Louisburg cheer makes state finals, finishes fourth overall

Louisburg’s Kimmie Powls cheers on the crowd as she stands on the shoulders of Kayleigh Ramsey on Saturday during the Class 4A Game Day Spirit Showcase in Topeka.

TOPEKA — Louisburg cheer has been no stranger to the big stage when it comes to the state competition.

The Wildcats have become a mainstay in the Class 4A Game Day Spirit Showcase in the last several years that has included a state championship and a pair of state runner-up finishes.

Louisburg found itself in position for another state plaque Saturday at the Stormont-Vail Events Center in Topeka. The Wildcats qualified for the finals with an impressive performance, but came up just short of another state plaque as they took fourth overall in Class 4A.

“I am so proud,” Louisburg coach Breanna Kostroske said. “This team had to welcome not one, but two new coaches and has worked so hard since May on their competition material and it truly showed on the floor Saturday. Being a new coach you are automatically stressed that you haven’t given enough to all aspects of a game day routine, but we put our faith in the team and they showed up and truly represented themselves in a huge way.”

It was a tight competition in the finals as the top six teams put together strong scores. Louisburg recorded a score of 90.40, which was a point away from being in second place.

Topeka-Hayden won the state title with a 92.5, while Holton (91.45) and Baldwin (91.35) took second and third, respectively. Paola was fifth at 89.10 and Bishop Miege was sixth at 88.40.

“It was disappointing not leaving with a state plaque, and it hit the team hard,” Kostroske said. “The competition was fierce and every team in the 4A division came back this year better than ever, including Louisburg. Although we didn’t leave with a plaque, we left defeating the two time reigning state champion, Paola, and we jumped from last year’s score of 79.45 to a 90.4. That is only 9.6 points away from perfection, which shows in itself how fierce the competition was this year. We took fourth place with us and will use it as a stepping stone to competing at nationals.”

Louisburg put together a strong performance in the qualifying rounds, which earned them a spot in the finals.

“Our qualifying rounds were electrifying to watch,” Kostroske said. “We have performed this same routine at regionals and multiple showcases and I had never seen them show out as well as they did during qualifiers. When our name was called for finals, it was the best feeling as a coach and being able to look at the team and their reaction of pure excitement made it even better.”

A week prior, the Wildcats competed at the regional competition and earned a spot at nationals — which will be held in Dallas in January. They placed second in the Co-Ed Varsity Division at the regional meet.

“The team had a dream to go to nationals and they turned that dream into reality,” Kostroske said. “This is the first time in LHS history the cheerleading squad had competed at a regional competition to get a bid to nationals and scored a perfection score of 90 percent. This was a huge accomplishment. 

“Now they get to compete at a three day, televised, national event for gameday. It is one of the hardest to compete in as a high school team and Louisburg has only competed at this level once back in 2019, placing 19th. We hope to bring home a higher placing and represent Louisburg with everything we have.”

Members of the Louisburg cheer team are: Elizabeth George, Brooklyn Harmon, Addison Drake, Maddie O’Keefe, Maddy Carpenter-Ross, Caroline Dugger, Anna Brizendine, Reece Jones, Addie Vargo, Laney Stohs, Taryn Osborn, Kayleigh Ramsey, Will Leach, Brooklyn Roney, Harper Boyle, Kimmie Powls, Reece Younggren and Reese Anderson. The Wildcats are coached by Breanna Kostroske and Heather Brummel.