From the hair extensions in team members’ hair (and coach Adam Ludwin’s beard), to the team members’ boxing warmup robes and Ludwin’s bright vest and slacks, one thing was clear late Saturday afternoon at Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina: Chieftain red was all the rage and that the Tonganoxie High girls wrestling team was the newest state champion.

Tonganoxie led after Day 1 by 21.5 points and maintained that lead on Day 2 Saturday before eventually winning the state title with 104 points.

Ludwin had an idea of how the team potentially could finish, but when THS junior Autumn Wilson, he felt pretty good.

“It was nerve-wracking all day,” Ludwin explained. “When Autumn got the pin for fifth, we knew it was sealed.”

Overall, THS secured five medals at state: Stella Bradley placed first at 115, Autumn Wilson fifth at 120, Finley Keller sixth at 135, Mackenzie Colgrove fourth at 145 and Grace Stean second at 170.

“Finley getting on the podium was huge for team points,” Ludwin said.

Tonganoxie’s coach, who took over the program before the 2022-23 season, said he’d dye red streaks into his lengthy beard. Team members wanted him to cut the beard for state, but that was a no-go. And after further review, so was the dye plan, as he was concerned it would take awhile for it to fade out.

So a compromise was reached: Ludwin used the red hair extensions like the ones the girls braided into their hair to accent his red vest and pants.

Tonganoxie’s Stella Bradley said teammate Graex Vanderweide braided all of the team members’ hair — and Ludwin’s beard. Vanderweide started braiding on the roughly 2.5-hour trip to Salina and then finished that night on Thursday.

It took about 45 minutes for Vanderweide to do Bradley’s hair, according to Bradley.

In addition to looking good with those red accents, team members were feeling pretty good to boot.

Just ask Bradley.

“It feels pretty great and it’s a huge accomplishment, just not for us as a team but to be the first girls team to win a state title,” Bradley said of Saturday’s feat in the grander scale of THS girls sports history.

Team scores

1.) Tonganoxie, 104; 2. Fort Scott, 87; 3. Pratt, 85.5; 4. Rock Creek, 74.5; 5. Colby, 70; 6. Abilene, 59.5; 7. Chapman, 59; 8. Larned, 58.5; 9. Columbus, 55; 10. Burlington, 54.5; 11. Wellsville, 52; 12. Chanute, 49; 13. El Dorado, 48; 14. McPherson, 47; 15. (tie) Santa Fe Trail and Winfield, 44.5; 20. Paola, 41; 21. Wellington, 39; 22. (tie) Frontenac and Nemaha Central, 38.538.5; 24. Rose Hill, 38; 25. Baldwin, 36

Individual Tonganoxie results

100

• 5.) Teagan Walker, sr., Larned, 34-11 def. 12.) Riley Crookham, fr., THS, 22-20, by fall (2:21)

• Isabella Matney, jr., Burlington, 23-16, def. 12.) Riley Crookham, fr., THS, 22-21, by major dec. (12-1)

110

• 5.) Kegan Motter, sr., El Dorado, 29-4, def. 12.) Kaylee Pankey, jr., THS, 30-14, by fall (5:04)

• Kaylee Pankey, jr., THS, 31-14, def. 4.) Ella Blythe, soph., Frontenac, 27-17, by fall (2:25)

• Cambree Obermeyer, fr., Chapman, 40-2 def. Kaylee Pankey, jr., THS, 31-15, by major dec. (9-1)

115

• 2.) Stella Bradley, sr., THS, 36-6, def. 15.) Tyler Wilson, soph., McPherson, 10-10, by fall (1:35)

• Stella Bradley, sr., THS, 37-6, def. (10) Chloe Rott, fr., Clay Center, 24-18, by fall (4:38)

• Stella Bradley, sr., THS, 38-6, def. Lilauna Nold, fr., 37-1, Rock Creek, 26-3, by fall (2:32)

• Stella Bradley, sr., THS, 39-6, def. Carrigan Dellinger, sr., Rose Hill, 26-4, by fall (0:39) (Bradley wins state title)

120

• 1.) Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 33-6, def. 16.) Gabriella Cervantes, soph., Pratt, 30-16, by fall (2:48)

• Mya Courtney, soph., Frontenac, 32-7, def. Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 33-7

• Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 34-7, def. Kylie Stevenson, jr., Wellsville, 28-9, by major dec. (11-2)

• Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 35-7, def. Ezri Caitlin, soph., Clay Center, 34-12

• Olivia Lyons, sr., Burlington, 40-9, def. Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 35-8, ultimate tiebreaker (2-1)

• Autumn Wilson, jr., THS, 36-8, def. Hannah Gantz, sr., El Dorado, 21-9, by fall (3:42) (Wilson takes fifth place)

135

• 5.) Cara Herbert, jr., Larned, 45-5, def. 12.) Finley Keller, jr., THS, 17-17, by fall (0:57)

• Finley Keller, jr., THS, 18-17, def. Mya Vetsch, jr., Jeff West, 19-12, by fall, 1:27

• Finley Keller, jr., THS, 19-17, def. Lillie Ledford, soph., Buhler, 32-8, by medical forfeit

• Finley Keller, jr., THS, 20-17, def. Payton Newell, soph., Clearwater, 32-11, by fall (2:11)

• Cara Herbert, jr., Larned, 47-6, def. Finley Keller, jr., THS, 20-18, by technical fall (16-0 at 1:44)

• Megan Ryan, fr., Rock Creek, 28-5 def. Finley Keller, jr., THS, 20-19 by fall (1:18) (Keller placed fifth)

145

• 7.) Mackenzie Colgrove, sr., THS, 25-19, def. 10.) Makenzie Rogers, jr., Mulvane, 21-12, by dec. (8-3)

• Mackenzie Colgrove, sr., THS, 26-19, def. Mikayla Ybarra, jr., 21-11, by fall (2:36)

• Macey Parks, jr., Buhler, 37-6, def. Mackenzie Colgrove, sr., THS, 26-20 by fall (5:48)

• Mackenzie Colgrove, sr., THS, 27-20, def. Ella Johnson, sr. 34-9, Marysville, by dec. (3-0)

• Miranda Webb, jr., Pratt, 25-4, def. Mackenzie Colgrove, sr., THS, 27-21, by fall (2:35) (Colgrove takes fourth place)

170

• 7.) Grace Stean, sr., THS, 27-8, def. 10.) Kaylee Freeman, soph., Rock Creek, 15-7, by fall (2:45)

• Grace Stean, sr., THS, 28-8, def. Molly Benes, jr., Bishop Miege, 32-7, by technical fall (20-2 at 2:44)

• Grace Stean, sr., THS, 29-8, def. Kaylee Horinek, sr., Wellington, 20-11, by fall (3:05)

• Kiley Dillow, jr., Chanute, 43-0, def. Grace Stean, sr., THS, 29-9, by fall (1:49) (Stean takes second place)

190

• 6.) Katy Duncan, jr., THS, 26-15, def. 11. Miranda Radenberg, sr., Abilene, 26-10

• Abby Brenn, jr., Winfield, 31-1, def. Katy Duncan, jr., THS, 26-15, by technical fall (17-1 at 6:00)

• Katy Duncan, jr., THS, 27-15, def. Paisley Weizbrod, fr., 27-14, Larned by dec. (2-0)

• Rae Wilson, soph., Rock Creek, 23-8 def. Katy Duncan, jr., THS, 27-16, by fall (1:31)