Nearly 150 squads from 78 schools converged on the Clark County Event Center, and after over 2,000 matches Thursday set up the best of the best, Friday was the day for the finals.
There, Black Hills’ Sloane Kruger took another step in her dominant season, taking first at 105 in the girls’ tournament out of a field of 21 wrestlers.
Kruger rode three first-round pins and a technical fall to get to the finals against Toppenish’s Sophia Torrez, the defending state champion, and ground out a 3-0 win.
After the tournament, Kruger was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler between 100-135.
The W.F. West girls took fourth as a team out of 52 squads. Lia Hornby led the Bearcats with a third-place finish at 135, while Emily Mallonee was fourth at 120, Lily Canfield was fifth at 170 and Bailey Simper was seventh at 190. The Bearcats had two placers at 125, with Shelby Hazlett taking sixth and Aurora Martin placing eighth.
On the boys’ side, the Bearcats placed eighth out of 74 teams, with Graysen Serl (144) taking fifth, Tucker Land (190) coming in sixth and Kallon Homan (175) placing eighth.
Black Hills had one boy earn a place, with Khristian Brant finishing eighth at 138.
