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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
More than 29,000 reader votes have been received since TopSports.news kicked off its Best of the Best Coaches project in late June.
Voting will conclude Friday night before TSN honors Shawnee County's all-time coaching greats in a series of Best of the Best lists.
Current Washburn Rural boys and girls golf coach Jared Goehring has led the Junior Blues to five Class 6A state championships. [File photo/TSN]
Former Hayden and current Rockhurst coach Kathy Strecker won six state cross country team titles with the Wildcats. Hayden Schools]
![Derick Hammes has coached Rossville to five state football championships, including the past two straight. [File photo/TSN]](/images/2024/08/Hammes2_2.jpg)
Derick Hammes has coached Rossville to five state football championships, including the past two straight. [File photo/TSN]
Former Silver Lake coach Loren Ziegler led the Eagles to five girls state basketball titles. [Silver Lake Schools]
More than 240 current and former county coaches have received Best of the Best votes in 14 different sports, including 24 men's basketball coaches and 23 baseball and football coaches.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After beginning the final round of the Topeka Golf Association City Stroke Play championship a stroke down, 20-year-old Addison Alonzo vaulted into the lead early in Sunday's round and made that advantage stand up the rest of the day, closing with a 70 to take a two-stroke win at Lake Shawnee with a 54-hole total of 207.
Former Topeka West star Addison Alonzo took a two-stroke victory in the TGA City Stroke Play tournament Sunday after a final-round 70. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
TGA City Stroke Play champion Addison Alonzo receives a pat on the back from runner-up Dan Key (right) at the conclusion of Sunday's final round. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Alonzo, a former Topeka West standout and two-time national champion for Hutchinson Community College, said the key was sticking to his game plan from start to finish.
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By RICK PETERSON 
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks, TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time coaching greats in 14 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. Readers will have the opportunity to vote through July 15, with the Top 10 in all categories announced in July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best wrestling coach click on https://poll-maker.com/poll4401341x415B428E-138 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
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Three-time state championship coach Damon Parker of Washburn Rural headlines the list of contenders for the No.1 spot on the TopSports.news Shawnee County Best of the Best Coaches wrestling list.
Damon Parker has led Washburn Rural to three state wrestling team championships, including a pair of girls crowns. [File photo/TSN]
Josh Hogan led Washburn Rural's boys to the 2022 Class 6A wrestling title in his first season as Rural's head coach. [File photo/TSN]
Chad Parks, with 2022 state champ Maranda Bell, has had a highly-successful run as Shawnee Heights' wrestling coach. [File photo/TSN]
Parker led Rural to a pair of state tiitles and a runner-up finish in the first three years of girls wrestling in Kansas and led the Junior Blue boys to the school's first state championship in 2021 before turning the boys reins over to Josh Hogan, who is also a top Best of the Best contender after coaching Rural to a second straight Class 6A crown this past season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Adam Head, the 2021 Topeka Golf Association player of the year, is in position to add another win after riding a second-round 67 Saturday at Cypress Ridge to a one-stroke lead in the City Stroke Play tournament.
After opening the tournament with a 69 Friday at Shawnee Country Club, Head followed that up with an even better day Saturday to move from fourth place into the tournament lead.
Adam Head taps in a putt on his final hole after hitting an approach shot to within inches. Head shot a second-round 67 to take a one-stroke lead in the TGA City Stroke Play tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Former Topeka West star Addison Alonzo is a stroke back in the TGA City Stroke Play tournament after a second-round 69. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It was solid,'' Head said. "It seemed like I was making some decent putts. I mjssed a few short ones and made a few long ones so it kind of evened out. I think I just had one bogey today so it was just solid overall.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Jason Buessing led a strong field with a 66 Friday at Shawnee Golf Club in the opening round of the 54-hole Topeka Golf Association City Stroke Play Tournament.
Buessing chalked up seven birdies to go with two bogeys en route to a 5-under-par round, which included a 32 on the back nine.
