Kansas high school girls wrestling: Bonner Springs wrestler wins third straight title

Bonner Springs junior Olivia Stean won her third straight Class 6-5A championship at the Kansas high school girls wrestling state tournament at Hartman Arena in Park City on Thursday.

Stean capped off a perfect 39-0 season with a first-period pin over Valley Center’s Grace Timmons in the 170-pound championship match. She finished the season ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler in the state by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association.

“It’s so crazy. To be honest, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around it,” Stean said. “I’m still in awe.”

Timmons was the first wrestler to score a takedown on Stean at the state tournament, stunning the two-time defending champion with the first takedown of the match. Stean only needed 2½ minutes of mat time to pin her first three opponents, so being down early and on bottom presented a new challenge.

“I just needed to take a second and calm down and think,” Stean said. “I knew what I needed to do, I just needed to take a second and step back and get my head back into the match.”

When Stean composed herself, she executed a title-winning move flawlessly by lifting her left shoulder to tilt Timmons on her back, then using the momentum to roll over and flip Timmons in the process. In less than 10 seconds, Stean had gone from bottom to top and pinned her opponent for the win.

Olathe South junior Nicole Redmond also became a three-time state champion by winning the 130-pound division to complete a 48-1 season.

Other Kansas City-area state champions were Turner senior Arianna Ortiz (100), Olathe North sophomore Kaylan Hitchcock (120), Gardner Edgerton senior Shelby Davis (135), Leavenworth junior Avari Johnson (145) and Leavenworth senior Hannah Jackson, who completed an undefeated 38-0 season with her second straight state title at 235.