Great Bend’s Gomez caps off Sr. year with state title, WOY
When the Dodge City High School girls’ wrestling program organized for the 2019-2020 season, nobody really knew just how fast the sport would grow, not only locally, but regionally, statewide and nationally.
But one thing is for certain, the DCHS program has developed into one of the premier programs in the Sunflower State, along with 6-5A rivals Garden City, Hays, Great Bend, and Liberal.
That would be the five-school Western Athletic Conference.
In the three years that the WAC has recognized girls’ wrestling at the varsity level as part of the conference’s Champions Cup standings, DCHS coach Tate Lowe has never seen his team lose a conference dual.
The 12-0 spotless record continued in the 2024 round-robin format for the Demons as they swept past all four conference opponents.
In this year’s round-robin, which usually includes two home and two away matches, the Demons defeated Liberal (62-18), Garden City (48-34), Hays (54-19) and Great Bend (48-30).
“I think a lot of success is a credit to our kids,” said Lowe, also named WAC Coach of the Year for the sport. “We have had a core group of girls who have passed their early success down to our current group. All of them have put in a lot of hard work.”
It’s not an easy road through the WAC to the conference title, Lowe said.
“I think the WAC is the toughest league in the state in the big classifications,” he said. “Just look at how we did at the state.”
Indeed, at the recent 6-5A state tournament at Park City’s Hartman Arena, Garden City took second, Dodge City third, Great Bend eighth, Hays 10th and Liberal 12th. There were 57 teams competing.
In the five seasons of state competition, the Demons have gone from not placing in the top 10 teams to a fourth (2021), first (2022), and two thirds (2023 and 2024) in the team standings.
“One of the reasons for our success is the kids believe in themselves,” Lowe said. “Dodge City and the other schools in the WAC are blue-collar communities and we have blue-collar kids who are hard workers with a great work ethic.”
Lowe described his wrestlers in more detail, talking about what separates the WAC teams from many others.
“Our kids are tough and don’t give up,” Lowe said. “It’s a sport that requires toughness. We do things in practice that focus on both the physical and mental part of grinding all the way to the end of the match. You can see it when our kids are competing.”
As the sport grows, Lowe said he eventually sees Classes 6-5A splitting into two classes to reflect and compare to the boys’ divisions.
“We had such a tough regional that some of the fourth and fifth place finishers there were good enough to be competing at state,” Lowe said. “Perhaps one day, we’ll see it split into two super regionals like the boys (8 qualifiers advance in that division).”
Lowe said he has developed a good relationship with the other schools’ coaches and sees it as a lot of fun, but also important to the success all teams have beyond the conference.
“It’s a fun conference to be a part of and I have great respect for them (other coaches),” Lowe said. “When you win in the WAC, you know you’ve accomplished something important. I think we’ve shown that you can be competitors but also be friendly. We have a lot of camaraderie in the conference.”
To develop a full roster of 14 wrestlers, Lowe has seen some of his girls wrestle up one weight division, thus being among the lightest in those weights.
“We have a lot of girls who just want to compete, and they’ll do what they can to get into the lineup,” Lowe said. “We just shuffle the girls around to find the best place for them.”
Lowe is excited for the 2024-2025 season as he graduates just one senior. State champion Ashley Alonso (110-pounds, 36-1) headlines the group of returners. He also had a runner-up and third-place finisher at the state tourney.
“We are not the only team that is young,” Lowe said. “The other schools have a lot of good, young wrestlers too, so I know it will be super competitive again next season.”
DAIZY GOMEZ, GREAT BEND, Sr.
WAC GIRLS WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Getting to the top of your sports accomplishment by winning a state championship is certainly a long and winding road, marked by potential detours and potholes.
Daizy Gomez of Great Bend knows this all too well, but the Lady Panther 130-pound senior, overcame some of those obstacles in her final campaign to capture the Class 6-5A state title, while also winning the Western Athletic Conference title during the four-match, round-robin format employed by the conference.
As a result of her 38-3 record, a state championship and the WAC title, Gomez was voted 2024 WAC Girls’ Wrestler of the Year.
In her freshman year, when only eight wrestlers qualified statewide, she failed to reach the finals. In her sophomore and junior years she placed fourth. She was determined to make her senior year a different outcome.
“Winning state was my No. 1 goal,” Gomez said in a recent interview. “Getting the WAC Wrestler of the Year is pretty cool, too. There are some outstanding wrestlers in our league.”
The postseason laurels didn’t come easily as she and rival Ariana De La Rosa of Dodge City went head-to-head four times this season, with each winning twice.
De La Rosa won a December match in the Christmas Clash hosted by Great Bend by an 11-2 major decision. Turning the calendar to 2024, Gomez responded with a pin of De La Rosa in the WAC dual at the 2:27 mark and then duplicated the win by pinning De La Rosa just 0:54 seconds into the final match of the Dodge City Invitational.
When the Class 6-5A regional brackets were set, the two WAC rivals were on opposite sides of the bracket and met in the finals where De La Rose eked out a 5-4 decision.
That put them on opposite sides of the 6-5A state tourney bracket. What had been anticipated as a rematch (fifth of the season) didn’t materialize as De La Rosa was defeated in the semifinals while Gomez advanced to the final and then won her first state crown with a pin of Gracie Oppeau of Spring Hill at the 2:29 mark of the second period.
“There’s always that part of me that wishes we (Ariana) could have wrestled in the finals,” Gomez said. “But things didn’t work out that way.”
In a twist of irony, Oppeau had defeated De La Rosa in her half of the semifinal bracket with a pin at 3:57 of the second. De La Rosa had been dominating Oppeau at the time, leading 11-3, before Oppeau got the stunning pin. Also, Gomez had pinned Oppeau at the Topeka-Washburn Rural Invitational earlier in the year, so she knew quite a lot about her finals’ opponent.
“She was super flexible and I thought would be difficult to turn,” Gomez said. “I used one of my best moves (chicken wing). I use my left arm to hold hers and crush it, the grab the right wrist and turn it and then keep pushing until I get her turned over.”
It all worked out perfect for Gomez and she said at the moment of victory she wasn’t sure how she would react. She immediately jumped into the arms of her coach, Gannon Reichart, to celebrate.
“I always wondered how I would react and I didn’t know if I’d do some crazy thing,” Gomez said. “I just felt happy that things worked out the way they did.”
That would have been quite a rematch with Gomez and De La Rosa. But it wasn’t meant to be. De La Rosa went on to place third at the state. Gomez was dominating against Oppeau, leading 7-1 when she pinned her finals’ opponent.
Gomez plans to continue her wrestling career at Friends University in Wichita and pursue a degree in business and arts with a focus on interior design while including a pursuit of a real estate license.
“These are things I want to see how they develop,” Gomez said. “I’m excited to see what happens at the next level.”
She began her wrestling career in the eighth grade, but said it wasn’t until she was a junior that she actually grabbed hold of many concepts to make her the successful wrestler she became.
“Honestly, I was pretty clueless at first about wrestling,” Gomez said. “My junior and senior years I just stepped it up.”
Things paid off in big dividends for the Lady Panther and she will have the memories for the years to come.
The overall depth of qualify wrestlers comes perhaps in the fact that four different individuals from four different WAC schools collect state championships this season.
In addition to Gomez at 130, Ashley Alonso of Dodge City won the 110-pound class; Maya Tarbet of Garden City won her second straight state title at 125 pounds, and Hayleen Martinez of Liberal won the 190-pound division.
On the first-team all-WAC list are five Dodge City wrestlers, three from Liberal and two each from Garden City, Great Bend and Hays. That reflects the balance and the toughness of the WAC girls’ wrestling programs in 2024 and likely beyond.
First Team All-Conference Selections
| WEIGHT | NAME | YEAR | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Elizabeth Ramirez | 10 | Dodge City |
| 105 | Isabela Gutierrez | 11 | Liberal |
| 110 | Ashley Alonso | 11 | Dodge City |
| 115 | Crystal Loera | 9 | Garden City |
| 120 | Tionna Napue | 11 | Hays |
| 125 | Maya Tarbet | 11 | Garden City |
| 130 | *Daizy Gomez | 12 | Great Bend |
| 135 | Hailey Ramos | 11 | Dodge City |
| 140 | Lexi Burton | 12 | Hays |
| 145 | Yareli Garcia | 10 | Dodge City |
| 155 | Liliana Arroyo | 10 | Dodge City |
| 170 | Kirra Stevens | 11 | Great Bend |
| 190 | Hayleen Martinez | 11 | Liberal |
| 235 | Aileen Figueroa | 9 | Liberal |
Second Team All-Conference Selections
| WEIGHT | NAME | YEAR | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Kaira Acosta | 10 | Garden City |
| 105 | Camdyn Post | 9 | Great Bend |
| 110 | Marina Loera | 9 | Garden City |
| 115 | Madison Poulson | 9 | Hays |
| 120 | Alytia Serrano | 11 | Garden City |
| 125 | Kaylea McMullen | 10 | Great Bend |
| 130 | Ariana De La Rosa | 12 | Dodge City |
| 135 | Katie Gutierrez | 12 | Hays |
| 140 | Amaya Caro | 11 | Garden City |
| 145 | Timber Lovewell | 9 | Hays |
| 155 | Lexi Barnett | 10 | Hays |
| 170 | Erika Sandoval | 9 | Dodge City |
| 190 | Natalee Daniel | 10 | Great Bend |
| 235 | Maribel Castro | 10 | Dodge City |
| 100 | Elizabeth Ramirez | 10 | Dodge City |
