Prairie View sends six girls to state wrestling tournament

The Prairie View girls wrestling team who qualified for the Class 4A state tournament included, from left, Shawna Case, Rebecca Lewis, Michaela Miller, Kimberlee Eastwood, Lauren Steenburgen, and Lexi Freeman. (Prairie View Buffalos Facebook)

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

Last year, the Prairie View girls wrestling team sent two girls to the state Class 4A tournament: senior Whitney Cox-Haliburton and then-sophomore Shawna Case. Cox-Haliburton brought home a third-place medal in the 235-pound bracket, and Case took fourth place in the 155-pound bracket.

Case is back again this year, again headed to state after turning in a third place finish at the regional tournament on Feb. 15. But this time she will be heading to state with five teammates.

Girls head coach Joe Cullor said that the success of his team this year is because of the work that former coach Walt Vandeventer put into building both the girls and boys programs.

“Coach Vandeventer built a great foundation and set a high standard for Prairie View wrestling,” said Cullor in an email. “It is an honor to continue the legacy he spent so many years building. Our team has been improving week by week. They wrestled well in the league tournament and kept that momentum going for the regional qualifier.”

However, he is quick to credit Prairie View’s coaching staff and the wrestlers themselves for this year’s success.

“A big part of the girls success is that fact they have some top notch coaching in the room,” he said. “These coaches do not get enough credit for all they do.  They are Kitana Parscale, Gavin Cullor, Jeff Byerley, and Joey Ewalt.  Each coach has a background speciality for the girls to learn from and the experience of what it takes to achieve our goals.  

“The qualifying girls are blessed to have selfless practice partners that come in day after day to improve them on their journey to state.  We look to peak at the state tournament this weekend.”

Here’s how the girls did at the regional:

• Sophomore Lexi Freeman, 130 pounds with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses, started with a bye then placed third after winning two rounds with pins and losing a third by a fall.

• Freshman Lauren Steenburgen, 140 pounds with a 23-21 record, placed seventh with a fall and a11-10 decision in the consolation bracket.

• Senior Kimberlee Eastwood, 145 with a 20-10 record, started with a bye then placed sixth after winning her first two matches with pins but losing her third by a fall.

•Junior Shawna Case, 155 with a 34-7 record, started with a bye then placed third after winning her second round by a technical fall and her third match with a pin before losing her last match by a fall.

• Senior Rebecca Lewis, 170 with a 19-18 record, won her first round with a pin, lost her second round with a technical fall, won by a fall, lost by a fall, and won by a fall to earn a seventh-place medal.

• Sophomore Michaela Miller, 235 with a 7-19 record, took eighth place after winning two rounds with pins and losing three with falls.

Also competing at the regional in Paola were sophomore Kennisyn Gochenour, 110 (14-14) and  sophomore Timberlyn Browning, 135 (4-6).