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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
TUESDAY'S GAMES
Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, Topeka High
Hailey Schmidtlein, Hayden
TOPEKA HIGH (3-5, 0-1 Centennial) at HAYDEN (8-2, 2-0 Centennial)
Hayden is coming off a 38-35 Centennial League win at Washburn Rural last Friday while Topeka High had its three-game winning streak snapped by league foe Manhattan, 67-55. Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein led Hayden with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, against Rural while senior Lauren Borjon added 8 points with a pair of 3s. Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton led Topeka High with 21 points against Manhattan while sophomore Hailey Caryl added 17 points with three 3-pointers.
SEAMAN (5-2, 5-1 Centennial) at TOPEKA WEST (1-7, 0-6 Centennial)
Seaman is coming off a 54-12 United Kansas Conference win over Lansing last Friday while Topeka West dropped a 69-36 conference decision at Basehor-Linwood. Junior Brynn Spencer led Seaman with 15 points against Lansing while Baylee Ayres and Lydia Dreher added 10 points. Seaman took a 45-26 win over Topeka West on Dec. 12. The Chargers will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Koralee Jones, Highland Park
KANSAS CITY-SUMNER (2-6, 2-4 Meadowlark) at HIGHLAND PARK (2-5, 1-2 Meadowlark)
Highland Park dropped a 66-42 Meadowlark Conference decision to Atchison last Friday while KC-Sumner is coming off a 76-7 loss to KC-Wyandotte. Koralee Jones and Zayah Kincaid paced Highland Park with 14 points apiece against Atchison, with Kincaid draining three 3-pointers.
PIPER (6-2, 5-0 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (6-3, 5-1 UKC)
Shawnee Heights rolled to a 53-22 United Kansas Conference win over Leavenworth last Friday while league-leading Piper is coming off a 69-34 non-league loss to Blue Valley Northwest. T-Bird senior Imani McGlory scored 18 points with four 3-pointers against Leavenworth while juniors Pearmella Carter and KK Emmot scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Piper handed Shawnee Heights its lone UKC loss on Dec. 9, 50-45.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six Shawnee County senior football standouts, who all earned spots on TopSports.news' 2025 All-Shawnee County football team, have been invited to play for the East in the 2026 Kansas Shrine Bowl, which will be played on June 27 at Emporia State's Welch Stadium.
Invited to play in the Shrine Bowl are Seaman's Cameron Brian, Washburn Rural's Brody Haas, Rossville's Andre Johnson, Silver Lake's Dayne Johnson, Hayden's Kade Mitchell and Highland Park's Tremaine Savage.
Rossville coach Derick Hammes was named earlier to serve as an assistant coach for the East.
Here's a look at the six local Shrine Bowl picks:
Cameron Brian, Seaman
CAMERON BRIAN, Seaman
A 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior linebacker, Brian was one of six All-Shawnee County Top 22 repeat picks and received All-United Kansas Conference first-team honors for the second straight season. Brian was in on 111 total tackles this past fall with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
BRODY HAAS, Washburn Rural
A 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior linebacker, Haas registered 114 total tackles with 80 solo stops for the 6-4 Junior Blues. Haas recorded 14 tackles for loss with a sack and had two pass interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, while forcing two fumbles and recovering two fumbles and recording eight quarterback pressures.
Andre Johnson, Rossville
ANDRE JOHNSON, Rossville
A 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior fullback/linebacker, Johnson moved up to the All-Shawnee County Top 22 this past season after being a Second 22 pick as a junior. Johnson was in on 133 tackles for the 11-Bulldawgs (74 solo), with two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. Offensively, Johnson carried the ball 58 times for 365 yards. Johnson was a second-team All-Big East League pick on defense.
Dayne Johnson, Silver Lake
DAYNE JOHNSON, Silver Lake
Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound senior wide receiver/defensive back, was an All-Shawnee County Top 22 repeat selection in 2025 after catching 75 passes for 1,053 yards and eight touchdowns and registering 59 tackles with two pass interceptions. Johnson earned first-team All-Big East League recognition on offense and second-team honors on defense this past fall.
Kade Mitchell, Hayden
KADE MITCHELL, Hayden
Mitchell, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior running back/defensive back, was an All-Shawnee County Top 22 repeat pick this past season and was named the Shawnee County co-offensive player of the year. Mitchell carried the ball 106 times for 1,003 yards, caught 23 passes for 471 yards and scored 22 total touchdowns this season for the 12-1 Wildcats while being in on 34 tackles and compiling 372 kickoff and punt return yards as Hayden advanced to its third straight Class 3A title game..
Tremaine Savage, Highland Park
TREMAINE SAVAGE, Highland Park
Savage, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior wide receiver/defensive back, was named the Meadowlark Conference co-defensive player of the year in 2025 after helping lead Highland Park to a 5-1 on-field record and a conference championship. Savage averaged 6.6 tackles per game and registered 15 pass breakups. Offensively, Savage caught six passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns, earning second-team all-conference honors at receiver.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brooks Ballard
BROOKS BALLARD, Washburn Rural
A 6-foot-2 sophomore boys basketball standout, Ballard connected on 7 of 10 field goal attempts, including six 3-pointers, and went four of four at the free throw line for a career-high 24-point night in Friday's 79-62 home Centennial League victory over Hayden, helping the Junior Blues improve to 7-2 on the season overall and 2-0 in the league.
KaeVon Bonner
KAEVON BONNER, Seaman
Bonner, a 6-foot-4 senior, had a monster week as Seaman boys basketball improved to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the United Kansas Conference with a pair of road victories. Bonner reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career with a 27-point performance in Wednesday's 60-57 non-league victory at St. James Academy and scored a career-high 42 points in Friday's 65-46 United Kansas Conference win at Lansing.
Cianna Graves
CIANNA GRAVES, Shawnee Heights
After being named Shawnee Heights' Queen of Courts the previous night, the senior 155-pound standout wrestler claimed an individual championship in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational, helping lead the T-Birds to the team championship by a 262-164 margin over Wichita South. Graves, now 18-0 on the season, went 4-0 in the tournament with four pins, in 1 minute, 20 seconds, 1:31, 1:01 and 3:44.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden star wrestlers Jude Krentz and Caleb Menke will face a lot of tough opponents over the 2025-2026 season, but very few any tougher than they see every day in practice when the two Wildcats square off against each other.
Hayden senior Jude Krentz (top) captured the 190-pound title in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational while improving to 15-0 on the season. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Caleb Menke (top) captured the 175-pound title in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational while improving to 16-0 on the season. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And both Krentz, a senior 190-pounder, and Menke, a junior 175-pounder, feel like that regular competition in practice has helped them post a combined 31-0 record this season after both Hayden wrestlers claimed championships in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational.
"It's awesome because we both push each other all the time, all the time,'' said Krentz, who posted a fourth-place finish in Class 4A as a junior.
Menke, a returning state qualifier, agrees.
"Jude, honestly, is probably one of the best training partners that I could ever ask for,'' Menke said. "We push each other every day in practice, sometimes even getting to the point where we get after each other a little bit and get into a couple of scuffles, but at the end of the day it makes us better and we love each other for it.''
Both Krentz and Menke, who helped Hayden's football team advance to the 3A state football championship game for the third straight season, said it takes them awhile to transition from the gridiron into football mode.
But now both Wildcat standouts said they feel like they're ready to make a run at state titles later this winter.
"Normally it probably takes me probably about three weeks because in football you're trying to maintain all your weight and you're trying to stay in shape to where you can go really hard for a short period of time where wrestling you've got to go hard for a long period of time,'' Menke said. "So typically it takes me about three weeks to a month to get ready, but normally after Christmas break I'm good and ready to rock and roll.''
"I'd say it's about one to two, maybe even a three-week progress of just constantly drilling hard, and it's more of a constant movement in wrestling where you always get a few seconds between plays in football,'' said Krentz, named the Shawnee County defensive player of the year in football. "Wrestling is contant, it's in-fighting and you're always pushing the pace.''
And after suffering both of his losses at state in a 42-2 season a year ago, Krentz feels like a state crown is in reach this season.
"It was in reach last year,'' Krentz said. "There were some mental mistakes, little mistakes that can easily be fixed. It's just a matter of pushing through and keep pushing every day instead of getting complacent.''
Both Hayden wrestlers were in top form in Saturday's Shawnee Heights meet, with Menke going 5-0 with four pins en route to improving to 16-0 on the season while Krentz, after receiving a first-round bye, posted two straight wins by fall and a 17-1 technical fall to improve to 15-0.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This past weekend is one that Shawnee Heights senior girls wrestling star Cianna Graves will never forget.
It started Friday night when Graves was selected as Heights' Queen of Courts, not exactly a common occurence for someone in her sport.
Shawnee Heights star senior wrestler Cianna Graves was named Queen of Courts Friday night. [Submitted photo]
And then on Saturday Graves went back to what she knows best, going 4-0 with four pins to win the 155-pound championship in the Shawnee Heights Invitatational while helping lead the T-Birds to the team title.
Graves, also a softball standout for the T-Birds, was nominated by the Shawnee Heights wrestling team as the program's Queen of Courts candidate and then was tapped as one of five finalists in an all-school vote before being named the queen between the Heights' girls and boys basketball games against Leavenworth.
"I was (surprised),'' Graves said. "There were a lot of good girls up this year, so it was an honor and a blessing to be able to be the queen.
"I wasn't even thinking about (winning). I was just happy that I was nominated and excited to do all the Winter Royalty things.''
Used to being in the limelight in both wrestling and softball, Graves said she wasn't rattled by Friday's festitivies.
"I really wasn't nervous, I was just there to have fun,'' Graves said.
But Graves admitted that putting on an evening dress was something new.
"It definitely was, but I think that's why I enjoyed it so much, getting to dress up and be in something a little bit more fun than maybe a singlet,'' she said.
Still dressed in her evening gown after being named Queen of Courts earlier in the night, Ciarra Graves helped set up the wrestling mats for Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational. [Submitted photo]
As soon as the boys basketball game was over Graves had to quickly go back into wrestling mode, joining her teammates to help set up the mats for Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational while still in her formal attire.
Shawnee Heights senior Cianna Graves went 4-0 with four pins to win the 155-pound title in the Shawnee Heights Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And when Saturday rolled around, Graves, third in Class 5A as a junior, put on another performance fit for a queen, going 4-0 with four pins to claim the 155-pound title and improve to 18-0 on the season.
"I love it so much,'' said Graves, a three-time state placer. "The people, the adrenalin that you get, it's all amazing.''
And now Graves will turn her attention on trying to cap what has already been a memorable senior season with a state title.
"It's the goal,'' she said. "I'm hoping that my hard work that I put in over the summer and continue to put in through this season really pays off in the end.''
Graves was one of seven individual champions in Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational as the T-Birds captured the team title by a 262-164 margin over Wichita South.
In addition to Graves, Shawnee Heights got individual titles from freshman 110-pound sophomore Bianca Juarez (15-6 on the season), 115-pound freshman Brinnley Morris (12-2), 125-pound junior Audrey Hinkly (15-6), 135-pound sophomore Olive Jones (21-1), 145-pound senior Olivia Stevens (16-3) and 190-pound junior Brooklyn Binkley (12-6).
Morris went 5-0 with five pins between 16 seconds and 1 minute, 51 seconds while Jones went 3-0 with 27, 49 and 46-second pins.
