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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys golf will be back in familiar territory next week, qualifying for the Class 6A tournament with a third-place finish in Monday's regional at Topeka Country Club.
Washburn Rural golf earned a Class 6A state tournament berth with a third-place finish in Monday's regional tournament at Topeka Country Club. [Washburn Rural golf]
All of the Junior Blues' top four posted top-10 individual medals as Rural carded a team score of 316 to finish behind Manhattan (306) and Free State (313) and advance to the state tournament, which will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday in Winfield.
Washburn Rural senior Tagan Monasmith shot a 77 to tie for fourth in Monday's Class 6A golf regional. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Tadd Armstrong tied for seventh in Monday's Class 6A golf regional at Topeka Country Club with a 79. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Tagan Monasmith tied for fourth place with a 77 to lead Rural while senior Tadd Armstrong tied for seventh with a 79 and junior Higgins Hawks and senior Brady Goeden tied for 10th with 80s.
Juniors Michael Wilson (81) and Peyton Goehring (91) rounded out the Junior Blues' lineup, tying for 13th and 23rd, respectively.
"We survived and advanced,'' Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring said. "The guys accomplished a team goal and 316 on a tough golf course is an accomplishment.
"I'm proud of the guys and proud of the way (seniors) Tagan and Tadd and Brady all stepped up today.''
The trip to state will continue a longstanding tradition for the Junior Blues, who Jared Goehring said will be competing in the state event for the 40th straight season.
Team champion Manhattan was led by individual runnerup Charlie Haney (74) and third-place Tate Reid (75) while Cade Cochran tied for fourth (77) and Cooper Graham tied for 10th (80).
Free State junior Henry Thompson shot a 73 to claim the individual championship.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL GOLF

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By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
It took a clutch effort and some hand wringing, but the Seaman Vikings rode a team effort to qualify as a team for the Class 5A state boys golf tournament next week at Emporia.
Seaman's boys golf team earned the final team berth for next week's Class 5A state tournament in Emporia. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
With the team’s fate in question, Seaman senior Bradley Williamson came down to the last hole believing he needed a par to qualify for state as an individual. With a crowd watching the final group come in, Williamson drew a long putt to within three feet of the hole, then drained it for a par.
When the final scores were entered, a tie with Basehor-Linwood became apparent. Williamson’s par had been crucial for the entire team.
“Going into 18, my coach mentioned that he thought the (individual) cut line was going to be in the 84, 85 range,” said Williamson, who finished with an 83. “He didn’t know how the rest of the team was doing. He didn’t let me know that. I just knew I had to get a good score to give myself a chance. I felt a lot of relief draining it. There was a lot of pressure standing over it because we had a gallery.”
The tie with Basehor-Linwood was broken by the score of the fifth man of each team. Seaman’s Alex Flanagan had carded an 88 while the Bobcats’ fifth man recorded a 92.
“It’s a lot more fun to take the whole group down,” Seaman coach Rick Rineberg said. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve played our best golf and it really came out today in a big way. They are a tight-knit group. So, it makes it all the more fun to be able to take everybody down with us.”
Leading the Vikings with an 82 was sophomore Evan Michalski. He will be making his first trip to state.
It’s really exciting,” Michalski said. “I started off kind of rough through the first couple of tournaments. I’m just happy I’m starting to go on the scoring for the team.
“I think today my head was in the game. There were mistakes I definitely made, but I think I can get a lot better if I stop making those mistakes that I know I can fix.”
Rineberg was quick to praise assistant coach Jeff Schuh for his contribution to the team’s success.
“Four out of the six kids on this year’s state-qualifying team either spent all last year on the JV or part of the year on JV,” Rineberg said. “So, Coach Schuh deserves a huge shoutout for the development of our quote-unquote “farm system” to get those kids ready for when they meet the challenges like today.
Joining the Vikings at state will be Shawnee Heights’ Ayden Valdivia, who makes his second trip to state. The T-Bird junior hopes the fates are kinder this year than they were last.
Valdivia was in Newton, site of last year’s 5A state meet, the night before the event when the town was hit by a tornado. A gust of wind lifted Valdivia off his feet and threw him roughly to the ground. He was treated in the local emergency room, which was operating without electricity.
Valdivia took the course the next day with a severe abrasion on his right hip.
“I wound up playing pretty well,” Valdivia recalled. “I birdied like six holes, but I just had to tough it out. I hope I can just show how much I’ve improved and shoot better than I did with the injury.”
Valdivia is carrying on the family legacy. His brother Justice won Class 4A state playing for Hayden in 2011. Brother Alex took sixth at 5A state for Shawnee Heights in 2023. His sister Lauryn, a Shawnee Heights sophomore, has already made two trips to state.
“It’s just an everyday thing,” Valdivia said. “We go out and play tournaments with my family. It’s been part of our family for as long as I can remember.”
The Class 3A Regional meet was held at Lake Shawnee simultaneous to the 5A event. Silver Lake served as host but failed to qualify as a team or to send any individuals to the state meet. Coach Johnny Roberts reflected on the improvement he saw in the team during the season.
"I would say it was a season of growth and development,” Roberts said. “We had a lot of guys who hadn’t had varsity experience, and they needed to get that experience, to know what it feels like. So, we had some peaks and valleys. We’ve got some young guys that we’re trying to develop, so next year looks better.”

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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Mike Williams stepped down as Highland Park's boys basketball coach on Monday after a highly-successful seven-year run that included five Class 5A state tournament appearances and a runnerup state finish this past season.
Mike Williams resigned Monday as Highland Park's boys basketball coach after a highly-successful seven-year stint. [File photo/TSN]
Williams, who informed his Scot players of his decision Monday afternoon, said that stepping down at Highland Park, which gave him his first head coaching job in 2018, was one of the toughest decisions he's ever had to make.
"I'm wiping tears from my eyes right now,'' Williams told TopSports.news. "Highland Park took a chance on a young asstantant coach that had no head coaching experience and I had applied for jobs before and hadn't gotten an opportunity.
"I knew what I could do, or what I believed that I could do, but I wasn't proven and Highland Park and Topeka Public Schools as a whole, they had to kind of step out on a ledge to put me in the position that I've been in and I'm thankful for that, to be given this opportunity to be the head coach at Highland Park.''
Williams, the TopSports.news Shawnee County boys coach of the year the past three seasons after leading the Scots to a 71-4 record over that span, said that a big factor in his decision to step away from basketball was to be able to devote more attention to his family and his education.
Williams' son, Mike Jr., is a 2025 Highland Park graduate and will play college basketball at Barton County Community College, while Micah is a star sophomore soccer player for the Scots. Mike Sr. is scheduled to earn his Master's Degree in the summer of 2026.
"I want to make sure that people know that this wasn't because I got another job or I had a job offer waiting,'' Williams said. "I never put in for a head coaching job since I've been the head coach at Highland Park and I've never been offered another job, so it wasn't like I was running out for the next best opportunity.
''I wear my emotions on my sleeve when I get involved in something. I'm neck deep in it because I want to do a good job and I want to impact people, so I've been so wrapped up in Highland Park every day for the last seven years that there were a lot of times in my life when the basketball program came before me and the basketball program came before my family. I hate to say that because that's not the man I want to and as a father, but it was the coach that I wanted to be and the leader that I wanted to be for Highland Park.''

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The 2025 All-City boys tennis team -- Front, from left: Chase Blaser, Hayden; Evan George, Hayden; Ethan Winters, Seaman; Tres Lassiter, Topeka High; Keegan Knudtson, Washburn Rural; Kieffer O'Connor, Washburn Rural; Greyson Jones, Washburn Rural. Back, from left: Drew Fay, Cair Paravel Latin; Cole Fay, Cair Paravel Latin; Eric Buchenau, Cair Paravel Latin; Ben Tryhus, Washburn Rural; Cale Deutscher, Washburn Rural; Dylan Willingham, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin Class 3A-1A state doubles finalists Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay headline the 2025 All-City boys tennis team, which includes seven state medalists and 12 state qualifiers.
Buchenau and Fay, both juniors, went 29-2 on the season, with both losses coming against Wichita Collegiate's undefeated state champions, Carter and Maddox Drumright, who took a three-set win over Cair Paravel in the state final.
Hayden seniors Chase Blaser and Evan George placed fourth in 4A doubles while Washburn Rural juniors Cale Deutscher and Dylan Willingham finished seventh in 6A doubles and Cair Paravel freshman Cole Fay was 10th in 3A-1A singles.
All six Washburn Rural players earned All-City spots as the Junior Blues swept city, Centennial League and Class 6A regional team championships before finishing ninth in the 6A state tournament at Junction City.
In addition to Deutscher and Willingham, Rural is also represented on the All-City team by Greyson Jones, Keegan Knudtson, Kieffer O'Connor and Ben Tryhus.
Rounding out the All-City team are junior city No. 1 singles champion and 6A state qualifier Tres Lassiter and Seaman senior 5A state singles qualifier Ethan Winters, who helped lead the Vikings to United Kansas Conference and 5A regional team titles.
All-City tennis capsules:

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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay used a gritty second-set comeback to give themselves a chance to win Cair Paravel Latin's first-ever state tennis championship Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center.
Cair Paravel juniors Eric Buchenau (left)and Drew Fay posted a runnerup state doubles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But like they had all season, Wichita Collegiate senior Carter Drumright and his sophomore brother, Maddox, found a way to get the job done, dominating the third set to take a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7 tiebreaker), 6-0 victory in the state final.
The three-set victory capped off a perfect 25-0 season for the Drumrights while Buchenau and Fay, both juniors, went 29-2, with both losses coming against Collegiate's top team.
Cair Paravel junior Drew Fay returns a shot in Saturday's Class 3A-1A state doubles final at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"The end didn't finish how we wanted, but I'm proud of how we played,'' Fay said. "We played hard and gave it our all and I don't have any regrets personally.
"We definitely did better this time around. It was 8-2 the first time so I'm proud of how we played today.''
Cair Paravel junior Eric Buchenau (above) teamed with Drew Fay to post a runnerup doubles finish in Class 3A-1A state doubles Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It didn't end how we wanted it to,'' Buchenau said. "We believed we had a shot and we never stopped believing it.''
A foreign exchange student from Germany, Buchenau was disappointed that he couldn't end his stint in the United States with a storybook finish.
"I had one shot at a state championship and I didn't make it, but of course I'm proud of how we did,'' he said.
Buchenau and Fay, the No. 3 seed, opened their day with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 2 seeds William Farha and Vihaan Ganganola of Wichita Collegiate in the semis.
Cair Paravel freshman Cole Fay posted a 10th-place state singles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Cair Paravel freshman singles player Cole Fay also earned a state medal in his first state tournament, finishing 10th in singles.
Wichita Trinity senior Alex Hobson took an 8-1 win over Fay in the ninth-place match.
Wichita Collegiate rolled to the team championship by a 58-24 margin over Conway Springs, with Collegiate junior Charlie Gentile and freshman Amir Khisha finishing one-two in singles as Gentile took a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over his teammate.
Cair Paravel tied for fourth place with 19 points.
Hayden's Blaser and George fourth in 4A semis
Hayden seniors Chase Blaser and Evan George posted a fourth-place Class 4A doubles finish Saturday in Winfield to close out their high school tennis careers.