While their male wrestling counterparts sweat it out in regionals Saturday, Kansas high school girls already have had a week to prepare for state.

Saline County schools will be well represented next weekend in both the Class 5A state tournament in Park City and the 3-2-1A event in Hays, with 16 total wrestlers qualifying last week at regionals.

Salina Central especially is well positioned in the 5A tournament, which gets underway next Friday and concludes Saturday at Heartland Credit Union Arena. All five of the Mustangs’ entries qualified in the top five of their respective weight classes, with one champion and two runner-up finishes last week at Newton.

“In the regional tournament, I was really pleased with how hard they wrestled,” Central coach Dalton Peters said. “Just our toughness on the mat and our ability to wrestle three periods.”

“I think what makes us superior to a lot of other teams in terms of our girls is they’re tough all three periods. It sets us up really well to go to state.”

Salina South had six wrestlers advance in 5A, while in 321A, Southeast of Saline will have four an Ell-Saline one.

Four of Central’s five entries are repeat state qualifiers, while the other, 120-pounder Natalia Garcia, is a freshman regional runner-up. Sophomore 125-pounder Abbie Slothower, also a regional runner-up, finished third last year at 110.

Senior Kodie Waite, Central’s lone regional champion at 155 pounds, also was a state qualifier last year at 170, as were current senior Phoebe Bohrer and junior Izzy Hall. Bohrer, who is back at 135 pounds, finished fourth at regionals, while Hall has dropped, who dropped from 190 last year to 170, was fifth.

Sophomore 235-pounder Kiarra Codling, who would have given the Mustangs two returning state placers, was injured and did not compete in the regional.

“It’s too bad for Kiarra,” Peters said of Codling, who was fifth as a freshman. “She would have done very well, I’m confident.”

Both Slothower and Garcia lost to defending state champions in their regional finals, with Slothower falling to Kapaun-Mt. Carmel senior Courtney Nye and Garcia to Emporia’s Kenley Medrano.

“I’m super excite for Natalia, just because she has wrestled Medrano all year, and the most recent match we had with her, we closed that gap so much,” Peters said. “And Abbie wrestled tough as well. I just think there’s some things that we can polish up and refine that can really give us a better chance at beating those girls.”

As for Waite, she has come on toward the end of the season and takes a 28-8 record into the state tournament after her first regional title.

“Kodie has done very well. She’s mature, she’s a senior and she’s decided to finish up her senior season (strong),” Peters said. “She works so hard in the wrestling room and she’s a great program girl for us here at Central.”

Salina South had one more state qualifier than Central but faces an uphill battle. The Cougars’ top regional finishers were 105-pounder Taylor Sheets and 155-pounder Mia Darrow in fifth place and 100-pounder Jennifer Nguyen in sixth.

Lam Vo (110), Jaylynn Love (135) and Johana Jasper (170) all claimed the eighth and final qualifying spots at their weights. Nguyen, a senior, is the only returning state placer for South after finishing fifth last year.

In Class 321A, Southeast of Saline had a strong regional showing last week with two second-place finishers, a third and a fifth. Their state tournament takes place next Friday and Saturday at Fort Hays State’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Senior 140-pounder Annabelle Soell, a fifth-place state finisher last year, was a regional runner-up, as was Isabella Owen at 235. Karlee Zurfluh finished third at 125 and Makinzie Tiller fifth at 100. Ell-Saline’s Hailey Miller, a state qualifier last year, finished sixth in the regional at 135 pounds.

SALINE COUNTY GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS

Class 5A at Heartland Credit Union Arena, Park City

Salina Central (5) — Natalia Garcia, 105 pounds; Abblie Slothower, 125; Phoebe Bohrer, 135; Kodie Waite, 155; Izzy Hall, 170.

Salina South (6) — Jennifer Nguyen, 100; Taylor Sheets, 105; Lam Vo, 110; Jaylynn Love, 135; Mia Dara, 155; Johana Jasper, 170.

Class 321A at Gross Memorial Coliseum, Hays

Southeast of Saline (4) — Makinzie Tiller, 100; Karlee Zurfluh, 125; Annabelle Soell, 140; Isabella Owen, 235.

Ell-Saline (1) — Hailey Miller, 235.