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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA (3-14, 2-11) at TOPEKA WEST (16-1, 12-1)
Emporia is coming off a 74-62 Centennial League victory over Junction City on Tuesday while No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Topeka West took a 51-48 overtime decision over Hayden. Senior Elijah Brooks scored 25 points for West, including the game-winning 3-pointer. West has now won 15 straight games and holds a one-game lead in the Centennial League race.
JUNCTION CITY (11-7, 8-6) at HIGHLAND PARK (14-3, 11-2)
No. 4-ranked (5A) Highland Park now trails Topeka West by a game in the Centennial League race after dropping a 52-50 overtime decision at Manhattan on Tuesday. Highland Park will host Topeka West next Tuesday. Junction City is also coming off a loss, dropping a 74-62 league game to Emporia.
TOPEKA HIGH (4-14, 4-10) at HAYDEN (4-13 2-11)
Hayden will be playing its third game of the week, beating Tonganoxie on Monday before dropping a 51-48 overtime heartbreaker at Topeka West on Tuesday. Junior Joe Otting led the Wildcats with 20 points against Topeka West. Topeka High is coming off a 79-44 Centennial League loss at Seaman. The Trojans played without sophomore standout BJ Canady, out with an injury. Senior Matt Flenoy led High with 13 points.
MANHATTAN (6-11, 5-8) at WASHBURN RURAL (8-9, 7-6)
Manhattan is coming off a big 52-50 overtime Centennial League victory over Highland Park Tuesday night. Washburn Rural was off Tuesday night after taking a 60-35 Centennial League win at Topeka High last Friday. Senior Quincey Kidd led Washburn Rural with 14 points while Jack Bachelor added 12 points and Wyatt Conklin 11 for the Junior Blues.
LANSING (8-9) at SEAMAN (10-7)
Seaman has won its last two games, over Hayden and Topeka High, by an average of 32.5 points. The Vikings are coming off a 79-44 Centennial League win over the Trojans on Tuesday night, with junior Kaeden Bonner leading the way with a game-high 26 points and six 3-pointers. Mateo Hyman and Ty Henry added 12 points each for Seaman.
TURNER (0-12, 0-6) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (11-5, 4-3)
Shawnee Heights snapped a four-game losing streak with a 71-63 United Kansas Conference road victory at Leavenworth Tuesday night. Sophomore Brennon Dodge led the T-Birds with 18 points, including three 3-pointers, while Jayden Moore and Jaret Sanchez added 12 points apiece and Deacon Pomeroy 10. Heights took an 82-58 win over the Bears in the first meeting between the two schools.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (13-4) vs. BISHOP WARD (13-4)
At Kansas City Kansas Community College
Cair Paravel, ranked No. 8 in 1A Division I by the KBCA, will be out to avenge a 67-41 loss to the Cyclones earlier in the season. The Lions are coming off a 72-57 win over Maranatha Academy on Tuesday while Ward is coming off a 69-33 victory over Cristo Rey. Senior Zach Clark scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Cair Paravel against Maranatha while senior Noah Hastert had 19 points and 17 rebounds and blocked six shots.
RILEY COUNTY (4-13) at ROSSVILLE (3-15)
Rossville is coming off a 58-49 loss to state-ranked Wabaunsee while Riley County dropped a 58-53 decision to Council Grove. Freshman Tayson Horak scored 15 points for Rossville on five 3-pointers against Wabaunsee while junior Kade Perine added 13 points.
SILVER LAKE (6-11) at ROCK CREEK (7-11)
Silver Lake was off Tuesday after dropping a 46-43 decision to rival Rossville last Friday. Rock Creek is coming off a 54-45 win over Chapman.Luke Womack scored nine points and Troy Heiman seven for the Eagles in the loss to Rossville.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville sophomore girls wrestler Kendra Hurla and Washburn Rural senior swimmer Nathen Trachta have been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Athletes of the Week honorees.
Hurla remained undefeated with a dominating performance in last weekend's Class 4A-1A regional tournament at Baldwin while Trachta won four gold medals and helped lead Rural to its third straight Centennial League team title last Thursday.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Hurla and Trachta last week:
KENDRA HURLA, Rossville
A returning state champion, the Bulldawgs' star 120-pound wrestler improved to a perfect 35-0 record on the 2021-2022 season en route to an individual championship in last Saturday's Class 4A-1A girls regional tournament at Baldwin.
After a first-round bye, Hurla recorded three straight wins by pin -- in 1 minute, 51 seconds, 31 seconds and 1:28 over Holton's Macey Gross in the championship match to punch her ticket to the state tournament at Salina.
Hurla is currently ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association.
NATHEN TRACHTA, Washburn Rural
Trachta won four gold medals in last Thursday's boys Centennial League swimming and diving championships as the Junior Blues won their third straight league team title by a 413-396 margin over Seaman.
Trachta won the 100-yard butterfly in 54.19 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 57.18 and also swam on Washburn Rural's winning 200 free (1:33.25) and 400 free relays (3:23.92).
Trachta, who won three golds in the city meet for the team-champion Junior Blues, will compete in the Class 6A state tournament Friday and Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
SINCERE AUSTIN, Topeka West
The Chargers' junior point guard scored a total of 46 points in two Centennial League boys basketball wins as West improved to 15-1 overall and extended its winning streak to 14 games. Austin scored a career-high 25 points with five 3-pointers in Topeka West's 77-48 win over Manhattan on Tuesday and led the Chargers with 21 points in Friday's 65-62 road victory at Junction City. West enters the week tied for the Centennial League lead with Highland Park.
HUNTER BENTLEY, Washburn University
A 5-9 senior guard, Bentley scored 60 points on the week as Washburn's women's basketball team won two of three games to top the .500 mark for the first time on the season at 12-11. Bentley, who became WU's career leader for game's played (now 137), scored 28 points with six 3-pointers in a 55-54 loss at Rogers State, had 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 67-55 win over Lincoln and had 19 points with four 3-pointers and five assists in Saturday's 72-71 home win over Central Missouri.
KENDRA HURLA, Rossville
A returning state champion, the Bulldawgs' star sophomore 120-pound wrestler, improved to a perfect 35-0 record on the 2021-2022 season en route to an individual championship in last Saturday's Class 4A-1A girls regional tournament at Baldwin. After a first-round bye, Hurla recorded three straight wins by pin -- in 1 minute, 51 seconds, 31 seconds and 1:28 over Holton's Macey Gross in the championship match to punch her ticket to the state tournament at Salina.
JACK MIRANDA, Washburn Rural
Miranda won four gold medals in last Thursday's boys Centennial League swimming and diving championships, helping lead the Junior Blues to their third straight team title by a 413-396 margin over Seaman. Miranda, who also won four golds in the city meet, won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:49.41 and the 500 free in 4:54.93 and swam on Washburn Rural's winning 200 free (1:33.25) and 400 free relays (3:23.92).
TAE THOMAS, Topeka High
A senior guard, Thomas scored 33 points in two Topeka High Centennial League victories on the week as the Trojans improved to 16-0 overall and a 13-0 in the Centennial League. Thomas scored 22 points with five 3-pointers in the Trojans' 61-38 win over Highland Park on Tuesday night and then fought through a shoulder injury to score 11 points Friday, including seven in the final 2:56, as No. 2-ranked Topeka High rallied late to take a 46-42 win over No. 3 Washburn Rural on Friday.
NATHEN TRACHTA, Washburn Rural
A senior, Trachta won four gold medals in last Thursday's boys Centennial League swimming and diving championships, as the Junior Blues won their third straight league team title by a 413-396 margin over Seaman. Trachta won the 100-yard butterfly in 54.19 and the 100 backstroke in 57.18 and also swam on Washburn Rural's winning 200 free (1:33.25) and 400 free relays (3:23.92).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Returning state champion Kendra Hurla rolled to the 120-pound championship last Saturday in a Class 4A-1A girls regional wrestling tournament at Baldwin, improving to 35-0 on the season.
A sophomore, Hurla received a first-round bye before recording three straight wins by pin. Hurla posted pins in 1 minute, 51 seconds and 31 seconds before pinning Holton's Macey Gross in 1:28 in the championship match to punch her ticket to the state tournament at Salina.
Hurla, ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds in 4A-1A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, will compete in the state meet Feb. 23-24 at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Rossville finished sixth out of 23 schools in the regional tournament and also qualified sophomore Keera Lacock, second at 126 pounds, and junior Reagan Wonnell, third at 138, for the state tournament.
• Silver Lake finished fourth as a team in the regional tournament, with freshman Karley Holmes, freshman Ellen Doty, junior Maddie Spreer and sophomore Hailey Horton qualifying for state.
Holmes (18-13 on the season) was second at 109 pounds and Horton (33-11) the runner-up at 155 while Doty (16-14) was fourth at 115 and Spreer (16-16) fourth at 143 pounds.
• Hayden sophomore Elaina Wolff became the Wildcats' first-ever girls state qualifier, taking fourth in the regional tournament at 101 pounds.
Wolff will take an 8-11 record into the state tournament.
T-BIRD SWIMMING SECOND IN UKC
Luke Perkins earned three gold medals and a silver to lead Shawnee Heights' swimming team to a second-place finish in last week's United Kansas Conference meet.
Perkins won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 06.21 seconds and the 100 butterfly (54.11) and teamed with Truman Brede, Guillaume Hamblet and Tanner Zerger to win the 200 medley relay.
Perkins, Zerger, Evan Hoobler and Humblet finished second in the 200 free relay in 1:37.18.
The T-Birds also got individual wins from Zerger in the 50 free (23.26) and Humblet in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.06).
Lansing won the UKC team championship by a 332-196 margin over Heights.
The Class 5A-1A state meet will be held Friday and Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
CENTENNIAL, UKC BOWLING ON WEDNESDAY
The 2022 Centennial League boys and girls bowling tournaments will be held at West Ridge Lanes on Wednesday while the United Kansas Conference boys and girls tourneys will be contested at Gage Bowl.
The Centennial boys tournament is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, followed by the girls event at 1 p.m.
Seaman is the defending team champion in both the boys and girls divisions, with Washburn Rural finishing second in both tournaments a year ago.
Seaman's Katie Price won the girls individual title last season with a 658 series while the Vikings' Makenzie Millard was third with a 590.
The Vikings' Ethan Price finished third in the boys standings with a 660 series last season.
The UKC tournament is set for a 1 p.m. start.
Shawnee Heights' girls are the defending UKC team champion, with Karli Gilliland finishing third with a 568 series.
Heights boys finished second to De Soto last season, with Aidan Van Metre finishing fifth with a 592 and Jonathan Egly sixth with a 589.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights and Seaman dominated Saturday's Class 6A-5A regional girls wrestling tournament at Seaman, finishing one-two in the team standings while combining for four individual championships and a whopping 15 state qualifiers.
Shawnee Heights captured the team title by a 141-127 margin over Seaman while qualifying eight wrestlers for the 6A-5A state tournament Feb. 23-24 at Park City's Hartman Arena, led by individual champions Molly Busenitz and Maranda Bell.
Busenitz, a junior, improved to 23-1 with a 2 minute, 33-second pin in the championship match over Seaman sophomore Madison Murray while Bell, a senior returning state medalist, improved to 22-1, pinning Highland Park senior Celeste Gonzalez in 59 seconds.
The T-Birds also got second-place finishes from sophomore 109-pounder Odessa Schmidt (18-8) and sophomore 143-pounder McKenna Haltom (22-7), third-place finishes from 126-pound freshman Reece Taylor (14-12) and 132-pound senior Haley Haltom (20-8) and fourths from senior Alexandria Buce (2-1) and freshman Madison Freeland (17-8).
"The girls came out and wrestled super hard,'' Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks said. "The wins, losses or whatever, that's what we ask of them and they literally left it on the mat.''
Next up is the state meet and Parks' T-Birds, who sent three to state last season, will be looking for Heights to make some noise.
"We've got two weeks and we're getting better every day and that's going to be the focus, getting in (the room) and training hard,'' Parks said. "When we get to the state tournament, it's show up and wrestle hard.''
Runner-up Seaman got individual championships from freshman 109-pounder Taylie Heston (20-10) and 126-pound senior Rylee Murray (18-5).
Heston took a 10-8 decision over Schmidt in the finals while Murray pinned Bonner Springs sophomore Emmalee Foya in 3:27.
The Vikings qualified seven wrestlers for state overall after not getting a competitor past sub-state a year ago.
Seaman got runner-up finishes from sophomore Madison Murray (24-4) and freshman 132-pounder Koti Best (25-5) and thirds from sophomore Jenna Best (19-8), junior Kaidence Heston (21-10) and senior 191-pounder Alex Cannon (15-9).
"It's been a redemption year,'' Seaman coach Jordan Best said. "Rylee, Madison and Jenna were the three last year that didn't make it to state from sub-state and all of them got in this year, so they'll have high expectations to put themselves on the podium from here.''
In addition to the second-place finish from Gonzalez, a senior with a 15-4 record, Highland Park also qualified freshman 109-pounder Kimberly Rodriguez (11-10) for state, with Rodriguez placing fourth.