State wrestling is a family affair for 8 brother-sister duos with inaugural tournament
Anayka Besco couldn’t help but cry.
Before walking out for the first time as an official qualifying wrestler at the inaugural Kansas high school girls state tournament, the overwhelming emotion of years of work hit her in an instant.
“It’s amazing to see,” Besco said. “We’re finally here. We’re finally getting recognized. We’re finally getting what we deserve. We’ve gone through hell and back.”
Besco, a Rose Hill senior, entered Thursday in Salina as the No. 2 116-pound wrestler in the state. Her name was on the back of the Rockets’ state tournament shirts for the first time after three years of unofficial tournaments in McPherson and three years of wrestling against boys.
But she wasn’t the only Besco on Rose Hill’s shirts in 2020. Her brother, Rose Hill junior 145-pounder Peyton Besco, is staying in Salina for the boys Class 4A state tournament Friday.
The Bescos are one of only eight families in Kansas that can boast a brother-and-sister pair in the 2020 state wrestling tournaments. Here are the others:
- Peyton and Anayka Besco, Rose Hill
- Eric and Mikyah Cain, Oakley
- Dache Island-Jones, Daron Island-Jones, Manhattan
- Rilyn and Morgan Mayginnes, Onaga
- Gavin and Nichole Moore, Nickerson
- Owen and Breanna Ridgeway, Great Bend
- Hogan and Jadyn Thompson, Pratt
- Malachi and Hannah Vann, Fort Scott
Of the eight girls on that list, five reached the state semifinals. Three of the eight — Besco, Mayginnes and Moore — have wrestled together for Team Kansas for years and become good friends.
And Mayginnes’ story is unique.
Wrestling out of Class 1A Onaga, north of Topeka, Morgan Mayginnes has cracked into the national rankings as well as the top spot in Kansas at 155 pounds. She reached the state semifinals with an undefeated record on the same date her father qualified for state twenty years ago.
Her brother, Onaga sophomore Rilyn Mayginnes, will compete in the Class 3-2-1A tournament in Hays. Morgan said it has been awesome to see his rise through the ranks in Kansas after a freshman season filled with growing pains.
“It’s nice to keep that tradition going,” Mayginnes said. “It started off with me teaching him, but it has kind of turned into him teaching me sometimes.”
Moore is nationally ranked, too. She is on her way to potentially representing the U.S. in the Olympics but first wants to capture her first and only official state championship.
Her brother, Nickerson freshman Gavin Moore, has come on late this season. Nichole said she was unsure whether her brother could make it to state in the duo’s only overlapping year of high school wrestling.
She said she used to “always beat him,” but the gap has closed.
“We’ve always been close to the same weight, so we have worked together at home for years,” Nichole said. “It’s constant with us. I like that we both get this opportunity and get to do this together like it always has been.”
All of the duos grew up in wrestling families. The girls said that undoubtedly helped spur their success on the mat. Manhattan’s Dache Island-Jones didn’t reach the semifinals but comes from one of the biggest wrestling families in Northern Kansas.
With two older brothers and one who is shooting for a Class 6A state championship in Partk City at Hartman Arena this weekend, Dache has been trained for the past three years.
She said watching her brothers thrive on the mat inspired her to want to do the same.
“This is actually really dope,” Dache said. “It’s kind of sad that this is the last year for we will all be together. I’m so proud of them, and I know they’re proud of me, too.”
Only eight of the 131 state qualifying female wrestlers in Kansas get the chance to share a state tournament experience with their brothers in 2020. But Besco said the opportunity to wrestle in an all-girls state tournament is something she won’t forget.
“Getting to see ‘Besco’ twice on the state shirt is pretty amazing,” Besco said. “I know my parents are just so happy that we are finally both getting recognized for everything we have put into this sport.
“Seeing the photos from today, people are going to look back and say, ‘That’s the first,’ and I got to be a part of it.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 9:58 PM.