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Graves’ long-awaited title one of record three individual championships for Heights
By NATHAN SWAFFAR
Topsports.news
PARK CITY -- Saturday had the chance to be special for the Shawnee Heights girls wrestling program.
With three chances at state titles, multiple prospects for medal finishes and a possible top-three team finish, the only question was if the T-Birds could capitalize on the opportunity.
In the end, not only was the day nearly perfect, it was historical.
Shawnee Heights senior star Cianna Graves reacts while having her hand raised as the Class 5A 155-pound state champion Saturday in Park City. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Cianna Graves accepts the Class 5A third-place team trophy Saturday in Park City. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
The T-Birds saw senior Cianna Graves, sophomore Olive Jones and freshman Brinnley Morris all capture individual titles en route to a third-place team finish for Shawnee Heights (141.5 points) for the second straight year as Basehor-Linwood (200.5) and Kapaun Mt. Carmel (157) finished first and second, respectively.
“Three state champions is a record for us,” Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks said. “We’ve had two in the past, we’ve never had three at once, so that was really awesome. Even the girls that didn’t get on the podium, they wrestled really, really well.”
The three champs in one day was a program-wide record as well, and Graves got the party started.
A senior, Graves (35-2) finally captured the 155-pound state title that eluded her for three years when she pinned Basehor-Linwood’s Falasteen Shalabi in the second period.
After two state medals as an freshman and sophomore and a third-place finish last year, the triumph brought Graves to tears immediately after the whistle blew.
“I feel like I put in a lot of hard work and the people who have helped me get there, just getting to see their faces, I hope they know they played a part in it,” Graves said.
The four-time state medalist led 1-0 after an escape point. However, Graves saw her opportunity when Shalabi chose to be on bottom in the second period.
“I’ve wrestled her before in neutral, I knew we were going to be moving around and there was going to be a lot of pushing back and forth,” Graves said. “When she chose bottom, that’s my place to be.”
But the T-Birds’ fun was just getting started.
Shawnee Heights freshman Brinnley Morris celebrates her 120-pound state title Saturday in Park City. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Freshman Brinnley Morris (21-3) captured Shawnee Heights’ second title of the day a little while later at 120 pounds.
She physically dominated Salina Central’s Natalia Garcia wire-to-wire, leading 15-4 in the second period before she ended things early with a pin.
“[Physicality] that’s kind of what we did all year at practice, summer conditioning, just making sure we could keep up the strength and endurance to dominate the whole time,” Morris said.
And finally, a little bit later with a chance to go three for three in title matches, sophomore Olive Jones (39-1) capped off the day for Shawnee Heights as she captured the 135-pound title with a second-period victory by fall over Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Grace Hare.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Olive Jones gains the upper hand en route to the 135-pound Class 5A state championship Saturday in Park City. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Jones qualified for state last year, but failed to find the podium. Parks said that lit a fire for her that burned for a year.
“She said, ‘I’m never going to feel that again. I’m never going to let that happen again,’ ” Parks said. “And she has absolutely worked her tail off. She’s calm, collected all the time and she comes out and attacks.”
Washburn women's basketball improves to 21-7 with sixth straight win
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Payton Sterk, playing defense, tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points as Washburn improved to 21-7 with an 83-64 Senior Day win over Missouri Southern. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]Before the game Washburn recognized seniors Gabi Giovannetti, Payton Sterk, Aniah Wayne and Yibari Nwidadah along with student assistant Karly Neufeld. The senior class has helped lead Washburn to its first 20-win season since 2019.
After a 5-0 run early in the first quarter to lead 10-5 Washburn, 14-5 in the MIAA, never trailed the rest of the way. The Ichabods shot 8-8 at the free throw line in the opening quarter to help build an 18-14 lead.
The Lions (19-9, 13-6) cut the deficit down to one point early in the second quarter but the third 3-pointer of the game by junior Madelyn Amekporfor stopped the run.
The Ichabods were able to push the lead to 10 points at 35-25 on a Giovannetti 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining in the first half. Washburn ended the half on a 5-0 run in the final 17 seconds to go into halftime leading 40-27.
A personal 5-0 run by Sterk pushed the lead to 15 points at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter.
Missouri Southern answered with six points in a row to reduce the WU lead to single digits, but Wayne hit a pair of 3-pointers inside the final minutes of the quarter as the Ichabods took a 62-50 advantage into the fourth stanza.
Sterk opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, but the Lions continued to chip away, bringing the lead back down to nine points with 5:29 remaining.
Over the next 2:13 Washburn answered with a 10-2 run, with the final six points coming at the free throw line. That pushed the lead to 17 and it was all Ichabods from there as they eased into the 19-point victory.
Washburn shot 42.9 percent from the field for the game and was an efficient 9 of 23 from deep. The Ichabods got to the line 32 times and converted 26 opportunities.
On the other end Missouri Southern was held to 33.9 percent shooting and the Lions went just 1-12 from behind the 3-point arc. Southern shot 21-31 at the charity stripe.
Five players cracked double figures for Washburn, led by Sterk with 19 ponts on 5-9 shooting.
Sterk said she tried to avoid getting too emotional for Senior Day.
"I was a little bit, but we still have a long way to go before you get emotional,'' Sterk said. "I thought (today) was good. I think we were locked in and kind of followed our game plan. It was a little messy, a lot of fouls, but I think we did a good job of sticking together and finishing the game.''
Washburn softball 4-1 in Midwest College Classic, improves to 21-4
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University softball team went 2-0 on Saturday's final day of the Midwest College Classic in Shawnee, taking a 5-1 win over Southwest Baptist and a 6-5 win over Minnesota State.
Pitcher Jenna Sprague picked up the save in both Washburn wins on Saturday as the Ichabods improved to 21-4 on the season. [File photo/TSN]
With the two wins and a 4-1 record on the weekend Washburn improved to 21-4 on the season and will return to action with four games at the Grand Slam Classic in Branson, Mo. Friday and Saturday.
The Ichabods topped former MIAA foe Southwest Baptist in their first game on Saturday, winning their eighth game in a row over the Bearcats.
Washburn struck early and never trailed, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Makenzie Sais ignited the offense with a single, stole second, and scored on Taylor Brees' run-scoring single to center. Brees later came home on Dalaney Anderson run-scoring single to left, giving the Ichabods a 2-0 advantage.
After SBU trimmed its deficit to 2-1 in the third, Washburn responded with a big fourth inning putting some distance between the two schools.
Following a leadoff error, pinch runner Ashlyn Gaughan moved into scoring position before Aspen Burgardt delivered the biggest swing of the game -- a two-run home run to left field to extend the Washburn lead to 4-1.
The Ichabods added an insurance run in the fifth when Maddie McGee singled up the middle and later scored when Sais ripped a double down the leftfield line, pushing the margin to 5-1.
Sais paced Washburn's eight-hit attack, going 2 for 3 with a double, RBI, run scored and a stolen base. Brees also collected two hits and drove in a run, while Anderson finished 1 for 3 with an RBI.
Sadie Walker earned the pitching win to improve to 10-2, tossing 6.2 innings while allowing just one run on nine hits with seven strikeouts. Jenna Sprague closed the door, striking out the only batter she faced to record her second save of the season.
Washburn jumped on Minnesota State immediately, scoring four times in the opening inning.
Sais led off with a single, stole second and third, and scored on Anderson's groundout to short.
Brees walked and later scored when Madi Moore doubled into the left-center gap.
Kierra Coos followed with a two-run homer to right center, giving the Ichabods a 4–0 advantage.
Minnesota State answered with a run in the second on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded, then added two more in the third when a single to left center brought in a pair, trimming Washburn's lead to 4-3.
In the fifth Burgardt lifted a sacrifice fly to score Brees, and in the sixth, Danielle Schlager added another sac fly, scoring Kate Ediger to make it 6–3.
