- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls and boys wrestling teams, both top-ranked in Kansas, tuned up for this week's state tournaments in impressive fashion, winning a pair of sub-state team championships while combining for 19 state qualifiers.
Washburn Rural's girls won Friday's Division I Girls Sub-State at Leavenworth by a 166-102 margin over Emporia while qualifying 8 wrestlers for Thursday's Division I State Tournament.
Rural's boys followed up that with a victory of its own, winning Saturday's Class 6A Boys Sub-State at Wichita Heights by a 195-160 margin over Dodge City while qualifying 11 wrestlers for Saturday's state tournament at Hartman Arena.
Washburn Rural's girls got sub-state championships from 155-pound senior Rebekah Smith (17-1) and 191-pound senior Dajia Anderson (27-4) while the Junior Blues got runner-up finishes from junior 115-pounder Shayne Miles (28-9) and sophomore 120-pounder Addison Broxterman (20-6) whiile sophomore 109-pounder Kaitlyn Morris (23-9), sophomore 126-pounder Alexis Fredrickson (23-12) and junior 170-pounder Jaliah Johnson (29-5) posted third-place finishes and senior 132-pounder Ellise Romine (18-11) finished fourth.
Rebekah Smith
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Undefeated junior 160-pounder Caden Walker earned a Class 5A sub-state championship Saturday at De Soto, leading Shawnee Heights boys to a third-place team finish with eight state qualifiers.
Caden Walker
Seaman's boys qualified three wrestlers for Friday's 5A state tournament at Park City's Hartman Arena while the T-Birds had three state qualifiers out of the Division I Girls Sub-State at Leavenworth for Thursday's Division I state tournament at Hartman.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the second time in two meetings No. 15 Washburn and No. 3 Northwest Missouri needed overtime to decide a winner, with the Bearcats topping the Ichabods 88-85 at Lee Arena to split the regular-season series.
In a game that saw 17 lead changes and 15 ties, the Bearcats hit 9 of 10 free throws in the OT to seal the win.
The Bearcats went up by 5 in overtime but Washburn cut its deficit to 86-85 with 9 seconds to play. Then, after a pair of free throws by Northwest, a 3-point attempt by the Ichabods from the corner rimmed out as the Bearcats held on for the win.
Sophomore Tyler Nelson scored 18 points in Washburn's 88-85 OT loss to No. 3 Northwest Missouri Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After scoring just 13 points of Saturday's MIAA game against Northwest Missouri, Washburn women's basketball team didn't exacly singe the nets in the second half, but the Ichabods' 28-16 second-half scoring edge was enough to pull out a 41-38 victory at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods improved to 9-10 overall and in the MIAA while the Bearcats fell to 7-12.
Aubree Dewey contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in Washburn's 41-38 MIAA win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West’s boys basketball team will wrap up its regular season next week before beginning its postseason fight for the Class 5A state basketball championship.
Charger coach Rick Bloomquist will begin his fight against cancer the same week.
Bloomquist confirmed Saturday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma in his lymph nodes and neck and delivered the shocking news to his team in a meeting minutes after the Chargers clinched the Centennial League championship with a 68-40 win over Topeka High Saturday at West.
Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer, characterized by abnormal, accelerated growth of squamous cells.
“I knew the kids had to know,’’ Bloomquist said. “I don’t want this to be about me, but you know how things escalate and rumors get started. I’ve got 32 kids and you’re going to have 32 versions of what’s wrong with my neck, so it’s important that we put this to rest now and get ready for sub-state. I want the newness to wear off.
“It will be a topic and I don’t want people to think I’m sick. I am sick, but I’m not unhealthy sick. I just need to get rid of this cancer. Cancer’s a scary word and you’ve got to respect it. I found out (Friday) I had to start treatment immediately, so it was time to let the kids know.’’
Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist delivered the news to his team that he is fighting cancer minutes after the Chargers clinched the Centennial League championship Saturday at West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
