Missouri Wrestling
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced the regional winners of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award (TSHSEA).
The national winner will be announced on May 2. The national winner will be chosen from the regional winners.
First presented in 2014, the award is named for Tricia Saunders, a four-time World Champion and women’s wrestling pioneer. Saunders was the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.
The award recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.
Winners are evaluated and selected on the basis of three criteria: success and standout performances and sportsmanship in wrestling; review of GPA and class rank, academic honors and distinctions; and participation in activities that demonstrate commitment to character and community.
2023 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award Regional Winners
Central Region: Maddie Kubicki of Kansas City, Missouri, was a four-time Missouri state champion for Park Hill South High School. She is the top-ranked wrestler at 144 pounds and the ninth-ranked wrestler in the pound-for-pound rankings in the National Girls High School Rankings. The daughter of Mike and Joanna Kubicki, she will continue her wrestling career at Presbyterian College. Kubicki was a two-time National High School Recruiting Showcase champion and twice finished third at the Super 32 tournament. She was a silver medalist at the 2021 United World Wrestling Women’s Cadet Nationals and a bronze medalist at the 2022 UWW Women’s U23 Nationals. Kubicki was a silver medalist at the U-17 Pan Am Games and finished fifth at the U-20 Pan Am Games in 2022. She is enrolled in the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies Medicine and Health Career Program and spends half of each school day assisting the nursing staff at North Kansas City Hospital. A member of the National Honor Society and a registered youth wrestling official, Kubicki also played goalkeeper for the PHS soccer team.
