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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County will send a total of 44 wrestlers to Friday and Saturday's boys state tournaments after wrapping up a strong performance in regional competition on Saturday.
Defending state team champ Washburn Rural claimed a Class 6A regional team championship and qualified 11 wrestlers for the state meet at Hartman Arena in Park City while Shawnee Heights finished second in 5A regional competition and will take 12 competitors to the state meet.
Seaman will be well-represented in 5A with seven qualifiers while Topeka High in 6A and Highland Park in 5A both qualiified one wrestler apiece.
Silver Lake finished second in its 3A-1A regional tournament while Rossville finished fourth as the Eagles and Bulldawgs combined for 12 state qualifiers for the 3A-1A state tournament at Hays.
Here's a school by school look at the state qualifiers:
Class 6A
WASHBURN RURAL -- The defending state champs emerged from an extremely tight team race at Wichita Southeast with the team title by a 205-203 margin over Dodge City, with Derby third with 196 points and Manhattan fourth with 193.
Senior regional champions Aidan Boline (160 pounds) and Austin Fager (182) led the Junior Blues, with Boline improving to 30-6 and Fager, a state finalist a year ago, improving to 39-2.
The Junior Blues got second-place finishes from freshman 106-pounder Easton Broxterman (36-5) and senior 126-pounder Jacob Tangpricha (31-6) and thirds from sophomore 113-pounder Jonathan Morrison (35-6), senior 120-pounder Henri McGivern (18-7) and senior 145-pounder Nick Vincent (5-1).
Tangpricha is a two-time state champion while Morrison was a state champ last season as a freshman.
Also qualifying for state were sophomore 132-pounder Brody Byrne (fourth), freshman 195-pounder Ford Brandt (fifth), freshman 152-pounder Kristjan Marshall (seventh) and sophomore 170-pounder Chase Calhoon (eighth).
TOPEKA HIGH -- After not getting the opportunity to wrestle as a junior, Trojan 285-pounder Jahmari Pleasant will wrestle at state this weekend after punching his ticket to the state meet with a fifth-place regional finish in the Wichita Southeast West regional.
Pleasant will take a 22-10 record into state competition.
Class 5A
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Shawnee Heights junior Luke Perkins' bid for a Class 5A-1A state swimming championship came up just short Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
Perkins placed second by a mere second in the 100-yard butterfly event, clocking a time of 52.95 seconds to finish as the runner-up to Bishop Seabury's Ian Blake, who claimed the state crown in 51.95.
Perkins' second-place finish in the 100 fly came after he had placed third in the event in 2021 as a sophomore.
Perkins earned four state medals Saturday after being a double medalist as a freshman and a sophomore.
The T-Bird star added a sixth-place finish in the 200 individual medley in 2:00.64 and also helped Shawnee Heights post a pair of top-six state relay finishes.
Perkins teamed with freshman Truman Brede, junior Guillaume Humblet and junior Tanner Zerger to finish fifth in the 200 medley relay in 1:42.08 and with Humblet, freshman Evan Hoobler and Zerger to record a sixth-place finish in the 200 free relay in 1:33.50.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There were times Saturday when Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team appeared to be on the verge of taking control against Piper, with the host T-Birds opening up 11-point leads in both halves.
But there were also times when Heights appeared on the verge of losing control, with Piper going in front by five points midway through the fourth quarter.
But in a game that included five ties and five lead changes, Shawnee Heights found a way to stay in the hunt and close out a 58-55 non-league win with clutch free throw shooting over the final 1:32.
"We hung in, hung in,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said. "We never let them get away, five or six (behind) but not get away.''
Piper (10-7), coached by former Shawnee Heights state championship coach Steve Wallace, took a 51-46 lead with 4:22 remaining but Shawnee Heights outscored the Pirates 12-4 the rest of the way to improve to 12-5 on the season.
Senior point guard Jarin Sanders hit two free throws with 1:32 remaining to put the T-Birds ahead to stay at 54-33 and sophomore Jacob Malcom hit two charies with 35.2 seconds left for a 56-53 lead and with Heights nursing a 56-55 edge freshman Jaret Sanchez hit what proved to be the two clinchers with 8.6 seconds on the clock.
Sanchez hit five of six free throws in the game and three of four over the final 2:07, including the final points of the game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's Tyler Nelson hit his third 3-pointer of the game with :00.3 left to send the Ichabods to a 60-59 win over No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Maryville, Mo.
The win lifted the Ichabods to 17-9 overall and 14-6 in the MIAA, with Washburn winning its fourth game in a row and its third straight in Bearcat Arena over the Bearcats in the last two seasons while snapping Northwest's11-game homecourt winning streak.
A layup by Connor Deffebaugh with 3:44 to go put the Ichabods up 54-53, but Northwest came back with a pair of free throws to go up by one with 3:16 to play.
Deffebaugh answered with another layup with 2:49 remaining. Then, after the teams traded free throws after a Northwest jumper, Northwest took a 59-57 lead with 1:39 to play.
Neither team would score again until Nelson hit the game-winner.
Northwest fell to 23-4 overall and 16-3 in league play.
Tyler Geiman scored a game-high 21 points that included 16 first-half points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team made getting up early pay off Saturday morning, rolling to a 55-30 home non-league victory over Piper in a game that was postponed by inclement weather Thursday night.
The T-Birds, who climbed above the .500 mark at 9-8, took control of the 10 a.m. makeup game in the opening quarter, taking a commanding 15-4 advantage over the 3-14 Pirates.
Shawnee Heights increased its lead to 28-11 at the half and finished off the rout with a 27-19 scoring advantage in the second half.
"I think our girls came out with a great attitude and having a little pep in their step,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "I think that's what kind of fueled us a little bit.
"We came out defensively and really worked hard and moved the ball well on offense to begin with. We started just like we would like to. I was really proud of our girls.''