Lady Buffs take command at Rocky Welton
(Photo Courtesy GCHS Athletics Sports Information; Josh Harbour/Harbour Photography)
Story courtesy of Garden City High School Athletics Sports Information.
Boys in 10th after Day 1 of big wrestling tourney
Despite missing two of its starters due to injuries suffered Thursday, the Garden City Lady Buffaloes find themselves 74 points ahead in the team standings after Day 1 at the 5th Rocky Welton Girls Invitational.
The Lady Buffs sent 10 girls into the semifinals with three of those earning spots in the coveted championship match later Saturday afternoon at The Refinery, hosting the 68th version of the Welton for the first time.
Coach Paul Lappin’s No. 1-ranked Lady Buffs finished day one with 197.5 points while Pueblo Central (Colo.) stands in second with 123.5 and Dodge City is third with 121. Greand Island, Neb. (110) and Maize (106) round out the top five teams.
Advancing to the finals for the Lady Bufs were junior sisters Crystal Loera (115) and Marina Loera (125) while senior Julissa Rodriguez (120) rounded out the three finalists.
Other Lady Buffs who reached the semis were Nicole Abrego (100), Emjay Marez (105), Kaira Acosta (110), Aaliyah Garza (130), Kylie Huber (135), Raygen Meza-McDermott (14) and Aria Cordes (145). Those wrestlers lost to some of the top-ranked competitors in the tournament.
The Buffs were without 140-pounder Maggie Guzman, who suffered an injury in Thursday’s dual match with Ulysses while 190-pounder Mary Condo was injured in an early Thursday practice session. The extent of those injuries was not known. Huber, too, saw her match end Friday with a medical forfeit and her status is unknown.
Still, the Lady Buffs wracked up enough points to position themselves to repeat as team champions and continue their stellar 2025-26 season in which they have won tournaments in Colorado Springs and Denver, Colo., Rio Rancho, N.M., Cache, Okla., and Newton along with a runner-up finish in Kansas City, Mo.
Meanwhile, the Buffs’ boys saw two of its steadiest wrestlers reach the semifinals only to come up short as Pace Plankenhorn (120) and Zach Long (126) dropped matches to Wade Stubbs of Newton and Tucker Verbeck of Maize. Romeo Garcia (144) had reached the quarterfinals before a setback to Talon Verbeck of Maize ended his run.
The Buffs had scored 100 points to trail Maize’s 133 points, followed by Pueblo East (121.5), Rose Hill (124.5), Andale (111.0) and Cheyenne (Wyo.) East (108.5) in the top 5. The crowded second five included Pine Creek, Colo. (107.5), Millard West (Neb.) and Roosevelt (Colo.) tied at 104 and Hays with 102 points.
The final day was to begin at 9 a.m. today (Saturday) with consolation bracket matches and championship and placing matches will be at approximately 3 p.m.
