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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's football team is obviously happy to be back in the Class 3A state championship game for a second straight season.
Now the aim for Bill Arnold's 11-1 Wildcats will be to change the outcome in Saturday's 12 p.m. title game against 12-0 Andale at Hutchinson Community College's Gowans Stadium after Hayden suffered a 34-7 loss to Cheney in awful conditions on the same field a year ago.
Bill Arnold's Hayden Wildcats are back in the Class 3A state championship game after posting an 11-1 record this fall. [File photo/TSN
"Sure it's nice to get back there -- it beats the alternative of staying home right now -- but everybody wants to say it's like a revenge-type thing with these guys but nobody's really talked about revenge,'' said Arnold, who has a 222-67 career coaching record.
"No. 1, we're playing a different opponent this year, and No. 2, we've got different guys but the core thing behind it all is they've been working hard for 11 months for this. It starts all the way back in January when you start doing winter weights and stuff.''
Andale has been arguably the state's most dominant program in recent memory, with the Indians winning seven state championships since 2006 and putting together a 57-game winning streak over four-plus seasons before Cheney snapped the streak in a 36-30 overtime regular-season win over Andale in 2023.
Cheney handed Andale another loss in last year's sub-state round before capping a perfect season with the win over Hayden in the state final.
But Arnold's Wildcats have an impressive resume of their own, playing in multiple championship games in multiple classes and winning a state title in 2008.
Andale beat Hayden on a late field goal on the way to a 14-0 season and a 4A state title in 2007 but the Wildcats took a 20-12 sub-state win over the Indians in '08 and Hayden is 3-1 against Andale under Arnold.
"Do we respect them? Yes, but we're not afraid of them,'' Arnold said. "It's going to come down to which team is able to control the time of possession, hang onto the football with no turnovers and which program's going to put the other one into a situation they don't want to be in.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 3-ranked Washburn University men's basketball team will host Peru State in a non-conference contest at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Lee Arena.
Senior Jacob Hanna (5) leads a balanced Washburn offense with a 16.3 scoring average. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods moved to 6-0 on the season with an 81-73 home win over William Jewell last Saturday and were ranked No. 3 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 poll and fourth in the latest D2 College Information Directors Association poll.
The ranking is the highest by an Ichabod team since earning a No. 2 ranking on Dec. 18, 2012. The last time the Ichabods were ranked No. 3 in the nation was on Nov. 30, 2004.
Peru State is 7-2 after falling at Baker 87-64 on Tuesday and the Bobcats are receving votes in the latest NAIA poll. Peru State won the last meeting with the Ichabods, taking a 76-72 win over Washburn in Lee Arena on Jan. 2, 2017. Washburn leads the all-time series 14-2.
Senior Jacob Hanna led five double-figure scorers for the Ichabods against William Jewell with 19 points and added eight rebounds and six assists while finishing 9 of 10 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter had 18 points, Jack Bachelor 14 and Andrew Orr and Brady Christiansen 12 apiece for WU, with Christiansen also grabbing seven rebounds.
Washburn senior Andrew Orr (24) is 23 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for his Ichabod career. [File photo/TSN]
Orr needs 23 points to become the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club.
Senior Michael Keegan has 826 career points as an Ichabod and he has moved into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks with 83.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After growing up in Colorado Springs and launching her college basketball career in California, 5-foot-10 junior guard Payton Sterk found her way to Washburn University, which has paid early dividends for both Sterk and the Ichabods.
Junior Payton Sterk (20) is averaging 16.1 points with 16 3-pointers for Washburn, which has won three straight games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After starring at Doherty High in Colorado Springs, Sterk played two seasons at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif., leading the California Collegiate Athletic Association in scoring as a sophomore with an 18.5 average and canning 83 3-pointers before making the decision to transfer and ending up with Lora Westling's Ichabods.
"Coach Wes did actually recruit me out of high school when she was at Western Colorado, but I really liked California, so I went,'' Sterk said. "It was a good time, but I was looking for people like my teammates now, who are more like-minded like me, and that kind of thing.
"I found coach again in the recruiting process and that's how I ended up here.''
Sterk moved to Topeka in July after making her decision to come to WU and used the late summer and early fall to get acquainted with her new teammates.
"That helped a lot, they were great,'' Sterk said. "They were a lot of the reason I ended up coming here. Just hanging out with them and that kind of thing was really cool.''
Junior Payton Sterk has become an immediate standout for Washburn, which has won three straight games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sterk has made an immediate impact for 3-4 Washburn, which will be shooting for its fourth straight win in Saturday's 4 p.m. non-conference game against Sterling in Lee Arena.
Sterk enters Saturday's game with a 16.1 scoring average while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and hitting 16 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Jett Wahlmeier was extremely proud of the run his Hayden teammates made to the Class 3A state championship game last season.
Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier (7) has passed for 1,890 yards and 21 TDs this fall while throwing just one interception. [File photo/TSN]
However, watching from the sidelines was zero fun for the 5-foot-9, 192-pound quarterback, who missed the final four games of the year after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
"It was Week 9 against Baldwin, the very first round of the playoffs,'' Wahlmeier said. "It was a draw up the middle for me and the corner came off the side and just got me really good with his helmet on my (left, throwing) shoulder.''
The injury required surgery on his labrum and relegated Wahlmeier to being a cheerleader for the remainder of the 2023 season as sophomore Connor Hanika took over at QB and helped the Wildcats win three straight playoff contests to reach the state final.
"It was torture, it was awful,'' Wahlmeier said about watching from the sidelines. "I obviously believe in Connor because he's able in every way, but you know you could help, you could just go in there and help.''
The hardest part was suffering through Hayden's 34-7 title-game loss to Cheney in a blizzard in Hutchinson.
"I was obviously happy we were winning games, but that last game watching my guys go out there, that second half was just brutal,'' Wahlmeier said.
As soon as he was cleared, Wahlmeier went to work to get prepared for his senior season.
"I got back in May to do all our camps and right when we started preparing for this season,'' Wahlmeier said. "It didn't feel 100 percent, but I was still pushing myself. June or July is when I really felt like myself again.''
Wahlmeier has responded with an outstanding '24 season, helping lead Hayden to an 11-1 record, including a 35-7 sub-state road victory over previously-unbeaten Wellsville last Friday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Zach Watkins has spent much of his life involved with the Washburn University football program, as an All-American player, assistant coach, defensive coordinator and most recently as the associate head coach.
Former All-America linebacker and longtime assistant coach Zach Watkins was introduced Wednesday morning as Washburn's new head football coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And as of Wednesday morning Watkins officially took over the job he had long dreamed of as the Washburn Hall of Famer was introduced as the 38th head coach in Ichabod history and the first alum in more than 30 years to guide the WU program.
"I've wanted to be a head coach for a long time,'' Watkins said. "I've turned down some opportunities to stay here and never thought it would happen the way it's happened the last couple of weeks, but it was always a job that I coveted and a job that I knew was special to me and one that I always thought I could do well.''
"He's done an outstanding job and I'm excited about this hire,'' Washburn athletics director Loren Ferre said. "He brings the energy, the passion, knowledge and experience we were looking for. He has been great to work with over the past 11 years that he's been on staff and I'm truly excited about the future of Washburn football and what coach Watkins can bring to this position.''
