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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:
Rossville sophomore Kendra Hurla is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Girls Athlete of the Week after a dominating performance in last weekend's Class 4A-1A girls wrestling regional at Baldwin. [Submitted]
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.
Washburn Rural senior swimmer Nathen Trachta is the Dan Key Farmers Agency Athlete of the Week after winning four gold medals in the Centennial League meet for the team-champion Junior Blues. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sincere Austin
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Rossville sophomore Kendra Hurla, a returning state champion and top-ranked in Class 4A-1A at 120 pounds, is 35-0 on the season after winning a regional title last weekend. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
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.
Silver Lake sophomore Hailey Horton (right) is coming off a second-place regional finish last weekend at 155 pounds. [File photo/TSN]
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.
Shawnee Heights junior Luke Perkins was a triple gold medalist in last week's United Kansas Conference swimming championships. [File photo/TSN]
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.
Katie Price
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.
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.
