SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The 2025-2026 season for the South Tahoe High (STHS) Boys and Girls Wrestling teams wrapped up at the NIAA State Tournament in Winnemucca.
The boy’s team sent four athletes to the NIAA State Tournament and came home with three medals. Junior Connor Hennessee placed 4th in the 165-pound division in his second tripto the state tournament. Junior William Causing placed 3rd in the 144-pound division in his first trip to State.
Sophomore Erik Burkett capped off a dominant season with a State Championship in the 190-pound weight class in a regional finals rematch against an opponent from Lowry High School.
With four returning state qualifiers on the boys’ side (also including freshman Aidan Domaoan and returning Regional placer Elijah Carranza, a sophomore), the future looks bright for the young team.
On the girls’ side, returning state placers Alice Lilly and Diem Johnson just missed out on the medal stand, placing in the top six in the single division girls’ tournament. Both girls ended their careers as three-time state qualifiers, with two top six finishes, 3rd in the state their junior years, and over 100 combined wins over their last two seasons. Most importantly, they are part of a group of seniors who paved the way for women’s wrestling, growing from a division of boys’ wrestling to an official NIAA high school sport in the 2026-2027 season.
Coach Gary Whitehouse sends special thanks to all the parents who supported the program, as well as Kevin Hennessee, athletic director at STHS, and Assistant Coaches Ken Robbins and Mark Lilly.
The program now shifts to supporting the South Tahoe Middle School season that starts on Monday, Feb. 23. That season is then followed by the youth club season, supported by South Tahoe Wrestling Club (a chartered program of USA Wrestling). If you have an interest in getting your youth involved (2nd grade through high school), please feel free to contact whitehouse@gmail.com.
