Norma Bieker Passes Away

Norma E. (Hamel) Bieker, 94, of Rossville, KS passed away Friday, March 6, 2020. Honoring Norma's request, cremation is planned. Arrangements have been entrusted to Dove Cremations and Funerals, Southwest Chapel, 3700 SW Wanamaker Rd, Topeka.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to The House of Midland Care, 120 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66606. To see a full obituary or to leave a message for the family online, please visit www.DoveTopeka.com.

MEL Music Festival

    The Mid-East League (MEL) Music Festival was hosted by Riley County on Wednesday, March 4th. Rossville was represented by three vocal groups (Mixed Chorus, Women's Ensemble, and Men's Quintet), six vocal solos, six instrumental small ensembles (Flute Quartet, Clarinet Choir, Saxophone Quartet, Trumpet Quartet, Low Brass Ensemble, and Brass Ensemble), seven instrumental solos, and the Rossville High School Concert Band. Students will now continue their preparation for Regional Solo and Small Ensemble Contest hosted at Holton High School on Saturday, March 28th.

Garrett Jones

Rossville Jr./Sr High 

Music/Choir Director

Morelli, Huston, Steele In All-State Band/Choir

Taylor Morelli (Senior, Clarinet), Meagan Huston (Senior, Clarinet), and Hailey Steele (Junior, Soprano) represented Rossville in the All-State Ensembles in Wichita during the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) Conference. The performances were on Saturday, February 29th at Century II Convention Center. Hailey performed with the All-State Treble Choir at 11:30 AM, and Taylor and Meagan performed with the 1A-4A All-State Honor Band at 3:00 PM. Their performances were absolutely phenomenal.

Taylor Morelli becomes the 2nd student in Rossville History to become a 3-year All-State Honor Group member, and Hailey Steele becomes the 1st (to my knowledge) All-State Choral member from Rossville. What a great representation of Rossville at the state level!

Garrett Jones

Rossville Band & Choir Director

Wehner's Store On KSNT

ROSSVILLE, Kan. (KSNT) — Local stores are feeling the impact as people become more aware of the Coronavirus, as they avoid contracting it. Supplies of hand sanitizer, soap and cleaning supplies are now more in demand. Wehner’s Thriftway store manager, Angi Thomas, said they are adding large quantities of these items to their shipping list at the Rossville and Silver Lake stores. To read the complete article,  go to: https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/local-grocery-store-buying-more-hand-sanitizer-cleaning-supplies-amid-coronavirus-epidemic/

Kenneth Tolle Passes Away

    Kenneth Howard Tolle, passed away Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Topeka under the care of Elara Caring Hospice. He was 79. 
    Born December 30, 1940, in Topeka to E. Howard Tolle and Veda Lee (Burress) Tolle. He was a computer programmer. Ken is survived by son Dennis Tolle, Topeka, daughters Kim Fordham, St. Marys, KS, and Jodi Jordan, Lawrence, KS,  a sister Darlene Mastin, Stafford, KS, 5 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 2 nieces, a nephew, and many many cousins. 
    At his request Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys will handle his cremation and his remains will be laid to rest near his parents at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Grove, KS. A private family ceremony will be held at a later date.

Will The Polka Be The State Dance?

The lead article in a recent St. Marys Star  is about Doug Martinek of Rossville Moravan Hall’s attempt to get the Polka designated the state dance.  My lobbyist friends say there is an attempt by the Square Dance lobby to have the Square Dance designated as the state dance of Kansas.  Such was confirmed by the St. Marys Star.  The House bill was amended to have the Square Dance designated as the official state folk dance with the Polka designated as the official state ethnic dance.  RHS grad Senator Vic Miller is presenting the bill for the Polka to be the official state dance in the Kansas Senate.  With the changes in the House Bill the Senate will have to approve the House Bill.  If passed by the Senate the decision on official state dance will head to a conference committee for it to hammer out the differences.  The Governor will have to sign the bill into law.

 Dancers who like the Twist, the Watusi, swing dancing, line dancing and disco dancing will have to have their lobbyists attempt to derail this legislation.

Scott Hesse
RHS 1977

Ashley Rietcheck (17) Gets ESU Honors

Ashley Rietcheck in on the Emporia State University Honor Roll and School of Business Deans List.

2A Substate Basketball

First round of 2A Substate at Horton March 2, 2020

Boys         Jefferson North 43, Rossville 34

Rossville          10  7  7  15 — 39
Jefferson North  7  5 18 14 — 44

Rossville scoring: 

Morelli     4 (2)   0-0   10 
Reeves    1        1-1     3 
Badura     5 (2)   0-0   12 
Brown       4 (1)   0-0    9 
Garcia       2 (1)   0-0    5

Girls         Jefferson North 44, Rossville 39

Rossville              9 12  7   6 — 34
Jefferson North  10 14  8 11 — 43

Rossville scoring:
Streit            4 (2)   0-0   10 
Rabe            2        2-4     6 
Morelli          6 (2)   4-8   18

MEL Basketball Standings

Boys     ... League ... Overall

Rock Creek      ... 9-1 ... 19-1
Riley County   ... 9-1 ... 17-3
St. Marys         ... 5-5 ... 10-10
Wabaunsee     ... 3-7 ... 9-11
Rossville          ... 2-8 ... 4-16
Silver Lake      ... 2-8 ... 2-18

Girls        ... League ... Overall

Riley County ... 10-0 ... 20-0
Wabaunsee    ... 8-2   ... 17-3
Rock Creek    ... 5-5    ... 11-9
St. Marys       ... 5-5     ... 9-11
Silver Lake    ... 2-8   ... 10-10
Rossville        ... 0-10 ... 4-16

NE KS Wrestling Medalists

3A/2A/1A State Medalists from NE Kansas, 2020. 

113 lb 1st Place - Zach Archer of Rossville
113 lb 2nd Place - Connor Collins of Osage City
132 lb 2nd Place - Kai Allen of Silver Lake
132 lb 6th Place - Charles King of St. Marys
138 lb 4th Place - Layne Hurla of Rossville
152 lb 5th Place - Kaden Dillon of Sabetha
152 lb 6th Place - Grant Roush of Perry-LeCompton
160 lb 6th Place - Derek Wallin of Wabaunsee
220 lb 1st Place - Dane Whalen of Osage City
220 lb 2nd Place - Kody Davoren of Rossville
220 lb 5th Place - Hayden Robb of Perry-LeCompton
285 lb 5th Place - Nolan Parker of Eskridge-Mission Valley

CJ Article - Archer's 2nd State Win

https://www.cjonline.com/sports/20200229/rossvilles-archer-claims-second-straight-title

321A State Wrestling Results

Zach Archer (14-1) won the 113 lb class with a final win over Connor Collins of Osage City.
Lane Hurla (41-1) came in fourth losing to Beau of Wathena by a close 4-3 decision.
Kody Davoren came in second losing to Dane Whalen of Osage City by a narrow 6-5 decision.

The final Team Standings for the top 15 teams are below.

1		Norton Community	Norton Community, KS (GET)	NOCO	9	120.0
2		Hoxie	Hoxie, KS (GET)	HOXI	8	113.0
3		Belleville-Republic County	Belleville-Republic County, KS (GET)	RPCO	8	85.5
4		Beloit	Beloit, KS (GET)	BELO	8	75.0
5		Larned	Larned, KS (GET)	LARN	7	72.0
6		Rossville	Rossville, KS (GET)	ROSS	6	69.0
7		Hoisington	Hoisington, KS (GET)	HOIS	6	68.0
8		Osage City	Osage City, KS (GET)	OSCI	4	53.0
9		Wathena-Riverside	Wathena-Riverside, KS (GET)	WARI	5	52.0
10		Goodland	Goodland, KS (GET)	GOOD	3	51.0
11		Plainville	Plainville, KS (GET)	PLAI	4	50.0
12		Oakley	Oakley, KS (GET)	OAKL	4	48.0
12		Phillipsburg	Phillipsburg, KS (GET)	PHIL	4	48.0
14		Gypsum-SE Of Saline	Gypsum-Southeast of Saline, KS (GET)	SES	2	40.0
15		Ellsworth	Ellsworth, KS (GET)	ELLS	4	39.0
15		Mound City-Jayhawk Linn	Mound City-Jayhawk Linn, KS (GET)	MCJL	4	39.0

Zach Archer Ups Record to 40-1

Zach Archer breezed through his competition in the first three rounds on Friday, earning a pin and two major decisions to improve his record to 40-1.  He meets Osage City freshman Connor Collins for the 113 Championship on Sat.

Osage City freshman Connor Collins was one of the Cinderella stories on Friday, reaching the 113-pound finals.

Collins (29-7) claimed his spot in the final with a 4-1 decision win over Smith Center’s Bentley Montgomery.

“I came in unranked, and going to the finals is just crazy,” Collins said.

Davoren Ousts #1 Ranked Dunn

From the Capital-Journal:

HAYS — After missing out on family bragging rights a year ago, Rossville’s Kody Davoren is getting another shot to join older brother Kole as a state championship wrestler.

The younger Davoren knocked off No. 1-ranked Dillon Dunn on Friday to advance to the 220-pound finals in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament at Gross Memorial Coliseum. He will meet Osage City’s Dane Whalen on Saturday.

Kody Davoren is looking to follow in the footsteps of Kole, who was a state champion for Rossville in 2016.

“Last year, I was really hoping to win state to have bragging rights over him — win state twice when he only won it once,” Davoren said.

“He was a good wrestler. Really strong, and in good shape. He got a win, hopefully I can get a win, too.”

In the semifinal match with WaKeeney-Trego’s Dunn, Davoren credited his patience and cardio for enabling him to earn the 5-2 decision.

“At Rossville, we’re known for our shape,” Davoren said. “I knew he was a good wrestler. I saw that he was really good in the front-head position, so I didn’t want to take a shot super early when he’s got full strength. I waited and wore him down a little bit, waited until the second, third period, took him down, wore him out.”

Davoren (38-3) will look to cap off a standout career with a championship on Saturday.

“It’s incredible,” Davoren said. “I’ve been working four years. I started wrestling my freshman year with the goal of being a state champion.”

Whalen earned his spot into the finals with a 5-1 win over Norton’s Judson Wiltfong. The junior improved to 34-4 on the season.