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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- Since advancing to the Class 5A state championship match as a sophomore, the last two seasons have been a star-crossed journey for Seaman 125-pound wrestling star Koti Best, filled with a lot of time with medical personnel.
Seaman senior Koti Best (top) is back in the Class 5A state championship match for the second time in her career after a semifinal pin. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But after fighting through concussion issues as a junior and a dislocated shoulder this season, on Saturday Best will be back where she was two years ago, wrestling for a state title in the Park City Arena.
Wearing a brace to protect her right shoulder, Best earned her return trip to the final with a win by pin in 5 minutes, 57 seconds over Blue Valley Southwest senior Brynn Lowe.
"It feels very good,'' Best said about earning another title shot. ''I felt really good today. I've felt very encouraged since I got my brace and everything's been going good. I haen't had too many issues.
"I was stressed about this because it had been a long time since I've been in this position, but I think I handled it pretty well. It was a rough match for sure, but we got there. I knew this was my last shot.''
Now 20-2 on the season, Best's pin in the semifinals came after a 41-second pin in the first round and 17-0 technical fall in the quarterfinals.
"With her injuries and being knocked out last year (with a first-round concusion), for her to come back as a senior and make it to the finals again, it's amazing,'' said Jordan Best, Seaman's coach and Koti's father. "She kind of set her goal, 'This is what I'm going to do,' and I said, 'There's really only one person that's going to stop you,' and she went out there and did it.''
Best will face Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior Courtney Nye (36-10) in the 125-pound title match.
After finishing fourth as a junior, Seaman's Taylie Heston will wrestle for the 120-pound state title Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Reluctant wrestling star Heston advances to 120-pound final
Seaman 120-pound senior Taylie Heston has never denied the fact that she's not a big wrestling fan.
"That's true, I don't like it at all,'' Heston said.
But that hasn't kept Heston, a state runnerup in track last spring, from becoming one of the state's best.
"My parents kind of wanted me to do it because my sister wrestled and my brother wrestled, so it's in the family,'' Heston said.
And after finishing fourth as a junior, Heston (32-7) punched her ticket to her first state final in her fourth state appearance on Friday with a 4:53 pin over Piper sophomore Rylee Burke in the 120 semifinal.
Heston beat Burke 9-0 in the United Kansas Conference meet and said that win gave her confidence in the semifinal.
"It was nice to know that I had already beat her,'' Heston said. "I felt good.''
The semifinal pin was Heston's third of the day, following pins in 2:56 and 3:42 in her first two matches.
Heston will now face familiar foe Kensley Medrano, an Emporia junior, in Saturday's state final.
Heston and Medrano have faced off three times in the past, with Medrano (30-13) winning two of those matches, including a four-overtime decision in the regional meet two weeks ago.
"It will be a good match,'' Heston said.
Highland Park 190-pounder Makayla Cadet is congratulated by Scot boys coach Freddy Maisberger and girls coach Ellen Heavner after advancing to the Class 5A championship match. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Cadet makes Highland Park history with run to 190 final
In her first state tournament appearance, Highland Park junior 190-pounder Makayla Cadet has etched her name into the Highland Park girls wrestling record book.
Now 22-4 on the season, Cadet became the first Scot girls wrestler to advance to the state semifinals and then topped that performance a couple hours later when she recorded a pin over Newton freshman Clair Harder in 4:39 to reach Saturday's state championship match.
"I had a feeling I was going to do my best, but I honestly wasn't expecting this at all,'' Cadet said. "I kept telling myself in my head that I had worked all three years for this moment and I wasn't going to let anyone get in my way.''
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
When the Hayden boys left the door open at the end of the fourth period Thursday night, Eudora took advantage, sending the meeting at Hayden into overtime. When Eudora returned the favor, the Wildcats stole the game 58-53 to close the regular season 12-8.
Hayden junior Connor Hanika put the Wildcats ahead in OT in Thursday's 58-53 win ovr Eudora. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Leading 53-52 in overtime, Eudora hoisted an ill-advised 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. Hayden senior Connor Hanika drove aggressively the full length of the floor, got to the rim, and converted an old-fashioned three-point play.
“I got the rebound and started pushing it up the floor,” Hanika said. “I had two (teammates) in the corner like we do on every transition, and I saw the defender playing to the right side of the box. I figured I could take him. I decided to go up and it fell for me, and I got the and-one.”
The Wildcats trapped a Eudora dribbler on the ensuing possession, forcing a turnover with 10 seconds left, effectively ending the game.
“It’s a game of possessions. Sometimes the possession works and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony. “I’m just thankful we were able to take advantage.”
Hanika sat much of the first period as the Wildcats started other seniors. He was held scoreless in the first two periods, but he notched 10 points after halftime, including the one to put Hayden over the top.
“It feels great,” Hanika said. “Seniors came out really phenomenal. They wanted a chance to prove themselves and they did. Going to (the playoffs) is going to be really fun. This is a great group of guys.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A meeting of two of the top girls teams in the 4A classification went the way of the Hayden Wildcats Thursday. The Wildcats blew out Eudora 53-30 in the final regular season game, a match with plenty of postseason implications.
Millie Ramsey led Hayden with 17 points in Thursday's 53-30 Night win over Eudora. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The final rankings by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association had Hayden ranked second, one spot ahead of Eudora. The regular season clash at Hayden was important because five of the top six teams in 4A are in the East bracket, with Eudora tentatively seeded first prior to Thursday night.
“We will be seeded first now, because we’re both 18-2 and the tiebreaker is head-to-head,” said Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson. “I think this is going to give us a confidence boost because we haven’t played many 4A teams. So, to beat (Eudora) pretty good, that’s got to give us confidence moving forward.”
Hayden slowly pulled away from the visitors in the first half, sparked by 11 points from senior point guard Norma Greco.
An 8-0 run by the Cardinals in the third period re-invigorated their hopes. But with the Hayden lead shaved to just 34-28, the Wildcats clamped down. They ran off 11 unanswered points to finish the period leading 45-28. The Wildcats then milked the clock, outscoring Eudora 8-2 in the final quarter.
“We played really good help defense. Hailey Schmidtlein did a great job on their best player,” Reynoldson said. “The thing about Eudora is they are very well coached. They have great scouting reports, and they guard the scouting reports really well. I thought if we hit some shots, it would be a great night for us. But I knew it was going to be tough. I have a lot of respect for (Eudora).”
Senior Norma Greco scored 11 points in Hayden's 53-30 win over Eudora Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden senior Amelia Ramsey was held to five points in the first half. But she hit all five of her field goal attempts in the second to finish with 17. Greco and Schmidtlein added 11.
“We’re feeling great. It was emotional, being senior night,” Greco said. “We wanted this one bad, especially since we lost to them last year.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabods notched their 10th game in a row over Pittsburg State in a 71-61 win on Wednesday in PSU's John Lance Arena.
Senior Jacob Hanna led the way with 18 points Wednesday as Washburn improved to 25-2 with a 71-61 road win at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
MIAA regular-season champion Washburn (25-2 overall, 16-2 MIAA) led from start to finish in the win, topping the Gorillas for the second time this season after an 89-71 non-conference win in Topeka on Nov. 19.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 10-3 lead kept the Gorillas at arms-length the rest of the half, building a margin of eight points with 7:25 to play in the frame.
Pitt State did cut the lead to one at 29-28 with 2:19 in the half before the Ichabods scored 6 of the last 8 points of the half, taking a 34-30 lead into the break.
Washburn shot 2 of 13 from the 3-point line in the first half, while the Gorillas hit 7 of 15 overall.
The Ichabods came back with an 8-2 run to start the second half, building a lead of 10 at 42-32 before the Gorillas (16-11, 12-6) scored eight points to pull within two with 15:08 to play.
But a 17-4 run by the Ichabods over the next 7:34 of the game put Washburn up by 15 and the Gorillas would not get closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Senior Jacob Hanna led the Ichabods with a game-high 18 points, adding five boards in the win and scoring 11 in the first half. Sophomore Brayden Shorter finished with 16, hitting four 3-pointers, while sophomore Jack Bachelor scored 13 with four assists and freshman Dillon Claussen scored nine off the bench.
Senior Michael Keegan scored five with five rebounds and four steals, giving him 158 for his career and placing him in second place on the Ichabod all-time chart.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After spotting No. 2-ranked Piper a 15-point lead out of the gate and trailing by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, the No. 8 Seaman boys put together a spirited second-half comeback in Wednesday's United Kansas Conference makeup game.
Seaman junior KaeVon Bonner (facing) scored 32 points in Wednesday's 70-69 UKC loss to Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the Vikings (13-6 overall, 10-5 in the UKC) could never quite get over the hump, dropping a 70-69 decision at Seaman.
"Nobody likes to lose, but I expect them to walk out of here with their head up and understand that people appreciate the effort,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "And for us to battle a team of that quality and get ourselves back into it when we were on the brink a number of times to going the other way, from that standpoint it is a positive.
"But if we make a few more plays maybe it goes the other way.''
Piper (16-3, 13-2), last season's Class 5A runnerup, opened up a 20-5 lead with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter and went in front 33-17 late in the first half before taking a 35-23 advantage at the break.
But Seaman turned the tables on the Pirates in the second half, getting as close as two twice late in the third quarter before Piper junior Derrick Johnson was fouled on a 3-point shot with 1.1 seconds left in the quarter and canned three free throws to push the Pirates' advantage back to 48-43 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Piper pushed its lead back to 11 twice in the fourth, but Seaman clawed its way back to within two (68-66) with 9.0 seconds left before junior Johnny Vogel canned a pair of free throws to clinch the Pirates' win.
Seaman sophomore Conner Scholes banked in a 3-pointer as time ran out to account for the final score.
