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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.
Shawnee Heights junior Molly Busenitz has her hand raised as the 115-pound Class 6A-5A regional wrestling champion Saturday at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Maranda Bell gets the upper hand on Highland Park senior Celeste Gonzalez in Saturday's Class 6A-5A regional 191-pound championship match. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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.''
Seaman freshman 109-pounder Taylie Heston battles with Shawnee Heights sophomore Odessa Schmidt in Saturday's 109-pound regional final. Heston took the title with a 10-8 decision. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman senior Riley Murray (right) won the 126-pound regional championship with a win by pin in 3 minutes, 27 seconds Saturday at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn men’s basketball wrapped up its fourth game in eight days with a home game against Central Missouri on Saturday.
The Ichabods played a complete game, leading from start to finish to win 85-74, fueled by a near triple-double from senior Tyler Geiman.
“Unbelievable, he is probably playing at 80%, he’s not healthy and he gets 22, 10, seven and two steals and plays the whole game,” said Washburn coach Brett Ballard. “It’s a lot of fun to watch that every game and it makes me a hell of a lot better coach.”
Washburn senior Tyler Geiman flirted with a triple-double in Saturday's 85-74 home MIAA victory over Central Missouri. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Washburn moved to 15-9 after the win, the team's second in a row.
“I am happy that we bounced back, the road trip was tough,” Ballard said. “It was a little bit of an anomaly, but you know we got to bounce back and we came and took care of business here at home.”
There was no fatigue early on as the Ichabods jumped out to a 16-9 lead. In that time Geiman scored seven points and dished out three assists.
“One of our focuses this week has been getting off to good starts in both halves and I think that starts with me and J-Lew (Jalen Leiws) so just being able to get off to a good start and get everyone else going (is important),” Geiman said.
Inside the 10-minute mark Washburn’s offense got cold as the Ichabods were held scoreless from the 8:40 mark until there was just over five minutes left in the half.
The Ichabods defense held firm and maintained the lead, holding the Mules to just 30-percent shooting over the first 15 minutes of play.
Inside the five-minute mark Central Missouri upped its aggressiveness, getting to the line and knocking down jump shots to cut the lead to three.
Geiman took over from there to calm the run, scoring the final seven points of the half for both teams to give Washburn a 38-30 lead at the break.
Washburn senior Jeremy Harrell scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Ichabods' 85-74 win over Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Senior Jeremy Harrell got going for the Ichabods early in the second half, with seven points to make it a double-digit game.
“(It was) kind of an ugly game, not really much flow or rhythm because of how many fouls were called but I thought we did a good job in the second half of attacking and getting to the line,” Ballard said.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn women’s basketball played host to Central Missouri on Saturday with a chance to move above .500 for the first time this season.
They were able to do just that, using a 24-point fourth quarter to come back and sweep the season series against the Jennies with a 72-71 win.
“We knew they were mad from the game earlier this season when we beat them, so we knew that we were going to have to dig deep and fight,” said senior Hunter Bentley.
Washburn senior standout Hunter Bentley huddles up with her team during Saturday's 72-71 MIAA win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Kyle Manthe]
The win moved the Ichabods to 12-11 on the year and was the team's seventh win in its last nine games.
“Kids did a great job adjusting in the second half and just battling. That group is hard to guard, and very talented offensively,” said Washburn coach Ron McHenry. “The kids did a great job, and they were tired … they did a nice job, it was probably one of the toughest games we have played all year.”
Washburn’s offense was rolling early, getting baskets from the post and driving downhill leading to six first-quarter free throws to dig out of an early five-point deficit.
The first 10 minutes were capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Bentley in the final 68 seconds to give the Ichabods a 20-16 lead after one.
Washburn’s offense got cold in the second quarter, managing only two points in the first five minutes.
Defensively the Ichabods struggled to contain the Jennies two leading scorers, freshman Brooke Littrell and senior Nija Collier, who combined for 21 points in the half.
An eight-point burst in the final two minutes for Central Missouri put the Jennies up 36-29 at the break.
The Jennies kept the lead at that margin for the start of the third quarter as both sides picked up the pace offensively.
Washburn was able to get back into the game led by its seniors. as Bentley and fellow senior Nuria Barrientos combined for 12 points in the quarter to pull Washburn within one point at the end of the third.
“We got stops and we got out in transition and we picked up some easy layups from that,” Bentley said.
Littrell and Collier continued to score to begin the fourth, turning a one-point game into seven with just over eight minutes to play.
The Ichabods quickly got back into the game with good ball movement, as they notched eight assists in the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer from sophomore Macy Doebele at the 4:19 mark brought them all the way back to tie the game at 65.
“They were matchup-zoning a lot, and we were struggling with it and then in the second half we kind of picked it apart with one of our halfcourt offenses and got some slip action going,” McHenry said.
The score was still tied when sophomore Abby Oliver took a pass from Barrientos on a fast break and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put Washburn out in front with 2:06 to play.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
It was another memorable day for the Washburn Rural girls' wrestling team, with the Junior Blues breaking the Kansas state record for most state qualifiers on Saturday with 11.
Out of the 17 5A and 6A schools that competed at regionals, two-time state team champ Washburn Rural won the 17-school Class 6A-5 regional tournament by a 70-point margin with a score of 220.5 while Emporia was second with 150.5 points.
Washburn Rural's girls wrestling team poses for a team picture after winning Saturday's Class 6A-5A regional at Rural and qualifying 11 competitors for state. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
“I would have to really nitpick to find something I’m unhappy about,” Rural coach Damon Parker said. “Our wrestlers are wrestling better than I’ve ever seen it. We’ve been doing this for three years now and from top to bottom, we showed out today. I was very proud of the girls.”
Washburn Rural had top-four regional finishes in 11 out of the 12 weight classes, led by three regional champions.
![Washburn Rural's girls wrestling team poses for a team picture after winning Saturday's Class 6A-5A regional at Rural and qualifying 11 competitors for state. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]](/images/2024/11/KendallReidRegional_2.jpg)
Washburn Rural's Kendall Reid won the 115-pound title in Saturday's Class 6A-5A wrestling regional at Rural. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Addison Broxterman, a 120-pounder, captured a Class 6A-5A regional girls wrestling title for Washburn Rural Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Washburn Rural's Alexis Fredrickson was a regional champion at 132 pounds in Saturday's Class 6A-5A girls wrestling tournament at Rural. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Senior 115-pounder Kendall Reid (24-12 record), junior 120-pounder Addison Broxterman (39-2) and junior 132-pounder Alexis Fredrickson (38-4) were the gold medalists for Washburn Rural.
“The heart of our girls impressed me the most today,” Parker said. “ We overcame a lot of adversity today. I don’t know how many times today when we were in a deficit in the third period and came back and won or when we knocked off a higher-seeded wrestler. I think we had seven matches today where we knocked off higher-seeded wrestlers. That is uncommon.
"It’s pretty hard to improve upon that.”
Topeka West also had a regional championship, with sophomore 235-pounder Tristyn Johnson pinning Emporia's Megan Olson of Emporia in 18 seconds in the final.
Topeka High finished the day in seventh place in the standings with 50 points while qualifying three wrestlers for the state meet.
Topeka High sophomore 191-pounder Bran’Tajia Loggins (20-5) recorded a second-place finish, while junior 138-pounder Marilena Zuniga (25-7) finished third and freshman 101-pounder Ingrid Cabrera (14-7) finished fourth.
Topeka West had one wrestler finish in the top-four on Saturday.
CLASS 6A-5A REGIONAL GIRLS WRESTLING Team scores
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West survived a tough road challenge at Junction City Friday night, taking a 65-62 Centennial League win to improve to 15-1 overall and 11-1 in the league.
West, which ran its win streak to 14 games, protected its share of the league lead while sweeping the season series with the Blue Jays in a pair of close wins. The Chargers took a 67-66 overtime decision over Junction City in the first game between the two teams.
Sincere Austin
Elijah Brooks
No. 2-ranked Topeka West led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter Friday night and led by seven (41-34) at the half before pushing its advantage to 56-46 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Junction City (11-6, 8-5) rallied over the final eight minutes but the Chargers were able to hold on for the important league win despite hitting just eight of 23 free throw attempts on the night.
Junior Sincere Austin, who scored 25 points in Tuesday's win over Manhattan, led Topeka West with 21 points while senior star Elijah Brooks added 17, all in the first half.
Junior Malachi Berg was the third Charger in double figures, scoring 10 points.
Topeka West will host Hayden on Tuesday.
TOPEKA WEST GIRLS 54, JUNCTION CITY 22 -- Topeka West rolled to a 54-22 road win over Junction City Friday night, with the Chargers picking up their second win of the season.
Topeka West, now 2-14 overall and 2-10 in the Centennial League, avenged a 32-30 loss to the Blue Jays earlier in the season.
