- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman standouts Camden Barta and Casen Stallbaumer and Rossville's Brody Lietz were part of Emporia State's 22-member signing class announced Wednesday by Hornet coach Garin Higgins.
Barta, Lietz and Stallbaumer were part of a big group of Shawnee County seniors who signed letters of intent on Wednesday, national signing day for football.
In addition to football, athletes in other sports have recently signed letters of intent or will sign in the near future.
If you have a student-athlete that plans to sign or has signed a letter of intent, email that information to
Seaman senior quarterback/defensive back Camden Barta has signed a letter of intent with Emporia State after passing for 2,224 yards and registering 50 tackles. [File photo/TSN]
Barta, signed as an athlete, is a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder who played at quarterback and defensive back for the Vikings.
Barta completed 138 of 222 passes as a senior for 2,224 yards and 23 touchdowns while defensively he was in on 50 tackles with an interception, earning TopSports.news All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors.
He is the son of Jeni Sloan and Jerry Barta and is undecided on a major.
Lietz, a 6-2, 250 offensive lineman, helped lead Rossville to back-to-back Class 2A state championships, with the Bulldawgs going undefeated both seasons.
Lietz earned numerous potseason awards, including All-State recognition in 2A as well as All-Shawnee County Top 22 and All-Mid-East League honors.
He is the son of Eric and Kelly Lietz and plans to major in accounting at ESU.
Stallbaumer, a 6-2, 200-pounder, was signed as an athletes after a standout two-way career for Seaman.
Stallbaumer earned first-team All-Centennial League and TopSports.news All-Shawnee County Top 22 recognition and was selected to play in the 2022 Kansas Shrine Bowl.
He is the son of Todd and Tonya Stallbaumer and plans to major in business/sports medicine at ESU. Stallbaumer is a cousin of fellow ESU signee Camden Barta.
Torrey Horak, who helped lead Rossville to back-to-back Class 2A state championships, has signed a national letter of intent with Central Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
MULES SIGN BULLDAWGS' HORAK
Rossville star quarterback/defensive back Torrey Horak signed Wednesday with Central Missouri as a defensive back after helping lead the Bulldawgs to back-to-back undefeated 2A state championships.
Horak passed for 3,801 yards and 54 touchdowns in his Rossville career and rushed for 3,893 yards and 61 TDs. Defensively Horak registered 124 tackles with eight interceptions.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's girls basketball team moved up to the No. 1 spot in the Class 3A state rankings, pacing six Shawnee County basketball teams in the latest rankings released Tuesday by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Silver Lake, 12-1 on the season, moved up from the No. 2 spot to take over the top ranking in 3A.
Topeka West, which has won 12 straight games to improve to 13-1, remained No. 2 in the 5A boys rankings while Highland Park (12-2) is No. 4.
Topeka High's girls moved up to No. 2 in 6A while Washburn Rural moved up to No. 3 spot after earning wins over last week's No. 3 team, Derby, and then-No. 1 Shawnee Mission West.
Topeka High is 13-0 while Rural is 12-1.
Seaman moved up to the No. 9 spot in the 5A girls rankings.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
GIRLS
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's girls basketball team, which moved into the No. 1 spot in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 3A state rankings Tuesday, lived up to that lofty position with a 61-23 road romp at Osage City.
Five Eagles scored at least eight points as Silver Lake improved to 12-1 on the season.
McKinley Kruger
Sophomore McKinley Kruger paced the Eagles with 15 points while junior Taylor Ross and sophomore Kaibryn Kruger added 10 points apiece.
Junior Mariah Farmer scored nine points for the Eagles while sophomore Makenzie McDaniel had eight points and nine rebounds.
Silver Lake will travel to St. Marys on Friday.
Emma Mitchell
ST. MARYS 58, ROSSVILLE 57 (OT) -- Coming off a tournament championship last week at Jefferson County North, Rossville's girls dropped a heartbreaking 58-57 overtime decision to St. Marys.
Rossville, now 7-7, led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter and 23-19 at the half, but the Bears used a 19-12 third quarter to take a 38-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Rossville outscored St. Marys 15-12 over the final eight minutes of regulation to force overtime before the Bears outscored the Bulldawgs 8-7 in the OT to pull out the win.
Sophomore Emma Mitchell scored 24 points and sophomore Kinsey Perine 19 to lead Rossville.
Sophomore Catherine Moylan scored 24 points for St. Marys (6-7), tying Mitchell for game-high honors.
Rossville will play at Wabaunsee on Friday.
TOPEKA HIGH 58, JUNCTION CITY 28 -- Topeka High, second-ranked in 6A by the KBCA, extended its winning streak to 13 straight games with Tuesday's 58-28 Centennial League road victory at Junction City.
The league-leading Trojans, who won the Capital City Classic championship last week, improved to 10-0 in the Centennial League.
Topeka High will host No. 3-ranked Emporia (5A) Friday night.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 55, TONGANOXIE 53 -- Shawnee Heights posted its second straight victory, taking a 55-53 road decision at Tonganoxie..
The T-Birds were coming off a 1-2 week in the Glacier's Edge Invitational, taking a win over Wichita South on Saturday.
Shawnee Heights, 5-7 on the season, will host United Kansas Conference foe De Soto on Friday.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's football team put together an outstanding 9-3 season last fall while advancing to the NCAA national playoffs.
In announcing Washburn's 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday, coach Craig Schurig said that success opened some recruiting doors for the Ichabods, who announced the signing of 24 high school players.
"I think with some of the guys it really helped open the door and they said, 'Hey this is a team we can with and go to the national playoffs and things like that,' '' Schurig said. "So I think that was an advantage.''
Washburn signed players from six states, including 10 Kansans and four Topekans.
"We try to recruit the state very hard, obviously,'' Schurig said. "Usually you're on those guys early. You see them in camps and you're very well-versed with them.''
Washburn football coach Craig Schurig announced a 24-player signing class on Wednesday, including players from six states. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights offensive lineman Orrin Busenitz, who has been selected to play in the 2022 Kansas Shrine Bowl, was one of three T-Birds and four city products to sign with Washburn University on Wednesday. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights products Dawson Block (5-foot-10, 190-pound defensive back/long snapper), Orrin Busenitz (6-2, 290 offensive lineman) and Ja'Leveyn January (5-11, 175 defensive back) all signed with the Ichabods along with Seaman placekicker Gavin Wilhelm (6-5, 165).
The Ichabods also signed several area standouts, including Riley County receiver Trey Harmison (6-1, 175), Lawrence safety Avion Nelson (6-2, 195), Wabaunsee quarterback Cade Oliver (6-2, 190) and Holton punter Jake Zeller (6-1, 170).
Washburn signed five players out of Georgia, four from Missouri, two from Texas and Ohio and one from Nebraska.
"We probably have more out of state guys than we've had in a while,'' Schurig said. "Some of that I think had to do with our indoor facility. We have some dual (athletes). Some of the guys will probably double up (in football and track and field) and we tried to use that indoor to its best recruiting advantage that we could.
"I like the overall athleticism of the class.''
The Ichabods signed six players who are projected as linebackers and six as defensive backs along with four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, two defensive linemen, one quarterback, one punter and one placekicker.
"Probably the biggest thing with this class is (it's) more skill guys or speed guys than we've had in the past,'' Schurig said. "Line of scrimmage guys we signed a few really good ones but it wasn't in numbers.
"We really tried to add to our depth secondary-wise and linebacker-wise. We had quite a few seniors at the linebacker position and some guys over the last couple of years in the secondary.''
Washburn football signing capsules:
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sophomore Brennon Dodge scored 19 points and hit five 3-pointers as Shawnee Heights rode a big fourth quarter to a 56-46 non-league road victory Tuesday night over Tonganoxie, which is No. 10-ranked in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Tonganoxie (8-6) led 31-29 at the half and took a 42-38 advantage into the fourth quarter before Shawnee Heights, which improved to 10-2, took control with an 18-4 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
Shawnee Heights senior Brennon Dodge scored 19 points with five 3-pointers in the T-Birds' 56-46 win at Tonganoxie Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Senior point guard Jarin Sanders added 10 points for Shawnee Heights and senior Carter Olson scored nine points and pulled down 11 rebounds while hitting all three of his free throw attempts.
Tonganoxie (8-6) had three double-figure scorers in the loss.
Shawnee Heights will host De Soto on Friday.
HIGHLAND PARK 55, EMPORIA 53 -- Highland Park, ranked No. 4 in 5A by the KBCA, survived its second straight two-point Centennial League decision Tuesday night, taking a 55-53 road victory at Emporia.
The Scots also had a two-point game last Friday, topping Hayden, 62-60.
Highland Park will travel to Seaman on Friday.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 76, KANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN 53 -- Cair Paravel Latin improved to 10-3 on the season, posting a 76-53 victory over Kansas City Christian.
Senior Noah Hastert powered the Lions to the victory, scoring 20 points.
Cair Paravel will travel to Marais des Cynges Valley on Friday.
OSAGE CITY 76, SILVER LAKE 59 -- Osage City, which is No. 8-ranked in 3A by the KBCA, took control with a 26-10 first quarter Tuesday night and never looked back, improving to 14-1 on the season.
Silver Lake, which fell to 5-8, was much more competitive the rest of the way, with Osage holding just a 50-49 scoring edge over the final three quarters, but the early deficit was too much for the Eagles to overcome.
Senior Carson Johnson scored a career-high 18 points for Silver Lake while junior Kamryn Kaniper added 11 points.
Junior Landon Bass scored 30 points for Osage City.
Silver Lake will travel to St. Marys on Friday.
ST. MARYS 67, ROSSVILLE 38 -- St. Marys, ranked No. 2 in 2A by the KBCA, improved to 10-3 with Tuesday night's decisive victory over Rossville.
Rossville, which fell to 2-12 on the season, got 18 points from junior Kade Perine while Francesco Patrizi added 10 points.
The Bulldawgs will travel to Wabaunsee on Friday.
