By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Local wrestling powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights ended the 2021 portion of their schedule with a bang over the weekend, with their varsity teams combining for three team championships to lead a strong showing by Shawnee County teams and individuals.
Washburn Rural's girls claimed the title in the LadyCat Classic at Basehor-Linwood while the Rural boys claimed top honors in the Bishop Carroll Invitational and Shawnee Heights boys captured the team championship in the Johnson County Classic.
Individually, Heights senior star Caden Walker reached a career milestone and a host of other county wrestlers notched individual titles.
Here's a look at some of the county highlights from the weekend:
WALKER REACHES 100 PINS, T-BIRD BOYS WIN TITLE
Shawnee Heights star senior 160-pounder Caden Walker went over the 100-pin mark for his career and the T-Birds took the team title in the 25-school Johnson County Classic by a 460-429 margin over Kansas Class 6A power Derby.
Caden Walker
Walker finished second in the 160 class while improving to 11-1 on the season and boosting his career win total to 123 and his career pin total to 101.
Also posting runner-up finishes for the T-Birds were senior 120-pounder Brock Ferguson (18-1 on the season), 132-pound sophomore Andrew Bonebrake (14-3) and 182-pound senior Preston Hartman (15-2) while senior 138-pounder Ty Lewis (16-3), senior 145-pounder Joey Hilton (13-5) and senior 170-pounder Cole Manrose (15-3) finished third.
RURAL GIRLS DOMINATE LADYCAT CLASSIC
Individual champions Addison Broxterman, Alexis Fredrickson and Jaliah Johnson led the way as two-time defending state champion Washburn Rural claimed the team championship in Basehor-Linwood's LadyCat Classic by a 295-221 margin over Dodge City.
Jaliah Johnson
Broxterman, a junior, won at 120 pounds while junior Frederickson was the 132-pound champ and senior Johnson took the 155-pound crown.
Broxterman improved to 14-1 on the season while Fredrickson is now 13-2 and Johnson 12-1.
The Junior Blues also got a second-place finish from sophomore 101-pounder Kristen Rezac (10-4).
Seaman finished seventh as a team, with sophomore 115-pounder Madison Murray (8-3) and freshman Koti Best (9-2) finishing third.
JUNIOR BLUES PICK UP FOUR INDIVIDUAL WINS, TEAM CROWN
The defending Class 6A state champion Washburn Rural boys took the team championship in the Bishop Carroll Invitational by an 188-149 margin over Andale, with individual gold medalists Jonathan Morrison, Jacob Tangpricha, Aidan Boline and Austin Fager leading the charge.
Austin Fager
Morrison, a sophomore, won at 113 pounds while seniors Tangpricha, Boline and Fager claimed championships at 126, 160 and 182 pounds.
Morrison is now 14-3 on the season while Tangpricha is 12-4, Boline 9-1 and Fager 18-1.
The Junior Blues also got runnerup finishes from 106-pound freshman Easton Broxterman (15-3), 145-pound sophomore Brody Byrne (11-6) and 152-pound freshman Kristjan Marshall (9-10).
VIKES' THOMAS WINS IN LEE'S SUMMIT EVENT
Seaman's boys team crossed the state border to compete in Lee's Summit, Mo., with junior Jaxson Thomas claiming the 195-pound championship for the Vikings.
Thomas went 7-1 in the tournament, with all seven of his wins coming by pins.
Thomas, 18-2 on the season, recorded a 58-second win in the championship match after earlier posting pins in 14 seconds, 43 seconds, 59 seconds, 1 minute, 12 seconds, 1:19 and 3:59.
LOCAL GIRLS DOMINATE IN ACCHS TOURNEY
Washburn Rural's second varsity edged Shawnee Heights 171-159.5 for the team crown in the Atchison County Community High School girls tournament at Effingham, while county wrestlers dominated individually in the tourney, which included multiple divisions in numerous weight classes.
Individual winners for Washburn Rural included sophomore Tylor Badia (101), junior Cora Iarossi (132), sophomore Raya Eilert (143 A) and senior Adrian Cox (235 A).
Shawnee Heights got wins from sophomore Odessa Schmidt (109), junior Molly Busenitz (115), freshman Isabel Reyes (138 A), sophomore McKenna Haltom (143), senior Gloria Lillich (143 A), junior Hannah Sixkiller (155) and senior Maranda Bell (191).
Topeka West senior Breanna Randles, a state runnerup in 2020, wrestled at the high school level for the first time since the '20 state meet, winning the 132-pound 'B' bracket with a pair of pins in 21 seconds and 1:15.
The Chargers also got a title from sophomore Tristyn Johnson at 235 pounds.
Rossville returning state champion Kendra Hurla, a sophomore, at 120 pounds while the Bulldawgs also got titles from freshman Lilly Miller (126 A) and junior Reagan Wonnell (138).
