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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kai Allen
KAI ALLEN, Silver Lake
The Eagles' star senior 138-pounder captured the fourth regional/sub-state championship of his high school wrestling career in Saturday's Class 3A-1A sub-state at Marion, going 3-0 on the day with two pins to improve to 37-3 on the season. Allen, No. 3 in the KWCA state rankings, pinned Douglass' Matthew Reynolds 2:59 into the championship match after winning his first two matches with a 22-second pin and a 16-5 major decision. Allen helped lead the Eagles to the regional title by a 97-83 margin over Wellsville.
Dajia Anderson
DAJIA ANDERSON, Washburn Rural
A senior, Anderson won the 191-pound title in last Friday's Division I girls sub-state tournament at Leavenworth, improving to 24-4 on the season and helping lead the Junior Blues to the team title. Anderson, top-ranked in the KWCA rankings and a returning state champion, recorded pins in 3:37 and 5:22 before outlasting No. 2-ranked Maranda Bell of Shawnee Heights in the championship match, 8-7.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Highland Park graduate Michael Wilhoite and Wichita native Joe Hastings arrived on Washburn University's campus in 2005 they became fast friends.
That bond has continued ever since, from standout careers for Craig Schurig's Ichabods to playing together for the San Francisco 49ers to becoming coaches in the NFL -- Wilhoite with the Los Angeles Chargers after a two-year stint with the New Orleans Saints and Hastings a recent addition to the Indianapolis Colts' staff.
"Those two really have a neat story together,'' Schurig said. "Their careers are almost mirror images with all the ups and downs they've had and even their playing career here was so similar. Their work ethic, their drive, their communication, just about everything you could imagine they've done it almost side by side and not on purpose, it just happened that way. It's just really cool.''
Former Washburn standout Michael Wilhoite went to play six seasons in the NFL and was recently named linebackers coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Wilhoite, who played linebacker and special teams for six years in the NFL for the 49ers and Seahawks before launching his coaching career, said he's extremely thankful for his friendship with Hastings.
"I thnk that's obviously God and that's just us loving each other,'' said Wilhoite, who was recently named linebackers coach for the Chargers. "One thing about us both is we always do things with the right intentions, I think, and we always try to be the best that we can be individually and I think we always want the people around us to be the best they can be. So we'll always travel in similar circles with similar people and accomplish similar things because we both have the same mindset.''
Joe Hastings, former star receiver at Washburn, was recently named to the Indianapolis Colts' coaching staff as special teams assistant. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Obviously, Topeka HIgh's 41-game winning streak is important to Trojans girls basketball coach Hannah Alexander and her top-ranked team.
But Alexander is more concerned about getting the Trojans ready for a shot at the Class 6A state title, which is why she jumped at the chance to accept a marquee matchup with perfennial state champion Bishop Miege, No. 1 in 4A, Tuesday night at Miege (7 p.m.).
Topeka HIgh, which has not lost since the 2019 6A state championship game to city rival Washburn Rural, will take an 18-0 record into Tuesday's game while 20-time state champ Bishop Miege is 16-1 after a 39-37 win over 5A power St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday.
Topeka High girls basketball coach Hannah Alexander and her Trojans are scheduled to face perennial state champion Bishop Miege on the road Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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Shawnee Heights sophomore Luke Perkins placed 3rd in the 100-yard butterfly in Saturday's Class 5A-1A state swimming and diving championships at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center in Lenexa. to pace city swimmers at state.
Perkins, a double medalist as a freshman, earned a pair of medals again in Friday's state meet, adding a 7th-place finish in the 200 individual medley.
Perkins clocked a time of 53.86 seconds en route to his 3rd-place finish in the IM and swam the 200 IM in 2:03.17.
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Hayden seniors Will DeVader and Clayton Stephenson will cap their high school wrestling careers in the boys Class 4A state tournament while Silver Lake and Rossville will send a total of 12 boys and girls competitors to state competition.
DeVader finished fourth in the 182-pound division in the Chanute 4A sub-state while Stephenson was fourth at 220 pounds.
DeVader will take a 21-7 record into Saturday's 4A state tournament at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center while Stephenson is 31-8 on the season.
Silver Lake is coming off a championship in the 3A-1A boys sub-state tournament while qualifying five wrestlers for Saturday's state tournament at Hays' Gross Coliseum, led by champions Kai Allen and Daigan Kruger.
Daigan Kruger
