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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's been a while since Ben Meseke and Rick Strecker, who combined to win an amazing 17 state championships in four sports, left Hayden Catholic High School.
But then again, the coaching greats, who both now live in the Kansas City area, never really left.
Meseke and Strecker were back on campus Saturday night as part of the first class of inductees into the Hayden Hall of Fame and said as soon as they walked through the front doors of the school they knew there were home.
"They wanted some pictures so I was looking through yearbooks and then you walk in the doors and I feel my classmates from the '70s and I feel the students who I taught and all the wonderful people that I worked with,'' said Strecker, who filled a variety of roles at Hayden, including serving as the school's president for nearly two decades.
Meseke said he can't think about Hayden, and his two decades-plus at the school, without getting a flutter in his heart.
"It's never left,'' Meseke said. "I don't get it, it's there.''
Hayden Hall of Fame inductee Ben Meseke receives a hug from Leslie Miller, longtime companion of the late Willie Nicklin, a Topeka coaching legend, during Saturday's ceremonies. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Inductee Rick Strecker visits with former Hayden player Shelly (Meseke) Good while holding his granddaughter, Tori Wiedel, during Saturday's Hayden Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Meseke and Strecker were inducted Saturday night along with the late Ken Bueltel, former Wildcat star player Mark Turgeon and Ken McGarity.
Strecker was inducted for alumni achievement, Meseke and Bueltel for staff achievement, Turgeon for student athletic/activity achievement and McGarity as a Hayden contributor.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The goal for Washburn University's volleyball team in Saturday's NCAA Division II Central Region final, as it has been all season, was to never think about anything but what was right in front of the Ichabods.
But Washburn can now afford to think just a little bit about the future, like what to pack for Tampa.
Continuing an impressive season and an even more impressive regional performance, Washburn earned its second trip to the Elite Eight since 2018 with a dominating 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 sweep over Concordia-St. Paul.
"It's such a cliche to say, 'Take it one at a time, one point at a time,' and all that kind of stuff, but we preached that the entire week leading up to this tournament,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron told TopSports.news in a phone interview. "We just wanted to play in the moment and not worry about the end result and the end result will take care of itself if you just play in the moment and take care of the moment.
"We didn't let ourselves think about winning the championship until we won the championship.''
Washburn celebrates its NCAA Division II Central Region volleyball championship Saturday night in Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo by Andrew Mather/MatherPhotos.com]
Now the 29-5 Ichabods, who won the regional title as the No. 5 seed, will start getting ready for the Elite Eight, which will be played in Tampa, Fla. next Thursday through Saturday.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Entering the weekend at 1-5 on the year Washburn women’s basketball was looking for answers as they wrapped up the first week of MIAA play against No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney.
And like it has all season the basket closed in the second half and leads slipped away late, with the Lopers taking a 49-43 victory Saturday at Lee Arena.
“It’s just so hard because we are trying to catch a win, and the bottom line is there are no moral victories,” said Washburn coach Ron McHenry.
Washburn got off to a fast start offensively, scoring nine in the first three and a half minutes to take a lead, led by five points from freshman Mackenzie Gamble. Five turnovers in the quarter for the Ichabods derailed the fast start as they stumbled into a 16-11 deficit after 10 minutes.
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley works around a Nebraska-Kearney defender in Saturday's 49-43 Ichabod loss to the Lopers. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
The defense from both sides was strong to start the second quarter but Washburn’s was able to break free late, going on a 7-0 run over three possessions. It was capped off with the second and-one basket of the quarter by senior Hunter Bentley, giving the Ichabods a lead. They would carry it into halftime, leading 27-26.
“Our defense and our offense are much better when we are pressuring up and being able to get in transition because that is what we are good at,” Bentley said.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
After dropping its first conference matchup Washburn men’s basketball was looking to avoid falling into a hole early in conference play against Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at Lee Arena.
Thanks to strong bench contributions and one clutch bucket from sophomore Connor Deffebaugh the Ichabods accomplished that objective with a 79-77 MIAA victory.
“This is a game, they are all important, but it felt like it was a big one from the standpoint that it gave us confidence,” Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. “You can’t dig yourself too much of a hole in this conference if you want to compete for a championship.”
Connor Deffebaugh scored the game-winning basket in the closing seconds Saturday, giving Washburn a 79-77 MIAA victory at Lee Arena. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Saturday's win moved the Ichabods to 4-4 on the year and 1-1 in the MIAA.
But the high scoring game did not start that way as Washburn managed only four points in the first five plus minutes of action, trailing by as many as eight points early on.
A run of seven early points by Deffebaugh kept the Ichabods in the action while its defense slipped.
Freshman Michael Keegan helped shore up the defense with two big blocks in the first half along with back-to-back layups that gave Washburn a 25-24 lead.
Kearney shot well from outside, knocking down five triples in the first half, taking a 34-32 lead into the break.
Offense came easy from both sides to begin the second half, with a combined 30 points in the first six minutes. Keegan and Deffebaugh continued to play fast, pushing pace and picking up four points each in that period, while freshman Andrew Orr also put in four points.
“Kearney plays guys a lot of minutes and so we always wanted to play with pace and we did want to wear them down,'' Ballard said. "I thought we got some opportunistic transition opportunities which was good.''
The initial flurry of points tied the game but the Ichabods broke the seal with a 7-2 run with back-to-back three-pointers by Deffebaugh and senior Jeremy Harrell who finished with 10 points off the bench, all in the second half.
“Just coming in, in the first half we were kind of dead, and I knew we needed that spark on the defensive end, so that is what I did,” Harrell said.
Another member of the bench mob, sophomore Kevaughn Ellis, added seven second-half points by getting into the lane to keep the offense going inside the five-minute mark.
“We finally had the free throw advantage which was obviously huge and we are still missing some pretty wide-open threes which I think are going to go down pretty soon. We knock some of those down and hopefully our offense will click even better,” Ballard said.
The Lopers started getting to the line, taking a small lead that was erased by a corner three from freshman Levi Braun at the 2:52 mark, providing a two-point cushion.
Four straight points by Keegan extended the lead to six points. After cutting it in half with one three, Kearney executed an out of bounds play to free up junior David Simental to score three of his game-high 21 points and tie the game with 27.7 left.
Washburn held for the last shot, allowing Deffebaugh to wind down the clock and attack with ten seconds on the clock as the lefty drove right and put in the game-winning basket with his right hand with two second left.
“We needed a bucket, coach called a play, tie game, I wanted to get something downhill, get to the rim, hopefully get fouled and then I made the shot,” Deffebaugh said. “We have been going through a lot this past week as a team, just going through adversity, so this game was just real good for us to come together.”
Kearney's fullcourt heave did not fall and the Ichabods escaped with the hard-earned victory.
“It’s starting to really click, guys starting to play. Kevaughn Ellis played really good, Jerm (Jeremy Harrell) came off the bench, had a spark, had real good energy and Mike (Michael Keegan) been doing what he been doing all year,” Deffebaugh said.
Michael Keegan scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Washburn's 79-77 MIAA win over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Deffebaugh led WU with 19 points on eight of 10 shooting, while dishing out a team-high five assists as well. Keegan added a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds while Ellis and Harrell finished with 11 and 10 respectively.
Next up for Washburn is a trip to Edmond, Oklahoma to face the University of Central Oklahoma next Thursday.
WASHBURN MEN 79, NEBRSKA-KEARNEY 77
Nebraska-Kearney 34 43 -- 77
Washburn 32 47 -- 79
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (3-4 0-1)
Nebeker 8-10 3-4 20, Murphy 4-6 1-2 9, Luger 5-13 0-0 12, Simental 8-20 0-0 21, Evans 3-7 2-2 8, Cook 2-5 0-0 4, Brien 1-1 0-0 3, Badding 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 6-8 77.
WASHBURN (4-4 1-1)
Orr 4-9 0-0 8, Thorne 1-1 0-0 2, Deffebaugh 8-10 1-2 19, Lewis 1-9 2-2 5, Keegan 6-12 6-7 18, Braun 2-4 0-0 6, Harrell 4-7 0-0 10, Ellis 4-7 3-3 11, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Ross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 12-14 79.
3-point-shots – Kearney: 9-27 (Nebeker 1-1, Murphy 0-2, Luger 2-7, Simental 5-11, Evans 0-4, Cook 0-1, Brien 1-1). Washburn 7-19 (Deffebaugh 2-3, Lewis 1-5, Keegan 0-2, Braun 2-4, Harrell 2-4, Ellis 0-1). Rebounds – Kearney 31 (Murphy 8), Washburn 30 (Keegan 8). Assists – Kearney 14 (Evans 5), Washburn 16 (Deffebaugh 5). Turnovers – Kearney 7, Washburn 8. Total fouls – Kearney 13, Washburn 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West was obviously thrilled to capture the team title in Saturday's Highland Park Invitational wrestling tournament.
But for West and fellow Unified School District 501 schools Highland Park and Topeka High, Saturday wasn't as much about winning as it was about having the chance to compete, something the three 501 schools waited nearly two years for.
Topeka West's wrestling team poses for a team picture after winning the team championship in Saturday's Highland Park Invitational by a 112-202 margin over St. Marys. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Prior to the 2020-2021 season the USD 501 school board made the decision to put district wrestling on hold due to concerns over COVID-19, a ruling that kept Hi Park, High and West on the sidelines for the entire season.
And although the Scots, Trojans and Chargers are still playing catchup after the long layoff, all three schools were thrilled to be back on the mats Saturday for their first tournament of the season.
"It's just nice to be out here wrestling, and having kids coming to meets and things like that,'' Topeka High coach Tony Canacari said. "I'm just happy to be wrestling, absolutely.''
"That's all (the kids) have wanted,'' Topeka West coach Brandon Gengler said. "That's all I've heard for a year and a half, that they wanted to be back.''
