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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A whopping four local wrestlers garnered individual state titles in the 2024 state meet and that championship quartet headlines the TopSports.news 2024 All-Shawnee County boys wrestling team.
Washburn Rural junior 132-pounder Easton Broxterman has been named the Shawnee County boys wrestler of the year after winning his second straight Class 6A state title. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural junior 132-pounder Easton Broxterman was named the Shawnee County wrestler of the year after earning his second straight Class 6A state championship in his third straight trip to the state finals.
Washburn Rural junior Kristjan Marshall has his hand raised as the 150-pound Class 6A state champion. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Brody Byrne (right) won the Class 6A 157-pound state title. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Broxterman, who went 49-1 on the season, was joined on top of the 6A awards stand by junior 150-pounder Kristjan Marshall (39-4) and senior 157-pounder Brody Byrne (37-3), who both won their first state titles after posting fourth-place finishes in 2023.
Shawnee Heights senior 285-pounder Rykan Carver won a Class 5A state title in his final state meet, taking a 4-3 overtime decision in the championship match. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Rykan Carver (38-8) capped his high school career with a bang, winning the 5A state 285-pound championship in overtime to capture his first state medal.
Washburn Rural wrestling coach Josh Hogan has been named the Shawnee County coach of the year after three Rural wrestlers won state titles and finished third as a team. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural, which finished a close third in the 6A team standings, put a county-high eight wrestlers on the all-county first team, while Rural's Josh Hogan was named the county coach of the year and freshman 144-pounder Brodye Kocher-Munoz was selected as newcomer of the year.
The TopSports.news all-county team is based in part on selections made by the seven Topeka head coaches as well as at large selections for county schools Rossville and Silver Lake.
Also earning All-Shawnee County first-team honors for Rural in addition to the three state champions were sophomore 106-pounder Ryder Harrison (17-14), junior 120-pounder Walker Doyal (27-23), sophomore 126-pounder Cooper Stivers (11-5), sophomore 138-pounder Landen Kocher-Munoz (36-5) and senior 165-pounder Chase Calhoon (28-15).
Seaman and Shawnee Heights both put three wrestlers on the All-Shawnee County first team.
Seaman is represented by 144-pound senior Colin Little (40-10), 190-pound junior Deyton Mentzer (24-12) and 215-pound senior Hunter Reno (44-12) while Heights is represented by Carver, 138-pound senior Andrew Bonebrake (34-8) and 175-pound senior Allen Baughman (30-8).
Bonebrake and Baughman are both first-team repeat picks.
Rossville is represented on the first team by Class 3A-1A 215-pound senior state runnerup Barret Lietz (36-9) while Topeka High put 113-pound sophomore Luis Morones (19-10) on the first team.
ALL-SHAWNEE COUNTY BOYS WRESTLING
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four-time state individual champion Kendra Hurla of Rossville headines the TopSports.news 2024 All-Shawnee County girls wrestling team while state team champs Washburn Rural and Rossville combined for 10 spots on the first team.
Rossville senior Kendra Hurla celebrates her fourth straight 120-pound Class 4A-1A state wrestling championship. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural state finalist Molly Spader (with trophy) celebrates with her teammates after the Junior Blues won their second straight Class 6A-5A state championship. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
The TopSports.news all-county team is based in part on selections made by the seven Topeka head coaches as well as at large selections for county schools Rossville and Silver Lake.
Hurla was named the Shawnee County wrestler of the year after winning her fourth straight Class 4A-1A 120-pound championship while capping a perfect 38-0 senior season.
Rossville senior Hailey Horton gains the upper hand on the way to a 4-3 win in the Class 4A-1A 155-pound championship match. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
Hurla and her senior Bulldawg teammate, 155-pound state champ Hailey Horton (37-4), led Rossville to the school's first-ever team title by a half point over Oakley (82.5-82.0) as senior 115-pound fourth-place finisher Keera Lacock (37-3) also earned a first-team All-Shawnee County spot for the Bulldawgs. Hurla, Horton and Lacock are all first-team All-Shawnee County repeat picks.
Washburn Rural junior Molly Spader gains the upper hand on Derby senior Amara Ehsa during the 105-pound state final. Spader dropped a tough 6-4 decision but Rural won its fourth state team title. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural, meanwhile, continued to rack up state crowns, winning its second straight title and fourth in five years by a 118-96 margin over Garden City as state 105-pound finalist Molly Spader (35-3) was one of seven Junior Blues to earn all-county honors.
In addition to Spader, Washburn Rural is represented by junior 115-pounder Maddy Blow (22-12), sophomore 130-pounder Madison Blanco (28-9), senior 135-pounder Laiken Clark (31-5), senior 145-pounder Fatima Escobar (35-7), senior 170-pounder TaAni Rhoten (36-2) and sophomore 190-pounder Elia Smith (25-14).
Clark and Rhoten placed third at state while Escobar posted a fourth-place finish and Blanco finished sixth.
Spader, Blow and Rhoten are all first-team all-county repeat selections.
Washburn Rural girls wrestling coach Damon Parker congratulates 105-pound junior star Molly Spader after her state semifinal win. Parker coached Rural to its fourth state team title in five seasons. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Bryce Gfeller, a two-time individual state champ for Rossville as a high school wrestler, coached the Bulldawg girls to the school's first state team title to cap the 2023-2024 season. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural coach Damon Parker, who has led the Junior Blues to four state titles and a runnerup finish in the five years since girls wrestling became an official Kansas State High School Activities Association sport, was selected as the Co-Shawnee County coach of the year with Rossville state-champion coach Bryce Gfeller.
Parker and Gfeller both won a pair of state individual titles as high school wrestlers before embarking on their coaching careers.
Rural sophomore Lacey Middleton, who placed sixth in 6A-5A at 120 pounds and went 32-10 on the season, was named the county newcomer of the year.
Shawnee Heights put five wrestlers on the all-county first team, led by junior Reece Taylor and sophomore Cianna Graves.
Taylor (25-10) finished fourth at 125 pounds while Graves (32-8) placed fifth at 155.
Also earning first-team berths for the T-Birds were senior 110-pounder Odessa Schmidt (25-9), sophomore 140-pounder Olivia Stevens (29-9) and sophomore 235-pounder Theo Ofusia (16-12).
Seaman put senior 100-pounder Ellie Ayres and junior 120-pounder Taylie Huston (30-10) on the All-Shawnee County first team, with both wrestlers earning 6A-5A state medals.
Heston, a repeat all-county pick, finished fourth at state while Ayres was sixth.
ALL-SHAWNEE COUNTY GIRLS WRESTLING
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys basketball team posted an outstanding 24-1 record and a third-place Class 5A state finish in the 2022-2023 season.
Highland Park junior Ja'Corey Robinson is coming off a 35-point, 12-rebound performance in last Friday's 80-48 sub-state win over Bonner Springs. [File photo/TSN]
But a full year later there's still not a day that goes by that Scots coach Mike Williams and his team doesn't re-live that one loss -- a 55-54 state semifinal heartbreaker to Andover -- that ended Highland Park's dreams of the '23 state championship.
"There's such a nasty taste,'' Williams said. "If it was up to me, I would have pushed fast forward and then to next week already.''
And as fate would have it, Williams and Co. get a chance to wipe that bad taste out of their mouths when No. 2 seed Highland Park (21-1) and No. 7 Andover (18-4) kick off this year's state tournament at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Emporia's White Auditorium.
Andover led for only 43 seconds of last year's semifinal and only .5 of a second after the early stages of the first quarter, but that .5 of a second was enough to put Andover in the championship game, with the Trojans ending the game with a 7-0 run to pull out the one-point victory before earning the 5A title with a 54-46 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel the following night.
Highland Park bounced back from the semifinal loss to roll to a 79-46 rout over Hutchinson in the third-place game, but that did little to ease the pain of the Andover loss.
"There hasn't been a day go by that we haven't thought about it, that we haven't talked about it,'' Williams said. "It's a little bit different for us because we talk about what we're trying to attain.
"A lot of people don't want to talk about championships, but we talk about it every day because we want our kids to know what our expectations are and what we're working towards.''
And what the Scots are working towards this season is another shot at the title.
Highland Park's only loss this season came to 6A state qualifier Wichita Northwest in the final of the Topeka Invitational Tournament and the Scots have reeled off 15 straight wins since that defeat, earning their third straight state berth with an 80-48 win over Bonner Springs in last Friday's sub-state final at Topeka West.
Junior Ja'Corey Robinson led the Scots with 35 points and 12 rebounds against Bonner Springs.
The Highland Park-Andover winner will advance to a 2 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face the first-round winner between No. 3 seed Kapaun Mt. Carmel (19-3) and No. 6 De Soto (18-4).
On the other side of the bracket top seed Maize South (22-0) will play a 6 p.m. first-round game against No. 8 Great Bend (17-5) and No. 4 Piper (19-3) will face No. 5 Shawnee Heights (19-3) at 8 o'clock, with the winners playing a 6 p.m. Friday semifinal.
The tournament championship game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Here's a team-by-team glance at the other first-round games involving Shawnee County teams:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Caden Cochrane
CADEN COCHRANE, Shawnee Heights
A junior bowling standout, Cochrane finished third individually in last Friday's Class 5A state bowling tournament at Wichita with a 685 three-game series, leading Shawnee Heights to the first state bowling boys team championship in school history by a 3,547-3,519 margin over Kansas City-Turner. Cochrane rolled games of 235, 233 and 217.
Trey Donath
TREY DONATH, Shawnee Heights
A freshman, Donath placed eighth individually in last Friday's Class 5A state bowling tournament at Wichita with a 667 three-game series, helping Shawnee Heights to the first state bowling boys team championship in school history by a 3,547-3,519 margin over Kansas City-Turner. Donath bowled games of 214, 254 and 199.
Claire Ireland
CLAIRE IRELAND, Washburn Rural
A senior, Ireland earned her second straight individual medal in last Thursday's Class 6A state bowling tournament at Wichita, leading Washburn Rural to a runnerup team finish. Ireland finished 14th in 6A with a 594 series as the Junior Blues posted a team score of 3,092 to finish second to Campus (3,255). Ireland bowled games of 215, 212 and 167.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
My favorite week of the high school sports season is here and for what it's worth -- and it's not much -- here's my take on all 14 of this week's state basketball tournaments across the state.
If I didn't pick your team don't fret because it could bode well for you.
If I did pick the team/teams you root for, I hope it's not a jinx.
By early Saturday eventing we'll know, and win or lose it promises to be a fun week. Enjoy!
CLASS 6A BOYS
Finalists -- Shawnee Mission Northwest (1: 22-0) vs. Wichita Heights (2: 21-1).
Champion -- Wichita Heights. A good rule of thumb is never pick against Joe Auer. The Falcons coach is one of the most respected and successful coaches in Kansas, with six titles in two classes, and his 2023-2024 team (the runnerup in '23) will be hard to beat again this week although the 6A field is crowded with contenders.
Other contenders -- Blue Valley Northwest (3: 20-2) is the defending state champ and a perennial contender. Heights could have to get past Northwest in the semifinals, although the Huskies could get a tough first-round test from Wichita Northwest (6: 17-5), which handed Highland Park its only loss in the finals of the Topeka Invitational.
Senior Zoe Canfield played a big role in Washburn Rural's 2022 state championship and will take aim on another title this week in Wichita. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 6A GIRLS
Finalists -- Blue Valley North (5: 18-4) vs. Wichita Heights (2: 20-2)/Washburn Rural (7: 15-7) first-round winner.
Champion -- Blue Valley North. When in doubt, and 6A is one huge bundle of doubt, go with the defending champs. Blue Valley North is a No. 5 seed, but the Mustangs have proven themselves to be up to challeng in the past, and could again.
Other contenders -- Rule of thumb Part II: never count out Kevin Bordewick. The Hall of Fame coach has led Washburn Rural to back-to-back 6A championship games (title in 2022, runnerup in 2023) and a pair of championships since 2019. The Rural-Wichita Heights first-round game could be the game of the tournament, with Rural beating Heights in the semifinals of the Capital City Classic on late January. Top seed Shawnee Mission South (21-1), Olathe South (4: 18-4) and Derby (3:19-3) are all capable of championship runs.
Highland Park junior Ja'Corey Robinson is coming off a 35-point performance in the Scots' sub-state final victory. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting will be shooting for his sixth state basketball championship this week in Emporia. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 5A BOYS
Finalists -- Piper (4:19-3)/Shawnee Heights (5:19-3) first-round winner vs. Highland Park (2: 21-1).
