By Jayden Mies
Freelance Reporter
Special to the Tribune
With the second half of the 2024-25 school year recently starting, the Pratt High School Girls’ Wrestling team rang in the new year with two excellent performances. These included a dual against a tough Great Bend team, as well as a Dodge City Varsity tournament that featured many teams from all areas.
First, the Lady Greenbacks traveled to Great Bend on Thursday, January 9 to face off against the Panthers. This rivalry has extended several years, and both sides bring very competitive wrestlers to the mat. For this dual, each school brought a wrestler to compete in each available weight class, and the winner would receive points for their team. After a competitive evening of wrestling, Pratt was able to claim the victory by a final score of 42-35.
Utilizing this momentum, the Lady Greenbacks made the short turnaround two days later to compete in a varsity tournament at Dodge City United Wireless Arena. Here, several wrestlers of varying weight classes were able to put up solid performances, which collectively resulted in a fourth place team finish for Pratt, losing only to Dodge City, Liberal, and Manhattan.
Taylor Creadick, who competed in the 115 lbs. division, had a great day for the Lady Greenbacks. After five total matches, she placed fourth for Pratt, scoring 15 team points. All four of her wins were pins, and they all came before the two-minute mark. Her only loss was to a tough wrestler from Dodge City.
Next was Gabriella Cervantes, who also claimed a fourth-place title and 15 points in the 120 lbs. class. Cervantes opened the day with two pins against opponents from Newton and Cimarron but then lost to a girl from Colby. However, she ended the day strongly by pinning two more opponents, these from Hoxie and Dodge City.
Pratt’s first individual champion of the tournament was Gracelyn Hembree. After a monstrous four pins in her first four contests, Hembree ended the day by beating a wrestler from Hoxie by a score of 11-4. Her 5-0 record on the day allowed her to extend her undefeated record, and she scored 24 total team points.
Just like Hembree, Wendy Candia also had a perfect 5-0 day at Dodge City. Three of these were pins, one by tech fall, and the other by a major decision of 12-0. With this performance, Candia scored 24.5 points for Pratt in the 130 lbs. division, and she also reached the 100 career wins milestone, being just the fourth wrestler to accomplish that feat in PHS history.
Next, Adreanna Garcia-Pedroza competed well in a tough 135 lbs. class. She went 2-2 on the day with both of her wins being by fall, as well as receiving a bye in the second round. She ended up placing seventh, scoring 7 team points.
After Brylee Richardson lost her first match, she had to medically forfeit the rest of her matches for the day. This unfortunate turnout might have been the difference between a third or fourth place finish for Pratt, as they can rely on Richardson to put up solid numbers every time.
Pratt had two other top three placers on the weekend. First was Miranda Webb in 145 lbs. She ended up placing second after going 3-1 and receiving a second round bye. Webb claimed two pins, as well as a tech fall, and unfortunately lost in the championship match to a tough wrestler from Dodge City. She scored 18 team points.
The other was Jade Baker, who had a great performance in 155 lbs. She ended up placing third with a 3-1 record and a fourth round bye. All three of Baker’s wins were by fall, and she pinned her opponent in the third place match in under two minutes.
With these two performances, the Lady Greenbacks kicked 2025 off to a great start, and they hope to continue it at their next contest. This will be at Hays on Saturday, January 18, and the girls will look to grow and develop against stiff competition.
