Garden boys go 7-0-1 to claim WAC title
There were multiple reasons for the Garden City Buffaloes’ boys’ soccer team relish the 2025 fall season.
First, they captured the Western Athletic Conference championship for the first time since 2013 when they won back-to-back titles.
Second, they had one of the greatest turnarounds in program history, or even perhaps in the state of Kansas by finishing 15-3-1, reaching the Class 6A quarterfinals before falling to playoff nemesis Topeka-Washburn Rural. They were just 5-11-1 in 2024, losing nine games by one goal.
Third, they defeated rival Dodge City for the first time since that 2013 season and tied the Red Demons in the other WAC match while sweeping matches from two other tough conference teams in Liberal and Hays to finish the season in the WAC at 7-0-1.
For sixth-year head coach Jose Vital the season will be remembered for those and many other reasons. Vital also earned WAC Coach of the Year honors.
“This group had great camaraderie,” Vital said. “In the past, we’ve had some struggles with that, but this group never complained to each other. They held each other and held themselves accountable for things. They didn’t blame anybody when something went bad. It was just a great group to be around and to coach.”
Winning the WAC has never been an easy task for any team, but perhaps even more difficult over the past two decades because Dodge City has won two state championships while making deep runs in other years over the past decade.
Liberal, too, has had its share of soccer success, winning the 5A state title in 2011 while also having nine trips to the state semis along with four runner-up finishes. Dodge, meanwhile, has had 10 trips to the final four teams in 6A since 2009.
“When you consider how tough the WAC has been every year, winning it has quite a bit of relevance and affirmation of having a good season,” Vital said. “And many of our teams go on deep runs in the playoffs.”
After the 2024 season in which the team struggled to even find a way to win matches, the turnaround was not all that shocking to Vital.
“This group of boys wanted to show that they could win close matches,” Vital said. “I think we saw that early in the season.”
The ’25 campaign opened with three matches in the Wichita South Titan Classic where they defeated Derby (2-0), followed by a 1-0 victory over a tough Wichita East squad and then a come-from-behind 3-2 triumph over Hutchinson.
“I really believe the win over Hutchinson spoke levels of how the season was starting,” Vital said. “We were behind 2-0 and came back to win. This group just really believed in each other and found ways to win those close matches.”
Seven wins came with a one-goal margin this time around. While the Buffs’ offense was improved at 2.94 goals for per match, it was the defense and stellar goalkeeper play by senior Alfonso De La Rosa that propelled the Buffs to a memorable season. The stingy defense yielded just 1.10 goals per match. De La Rosa had 72 keeper saves and seven clean sheets (shutouts) during the season.
“The boys were fighters and there were many ways to see that,” Vital said. “When we came against Hays (down 1-0, won 2-1), I got a vivid picture of what type of team we were going to have. There were three or four times this season when the chips were down and the boys weren’t just going to settle for a tie, but went for the win.”
Often, coaches will make decisions before a new season gets under way whether or not to talk about what happened in the previous campaign. Vital chose not to ignore the tough 2024 season.
“We bring it up to teach them that hardships that we go through can make us stronger,” Vital said. “We remind them of their (new) goals. That’s a lot of my job it to get them prepared to make a deep run in the playoffs with the goal of making it to state.”
While losses were rare this season, Vital said he talks about mental toughness all the time, but more after a setback.
“We try to analyze what we’ve done and then work on getting better,” Vital said. “Compared to last year, this has been an amazing year.”
Vital praised the overall team chemistry of this year’s team, but had special mention of seniors Nestor Reyes and Alfonso De La Rosa along with junior mid-fielder Saul Ortega.
“They were our leaders and Alfonso was magnificent in motivating his teammates,” Vital said. “Nobody complained – they all wanted it. We learned something from every game.”
One of the key factors for the successful season was a change of system (formation), Vital said.
“We added another attacker to give us more opportunities to score,” Vital said. “We did a much better job on that end, but also still played great defense. Winning WAC is always a goal and it’s one of the stepping stones to getting a good seed for the playoffs.”
Vital had plenty of positives to say about competing in the WAC with the likes of Dodge, Liberal and Hays.
“Every game is tough and you have to be prepared,” Vital said. “When you win WAC, you know your season is a success. Playing in the WAC is a whole different style of play and I think our league has earned its share of respect across the state.”
While he loses 11 seniors to graduation, Vital says he is excited about the future of the program. Headlining the list of returners will be Kenley Pierre, the team’s leading points producer with 11 goals and 7 assists. There will be potentially 11 varsity returners in 2026, including co-captain Saul Ortega.
“We will go to work in the off-season and make plans and adjustments for some of the younger players moving up from the JV,” Vital said. “I think the program is in great shape, but you never take anything for granted when you’ve got to play the WAC schools every year.”
All-WAC team
The Buffaloes led the way for first-team all-WAC selections with four — Ortega, Pierre, De La Rosa and Diego Padilla. Dodge City had three picks in Alejandro Marquez (see story below), Austin Pinon and Kevin Almendariz. Liberal landed two on the top team in Josh Garcia and Ariel Gaytan. Hays was represented by Ivan Maldonado and Great Bend’s lone pick was Alex Alonzo.
WAC Player of the Year: Alejandro Marquez, Dodge City, Jr.
When the 2025 fall boys’ soccer season was preparing to get under way, Dodge City junior Alejandro Marquez wasn’t quite sure how his Red Demons upcoming campaign was going to pan out.
He had a new head coach, and he was being moved from a defender position to a Center attack position.
“There were a lot of unanswered questions to start the season,” said Marquez, who was voted the WAC Player of the Year by the conference’s other four coaches. “Getting this award feels great. Growing up as a kid in Dodge City all I wanted to do was to play for the Demons.”
Midway through the season, Marquez and his Demons were in unfamiliar territory. They had lost a game to Liberal, then tied and eventually lost another to rival Garden City. That left them with a respectable 7-2-1 record, but not up to the program’s usual results.
“We lost a striker and had some injuries early and had to figure things out,” Marquez said. “It was disappointing the way the season started, but we changed formations and it gave me more freedom to see where my teammates were and we could attack much better. I was able to get more shots and also could see a lot of balls go through my position. It was just much easier to scan the field. It takes a lot of stamina to play the position because you’re running all the time.”
Marquez said the dynamics of playing the center attack position requires a little speed, a lot of explosiveness, good awareness and knowing what the coach wants.
“Playing against the WAC teams is always a challenge,” Marquez said. “There are many good players. We often see a lot of long balls from the outside. When we play teams in the East, they are more organized with their defenses and more structured on offense.”
As he looks ahead to his senior season in 2026, Marquez says he wants to become a better team leader, including off the field efforts.
“I want to improve my confidence which will help my teammates and I just want to work on being a better leader for the team,” Marquez said. “I’m sure we will make some changes next year to give us a chance to improve.”
His first year Coach, De La Torre, had high praise for his key center player.
“It is hard to describe someone that you need to watch play,” De La Torre said of Marquez. “The mastery that Alejandro showcases with the ball is at a high level. He moves with instinct and manipulates the environment around him.”
The transition to the new position resulted in Marquez scoring 16 goals in 14 matches and handing out 8 assists. He had 32 shots on target, meaning he scored on 50 percent of his shots.
“It is just a position that I feel fits me very well,” Marquez said.
All-WAC Boys Soccer
First Team
| NAME | SCHOOL | YEAR | |
| 1 | *Alejandro Marquez | Dodge City | 11 |
| 2 | Austin Pinon | Dodge City | 11 |
| 3 | Kevin Almendarez | Dodge City | 12 |
| 4 | Saul Ortega | Garden City | 11 |
| 5 | Diego Padilla | Garden City | 12 |
| 6 | Kenley Pierre | Garden City | 11 |
| 7 | Alfonso De La Rosa | Garden City | 12 |
| 8 | Josh Garcia | Liberal | 12 |
| 9 | Ariel Gaytan | Liberal | 11 |
| 10 | Ivan Maldonado | Hays | 11 |
| 11 | Alex Alonzo | Great Bend | 12 |
Coach of the Year: Jose Vital-Caro, Garden City
Second Team
| NAME | SCHOOL | YEAR | |
| 1 | Osvaldo Chairez | Dodge City | 12 |
| 2 | Carlos Castro | Dodge City | 12 |
| 3 | Nestor Reyes-Umanzor | Garden City | 12 |
| 4 | Jefferson Maltez | Garden City | 12 |
| 5 | Johnny Young | Liberal | 12 |
| 6 | Aaron Duque | Liberal | 12 |
| 7 | Andres Cisneros Salas | Hays | 12 |
| 8 | Eduardo Maldonado | Hays | 12 |
| 9 | Brecken Otte | Hays | 11 |
| 10 | Alex Alcala | Great Bend | 12 |
| 11 | Omar Razo | Great Bend | 11 |
