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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden seniors Will DeVader and Clayton Stephenson extended their wrestling seasons after posting top-three finishes in Friday's Class 4A regional boys tournament at Jefferson West.
DeVader advanced to the 182-pound final before dropping a 14-8 decision to Louisburg's Aiden Barker in the championship match while 220-pounder Stephenson rebounded from a first-round loss to post three straight wins by fall and finish third, ending his day with a pin of Holton's Dalton Roush in the third-place match
DeVader improved to 19-5 on the season while Stephenson is now 29-6.
DeVader and Stephenson will compete in a 4A sub-state tournament at Chanute next Saturday, with the top four advancing to state competition.
SILVER LAKE, ROSVILLE COMBINE FOR SIX REGIONAL CHAMPS
Silver Lake finished second as a team in Friday's 3A-1A regional at Rossville with four individual champs while Rossville had a pair of individual titlists.
The Eagles got regional championships from senior Kai Allen (138), junior Daigan Kruger (170 pounds), junior Tristan VandeVelde (182) and junior Preston Gillen (195) while Rossville got titles from senior Layne Hurla (145) and junior Sam Twombly (152).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' wrestling program showed its superior depth in Friday's Class 5A boys regional tournament at Leavenworth, with the T-Birds qualifying all 14 competitors for Class 5A sub-state competition while winning the team championship by a 252.5-187.5 margin over Bonner Springs.
The T-Birds captured four individual championships, led by junior 160-pounder Caden Walker, who improved to 32-0 on the season with a third-period win over Leavenworth's Tristan Mercado.
Caden Walker
Shawnee Heights also got individual titles from sophomore 106-pounder Tyler Lincoln, junior 120-pounder Brock Ferguson and 182-pound junior Preston Hartman.
Lincoln (33-2) pinned Leavenworth's Julian Long at the 1:35 mark of the 106 final while Ferguson (34-2) pinned Bonner Springs' Trevor Andrew at the 4:24 mark of the 120 final and Hartman (33-5) pinned Basehor-Linwood's Tanner Parish 1:15 into the 182 title match.
Shawnee Heights coach Chad Parks was named the regional coach of the year.
Seaman senior Kyle Adams (11-0) won the 126-pound title with a pin over Leavenworth's David Drake (4:21) while Viking sophomore Jaxson Thomas (21-2) won the 195-pound crown by fall over Shawnee Heights' Sean Wunder (4:40).
Shawnee Heights also got second-place finishes from Ty Lewis (138), Joey Hilton (145), Cole Manrose (170) and Garrett Perry (220) while Decker Stickelman (126) and Allen Baughman (152) finished third and Cole Parrish (132), Andrew Bonebrake (113) and Dawson Campbell (285) placed fourth.
Seaman got third-place finishes from Justin Kruse (113), Hunter Reno (170) and Ewan Mills (285) and fourth-place showings from Zach Jowers (152) and Garrett Griffin (220).
Friday's top-four qualifiers will compete in a 5A sub-state tournament at De Soto.
CLASS 5A BOYS REGIONAL AT LEAVENWORTH
TEAM SCORES
Shawnee Heights 252.5, Bonner Springs 187.5, Basehor-Linwood 147, Lansing 132, Seaman 131, Leavenworth 110.5, DeSoto 48, KC Piper 34.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
106 -- 1. Lincoln, Shawnee Heights; 2. Long, Leavenworth; 3. Vielhauer, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Simmons, Piper.
113 -- 1. Cook, Bonner Springs; 2. Kozminski, Leavenworth; 3. Kruse, Seaman; 4. Bonebrake, Shawnee Heights.
120 -- 1. Ferguson, Shawnee Heights; 2. Andrew, Bonner Springs; 3. Finn, Leavenworth; 4. Kellley, Basehor-Linwood.
126 -- 1. Adams, Seaman; 2. Drake, Leavenworth; 3. Stickelman, Shawnee Heights; 4. Marquez, Bonner Springs.
132 -- 1. Maestas, Lansing; 2. Tapia, Bonner Springs; 3. McMillen, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Parrish, Shawnee Heights.
138 -- 1. Lara, Bonner Springs; 2. Lewis, Shawnee Heights; 3. Suchy, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Sumter, Leavenworth.
145 -- 1. Vanderpool, Bonner Springs; 2. Hilton, Shawnee Heights; 3. Baker, Basehor-Linwood; 4. McMurray, Leavenworth.
152 -- 1. Daniels, Bonner Springs; 2. Elven, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Baughman, Shawnee Heights; 4. Jowers, Seaman.
160 -- 1. Walker, Shawnee Heights; 2. Mercado, Leavenworth; 3. Wallar, Bonner Springs; 4. Henson, Lansing.
170 -- 1. McLain, Lansing; 2. Manrose, Shawnee Heights; 3. Reno, Seaman; 4. Duncan, De Soto.
182 -- 1. Hartman, Shawnee Heights; 2. Parish, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Nehl, De Soto; 4. Baragary, Lansing.
195 -- 1. Thomas, Seaman; 2. Wunder, Shawnee Heights; 3. Shields, Lansing; 4. Mortell, Bonner Springs.
220 -- 1. Ward, Lansing; 2. Peery, Shawnee Heights; 3. Vazquez, Basehor-Linwood; 4. Griffin, Seaman.
285 -- 1. Caballero, Bonner Springs; 2. Kincaid, Basehor-Linwood; 3. Mills, Seaman; 4. Campbell, Shawnee Heights.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural, the top-ranked boys wrestling team in Class 6A, lived up to that billing in Friday's regional meet at Wichita Southeast, with the Junior Blues winning the team championship by a 251.5-198.5 margin over Derby while advancing 13 wrestlers to next week's sub-state tournament.
Leading the way for the Junior Blues were six regional champs -- junior Jacob Tangpricha (27-2) at 113 pounds, senior Bishop Murray (23-1) at 120, senior Bowan Murray (26-2) at 138, junior Austin Fager (25-3) at 170, senior Remington Stiles (22-7) at 182 and senior David Huckstep (23-3) at 285.
Huckstep, who began the week second-ranked in 6A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, turned in what was arguably the performance of the day for Washburn Rural, knocking off No. 3-ranked Tai Newhouse of Free State 14-7 in the semifinals before taking a 7-4 win over No. 1 Damian Ilalio of Manhattan in the championship match.
Washburn Rural senior 285-pounder David Huckstep was named co-outstanding wrestler in Friday's Class 6A regional. [Photo courtesy of Eustacia Fager]
Huckstep was named co-oustanding wrestler of the tournament with two-time state champion Bishop Murray, top-ranked at 120. Murray claimed his title with a 3-0 decision over Free State's Darius Shields, a former 3A-1A state champ.
Washburn Rural 120-pounder Bishop Murray was named co-outstanding wrestler in Friday's Class 6A regional tournament, improving to 23-1 on the season. [Photo courtesy of Eustacia Fager]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Slowly but surely, Washburn University men’s basketball coach Brett Ballard is starting to get more company on the Ichabod sidelines.
Ballard has played just seven players for the bulk of Washburn’s last two games due to injury and illness, but he could have more weapons at his disposal in the very near future, perhaps as early as Saturday’s 3 p.m. MIAA game at Central Missouri.
The Ichabods have played their last seven games without 6-foot-9 junior Jonny Clausing (foot injury) and have also been without 6-7 junior Will McKee (knee), but both appear to be close to returning to action.
"We're close,'' Ballard said of about the return of Clausing and McKee. "I think Jonny's really close and I would imagine that if things go well he'll play Saturday and Will's knee is feeling better. I don't know if he'll be ready Saturday or not but those guys dressed out (Tuesday) and warmed up so we're inching closer and it was nice looking over and seeing them.
"It kind of made me want to put them in, but they weren't quite ready yet. But we're getting there and I think with that depth we could be very dangerous down the stretch here.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys basketball team bounced back from a disappointing loss with its best offensive performance of the season Friday night, taking control early in a 67-48 Centennial League romp past Topeka High at Rural.
Washburn Rural, which improved to 10-5 overall and 9-3 in the league, had scored just 47 points in a 9-point loss to Seaman in its previous game, but eclipsed that total in the third quarter en route to opening up a commanding 59-28 advantage. A running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter due to the 30-point rule.
"We just have to come together as a group and I think today was a step to it,'' Rural senior Jack Hutchinson said. "We just have to keep playing better. We have four more (regular-season) games left and we play (Topeka) West on Monday, which will be a big one for us, and just keep rolling through sub-state.''
Washburn Rural's Jack Hutchinson (15) handles the ball as Topeka High's Jalen Smith defends. Hutchinson had 23 points and 7 3-pointers in Rural's 67-48 win while Smith scored a game-high 29 points with 4 3s. [Photo by Doug Walker]
Hutchinson and fellow senior Joe Berry combined for a total of 47 points to key Rural's rout Friday night, with Hutchinson finishing with 23 points, just 1 point behind Berry's 24-point night.
Hutchinson hit his first 7 3-point attempts of the night and his first eight shots overall before finally missing.
"It just felt good off the hand,'' Hutchinson said.
Berry, meanwhile, scored both inside and outside against the Trojans, banking in a 3-pointer on his final shot to edge Hutchinson for game-high honors.
Joe Berry led Washburn Rural with 24 points in Friday's 67-48 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Doug Walker]
Washburn Rural opened up a 21-8 first-quarter lead and led 38-15 at halftime.
Senior Jalen Smith had a big night for Topeka High (2-14, 2-11), scoring a game-high 29 points with 4 3-pointers and a 9 of 10 performance at the free throw line. Freshman BJ Canady added 8 points for the Trojans.
Washburn Rural will be at home against league-leading Topeka West on Monday, with the Junior Blues hosting the Chargers in a girls-boys twinbill.
Topeka High will host Seaman on Tuesday.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 67, TOPEKA HIGH 48
Topeka High 8 7 13 20 -- 48
Washburn Rural 21 17 21 8 -- 67
Topeka High (2-14, 2-11) -- Smith 8-13 9-10 29, McMillon 1-1 0-0 3, Walker 0-2 0-0 0, Leesman 3-5 0-1 6, Canady 4-10 0-0 8, Phillips 1-1 0-0 2, Kincade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-32 9-11 48.
Washburn Rural (10-5, 9-3) -- Bachelor 1-3 0-0 2, Williams 1-4 2-2 5, Berry 10-12 3-4 24, Hutchinson 8-9 0-0 23, Patterson 1-4 0-0 2, Brady 1-5 1-2 3, Howard 1-2 0-0 2, Kidd 2-4 0-0 6, Bunck 0-0 0-0 0, Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Hanks 0-0 0-0 0, Conklin 0-0 0-0 0, Wech 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 6-8 67.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 5 (Smith 4, McMillon), Washburn Rural 11 (Hutchinson 7, Kidd 2, Williams, Berry). Total fouls -- Topeka High 7, Washburn Rural 8. Fouled out -- none.
