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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team earned its third straight United Kansas Conference team championship Saturday at Leavenworth, taking the title by a 156-63.5 margin over runner-up Leavenworth.
Seven T-Birds captured individual league titles en route to Shawnee Heights' decisive title run.
Senior Maranda Bell won the 191-pound United Kansas Conference title on Saturday, helping Shawnee Heights win their third straight league title. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights got titles from 109-pound senior Odessa Schmidt (17-8), 115-pound junior Molly Busenitz (22-1), 120-pound senior Alexandria Buce (17-8), 126-pound freshman Reece Taylor (14-11), 132-pound senior Haley Haltom (18-7), 138-pound freshman Madison Freeland (16-7) and 191-pound senior Maranda Bell (20-1).
Haltom had one of the T-Birds' most competitive routes to the title, posting pins in 1 minute, 15 seconds, 5:17 and 1:44, while Taylor recorded a pair of pins.
Bell and Busenitz are both state-ranked in Class 6A-5A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, with Bell currently second-ranked at 191 pounds while Busenitz is fifth-ranked at 115.
Bell placed third in the Division I state tournament last season and posted a 31-5 record on the season while Busenitz posted a 22-8 record last season and qualified for the state meet.
Shawnee Heights will compete in a Class 6A-5A regional tournament Saturday at Seaman, vying for state tournament berths.
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE GIRLS WRESTLING
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' boys wrestling team continued its stranglehold on the United Kansas Conference championship Saturday at Leavenworth, with the T-Birds rolling to their fourth straight title by a 242-160 margin over Basehor-Linwood.
Shawnee Heights, the No. 6-ranked team in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association's All-Class Rankings and No. 7 in Class 5A, had a whopping nine wrestlers earn individual championships on the way to the lopsided team win, led by by senior 160-pounder Caden Walker, who was named the UKC Outstanding Wrestler.
Shawnee Heights senior Caden Walker was named the Outstanding Wrestler in Saturday's United Kansas Conference tournament after helping lead the T-Birds to their fourth straight league team title. [Submitted]
Walker, ranked No. 3 in 5A and No. 7 in the all-class rankings, turned in a dominating performance, posting wins by pin in 13, 20 and 22 seconds, 1 minute, 5 seconds and 2:12.
Junior 195-pound champion Sean Wunder, ranked No. 5 by the KWCA, had a bye and registered four pins, in 45 and 49 seconds and 1:08 and 1:26.
The T-Birds also got individual championships from fourth-ranked 120-pound senior Brock Ferguson, 132-pound sophomore Anthony Bonebrake, 138-pound senior Ty Lewis, 145-pound senior Joey HIlton, 152-pound junior Nick Freeland, 220-pound junior Garrett Peery and 285-pound sophomore Rykan Carver.
Shawnee Heights will compete in a 5A regional tournament on Feb. 18-19 at Blue Valley Southwest, vying for berths in the state tournament.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn women's basketball team led from start to finish in a 61-50 MIAA victory at Northeastern State Saturday afternoon.
The Ichabods (10-10, 8-6 MIAA) scored six unanswered points to start the game and held a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Senior standout Hunter Bentley scored 10 points in the opening frame and made all four of her shot attempts.
Senior Hunter Bentley scored 24 points and became Washburn's career leader in minutes played in Saturday's 61-50 win over Northeastern State. [File photo/TSN]
The RiverHawks (4-17, 2-13 MIAA) pulled within two points on three occasions in the second quarter, but a jumper from Bentley midway through the period sparked a 10-2 run to push Washburn's lead to double figures. Northeastern State closed out the quarter making two free throws, but still trailed the Ichabods at the break, 32-24.
Washburn led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before Northeastern State scored the final four points to trim the deficit to 43-34 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Ichabods opened the fourth quarter on another 10-2 spurt to go up 53-36 with 6:28 left in the game and held a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By Centennial League girls wrestling standards, Saturday's Washburn Rural championship run was a runaway.
After losing the title by a single point to Emporia in the first girls league meet in 2020 and pulling out a five-point win over the Spartans a year ago, Washburn Rural avoided the drama in Saturday's league tournament at Highland Park, earning the title by a 190-149 margin over Emporia.
Five Rural wrestlers won individual titles, including repeat champion Addison Broxterman, and the Junior Blues got top-four league finishes in all 12 weight classes.
"Winning was goal No. 1 and goal No. 2 was to have a statement victory,'' Washburn Rural coach Damon Parker said. "It's been close the last couple of years and to win today the way that we did, with all 12 kids contributing to the title and winning it emphatically, was pretty important to us.
"The kids sent a message today and it was great.''
Junior Addison Broxterman won her second straight Centennial League wrestling title Saturday, helping lead Washburn Rural to its second straight team championship. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Broxterman, a junior 120-pounder, improved to 35-2 on the season with a win by pin over Junction City sophomore Charly Goodwin while Washburn Rural also got championships from sophomore 101-pounder Kristen Rezac (30-5), junior 132-pounder Alexis Fredrickson (34-4), sophomore 143-pounder Laiken Clark (26-10) and sophomore 170-pounder Ta'Ani Rhoten (17-7).
Washburn Rural junior Alexis Fredrickson (top) captured the 132-pound Centennial League title Saturday, helping Rural repeat as the league team champ. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Broxterman is ranked second in Class 6A-5A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association while Fredrickson is No. 4-ranked and Rezac No. 5-ranked in the current state rankings.
Rural also had a second-place finish from senior Jailyn Johnson (155), five thirds and a fourth on the day.
"I'm real confident with the way the girls are wrestling right now,'' Parker said. "Our girls are wrestling with heart.''
Seaman sophomore Madison Murray won the Centennial League title at 115 pounds, leading the Vikings to a third-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman finished third in the team standings with 117.5 points, led by sophomore 115-pound champ Madison Murray, who improved to 24-4 on the season.
The Vikings also got runner-up finishes from freshman Taylie Heston (109), senior Rylee Murray (126), freshman Koti Best (132), junior Journey Jones (143), senior Alex Cannon (191) and Seaman coach Jordan Best was named the Centennial League girls coach of the year.
Highland Park senior Celeste Gonzalez gains the upper hand on Seaman's Alex Cannon in Saturday's 191-pound Centennial League championship match. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After not being allowed to compete in the 2020-2021 season due to a ruling by the USD 501 school board, Highland Park, Topeka High and Topeka West all had wrestlers win titles on Saturday.
Topeka High junior Marilena Zuniga (22-6) took the 138-pound championship while Highland Park senior Celeste Gonzalez (13-4) won at 191 pounds and Topeka West sophomore Tristyn Johnson (22-5) was the 235-pound champ.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As a first-year head coach you might think that Washburn Rural's Josh Hogan would have been fighting some nerves heading into Saturday's Centennial League wrestling tournament at Highland Park.
After all, there is a certain amount of pressure that goes with being the two-time defending champ.
But Hogan said he was comfortable putting everything in the hands of his Junior Blues, who went out and claimed their third consecutive team crown by a 202.5-174.5 margin over Manhattan.
"I know what the kids are capable of,'' Hogan said. "The last couple of times we wrestled I think we didn't wrestle as good as I thought we could, so we've really been pushing them hard and motivating them in practice to kind of step it up and I think they stepped up to the pump today and responded to what we've been working on in practice.''
The Rural boys had seven wrestlers crowned league champions, led by four-time champ Austin Fager.
Fager won the 182-pound title with a 46-second win by pin over Emporia junior Davian White in the championship match, improving to 33-2 on the season.
"It's obviously nice to come in here with a new head coach and pick up where we left off, like nothing's ever happened,'' Fager said. "We've been getting right after business and coming out here and taking teams down one by one.
"We're going to try to do that for the rest of the year as well.''
Washburn Rural senior Austin Fager won his fourth Centennial League individual title Saturday, helping lead the Junior Blues to their third straight team crown. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Two-time state champion Jacob Tangpricha won his second straight Centennial League individual title Saturday, helping Rural win its third straight team crown. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Jon Morrison (113 pounds), junior Henri McGivern (120) and senior Jacob Tangrpicha (126) all captured their second straight league championshis while Rural also got titles from freshman 106-pounder Easton Boxterman, sophomore 132-pounder Brody Byrne and senior 160-pounder Aidan Boline while freshman 152-pound Kristjan Marshall added a second-place finish.
Broxterman, now 33-4 on the season, was named the Centennial League newcomer of the year and Hogan was named the league coach of the year.
Six Rural wrestlers are ranked in 6A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association, led by top-ranked Boline (26-7) and Fager. Broxterman and Morrison (28-5) are second-ranked while Tangpricha (28-5) is No. 4 and McGivern (15-6) No. 6.
