Even without the normal friendly confines of the DCHS Fieldhouse, the Lady Demon Wrestling program was determined to protect their home turf at the DCHS Invitational Wrestling Tournament held at the United Wireless Arena this past weekend.

The Lady Demons cruised to the Championship over 14 visiting teams.  On their way to the title, Dodge City won five weight classes and finished second in three.  

The Red Demon Boys got things started on Friday – while the Girls team joined in on Saturday.  The Red Demon boys finished 13th out of 17 teams.  Hoxie and Manhattan tied for the Boys Team title.  The Red Demons were led by Jayden Amaro who finished in 4th at the 175-pound weight class.  Carlos Sic finished 7th at 106, Ryan Gonzales finished 8th at 150, Ramses Ruiz finished 6th at 157, Asa Moreno 6th at 215, and Luis Garcia 6th at 285.  

Coach Tate Lowe commented on his team’s performance and how they are preparing for the second half of the season.  “This year we have a young team (youngest team I have ever coached) so taking our lumps and having ups and downs through the year is expected. I feel like they have bought into the pillars of our program: hard-work, positivity, competing and team. I am expecting to see big jumps in success in years to come with this group. It is very difficult for younger wrestlers to have a ton of success with the schedule that we wrestle throughout the year as we are battling the best teams in Kansas and surrounding states every week.  Our kids are improving and the benefit of our work may not be fully realized this year, but it will come to fruition in the following years and I think our kids understand and have bought into that.”  

Lowe went on to say that he expects several wrestlers to be in the medal hunt at state this season:  Ryan Gonzales, Ramses Ruiz, Anndy Rosales, Jayden Amaro, Armando Garcia.

On Saturday, the Lady Demons were on top from start to finish.  Individual champions included:

Elizabeth Ramirez (18-1) at 105, Ashley Alonso (17-1) at 110, Hailey Ramos (20-1) at 135, Lilliana Arroyo (16-6) at 145, and Yareli Garcia remained undefeated at (20-0) winning the 155-weight class.  

Other podium finishes for the Lady Demons included:  Briana Garcia – 5th, Yessenia Castro – 2nd, Hodilia Velasquez – 6th, Joselin Ramos – 6th, Yoselyn Rubio – 2nd, Naomi Orozco – 4th, and Maribel Castro – 2nd.

Coach Tate Lowe was pleased with how the Lady Demons competed in front of the home crowd. “Stay the course and focus on how we get better each day. This has been a dominant group again this year and has another shot at a state title. We need to focus on what we can control and our own improvement. The girls have placed 2nd at Randall Ruckus (Amarillo), and then 1st at The Christmas Clash (Great Bend) and Lady Cat Class (Basehor) which both tournaments claiming to be the toughest tournament in the state of Kansas. I think a major reason a lot of our girls have seen improvement from last season is due to the time they spent in the offseason working to get better. Their work and dedication is paying off and we are seeing the results. I also believe this is the best team chemistry we have ever had on the girl’s side and when that happens you are going to get better because you have an entire team supporting one another.”  

The Demon grapplers return home on Thursday, January 30th for their first home WAC dual of the season as they take on the always tough Great Bend Panthers.