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A1 Lock & Key Performers Jan. 13, 2025
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KaeVon Bonner
KAEVON BONNER, Seaman
A 6-foot-3 junior guard, Bonner scored a game-high 25 points in Friday night's 57-43 United Kansas Conference road victory at Lansing, helping Seaman improve to 5-1 overall and in the UKC.
Nora Burdiek
NORA BURDIEK, Rossville
Burdiek, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, scored a career-high 31 points for the Bulldawgs Friday night as Rossville (3-3) came out on the short end of a 70-62 Big East League road loss at Hiawatha.
Logan Glinka
LOGAN GLINKA, Washburn Rural
Glinka opened his senior bowling season in Thursday's Free State Invitational at Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence with a fourth-place individual finish with a 708 series while leading Washburn Rural to a second-place team finish in the 18-school event. Glinka bowled games of 248, 247 and 213.
Undefeated Ichabod men's basketball proud to be on the brink of No. 1 spot in national rankings
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Barring some anomalies in the voting, when the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 is released on Tuesday, the Washburn University men's basketball team will be in the No. 1 spot in the NCAA Division II national rankings.
Brett Ballard's Washburn Ichabods, off to a perfect 15-0 start, are expected to move up to the No. 1 spot in the national ranking on Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Michael Keegan has helped Washburn get off to a dominating 15-0 start with just one single-digit game. [File photo/TSN]
And while the ultimate goal for the Ichabods is to be in the top spot at the end of the season, WU coach Brett Ballard wants his team to be proud of the coveted honor.
"I think it's a big deal,'' Ballard said after Saturday's 96-66 romp past perennial power Northwest Missouri State, a four-time Division II national champion. "If we do get that -- and if we don't it's OK -- I think it's a testament to the guys we have now, it's what we've tried to build, and I think it's a testament to our former players and the foundation that they've established and the culture that they established with the program, to our assistants and everybody involved with Washburn.
"To be No. 1 potentially out of over 300 Division II teams, that's a big deal to me.''
WU senior standout Andrew Orr agreed.
"It's special,'' Orr said. "There's 300 and some Division II teams and to be ranked No. 1 is amazing. And we deserve it, if I'm being honest. We play really hard, we're really good and I don't see why we wouldn't be No. 1.''
Weekend prep roundup: Spader notches 100th win as Rural wrestling rolls to Seaman team crown
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Two-time defending state champion Washburn Rural girls wrestling rolled up 388.5 points Saturday en route to the team title in the 12-school Lady Vikes Invitational at Seaman.
Molly Spader (middle) reached the 100-win milestone Saturday as Washburn Rural captured the team title in the Lady Vikes Invitational at Seaman. [Washburn Rural wrestling]
Rural easily out-distanced runnerup Gardner-Edgerton, which had 198 points, while Hays finished third as a team (178) and host Seaman fourth (157.5).
Junior Blue senior star Molly Spader won the 105-pound title while reaching the 100-win milestone for her career while Rural also got individual championships from 120-pound junior Lacey Middleton, 140-pound junior Madison Blanco, 145-pound junior Madison Blanco, 155-pound senior Ashley Schwarz, 170-pound junior Elia Smith and 235-pound sophomore Eve Luea.
Spader, a state runnerup last season, improved to 18-2 with a 1:26 pin over Lansing freshman Baylee Baragary in the 105 final.
Middleton (18-3) out-dueled Seaman senior star Taylie Heston (12-2) in the 120 final, taking an 8-4 decision.
M. Blanco (15-2) won with a 5:21 pin, while E. Blanco (17-4) clinched her title with a 3:40 pin, Schwarz (16-4) took a 15-0 technical fall, Smith (15-4) needed just 11 seconds for a win by fall in her final and Luea (11-3) recorded her fourth pin of the day, which all came in the first period.
Rural also got second-place finishes from senior Maddy Blow (110), senior Annie Gallegos (125), sophomore Leah MacPherson (155) and freshman Janiah Matthie-Johnson (190).
In addition to Heston's runnerup finish, Seaman also got second-place finishes from senior Natalie Smith (110) and freshman Hollister Olson-Thomas (130).
Shawnee Heights' girls earned the team title in the T-Birds' home invitational. [Shawnee Heights wrestling]
Heights girls claim crown in home invite
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team claimed a 49-point team championship in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Girls Invitational, with the T-Birds earning five individual titles.
Heights, which won the team crown by a 209-160 margin over Spring Hill, got wins from 120-pound sophomore Audrey Hinkly, senior Reece Taylor (125), senior Isabel Reyes (130), senior Madison Freeland (140) and junior Cianna Graves (155).
Hinkly won her title with a 1:01 win by fall over Hayden junior Katie Mead, while Taylor won with her fourth first-period pin of the the tournament and Reyes, Freeland and Graves also clinched titles with first-period pins.
Santa Fe Trail finished third as a team with 140.5 points, getting individual wins from junior Audrey Johnson-Wood (105), sophomore Makenzie Roberts (110), sophomore Sydnee Sleichter (115) and junior Morgan Pickering (135).
Mead, now 9-3 on the season, led Hayden to an eighth-place team finish with her second-place finish while sophomore Lilly Charvat (115) posted a fourth-place showing.
Shawnee Heights got runnerup individual finishes from freshman Ava Gutierrez (100), junior Olivia Stevens (145), sophomore Brooklyn Binkley (170) and junior Shelby Watson (190).
Four city wrestlers claim titles at Heights
Host Shawnee Heights and Hayden combined to capture four individual championships in the Heights Invitational on Saturday.
The T-Birds, who finished third as a team, got wins from 150-pounder Gavin Hartman and 165-pounder Kael Westgate while fourth-place Hayden got victories from Jude Krentz at 175 pounds and Broderick Desch at 190.
Hartman posted four first-period pins on the day in 31 seconds, 1:05, 35 seconds and 1:15 while Westgate posted a pair of pins and Krentz and Desch went 3-0 with three pins apiece.
The T-Birds got runnerup finishes from Jacob Reyes (113), Brody Brown (138) and Carson Anderson (144) while Hayden got a second-place finish from Caleb Menke (157).
Spring Hill won the team title with 200 points, followed by Santa Fe Trail (186), Shawnee Heights (168.5) and Hayden (96.5).
The Chargers, coached by former Shawnee Heights state champ Tyler Gonzales, got individual wins from Tanner Bolt (106), Tanner Sleichter (120), Drake Kirby (126), Blake Slavin (132) and Atticus Guenther (138).
