John Meinhardt Passes Away

      John L. (Bud) Meinhardt, age 85, passed away  March 5, 2016 after a long battl with multiple myeloma.      
      A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, May 28, 2016 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in St. Marys.   Inurnment will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Newbury.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Multiple  Myeloma Research Foundation and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, St. Marys, Kansas.     
      To read the complete obituary,  or to leave condolences,  go to:  http://piperfuneralhome.com/obituaries/john-l-bud-meinhardt/

Golf Team Member Honors

Three of the RHS Boys golf team attained special honors to culminate their outstanding season.  The recipients were:

Gabe Marney

All Mid-East League

3A Regional Second Place

Andrew Hudson

All Mid-East League/Medalist

3A Regional Sixth Place

Kole Davoren

3A Regional Eighth Place

CJOnline 3A Golf Regional Article

From the Capital Journal:

By Brent Maycock

brent.maycock@cjonline.com

It wasn’t a single club in his bag Matt Percy credited for his Class 3A regional golf title Monday at Lake Shawnee Golf Course.

Instead, the Central Heights standout knew exactly what his biggest weapon was. His mind.

“Mentally, is where I saved most of my shots,” Percy said. “You had to be so strong mentally out there to know that even if you made a big score on one hole you had to recover because you can’t let the lead to two or three big scores in a row.

“It was definitely a battle out there. Probably some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in.”

Despite playing Monday’s regional in a steady downpour, Percy survived the elements and the field with a strong performance. He limited his big scores to a trio of double bogeys, but mixed two birdies and enough pars to battle his way to a 7-over 77 that was good enough to win by five strokes over Rossville’s Gabe Marney.

Only four golfers in the field of 37 players broke 90 — Marney (82), West Franklin’s Austin Gilkey (85) and Osage City’s Ryan Haskins (89) joining Percy — and only eight broke 100. Osage City captured the team title with a 381, while West Franklin and Rossville tied for second with 387s, West Franklin earning the second team berth for state via a fifth-player tiebreaker.

Percy admitted he wasn’t exactly thrilled seeing the conditions in which the regional would be played. But he also quickly developed a game plan to get through with a round that wasn’t too far off his season stroke average of 73.7.

“You just have to know it’s going to be a grind out there and change your mind set from trying to attack the course to taking it one shot at a time and if you hit it to the middle of the green and make par you’re in good shape,” Percy said. “When I saw the weather wasn’t going to be good, I thought sneak something in around a 75 and see where that puts me. The conditions were worse than I thought and a 77 was pretty dang good.”

After early an early double bogey on No. 2, Percy played his next five holes in 1-under, sticking a punched 6-iron to three feet on the par-3 No. 6. The round started to get away when he made two bogeys and two doubles in a five-hole stretch to finish the front and start the back, but he played even over the final six holes, offsetting a bogey on 15 with another birdie on 16, coming up just short of an eagle on the par-5 hole.

Marney struggled at the start of each of his nines, playing his first three holes on the front in four over and his first three on the back in three over. But eight pars on the remaining 12 holes kept him from a bigger number.

Haskins and Duncan Fort finished 4-5 to lead the Indians to the regional title. Marney and fellow Bulldawgs Andrew Hudson (95) and Kole Davoren (95) earned individual state berths for next Monday’s meet at Salina Municipal Golf Course.

CLASS 3A REGIONAL

At Lake Shawnee GC (par 70)

Team scores (Top 2 qualify for state)

Osage City 381, West Franklin 387*, Rossville 387, Council Grove 437, Silver Lake 448, Perry-Lecompton 490.

Individual medalists

1. Percy, Central Heights, 77; 2. Marney, Rossville, 82; 3. Gilkey, West Franklin, 85; 4. Haskins, Osage City, 89; 5. Fort, Osage City, 91; 6. Hudson, Rossville, 95; 7. Powelson, Wellsville, 95; 8. Davoren, Rossville, 96; 9. Lindstrom, Silver Lake, 100; 10. McDowell, Osage City, 100.

Individual qualifiers — Percy, Central Heights, 77; Marney, Rossville, 82; Hudson, Rossville, 95; Powelson, Wellsville, 95; Davoren, Rossville, 95.

*–Earned state berth on fifth-player tiebreaker

All-MEL Academic Team

RHS MID-EAST LEAGUE ALL ACADEMIC TEAM

The Mid-East League each year awards a medal to all students who have participated in at least 3 activities sponsored by the Kansas State High School Activities Association and have maintained a 3.5 Grade Point Average in the first 3 quarters of the school year. Rossville High School had 42 students that met the requirements for the 2015-2016 school year:

Freshmen        Sophomores     Juniors           Seniors

Jordan Bittner            Kylee Badura              Taylor Bittner            Alex Cavanaugh

MaKenzie Decklar    Tronnie Blair Paul        Borcherding              Kole Davoren

Katie Dohrman          Rylee Brecheisen        Jacob Bradshaw       Rachel Day

Caila Hill                    Perry Foster                Bryce Gfeller             Britnee Douglas

Phoenix Thomas        Cory Hadsall               Laura Gillum             Riley Falk

                                   Holden Hurla               Dawson Hammes     Tucker Horak

                                   Meg Kirk                     Amanda Hill              Chris Johnston

                                   Abigail McCrory         Danielle Mason         Kyle Parr

                                   Hannah Miller             Mitchell Porter          Christian Roduner

                                   Jalyn Porter                 Ashley Rietcheck     Nick VanderPutten

                                   Cassie Punchard          Fred Schuler

                                   Kathleen Schuler         Lora Shinn

                                   Ashley Zemek              Sara Shinn

                                                                        Emily Woodcock

                                                                                  Reported by Beth Shepard,  RHS Counselor

Golf Team Ties For Second In Regional

The RHS boys golf team was second at the 3A Regional.  Gabe Marney led the team with an 82 followed by Andrew Hudson with a 95.  Kole Daveson had a 96 and Trey Anderson finished with a 114 stroke total to give the team a very respectable 387 total..  However,  the 5th player tie-breaker caused West Franklin to be the 3A State Qualifying team.

1.    Osage City HS                     381
2.    Pomona-West Franklin          387
2.    Rossville HS                        387
4.    Council Grove HS                437
5.    Silver Lake HS                     448
6.    Perry-Lecompton HS             490

Kyle Parr Signs With MSSU

Kyle is pictured seated with his mom Rhonda, father Howard and RHS 

Track coaches Rachel MacNevin, Brad Anderson, and Jason Broaddus.

      On Wednesday, April 27th, Kyle Parr signed a letter of intent for Track and Field at Missouri Southern State University. Kyle is a senior at Rossville High School and has competed all four years in track. Kyle is a three time state qualifier and state placer (2013, 2014, and 2015) in the events of High Jump, Triple Jump, 110 High Hurdles and the 300 Hurdles. He is the school record holder in the triple jump with a distance of 44’01’’. Kyle is also a competitor for the NEK Track Club, participating in multiple events around the country. Kyle plans to continue his career as a “Multi” athlete, competing in several different events as part of the heptathlon or decathlon for MSSU.

                                                                                   By RHS Track & Field Coach Brad Anderson

Steven Wehmeier (62) Passes Away

        Steven C Wehmeier Steven Wehmeier, 71, passed away at home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on Sunday, November 1, 2015.
        Born April 24, 1944 in Waterville, KS to George and Thelma (Keefover) Wehmeier. He graduated from Rossville KS High School. He was proud of his Navy service, receiving the National Defense Service Medal. He later graduated from Washburn University in 1971. He was married to Nancy (Kramer) Wehmeier, the love of his life for 27 years. His work included years as a printing industry representative, a personnel manager, and a safety manager in construction. Steven loved Colorado and the outdoors, camping, fishing and hunting with family and friends.
        He is survived by his wife Nancy, his sister Donna, his mother-in-law Shirley, brother-in-laws Steve and John, numerous nieces and nephews, Godchild Elienor, and best friend Ernie. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers George and Larry, and sisters Marjorie and Linda. 
        Graveside service will be on May 21, 10:00 a.m. at Riverside Cemetery, 2199 4th Rd, Waterville, KS followed by a luncheon at Waterville Methodist Church, 103 Main St, Waterville KS 66548. Sign guest book at: www.allstatescremation.com/obituaries-page/ In Steven s memory, donations can be made to the American Legion at: www.legion.org Steven Wehmeier
        A more complete obituary is available at:  http://rossvilleksalumninews.blogspot.com/2015/11/steve-wehmeier-62-passes-away.html

RHS Defeats Mission Valley

The Dawgs baseball team beat Mission Valley 7-4 in the first round of the 3A Regional.  While scheduled for Joe Campbell Stadium,  the games were moved to Lake Shawnee because of the recent rains.
Video coverage of the game can be seen at:  http://ksnt.com/2016/05/17/high-school-regional-baseball-soccer-gets-underway/

Rossville will play Royal Valley on Wendesday at 4:00 p.m. St. Marys will play Silver Lake on Wendesday at 2:00 p.m. with the tournament moved back to Rosville.  The winners will play at 6:00 Wed.for the Regional championship and a slot in the 3A state tournament.

RHS Curriculum Completers

ROSSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ANNOUNCES CURRICULUM COMPLETERS

Rossville Jr./Sr. High School had three seniors this year who completed the required curriculum as set forth by the Kansas Board of Regents and earned the designation of State of Kansas Curriculum Completer. In order to earn this distinction, students must have completed 4 years of English, 4 years of Math, 3 years of Science, 3 years of Social Studies, and 2 years of Foreign Language. The students who met these criteria are Eric Ebert, Kyle Parr, and Willow Stipp

All Curriculum Completers are then eligible to be considered for an additional award. The Kansas Board of Regents on behalf of the Kansas Legislature ranks these Curriculum Completers based on their GPA and ACT scores. Eric Ebert and Willow Stipp were designated as 2016 Kansas State Scholars.

                                                                            Beth Shepard,  RHS Counselor

Heidi Nitsch To Play For Cowley Co.

Heidi is pictured with her sister Chelsea Trimble holding her son Bryxton, 

mother Tracy Nitsch, and father John “Dink” Nitsch. 

Head RHS Softball Coach Curt Brecheisen is pictured standing.

Rossville High School Senior Heidi Nitsch has signed a National Letter Of Intent to play softball at Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, Kansas. Cowley is a program that is usually in the top end of the very competitive Jayhawk JuCo conference. Entering her senior season at Rossville High, Heidi was a 2 time first team All Mid East League selection, as well as a 2 time Kansas Softball Coaches Association 3A All- State selection. She has also been a multiple time Sparkler All Star selection for her summer team, Kansas Heatwave. Heidi currently has a .456 career batting average as a Lady Dawg and finished last season with a .533 batting average. Her .641 on base percentage helped her lead the team last season with 34 runs scored. Heidi’s hard working, hard-nosed, high energy style of play as well as her coachability will make her a good fit for Cowley County and beyond with her softball career.

                                                                                     By Curt Brecheisen, RHS Softball Coach

RHS Top Scholars For 2016

Rossville High School announced their top scholars at graduation on May 15, 2016. Pictured from left are Valedictorians Kyle Parr and Eric Ebert and Salutatorians Justin Logan and Britnee Douglas.

Rossville Girls Hope To Go To State

From the Capital Journal

By Brent Maycock

Graduation didn’t claim a ton of players off last year’s Rossville softball team that finished the season 16-4 and as Class 3A regional runner-up.

But what it didn’t take in quantity, it definitely took in quality. Two of the four departed seniors — pitcher Taylor Kirk and infielder-outfielder Taylor Brecheisen — were All-State selections.

“With our seniors last year, we lost over half of our runs,” Rossville coach Curt Brecheisen said. “These girls had a lot to pick up and put in a lot of extra work to make up for what we lost.”

Not only did Rossville’s 2016 team do that, but made history in the process. The Bulldawgs claimed the first Mid-East League title in program history, going 10-0 through what has traditionally been one of the toughest leagues in the state at any level.

Just how tough? Rossville now has as many league titles as state titles, winning the program’s only state crown in 2000 in Class 2-1A while fellow MEL member St. Marys took the 3A crown.

“It’s about time is what it is,” Brecheisen said. “We’ve had some really good groups come through here and we just haven’t been able to get over that hump. Last year, we had a state champion and state champion (Silver Lake) and a 4A (Division II) runner-up (Rock Creek) and we beat the snot out of the 4A team. The league’s like that just about every year, though, so winning it is really special.”

Rossville would like to continue to add titles to its resume this year and takes a 17-3 record into this week’s Class 3A regional at Silver Lake, the only losses coming to 6A Manhattan (twice) and fellow 3A Oskaloosa. The Bulldawgs are the No. 1 seed in the regional and are looking for their first state berth since 2013.

That year, Rossville had to face league rival Silver Lake in the first round of the state tourney, falling 6-3 as the Eagles went on to capture the first of three straight state championships. To get back to state, the Bulldawgs likely will have to down their arch rivals again, this time in the regional semifinals.

Silver Lake (11-9) is the regional’s No. 4 seed and if it beats St. Marys (9-10) in Monday’s quarterfinal game, the War on 24 rivals will square off in the 2 p.m. Tuesday semifinal. Even though Rossville swept the regular-season showdown, the postseason is a different situation altogether.

Other top seeds in the regional are No. 2 seed Council Grove (14-5) and No. 3 Marysville (13-5).

“We’re trying not to look at it any differently than we normally would,” Brecheisen said. “We’ve got to play our best ball to win, period. We’ve had some close games this year, some that maybe shouldn’t have been, but that’s good because we didn’t have a lot of those last year. That’s helped us because we’ve battled through games where we didn’t hit so well but eventually found a way.”

Graduation Day

Graduation Day May 15, 2016

Photos by Shari Gentry

The entire class of 2016 on graduation day

Seniors from 2016 3A State Champion Football Team

Rossville Announces Top Ten

    Rossville High School announced the Top 10 Seniors of the Class of 2016 at graduation exercises on Sunday, May 15, 2016. The following seniors were recognized for their academic accomplishments: Katie Conley, Rachel Day, Britnee Douglas, Eric Ebert, Zach Jensen, Chris Johnston, Justin Logan, Kyle Parr, Lauren Steckel, and Willow Stipp