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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville junior wrestling standout Barrett Lietz and Topeka West junior bowler Megan Wood have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Lietz and Wood over the past week:
Barrett Lietz
BARRETT LIETZ, Rossville
Lietz, a 215-pounder, captured a Class 3A-1A regional wrestling championship last Saturday at Sabetha.
Lietz took a 6-1 decision over Oskaloosa sophomore Colsen Perry in the title match.
Also an All-Shawnee County pick in football, Lietz will take a 32-8 record into this Friday and Saturday's 3A-1A state meet at Hays.
Megan Wood
MEGAN WOOD, Topeka West
Wood, who placed 13th in the Class 5A-1A state bowling tournament last season, who a 5A-1A regional individual championship on Tuesday at West Ridge Lanes.
Wood put together games of 210, 164 and a final-game 255 to finish with a 629 series and take indiviual honors by 27 pins over Seaman's JaeLinn Thetford.
Wood led Topeka West to a second-place team finish, with the Chargers earning a team berth for next week's state tournament in Wichita.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
ROSSVILLE –The Rossville boys basketball team closed out its 2022-2023 regular season with a 62-45 Mid-East League loss against Rock Creek Thursday, but that game doesn’t mean much to the Bulldawgs in their eye toward a promising future.
First-year Rossville boys coach Brandon McDonnell is proud of the progress the Bulldawgs have made over a 7-13 regular season. [File photo/TSN]
Although Rossville finished its regular season 7-13, the culture has changed surrounding the boys' basketball program.
In the previous three years, Rossville had won eight games. This year alone, they neared that total.
"Let's just be honest, it's a blessing," Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said. "We got seven wins. We've gotten more wins this year than we had the past two or three years. So it's a blessing. The only way this year happened the way it did is for the boys to go out there and perform and put in the work. I can coach them up all day, but I'm not out there playing; the boys are.
"For them to go out there, exert that energy, and play hard is a blessing. That's that light at the end of the tunnel; you see it. I got most of these boys for the next two or three years, which is beautiful. We've had rocky parts this year and speed bumps, but we get over them. We get over them together. What more can I ask?"
McDonnell knew that getting buy-in from his kids wouldn't be an issue. So when the first-year coach took the job at Rossville, he had a sole mission: To put a winning product on the court and develop kids while helping them reach their fullest potential.
Seven wins might not seem like much, but it's a step in the right direction for a successful boys' basketball program at Rossville.
"I don't go home mad; I don't go home frustrated because I know the boys are working hard," McDonnell said. "They don't want to come out here and lose games. They work their tails off. You see the beauty and glimpses of what they are doing. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are just young. Having a good offseason will be crucial, but I'm not worried about that now."
McDonnell admits that he feels empathy for his senior class that won't be able to experience the ride with this young group after this season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a disappointing 208-pin loss to De Soto in last Friday's United Kansas Conference championships at Olathe, Seaman's bowling team team didn't have much time to dwell on that defeat, with the UKC meet the first of three events for the Vikings over a span of five days.
Seaman's boys claimed a Class 5A-1A regional team title on Tuesday at West Ridge Lanes and will try to repeat as the state champion next week in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The defending Class 5A-1A state champions bounced back with a win at Emporia on Monday and then gained a measure of revenge with a 17-pin victory over De Soto in Tuesday's Class 5A-1A regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes.
Seaman coach Bob Benoit said that jumping right back into action after the UKC meet was good for his team.
"I think we needed it because the boys had had too many highs and lows this year,'' Benoit said. "And I felt like if we got them on a run and got them going and got them in that rhythm and timing that that would help propel thems here.
"We used the way we got beat at Olathe as motivation to try to beat (De Soto) here.''
All six Vikings rolled series of 613 or better in the regional meet, with senior Ethan Burns leading the way with a 703 series to finish third individually.
Riley Parkhurst finished sixth for the Vikings with a 655 series while Zander White was eighth with a 643 and Dominic Figuerora ninth with a 641.
Braxton Moore had a 625 series and Alex Presscott a 613 to round out Seaman's lineup.
Burns said that a ball change played a big role in his success on Tuesday.
"There was a ball that I picked up last week and I tried to throw it on Friday down in Olathe and I was just trying to figure it out the whole time,'' Burns said. "I went out and tried that ball again in Emporia and I didn't have to move hardly at all. It was beautiful.
"I threw it again today for about 90 percent of it and it was amazing. It felt really good.''
Topeka West finished fourth as a team, just nine pins behind Emporia for the final team berth, but West's Dason Tidwell and Alex Rutschmann earned indiviual berths for next week's state tournament.
Tidwell finished fourth individually with a 695 series while Rutschmann qualified with a 618 series.
The 5A-1A boys state tournament will be contested next Thursday, March 2, at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, with the competition getting under way at 1:40 p.m.
"I feel like we're ready,'' Burns said. "These last two meets we're on fire and I feel like if we have a good week and a half of practice, we're ready to repeat.''
CLASS 5A-1A REGIONAL BOYS BOWLING
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman and Topeka West dominated Tuesday's Class 5A girls bowling regional at West Ridge Lanes, with the Vikings and Chargers combining for one-two team and individual finishes.
Seaman, the defending 5A-1A state team champion, won the regional team title by by a 2,968-2,705 margin over Topeka West while Charger junior Megan Wood won the individual championship with a 629 three-game series while Seaman junior JaeLinn Thetford finished second with a 602 series.
Seaman's girls bowling team, the defending Class 5A-1A state champion, won Tuesday's regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes by 263 pins. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West's girls bowling team advanced to next Thursday's Class 5A-1A state tournament with a second-place finish in Tuesday's regional tournament at West Ridge Lanes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West's Brennna Rutschmann finished sixth with a 552 series while Seaman's Cheyenne Turkin posted a sixth-place individual finish with a 547 series.
With Tuesday's victory Seaman earned its opportunity to defend its state championhip next Thursday at Northrock Lanes in Wichita and Viking coach Bob Benoit was pleased with Tuesday's regional perfomance.
"We've got two freshmen on the team and they were scared to death,'' Benoit said. "And for them to perform like they did today was great. We had a couple of other girls struggling and JaeLinn was struggling with her 10 pins today but they finally regrouped and everything that they did, that's the sign of a champion.
"I feel pretty good (going into state), but we've still got to take it one frame at a time, one game at a time and we're going to work really, really hard the rest of the week. We've got some spare issues we've got to work on a little bit, but we're going to get there.''
Topeka West junior Megan Wood shot a 629 series, with a high game of 255, to win the individual title in Tuesday's Class 6A-5A regional bowling tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West's Wood, a returning state medalist, has been fighting a knee injury, but put together games of 210, 164 and a final-game 255 to take indiviual honors by 27 pins over Seaman's Thetford.
"I feel great, today felt amazing,'' Wood said. "After I shot that 164 game I was like, 'I've got to get it back,' and I had those front straight strikes and I was on Cloud Nine and I knew I had that win.''
Wood said it was a big bonus that West qualified as a team.
"We picked each other up when we were down and it felt great,'' Wood said. "We did it as a team and I'm just so proud.''
Wood finished 13th at state a year ago and said she's confident going into next week.
"I just want to go out and do my best, do what I can and control what I can,'' she said.
The girls state tournament will get under way at 8:50 a.m. next Thursday, March 2.
CLASS 5A-1A REGIONAL GIRLS BOWLING
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Topeka High boys basketball hasn’t had the regular season it wanted to have, and after dropping a 62-53 Senior Night decision to Junction City on Tuesday the regular season came to an end the same way many other games had.
“I loved how we played in the first half, and how we played in the second half, it was just we shot the same shots, they just didn’t go,” said Topeka High coach Geo Lyons. “Rebounding has been our achilles heel, as you know we’re not the biggest team, we just got to out-tough some people and we got out-toughed today.”
Senior Mason Gomez led Topeka High with 17 points in Tuesday's 62-53 Senior Night loss to Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Lyons is appreciative of the group of five graduating seniors who have helped him navigate through his first season as coach of the Trojans and has led to improvements down the stretch of the season.
“The crazy thing is I know this group of seniors. I’m a Topeka guy and my boys have been a part of this program so I knew these guys outside of basketball which made it even more special with this group,” Lyons said. “My seniors have played a very big role … I love my seniors.”
T-High closes the regular season out 3-17 and 0-10 in the Centennial League and will have a full week before sub-state action will begin on February 28.
“I actually love that our season ends today and sub-state is a week away so we get a full week of practice. The beauty about Kansas high school basketball is you only gotta win two games,” Lyons said. “I told our boys we got a one-game tournament on Tuesday.”
