Sports
View from the Sports Desk: Charles should work on his own pedigree
After last Sunday’s loss to the Broncos on Sunday, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles was spotted stopping Denver quarterback Peyton Manning in the parking lot and asking for his autograph.¬†For a player in the National Football League to ask Manning for his autograph an hour after losing to Manning’s team is the height of amateurism. ¬† Manning is certainly worthy of admiration. He is one of the top three quarterbacks of my lifet...
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Chanute wrestling aims to surpass State success this season
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Last year, the wrestling team at CHS sent eight wrestlers to State, and saw one of its athletes, Sam Son, win a state title. Head coach Andy Albright knows that last year went well for the squad, and it makes him excited for Chanute’s prospects this year. “We paid the price this summer,” Albright said. “We had our own home camp and a lot of kids showed up.” He also took 10 Chanute wrestlers to a camp at Big 12 wre...
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Royster 7th launches fourth quarter comeback in Pittsburg
The Royster 7th grade girls A team improved its record to 5-5 with a win in Pittsburg on Tuesday. The Rockets team had previously lost two close games to the tough Pittsburg squad, but got revenge by beating them 20-19 on its home court. This was accomplished with offensive help from Keeley Tallent and Madisyn Thompson, who each had six points. Kaitlyn Newton and Jayci Vietti each contributed four points to the effort. “My girls really st...
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Improved Lady Jets inspiring coach’s optimism
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Heading into this season Altoona-Midway girls basketball coach Kynda Faythe is more optimistic about her team than she was last year. Last year, the Lady Jets’ roster only included seven players, and only three who could show up to practice on a consistent basis. This year’s Lady Jets will have 12 players, enough to allow Faythe to create a JV and a varsity squadl. Only two or three of these players are completely...
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St. Paul girls aim to improve offensive efficiency
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Helming a young team with no seniors last year, St. Paul girls basketball coach Doug Tuck still managed to guide the Indians to a 12-9 record. “We won a lot of games ugly and we lost a lot of games ugly,” Tuck said. “Our girls didn’t give up. We tried to work last year on fundamentals and understanding the game.” Last year, Lady Indians players had some trouble understanding what to do in certain situations. “We’...
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New coach ‘pleasantly surprised’ by talent of Jets boys
Brian McDowell Sports Editor New Altoona-Midway boys basketball coach Ryan Cummins arrived at the school with low expectations. However, after practicing with the Jets for the last couple of weeks, Cummins said that he is pleasantly surprised by the abundance of athletic talent in the small community. “It’s just really surprising to have so much talent packed in such a small area,” Cummins said, “because you figure most of these kids would en...
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Chanute wrestling falls in first dual tiebreaker
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FREDONIA — A loss early in the season can sometimes be the best motivation for a team that is hungry to succeed. That is how Chanute wrestling coach Andy Albright is hoping that the Comets will react to the heartbreakingly narrow 34-33 loss that the team experienced in its first dual meet in Fredonia on Tuesday night. The two squads were tied at 33 when action between the two teams ended. Each team had three fall...
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New coach, new league, new season for Erie boys
Brian McDowell Sports Editor For the last three weeks, Erie boys basketball players have been working hard in practice, under the watchful eye of their new coach, Nick Pfeifer. He is pushing the Red Devils extra hard this year, as they prepare to play their first season in the Tri-Valley League. “We need to be able to compete with everybody in our league,” Pfeifer said, “and it is going to be a new league, and we do have a new coaching staff ...
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Erie girls aiming to be competitive in Tri-Valley
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Erie girls basketball coach Brianna Volmer hopes that the success that she achieved helming the school’s volleyball team this year can carry over onto the basketball court. Most of the impactful volleyball players are part of this squad. “They know my expectations, and they know how hard we have to work to attain those goals,” Volmer said, “and they know how hard we had to work in volleyball to get those goals, a...
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Royster wrestlers win medals at Labette
The Royster wrestling team competed at the Labette Community College tournament on Tuesday, an event at which no team scores were kept. Several Royster wrestlers won medals, including Jack Richard, Matt DeVoe, Braden Robinson, Huntyr Schwegman, Gage Matlock, Zack Dean, Trystan Pringle, Gage Leedy, Brodey Silcox, Logan Cook, Jake Fiscus, Preston Bogle and Dawson Taylor. The final event for the Royster wrestling team will be at home today, as t...
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New coach aims to make St. Paul boys competitive
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Keith Wiatrak watched the St. Paul Indians boys basketball team last year as its assistant coach. St. Paul got off to a 1-6 start, and racked up a few injuries before Christmas. The Indians turned things around somewhat late in the season, improving the record to 9-13. Now, as he takes over the team’s head coaching position for the first time, Wiatrak wants the Indians to be competitive right away. “We had a long...
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Senior leadership and defense to carry Chanute boys
Brian McDowell Sports Editor There is an old basketball maxim that says ‘If you can’t talk it, you can’t guard it.’ So far, the wisdom of this advice has given confidence to Chanute boys basketball coach Max Ruark, who praised the way this year’s Comets squad has talked while working on defense on the court during its first two weeks of practice. “There were a lot of times last year when we were pretty quiet on the floor,” Ruark said, “and th...
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Eighth grade basketball steps up in Parsons
The Royster 8th grade girls A team had to juggle its lineup due to injury and illness this week, and lost a match-up with Iola 28-6. Coach Steve Slane said this game was ‘not pretty.” However, the coach said he was really proud of the girls at their next match-up, on Monday afternoon in Parsons. “We stayed in the game until the last few minutes and some girls really stepped up,” Slane said. In the Parsons A game, Royster came back within 5...
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Seventh grade A team 2nd at Iola tourney
The 7th grade girls basketball team from Royster traveled to Iola on Saturday to play in the Pony Stampede tournament. The 7th Grade A team took 2nd place at the event, and the B team took 3rd place. In their first game, the Rockets A team defeated Iola 20-14, assisted greatly by 10 points scored by Kaitlyn Newton. Madisyn Thompson contributed five points to the effort, while Keeley Tallent had three and Carlie Almond ended up with two. Th...
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View from the sports desk: Things to be thanful for
It is almost Turkey Day, so I’m sure we are all anxiously anticipating spending a whole evening with our relatives. Thanksgiving is traditionally set up to give Americans the chance to say thanks for the occasional joy that sneaks into our lives. So, I thought I would use this occasion to make a list of things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for the exciting fall sports season that we experienced in this community. All Chanute fall spor...
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Lady Panthers’ improvement continues in victory over Penn Valley
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The NCCC Lady Panthers basketball team still has a lot to learn, but has made some big strides since starting the season two weeks ago. That is what Coach Kelley Newton said after a 69-64 home victory over Penn Valley on Saturday afternoon brought his NCCC Lady Panthers’ record to 3-3. This marks the first time a Newton-helmed NCCC women’s squad has ever been at .500 or better this late in the season. “We’ll take...
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CCA boys gearing up for season
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Chanute Christian Academy boys basketball coach Dave Yarnell is expecting the Warriors to have a “pretty good year.” CCA finished with a 9-7 record last year and ended up earning second place at State. Yarnell brings back a lot of experience from that squad. “Our guards really stepped it up last year,” Yarnell said, “and I expect that to really, pretty much, be most of our team.” The Warriors are changing offenses...
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Victory over Tabor demonstrates Lady Panthers’ continuing improvement
Brian McDowell Sports Editor For the last couple of seasons, the NCCC women’s basketball squad struggled offensively, averaging about 45 points a game. However, this year, so far, the team is putting up an average of 60 points a game. “The way we play defense, you can win games scoring 60 points,” Coach Kelley Newton said, “so, that is refreshing. That is good. We definitely need to make more shots, because we get some really good looks, and...
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CCA girls ready to compete this year
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The players on the Chanute Christian Academy girls basketball teams are older and more mature than they were during their struggles last season. This gives head coach Mark Childers hope that the Warriors’ games can be more competitive than some of last year’s contests. “We didn’t win any games last year,” Childers said. “I’m just looking to get better each game, and have my girls get better.” He has already note...
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Flowers sisters and three other Comets selected All-SEK
Chanute sisters Mallory and Macy Flowers were both selected as first team all-SEK volleyball players, in rosters that were released on Thursday morning. Mallory, a senior, and Macy, a 6-3 sophomore, both shined in front of the net for the Comets this season. Both siblings were unanimously picked as first team selections by coaches in the conference. Senior Libero Brenna Olson and junior setter Katie Martin were picked for the second team, an...
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