Wiggins girls basketball streaking Wiggins wrestlers qualify four for state

Wiggins boys wrestling didn’t bring many grapplers to its Class 2A Region 1 tournament, but the Tigers made sure their voices were heard.

Of the five Tigers that graced the competition, four earned their tickets to the 2A state tournament, which is set to begin at Ball Arena on Thursday. Only the top four competitors in each bracket earned that honor.

Laith Ibrahim — perhaps the best in his weight class in the entire classification — secured the only gold that the Tigers saw when, in his heavyweight competition, he easily claimed victory with a 20-5 technical fall over Wray’s Jackson Bledsoe. Ibrahim now holds a jaw-dropping 43-1 record heading into the state tournament as, presumably, the favorite to win it all.

Don’t be surprised if he stands atop the podium on Saturday night.

Pepper Rusher couldn’t quite pull off the same feat that his heavyweight teammate did, but he got tantalizingly close in his 190-pound weight class when he lost to Wray’s Payton Wade in a 7-5 sudden victory in the title match. Silver still looks pretty good, as Michael Pacheco knows. Pacheco battled his way all the way to his 215-pound finals match, but Wray’s Tavery Chappell proved too tough to handle as he pinned Pacheco in the first period. Jorge Mendez kept the party going for the heavier kids as he placed third at 175 pounds, but only after defeating Merino’s Andrew Kaus in a 9-3 decision.

Reagan Thomas fell just short of his state bid at 126 pounds, finishing fifth in a tough bracket.

Wiggins girls basketball was already enjoying a strong season. Its current five-game winning streak has only served to emphasize that point.

Over the past three weeks, nobody has been able to touch the Tigers as Sedgwick County, Yuma, Caliche, Akron and Holyoke felt their wrath. This week, they jumped to No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s Class 2A coaches poll, just behind Merino.