Gfeller Adjusts To New Weight

By brent.maycock@cjonline.com

ROSSVILLE — For each of his first two high school wrestling seasons, Rossville’s Bryce Gfeller was pretty much the big dawg on the block in more ways than one.

For starters, Gfeller spent both years pushing the top end of his weight class — 106 as a freshman, 113 as a sophomore. Making weight was never really a problem, but also something Gfeller had to work at.

His combination of size and strength made him tough to beat and very few did. Gfeller went 38-7 as a freshman and 27-2 as a sophomore, capturing state titles each year.

Jumping up two weight classes to 126 this year, Gfeller is in somewhat new territory. And yet things seem awfully familiar.

“I’m not as big at 126, but it’s really not that much different,” Gfeller said. “It hasn’t been that big of an adjustment.”

So far whatever adjustment there’s been, Gfeller has handled it fine. After pinning Sabetha’s Seth Harrell in the finals of last Saturday’s Rossville Invitational, Gfeller is now 18-2 on the season.

His only losses this year have come to Marysville’s Chris Deters in the finals of the Mission Valley Invitational and KC Sumner’s Emmanuel Browne in the finals at the Eudora Tournament of Champions. The loss to Deters came at 132 coming out of football and both wrestlers who have beat him are ranked No. 1 at their respective weights in their respective classes.

The past two seasons, Gfeller relied heavily on his strength to overpower opponents. If he got in a bad spot, or even a good one for that matter, more times than not he simply could muscle his way through it to be in control of the match.

Even though he’s stronger this year than in past, he’s found he’s had to draw on other aspects of his game to be successful.

“I’ve definitely improved a lot on my technique,” Gfeller said. “A lot of guys I’m facing are bigger, taller. I’m pretty quick and agile and my technique has gotten a lot better. I worked on it a lot during the summer and me and Coach (Cody) Lambotte have worked on my feet and on shots. It’s a slower pace than at 106 or 113 where there was a lot of action.

“Before I could use my strength to force my shots. Now I have to kind of wait and set them up in the right position.”

Rossville coach Curt Brecheisen has noticed a difference in his two-time state champion.

“Like the rest of the guys here, he spent a lot of time in the weight room in the summer and that was a good step for him in the right direction,” Brecheisen said. “He’s quick enough and fast enough that it hasn’t been a hard transition for him. He’s got enough in his tank and he’s a little more aggressive, more physical. He realized he had to get more physical and everything now has a little more pop to it.”

Halfway home on his quest to become a four-time state champion, Gfeller is ranked just No. 3 at 126 this year in Class 3-2-1A. Ahead of him are No. 1 David Hileman of Smith Center, who captured the 126 title last year, and No. 2 Riley Tubbs of Wabaunsee, who was runner-up to Hileman at state last year as a freshman.

Both will be major obstacles for Gfeller with Tubbs a Mid-East League rival whom Gfeller should see plenty of over the next month, including possibly at this weekend’s Basehor-Linwood Invitational. Other ranked wrestlers in the Basehor field are Sumner’s Browne, Tonganoxie’s Gad Huseman, Baldwin’s Levi Green, Goddard’s Christian Bowen and Olathe North’s Tyler Flood with Browne (4A) and Bowen (5A) each ranked No. 1 in their respective classes.

“There are definitely a lot of good kids at 126 and I’m going to have challenges,” he said. “I have a lot of confidence knowing what I’m doing and that I know what it takes to win, how hard I have to work. I’ve watched them wrestle Alex a lot and know how they like to wrestle.”

Horak Named All-American

Rossville's Tucker Horak named All-American

Tucker Horak led Rossville to back-to-back state titles. (photo: Shari Gentry)

BY: SPORTS IN KANSAS - CHET KUPLEN

Jan 15, 2016

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CBS Sports/MaxPreps released its annual small school All-American team on Friday and named to that was none other than one of the best to ever play small school football in Kansas in Rossville senior, Tucker Horak.

Horak, who rushed for over 2,000 yards and passed for over 2,000 yards this season, was the first player in Kansas history to ever do so. The senior dual threat quarterback was named to the second team All-American squad as an all-purpose back. Horak helped lead the Bulldawgs, coached by Derick Hammes, to the last two consecutive state titles in 3A by going a perfect 28-0. He finished with ridiculous high school numbers at Rossville that included 186 career touchdowns and over 13,000 yards of total offense

Despite recieving about every honor you can recieve at the high school level and being the only Kansan as an All-American, Horak has not recieved any major college interest or scholarship offers from Division I programs. That's not to say that he hasn't been recruited as the small town Kansas star has narrowed down his choices to two very solid Division II programs in Kansas that include Emporia State (2015 D-II Playoffs) and Pittsburg State (2011 D-II National Champion). Many project Horak, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 180 pounds, as a slot reciever in college. 

Below is the press release of the All-American teams from CBS Sports/MaxPreps

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

WR – J.P. Shohfi, San Marino (Calif.), 6-1, 190
WR – Alec Davidson, Lincoln Christian (Tulsa, Okla.), 6-1, 190
WR – Allie Freeman IV, Episcopal (Little Rock, Ark.), 5-9, 165
TE – Andrew Daschbach, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton, Calif.), 6-3, 210
OL – Andrew Boselli, Episcopal School of Jacksonville (Fla.), 6-5, 295
OL – Gavin Cupp, Leipsic (Ohio), 6-5, 290
OL – Luther Harris, Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City), 6-6, 355
OL – Adonis Sealey, Dillon (S.C.), 6-3, 270
OL – Danny Godlevske, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard, 6-2, 275
QB – Mason Fine, Locust Grove (Okla.), 6-0, 170
QB – Tanner Schafer, Canadian (Texas), 6-4, 185
RB – Cecil Langston, Rivercrest (Wilson, Ark.), 5-7, 182
RB – Jared Smith, Pewamo-Westphalia (Mich.), 6-0, 205, Junior
RB – Anthony Johnson, Scio (Ore.), 5-8, 175
AP – Chazz Surratt, East Lincoln (Denver, N.C.), 6-3, 215
K – Samuel Sloman, Pace Academy (Atlanta), 5-8, 175

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

DL – Tramonda Moore, Marshall (Oklahoma City), 6-6, 330
DL – Tevin McDaniel, Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City), 6-0, 215, Junior
DL – Emmanuel Walker, Lake Marion (Santee, S.C.), 6-3, 225
DL – Prince Sammons, Cincinnati Hills Christian (Ohio), 6-8, 275
LB – Evan Madden, Kirtland (Ohio), 6-4, 205
LB – Kash Daniel, Paintsville (Ky.), 6-3, 250
LB – Thomas Bolstad, Burroughs (St. Louis), 6-1, 225
LB – Ben Davis, Gordo (Ala.), 6-4, 235
LB – Zane Young, Brock (Texas), 6-1, 220, Junior
DB – Shaun Wade, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.), 6-2, 180, Junior
DB – Andrew Goldsmith, Trinity Christian (Jackson, Tenn.), 6-0, 210
DB – Shyheim Carter, Kentwood (La.), 6-0, 180
DB – Aaron Mathews, Clairton (Pa.), 6-5, 190
P – Micah Wilson, Lincoln Christian (Tulsa, Okla.), 6-3, 205

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

WR – Jayden Borders, Shelby (N.C.), 5-11, 175, Junior
WR – Nate Craig-Myers, Tampa Catholic (Fla.), 6-2, 205
WR – Sage Surratt, East Lincoln (Denver, N.C.), 6-4, 200, Junior
TE – Jon-Michael Terry, Victory Christian (Tulsa, Okla.), 6-4, 240
OL – Dillan Gibbons, Northside Christian (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 6-5, 290, Junior
OL – Jonathan Brys, Lumen Christi (Jackson, Mich.), 6-6, 260
OL – Clayton Demski, Marin Catholic (Kentfield, Calif.), 6-3, 304
OL – Tyler Brown, Lexington (Okla.), 6-6, 320
OL – Greg Begnoche, American Heritage (Delray Beach, Fla.), 6-4, 275
QB - Michael Everett, Odem (Texas), 6-0, 185, Junior
QB – Detric Hawthorn, Collins (Miss.), 5-9, 170
AP – Tucker Horak, Rossville (Kan.), 5-10, 180RB – Traion Smith, Cameron Yoe (Cameron, Texas), 5-9, 195
RB – Jeremy Lewis, Lone Grove (Okla.), 6-2, 200
RB – Bryce Hoisington, Vashon Island (Wash.), 5-8, 160, Junior
K – Bryan Diaz, Monroe (N.C.), 6-0, 205, Junior

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

DL – Victor Alvarez, Oxbridge Academy (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 6-1, 235
DL – Jerome Johnson, Bassfield (Miss.), 6-4, 302
DL – Ben Stille, Ashland-Greenwood (Ashland, Neb.), 6-5, 245
DL – Anthony Mitchell, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.), 6-0, 250
LB – Kekupaa Freehauf, Central Catholic (Modesto, Calif.), 6-2, 250
LB – Donavan Switalski, East Nicolaus (Nicolaus, Calif.), 6-0, 200
LB – Tru'self Cooper, Benedictine (Savannah, Ga.), 6-0, 230
LB – Chase Burdette, Eagle's Landing Christian (McDonough, Ga.), 6-0, 225
LB – Jerrico Johnson, Bishop McNamara (Kankakee, Ill.), 5-10, 195
DB – Hamp Cheevers, Trenton (Fla.), 5-10, 165
DB – Charlie Woerner, Rabun County (Tiger, Ga.), 6-5, 238
DB – Hayden Bourgeois, Notre Dame (Crowley, La.), 5-11, 190
DB – Tre Lang, Haskell (Okla.), 6-0, 180
P – Tristen Pitts, Kingman Academy (Ariz.), 6-0, 173

- See more at: http://kansas-sports.com/ks/news/?id=7159&t=rossvilles-tucker-horak-named-all-american-#sthash.AcmDRAjj.0ZmXu8Vc.dpu

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Dawgs Sweep Bears

The Dawgs sent the St. Marys Bears home with losses in both the girl's and boy's varsity basketball games on Friday, Jan. 15

Boy's Game

Rossville   20 10 14 16   =   60

St. Marys    6 15  9  11   =   41

Rossville scoring:
Schumacher         6            0-0     12
Roduner               2            7-11   11
Horak                   3            2-3      8
Hammes              3            2-5      8
Morris                   3            0-0      6
Anderson             2            1-3      5
Mason                  1 (1)      2-4      5
Bradshaw             1            3-4      5
Totals                 21 (1)    17-30  60.

Girl's Game

Rossville     15 16  23 14   =   68

St. Marys      2   8  19 11   =   40

Rossville scoring:
Nitsch                   5 (4)         2-2      16
Hill                        4               4-6      12
Conley                  4               3-6      11
Day                       4               0-2        8
Shinn                    2               2-6        6
Porter                    2 (1)         0-0        5
Zemek                   1               2-2       4
Hill                         2               0-2       4
Shinn                     0               2-7       2
Totals                   24 (5)        15-33    68


In other Mid-East action Jan. 15:

Boys:

Rock Creek 67
Wabaunsee  56

Silver Lake  62
Riley Co.     46

Girls:

Wabaunsee   37
Rock Creek  35

Silver Lake  47
Riley Co.     34

Albert Glotzbach Passes Away

      Albert J. Glotzbach died on January 13, 2016. He was born September 24, 1922, at Paxico, Kansas.
      He was the son of George C. and Clara Meinhardt Glotzbach. He married Mary J. Maze on June 3, 1950, and they had two sons, John Alan and Mark Lee.
      He was preceded in death by Mark Lee in 1971, wife Mary in 1984, and John Alan in 1999. He is survived by his sister, Bertha M. Glotzbach, Olathe KS; 20 nieces and nephews; and the special Paulsen Family.
      He was in the U.S. Army in World War II. He served in Europe and was in a 155 Howitzer artillery battalion. He was in the Battle of the Bulge and his battalion was the first heavy artillery outfit to cross the Rhine at Ramagen. He was a member of Mater Dei Holy Name Church since 1936, a member of the American Legion Post 31 of Rossville and was commander there for seven years. He graduated from Capitol Catholic High School in 1940 and went to Strickler s Business College. His work life was ten years as an accountant, ten years as a production manager for an advertising agency, 14 years as the member services director for Kaw Valley Electric Coop. and then was a Kansas licensed Real Estate Salesman and Broker.
      Visitation will be 2-4 p.m. Sunday, January 17, 2016, at Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home, 2801 SW Urish Road, Topeka KS 66614, with Parish Prayer Service at 2 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Monday, January 18, 2016, at Mater Dei Holy Name Church, 1114 SW 10th Ave. Burial will be at Rochester Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be sent to Mater Dei Parish, 1114 SW 10th Street, Topeka KS 66604. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.kevinbrennanfamily.com.

Ramona Schindler Passes Away

    Ramona Schindler of St. Marys passed away Thursday,  Jan 14, 2016.  Her obituary can be read at:
http://piperfuneralhome.com/obituaries/ramona-l-schindler/

New 321A Wrestling Rankings

The Dawgs are still ranked number one in the state.

There are several Dawgs ranked in the top 6 of their weight class.

Isaac Luellen is the only Dawg ranked number one.

Click on below image to enlarge.

New Dawgfeed On-Line

Here is the latest version of Dawgfeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUUb80kU0xg&feature=em-subs_digest

Dawgs Take Two From Rock Creek

GIRLS GAME

    The RHS girls built a nice first quarter lead and withstood a 4th quarter rally to prevail 61-60 on Jan. 12 against Rock Creek.

  Rock Creek 13 14 13 20   =   60  
  Rossville     20 12 13 16   =   61

Rossville scoring:
Hill                        13 (1)       6-7      33
Steckel                    3 (3)      1-2      10
Day                           2            1-4        5
Nitsch                      1            2-4        4
Conley                     1            2-4        4
Shinn                       0            1-2        1
Totals                   20 (4)   13-23   61

BOYS GAME

    The RHS boys had a big second quarter to get an early lead and then added to in the fourth for a nice 56-43 vixtory. Hampered by a late football season,  the RHS boys got off to a slow start but are now gettin a nice string of wins.

  Rock Creek 12   7 14 10   =   43  
  Rossville      13 17 10 16   =   56

Rossville scoring:
Schumacher                      6 (2)        6-9       20
Horak                                   5 (1)         0-1       11
Roduner                             3 (2)        2-6       10
Anderson                            3              0-0        6
Hammes                              2              0-1        4
Bradshaw                            1               1-2        3
Morris                                  0              2-2       2
Totals                                 20 (5)      11-21  56

Bridge Work To Start Jan 25

From KSNT-TV: 

It was an agenda full of events at the Shawnee County Commission meeting Monday morning. The meeting started with the election of a new chairperson. Shelly Buhler will now act as the County Commission Chairperson and Bob Archer as the Vice Chairperson.

The Willard Bridge was also one of the main topics and the county commissioners unanimously approved the $16 million contract to start construction on the bridge.

“We were just allowed to go out for bids back in December and we received bids and we got extremely, extremely good bids,” says Tom Vlach.

The 3-0 votes came after Vlach told commissioners that the bid amount is more than $4 million below what the commission budgeted for. The construction on the Willard Bridge will begin in two weeks on January 25th.

RHS Hosts Foreign Students

By Angela Deines

Special to The Capital-Journal

For a 3A Kansas high school with an average of about 250 students, hosting nine to 10 foreign exchange students in one academic year is a little unusual.

But Toby McCollough, principal of Rossville Junior-Senior High School, embraces those numbers.

“With us being a rural community, this is a good way for our kids to get that culture that may already be at another school,” McCollough said of his school’s foreign exchange student program. “We try to reap the benefits from them (foreign exchange students) being here.”

Although having an average of nine to 10 foreign exchange students each year for about the past three years has slightly increased class sizes, McCollough said his staff also has fully embraced having more of the visiting students.

“Not a one of them said they didn’t want another one (student),” McCollough said, recalling the time when he told his staff there would be a higher count of foreign exchange students. “They (teachers) extract knowledge from them.”

McCollough said his students and the Rossville community continue to welcome their visitors, who have come from all across the globe. He said that full acceptance becomes more evident when former exchange students bring their own families back to the town of a little more than 1,000 people to visit.

“They feel that connection,” he said. “They have lifelong friends here.”

Much of the credit McCollough gives to the success of his school’s foreign exchange student program is directed toward Kelly Brown, a Rossville resident and the regional coordinator for the Academic Year in America, or AYA, program for the past five years.

Brown said she is responsible for 19 visiting students out of the estimated 50 students who are in Kansas currently as part of the AYA. She said the program requires her to either meet with or contact the student, host family and the student’s biological family monthly.

“It works really well,” Brown said. “If we’re in contact continuously, we can work out a problem before it escalates into a bigger problem. We take pride in that we take care of our students. We don’t just get them here and then forget about them.”

Brown also said she gives credit for the success of the visiting student program to the staff and administration at Rossville Junior-Senior High School.

“I give kudos to them for allowing us to have this many,” she said, referring to the nine students who will attend the school this spring semester. “They (students) blend in really well. They get good grades and usually don’t struggle academically.”

Before she matches a student with a family, Brown said she spends a lot of time going through the students’ profiles to understand their preferences and personalities.

Julie Spring said she, her husband and their son, Zach, now 22, have hosted foreign exchange students each year since the 2008-09 school year from Japan, Germany and Pakistan. Their current student, Rafael de Arruda, is from Brazil.

“I think that the Rossville kids have been very good to them,” Spring said of the foreign exchange students who have been in the community. “They love that people talk to them but they really want friends. They came here to be part of America and the culture and sometimes they’re afraid or they’re embarrassed. They just don’t know how to ask.”

Spring said as part of the Academic Year in America program, visiting students have to give presentations on their culture and lives, as well as perform a required number of community service hours. She said Bilal Channa, the student she hosted last year, resonated with her and the Rossville community in particular, because he is a practicing Muslim.

“He engaged a lot with adults,” she said. “Some of the things he would consider to be important wouldn’t be something a normal 16-year-old would think is important. He worries about what’s happening in his country, he worries about world things.”

Spring said after hosting Bilal, whom she remains in regular contact with, she sees global events from a completely new perspective.

“What does happen in the rest of the world is important to us,” she said. “I’m thankful that he gave me that.”

Julie Spring has hosted four foreign exchange students who have attended Rossville Junior-High School. The 3A school is currently hosting nine visiting students through the Academic Year in America program that has an estimated 50 students in Kansas this school year.

3A Football Class For 2016 and 2017

    The 3A football classification for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 years are available.  The classes are based on enrollments in the Ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades only as of Sept. 21, 2015.
    Rossville comes in at the lower end of the sixty four schools with 121-203  students with  127.  
    Other Mid-East schools include St. Marys, 144, Silver Lake 149, Riley County 165.   Wabaunsee is in class 2A at 111  and Rock Creek is in 4A at 211.

Rossville Wrestlers Placing

    The following RHS wresdtlers placed at the Rossville Invitational on Jan. 9.  Fifteen teams competed,  but each team had 12 or fewer wrestlers so  weight classes were not completely filled.

106    Alex Archer              4th
113    Colin Culbertson      3rd
120    Alex Cavanaugh       1st
126    Bryce Gfeller            1st
132    Holden Hurla            4th
138    Phoenix Thomas       2nd
145    Reed Miller               4th
152    Isaiah Luellen           2nd
160    Derek Gentry            3rd
182    Isaac Luellen             1st
220    Kole Davoren            1st

Final Team Standings of Rossville Invitational

1.		Rossville, KS			12	215.0
2.		Clay Center, KS			11	176.0
3.		Santa Fe Trail, KS			13	156.0
4.		Riley County, KS			12	131.5
5.		St Marys, KS			10	122.5
6.		Republic County, KS			8	100.0
7.		Sabetha, KS			12	96.0
8.		Wellington, KS			11	93.5
9.		Perry LeCompton, KS			10	65.0
10.		Doniphan West, KS			7	64.5
11.		Pleasant Ridge/Immac, KS			5	58.0
12.		Atchison County Community High School, KS			6	55.5
13.		Hayden, KS			5	23.0
14.		Atchison Maur Hill, KS			5	21.0
15.		Hiawatha, KS			2	16.0
16.		Riverbend International, KS			1	0.0

Riley and Rossville Split Wins

    The Riley County and Rossville high varsity basketball teams split on Jan. 8 on the Rossville court.  

Boys Varsity Game

  Riley County 10 14 20 22   =   66
  Rossville       16 23 14 21   =   74

Rossville  scoring:
Schumacher           6 (1)     10-16     24 
Roduner                  3             5-7      11
Morris                      3 (3)       1-2      10,
 Mason                    3 (3)       1-4      10
Hammes                  2            2-6        6
Bradshaw                2            2-2        6
Horak                       0            5-6        5
Anderson                 0            2-2        2
Team                       0            1-2        1
Totals                    19 (7)     29-47    74

Girls Varsity Game

  Riley County 9 15 21 17   =   62  
  Rossville      10  8 18 20   =   56

Rossville scoring:
Nitsch             6 (5)      0-0    17
Hill                  5 (2)      2-2    14
Day                 1 (1)      2-2     5
Conley             2           0-2     4
Shinn               2           0-0     4
Steckel            1 (1)      0-0     3
Buhler             1 (1)      0-0     3
Porter              1           1-2     3
Hill                   1           1-2     3
Totals             20 (10)    6-10  56.

Sallie Kelley Passes Away

Sallie A. Kelley, 61, passed away Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at her daughter's home in Rossville.

She was born March 4, 1954 at Topeka the daughter of Cornelius and Lorraine Gale Lee Cummings. She was raised in Rossville and graduated from Rossville High School. Sallie lived most of her life in the Rossville community.

Sallie had worked at Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Payless Distribution Center for 28 years and the past five years at Frito Lay all in Topeka. She was an avid KSU fan.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother Mark and a sister Sue.

Survivors include her daughter, Waunita (Gary) Smith, Rossville; her son, Shawn (DeeAnna) Kelly, Wathena; siblings, Michael (Barbara) Cummings, Topeka (Willard), Ellen (James) McFarland, Carbondale, Alice (Ron) Andrick, Topeka and Amy (Chris) Rawejasli, Topeka; 3 grandchildren, Mark Smith, Darcy Smith and Molly Kelley.

Inurnment graveside services will be at 10:00 A.M. Thursday, January 14, 2016 at Prairie Home Cemetery, Topeka. A family visitation will be from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at Piper Funeral Chapel in Rossville. Memorial contributions may be made in Sallie's name for her grandchildren's educational fund and sent in care of Piper Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 642, Rossville, Kansas 66533

Main St. Puzzle

    If you like to solve simple jig-saw puzzles,  here is a fairly easy one of Rossville's new revamped Main St.
http://www.jigidi.com/puzzle.php?id=XCZFZSMF

Basketball Video

    There is video of the basketball version of the "war on 24" at the below URL  from the 2:18 to 4:03 time in the video.
http://ksnt.com/2016/01/05/h-s-hoops-january-5-2016/
    Going into Tue night, both girls teams were undefeated,  but #1 ranked Silver Lake had an easy time of  defeating the RHS girls 73-49.
    The RHS boys took care of business with a 37-34 win over the Eagles.

Dawgs and Eagles Split

From CJ Online

SILVER LAKE — Coming out of the holiday break, it’s only natural for a coach to be concerned about his team being rusty offensively.

And facing an undefeated Rossville team in Tuesday’s return to the court, Silver Lake coach Loren Ziegler was certainly a bit anxious.

“We had a couple of average practices (over the break),” Ziegler said, then added, ”but we’ve got a pretty focused team. They’re a veteran group who’s been through the wars and know what it takes.”

Those veteran Eagles quickly put Ziegler’s mind at ease. After missing three of its first four shots, Silver Lake hardly missed the mark the rest of the way.

A string of four straight makes got the Eagles going and the offense looked in postseason form as No. 1 Silver Lake easily handled the battle of unbeatens with a 73-49 rout of visiting Rossville. The Eagles improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Mid-East League play.

“We had some lapses defensively, but that’s because Rossville’s so good,” Ziegler said. “But our intensity level was good and our execution level was really good.”

It didn’t take long for that execution to hit full rhythm and it was a trio of seniors who got it going. Alexis Gifford hit her first five shots of the game and never really cooled off, gouging the Rossville defense with 3-of-6 accuracy from 3-point range to complement slashing drives to the basket. She finished with 27 points, hitting 9 of 14 shots overall.

Madison Wegner added 12 of her 14 points in the first half, seven coming in the second quarter when the Eagles blew open the game with a 20-6 quarter to build a 36-18 halftime lead. Rachel Heiman added 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Silver Lake finished the game making 29 of 51 shots overall.

“We forced them to play at our speed, in catch-up mode, and that’s what we want,” Ziegler said. “Lexie got us off to a good start and we got into a good flow and we had a lot of good things happen offensively, which helped our defense.”

Rossville fell to 6-1 and was led by Amanda Hill’s 13 points.

ROSSVILLE BOYS 37, SILVER LAKE 34 — A thing of beauty it was not.

But given Rossville hadn’t won at Silver Lake in more than a half decade, well, beauty took on different meaning for the Bulldawgs.

“We’ll take them any way we can get them,” Rossville coach Derek Dick said. “We haven’t won here in like six years, so it’s good to get one here. The thing I like about our kids and their kids is they just competed so hard and even when it’s ugly like it was tonight, they still competed because they don’t like to lose.”

Tied 20-20 at the half, Rossville opened the second half with a 5-0 run that proved to be a significant offensive burst on Tuesday night. Jacob Bradshaw scored all five points in the run that put the Bulldawgs ahead for good.

Rossville never led by more than six and didn’t do a lot to put the Eagles away, missing five of six free throws in the final 1:55, including the front end of three one-and-one situations.

But Silver Lake couldn’t take advantage, going 2 for 9 on its final shots.

Bradshaw led all scorers with 12 points.

SILVER LAKE GIRLS 73, ROSSVILLE 49

Rossville      12      6    18    13   —   49

Silver Lake   16   20    22   15   —   73

Rossville (6-1, 0-1) — Nitsch 3-10 0-0 8, Steckel 2-9 0-0 4, Conley 5-8 1-2 11, Day 1-6 0-0 2, A. Hill 6-14 0-0 13, S. Shinn 2-4 0-0 4, Porter 0-1 0-0 0, C. Hill 1-3 0-0 2, L. Shinn 1-3 3-5 5, Buhler 0-1 0-0 0, Badura 0-0 0-0 0, Kirk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 4-7 49.

Silver Lake (5-1, 3-0) — White 2-3 0-0 4, Wegner 5-12 2-2 14, Heiman 8-11 0-1 16, Gifford 9-14 6-9 27, Yoder 2-4 0-0 4, Calderwood 1-1 0-0 3, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Lane 0-1 1-2 1, Krogman 0-1 0-0 0, Burkhardt 0-1 0-0 0, Bates 2-3 0-0 4, Fischer 0-0 0-0 0, Mountain 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-51 9-14 73.

3-pointers — Rossville 3-7 (Nitsch 2-3, A. Hill 1-2, Steckel 0-1, Buhler 0-1); Silver Lake 6-16 (Gifford 3-6, Wegner 2-6, Calderwood 1-1, White 0-1, Lane 0-1, Burkhardt 0-1). Total fouls — Rossville 16, Silver Lake 13. Fouled out — none.

ROSSVILLE BOYS 37, SILVER LAKE 34

Rossville      8   12   10   7   —   37

Silver Lake   8   12    5   9   —   34

Rossville (5-2, 1-0) — Roduner 2-5 3-5 8, Schumacher 1-7 0-2 2, Bradshaw 4-6 4-6 12, Horak 2-8 0-2 5, Hammes 1-3 1-3 3, Dyche 0-2 0-0 0, Mason 2-3 0-0 4, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 13-38 8-18 37.

Silver Lake (3-2, 2-1) — Hallacy 2-12 3-4 7, Koelzer 0-2 0-0 0, Wagner 2-9 0-0 4, Griffin 3-8 1-1 7, Adams 1-2 1-2 3, Byrne 1-2 0-0 2, Baird 3-6 3-6 9, Matzke 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 13-443 8-15 34.

3-pointers — Rossville 3-14 (Roduner 1-1, Horak 1-6, Morris 1-4, Dyche 0-2, Mason 0-1); Silver Lake 0-16 (Hallacy 0-7, Griffin 0-4, Wagner 0-3, Koelzer 0-2). Total fouls — Rossville 18, Silver Lake 18. Fouled out — none.

Horak And Coach To Shrine Bowl

Six Shawnee County athletes, including four Topeka players, have been selected to the East Squad for the 2016 Kansas Shrine Bowl, which will be played July 30 in Emporia.

Two-time All-State selection Tucker Horak of Rossville headlines the local selections after his record-setting season in leading the Bulldawgs to their second straight undefeated Class 3A state title. He will be joined on the East by his coach, Derick Hammes, who will serve as one of the assistant coaches under head coach Blake Pierce, who recently resigned as Seaman’s coach.

The only other Mid-East League player is Cole Baird of Silver Lake.

You can see the complete Shrine Bowl rosters at:

http://cjonline.com/sports/2016-01-04/four-city-players-rossvilles-horak-headline-east-shrine-bowl-roster

Trailer For Baseball Documentary

    Here is a trailer for the documentary film on Kansas baseball.  Most of the scenes in the trailer were shot at Rossville.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/KSBaseballHistory/permalink/435585246630859/

History of Willard

    Here is a link to the history of Willard, Kansas.    I have always heard that Willard was named for heavyweight boxer Jess Willard. the "Pottawatomie Giant"  from near Emmett,  but that appears to be not true.
http://recollectionsks.org/items/show/481

Lindsey Seele (10) On Dean's List

    Lindsay Seele, of Rossville, was on the dean's list for the Baker University School of Nursing for the spring semester of 2015.

George Safford Passes Away (Updated)

    George Carley Safford joined the Heavenly Chorus on Wednesday, December 30, 2015. He was born to Harry and Blanche Marie Carley Safford on January 3, 1929.

    George spent his formative life at his Grandmother Safford and Grandmother Carley’s homes. He had one sister, Leola Belle Safford of whom he was very fond of. It was she and him against the world all of their lives.
    George spent two years serving in the United States Army during WW II and seven years in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He was a printer by trade and printed all of St. Francis Hospital’s forms for 23 years.
    He is survived by two cousins, Jennifer David, Aurora, CO., and Pauline Conley, Delia.
    Graveside inurnment will be at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, January 7, 2016 at the Rossville Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Rossville United Methodist Church and sent in care of Piper Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 642, Rossville, Kansas 66533.