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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MARANDA BELL, Shawnee Heights
A senior 191-pound star girls wrestler, Bell won a Class 6A-5A state championship last Thursday at Park City's Hartman Arena, becoming Shawnee Heights' first official girls state champ and first girls wrestler to reach 100 wins in her career. Bell, who was 27-1 on the season, won all four of her state matches by pin, in 13 seconds, 3:01, 56 seconds and 1:03 in the championship match over Derby sophomore Meya Howell. Bell led Heights to a fifth-place team finish, with the T-Birds the highest-finishing 5A school.
AIDAN BOLINE, Washburn Rural
A state medalist as a junior, Boline capped a 34-6 senior season with the Class 6A 160-pound wrestling championship last Saturday at Park City's Hartman Arena, taking a 5-0 decision over Olathe East senior Nick Carlson in the championship match as the Junior Blues won their second straight 6A state team title. Boline reached the finals with a pair of pins and a 15-0 technical fall.
JACK EASUM, Seaman
Easum, a senior, won the boys individual championship in last Tuesday's Class 5A-1A bowling regional at Emporia's Flint Hills Lane, winning by 30 pins with a three-game series of 747. Easum put together games of 235, 279 and 233 leading the Vikings to the regional team championship by a 3,610-3,554 margin over De Soto.
AUSTIN FAGER, Washburn Rural
Fager, a senior, captured the Class 6A 182-pound state wrestling championship last Saturday at Park City's Hartman Arena while helping lead the Junior Blues to their second straight team title by a 151-142.5 margin over Derby. Fager, a state runner-up as a junior went 4-0 at state to improve to 43-2, posting three pins and a 15-0 technical fall. Fager pinned Campus senior Aidan Williams in the finals in 1:13.
KENDRA HURLA, Rossville
The Rossville sophomore girls wrestler won her second straight state championship in the Class 4A-1A state meet last Thursday at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina. Hurla capped a 39-0 season with the 120-pound title, taking a 3-0 decision over Pratt junior Jadyn Thompson in the finals. Hurla reached the finals with three straight pins, in 1:27, 1:58 and 1:47.
MAKENZIE MILLARD, Seaman
Millard, a senior bowler, won her third Class 5A-1A girls regional title last Tuesday at Emporia's Flint Hills Lanes. Millard took top individual honors by a 26-pin margin with a 709 three-game series, including games of 279 and 265. Millard, who has finished fifth and fourth at state the past two seasons, led the Vikings to the team championship by a 3,141-2,891 margin over Augusta.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The expectations couldn't have been a whole lot higher when Josh Hogan took over the vaunted Washburn Rural wrestling program last spring.
After all, Rural was coming off its first Class 6A state wrestling championship and returned two state champions and a state finalist from that team.
But the former Washburn Rural star, who had cut his coaching teeth with the Topeka Blue Thunder Wrestling Club the previous nine years, said he really didn't feel any pressure when he took over for coach Damon Parker.
"No, there really was no pressure,'' Hogan said Saturday night affter Washburn Rural wrapped up its second straight title by a 151-142.5 margin over Derby. "I've been coaching wrestling for a long time, I've been wrestling for a long time and as far as I'm concerned wrestling is a way to raise young men and young women up. I don't put much more on it than that.
"It's nice to win, it sucks to lose, but there's also a greater picture that we're after.''
Hogan said he felt all season that the Junior Blues were the premier team in 6A, but it wasn't all smooth sailing.
"When we lost out 220-pounder and then we lost our 138, both to shoulder injuries for the season, there was a little worry that may have crept in there because that's a lot of points that we lost,'' Hogan said. "But I knew that our backups were strong across the board.
"The way that we've done this the last 10 years is just by having so many kids wrestle, so there's a plethora of kids to pick from and some of our second guys would be first guys a lot of other places. So we step up when we need to.''
Senior Austin Fager, the 6A 182-pound state champ said that even though Rural changed coaches and graduated a great senior class, including three-time state champ Bishop Murray and state finalist David Huckstep, the Junior Blues were capable of doing exactly what they did Friday and Saturday at Park City's Hartman Arena.
"We just proved ourselves as a program,'' Fager said. "That's what we just did. Here yesterday and today we proved ourselves as a program and our coach proved that he can come out here and coach us and losing guys doesn't mean anything. We can still come out here and win.''
Senior Aidan Boline, the 160-pound state champ, agreed.
"There's nobody in the state that deserves it more than this squad,'' Boline said. "We've worked harder than anybody for the last 268 days, not just the last 100 days of the season.
"These guys are in the room in the offseason busting their butts. I couldn't have asked for a better team to be a part of.''
RUNNER-UP CARVER LEADS FIVE COUNTY 3A-1A STATE PLACERS
Rossville junior 285-pounder Jacob Carver advanced to the Class 3A-1A state championship match Saturday at Hays before finishing second, pacing five Shawnee County wrestlers who earned state medals.
Carver was pinned in the second period by Douglass' Joe Martin in the finals.
Rossville also got third-place finishes from senior 138-pounder Colby Hurla and senior 160-pounder Sam Twombly.
Silver Lake senior Triston Vande Velde finished third at 182 pounds while senior Daigan Kruger placed fourth at 170 pounds.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn men's basketball team won its sixth game in a row Saturday, wrapping up a 19-9 regular season with an 85-59 MIAA win over Emporia State in White Auditorium.
The Ichabods have earned the No. 4 seed in the MIAA Citizens Bank and Trust Postseason Tournament and will face the same Hornet squad at 6 p.m. Friday in Kansas City, Mo. in the tournament quarterfinals.
The Ichabods jumped out a an 8-3 lead behind four straight buckets by Jonny Clausing to start the game, but back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Tray Buchanan with a 3 from Jalen Lewis sandwiched in between a layup from Lewis and a layup by ESU's Jumah'Ri Turner gave ESU (19-9, 16-6 MIAA) its last lead of the game at 14-13,
But the Ichabods hit 4 of 6 3-pointers over a six-minute stretch to take a 27-21 lead midway through the opening half.
ESU cut the lead to four at 30-26 with 5:38 to play in the half, but back to back 3-pointers by Tyler Nelson and a layup by Kevaughn Ellis and a layup by Tyler Geiman sent the Ichabods to the halftime break with a 40-33 lead.
Starting the second half, the Ichabods came out with a 10-0 run, hitting their first four shots of the half, to push out to a 17-point lead at 50-33.
ESU eventually cut the lead down to 10 with 6:55 to play, but a 15-0 Ichabod run put the game out of reach and Washburn led by as many as 26 points as the Ichabods swept the regular-season series.
Lewis led the Ichabods with 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers in 10 attempts, and pacing three other Ichabods in double figures.
Clausing had 17 points while hitting 8 of 9 shots in the game. Michael Keegan scored 14 and Geiman finished with 12 points, recording a double-double with 11 assists giving him 696 assists in his career.
Buchanan scored 16 points in 16 minutes before leaving the game and Turner had 11.
Washburn finished the game shooting 50 percent (33 of 66) from the field while Emporia State was held to 38 percent shooting (24 of 64).
Washburn outrebounded the Hornets 38-33 in the game.
WU WOMEN DROP 79-77 HEARTBREAKER
The Washburn women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and took its first lead of the game with 90 seconds left in regulation, but a late foul call helped set up the game-winning jump shot to give Emporia State the 79-77 victory in Saturday's regular-season finale.
The Ichabods (13-15, 11-11 MIAA) now turn their attention to next week's MIAA Championship Tournament as the No. 9 seed. Washburn will take on the No. 8 seed Pittsburg State in the first round at noon on March 3 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
Emporia State (15-13, 10-12 MIAA) jumped out to a 14-1 lead in the first 4:34 of the game and held a 21-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
A 6-0 run by Washburn trimmed Emporia State's lead to 29-23 with 3:58 in the first half, but the Lady Hornets extended their lead with three triples and made a jump shot right before the buzzer to go up 44-31 at halftime.
Emporia State took its largest lead of the game at 52-35 with 7:06 on the clock in the third frame when Washburn started its comeback with an 11-0 burst.
After the Lady Hornets stopped the run with a 3-pointer, Washburn started another scoring tear with six unanswered points to make it a 55-52 game at the 3:06 mark. The teams traded baskets in the final two minutes and Emporia State led 63-57 heading to the fourth quarter.
Trailing 75-69 with 3:53 to go, Abby Oliver made a layup to start an 8-0 run to give Washburn its first lead of the game at 77-75 with 1:30 remaining. Oliver scored six of the eight points during that run.
ESU went 1 of 2 at the free throw line at the 38 second mark to put the score at 77-76 and on Washburn's ensuing possession, a jump ball was the official call and the arrow pointed in ESU's direction.
A technical foul was issued to Washburn's head coach Ron McHenry after the jump ball decision and the Lady Hornets' Tre'Zure Jobe went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe again to level the score at 77.
ESU got its final possession started with 33 seconds remaining and Jobe hit the go-ahead jumper with three seconds left and Washburn's half court heave was off line as the buzzer sounded.
The Ichabods finished the game shooting just under 50 percent, making 29-of-59 from the floor, while the Lady Hornets had a 46.8 field goal percentage (29-of-62).
WU outrebounded ESU, 37-27.
Hunter Bentley played all 40 minutes and led the Ichabods with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Oliver also scored 20 points to set a new career-high.
Nuria Barrientos was 8 of 14 from the field for a season-best 18 points.
All seven Lady Hornets who played scored at least three points, led by Ehlaina Hartman's 21 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Parirings were released Saturday for next week's sub-state high school basketball tournaments, with five Shawnee County teams earning home court advantage through Class 6A and 5A sub-states.
Topeka High and Washburn Rural earned home court in the 6A girls ranks while the Topeka West and Highland Park boys and Seaman girls could stay at home through 5A sub-state competition.
The top-ranked Silver Lake girls will be at home to host a 3A sub-state.
Here's a sub-state look at tournaments involving Shawnee County teams:
CLASS 6A GIRLS
West sub-state No. 2 -- Topeka High, which will be shooting for a fourth straight state tournment berth, will open postseason at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the 18-2 Trojans hosting Centennial League rival Junction City (2-17) in a semifinal.
With a win the No. 2-seeded Trojans, the state runner-up last season, will advance to a Friday championship game to face the winner of the semifinal between No. 7 West seed Liberal (14-6) and No. 10 Wichita South (8-12).
West sub-state No. 3 -- Washburn Rural, the No. 3 seed in the West with an 18-2 record, will host No. 14 Garden City (3-17) in a 6 p.m. semifinal Tuesday.
The winner of that game will advance to a Friday sub-state championship game to face the winner of the semifinal contest between No. 6 seed Hutchinson (16-4) and No. 11 Manhattan (8-12).
Washburn Rural won the 6A state championship in 2019.
CLASS 6A BOYS
West sub-state No. 3 -- Topeka High, the No. 14 seed at 4-16, will go on the road Wednesday for a 6 p.m. sub-state semifinal against No. 3 Dodge City (17-3).
The winner of that game will advance to a Saturday final to meet the winner of the semifinal between No. 6 Wichita Southeast (12-8) and No. 11 Washburn Rural (8-12).
West sub-state No. 3 -- Washburn Rural, the No. 11 seed in the west at 8-12, will open its postseason bid at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the road at No. 6 Wichita Southeast (12-8).
The winner of that semifinal will advance to a Saturday sub-state championship game to take on the winner of the semifinal between No. 3 Dodge City (17-3) and No. 14 Topeka High (4-16).
CLASS 5A GIRLS
East sub-state No. 2 -- Shawnee Heights, the No. 7 seed at 10-10, will be at home for a 7 p.m. Wednesday semifinal to face No. 10 Mill Valley (6-12).
The winner of that game will advance to a Saturday final to face the winner of the semifinal between No. 2 seed Lansing (17-3) and No. 15 Piper (3-16).
With a semifinal win Lansing will host the sub-state final.
East sub-state No. 3 -- Highland Park (4-16) is the No. 14 seed and will travel to Spring Hill to face No. 3 seed Spring Hill (14-6) in a 7 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday.
The winner of that game will move on to a Saturday championship game to face the winner of the semifinal between No. 6 Sumner Academy (10-10) and No. 11 Leavenworth (7-13).
West sub-state No. 4 -- Seaman is the No. 4 seed at 15-5 and will be looking for its third straight 5A state tournament berth. The Vikings will be at home Wednesday for a 6 p.m. semifinal against No. 13 Salina South (7-13).
The winner will advance to Saturday's sub-state final to face the winner of the semifinal between No. 5 Andover Central (15-5) and No. 12 Eisenhower (7-13).
CLASS 5A BOYS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
PARK CITY -- When Washburn Rural senior wrestler Aidan Boline got the news that his Class 6A 160-pound championship match would be the first final of the day he knew that was his chance to put the Junior Blues in the driver's seat for a second straight 6A state team championship.
Boline, who capped a 34-6 season, did just that, taking a 5-0 decision over Olathe East senior Nick Carlson.
Two matches later Rural senior Austin Fager followed Boline to the mat and dominated his 182-pound title match, pinning Campus senior Aidan Williams in just 1 minute, 13 seconds, and the title belonged to the Junior Blues ... again.
"As soon I got here coach (Chase) Prester showed me the KSHSAA Twitter that 160 was up first and I couldn't have been more excited,'' Boline said. "I was ready to become a state champ as soon as possible. "I had an odd feeling going to sleep last night that I was going to be the draw. I felt it in my gut and then I get here and it comes true, so I knew that I was just ready do go.''
Washburn Rural started the final round with a slim 4.5-point lead but Boline knew that he and Fager could seal the deal.
"Coach (Damon) Parker is here today and he's the math wiz behind of it so while he's been here he's been counting up points mathematically deciding what we needed and before I went out he told me that I just had to go out there and win and Fager had to go out there and win and we mathematically sealed it,'' Boline said. "I couldn't have asked for a better ending.''
Fager, who finished his season 43-2, agreed.