without a reward like a GWAL, regional or state, that’s super tough. And we’ve got a couple girls who have done that for three years.
“This has been a long, deserved opportunity for them.”
Some of the biggest smiles Tuesday night came from the second-place podium next to the girls the runners-up lost to minutes earlier. Girls flexed, danced and screamed whether they were handed a top-four medal or watching their teammates earn them.
French, a North junior who was named co-Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament, said talking about what the event meant to her nearly brought her to tears.
“I feel so emotional to be honest; I’m just so happy,” French said. “This sport changed me as a person. It made me more confident in my abilities. Obviously I’m more accomplished and athletic. Choosing this and watching these girls choose this amazing sport makes me feel so good and proud.”
French has been in the North High wrestling program for three years. She was there when girls were forced to wrestle, and most often lose, to boys. She said wrestling is the first sport she has ever competed in and hopes to see it grow.
Means said with Kansas’ sanctioning of girls wrestling in April, he has started to see girls he can’t recognize from other sports. That was the case with French and Wichita Southeast’s Eleanor Breen.
Breen was the first City League girls wrestling champion announced at 101 pounds. She said she chose wrestling because she liked it more than all the others.
“And it’s fun to beat up on the guys,” Breen said.
Breen is in her second season of Southeast wrestling. Southeast coach Aaron Johnson said girls like Breen have gone through so much, working toward a night like they got Tuesday.
“We knew this was going to happen eventually, and I knew she was going to be one of our first ones for sure,” Johnson said. “She works so hard. She leads by example, even with some of the guys.”
Means said he had to carefully select when to put on the tournament. Next week, the girls go to their regional tournament in either McPherson or Paola and the boys will have their City League meet. A week later, the boys have regionals. Feb. 27, the girls compete at the state tournament in Salina.
“I think tonight worked out great,” Means said. “They get their own night. It’s their opportunity to shine. They deserve this as much as the boys.”