Sports
Chanute JV evens mark at Columbus
After losing the first game by one point to Labette County, Chanute’s junior varsity football team moved to 1-1 on the season with a 6-0 shutout road win over rival Columbus on Monday. “The defense was stellar on Monday and Coach Mike Martin and I were proud of the boys’ performance,” Coach Clete Frazell said. According to Frazell, Abron Weaver, Trey Ellis, AJ LaRocca, Nick Pryor, Trey Huston, and Karter Krokstrom all stood out on defense. Th...
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For whom Brandon Bell tolls
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Runningback Brandon Bell was perhaps the person most affected by the shakeup of the Chanute Blue Comets football team caused by star runningback Jared McComb’s abrupt departure to Texas. The ensuing moves thrust Bell into the position of being at the center of many of the offensive plans. “Him leaving, that was a big loss, but we all try not to dwell on it,” Bell said. “There are always 11 players on the field at ...
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Road to perfection ends at Paola
Brian McDowell Sports Editor PAOLA — The unbeaten streak of Chanute’s volleyball team ended with an epic three-game match-up with the Paola Panthers on Tuesday. The Comets dominated the early portion of their appearance at the tournament held in front of a raucous crowd of Paola students. Chanute beat their SEK rivals Pittsburg in two games 25-20 and 25-17, and then, won their first close knit match-up with the tough Panthers squad 25-22. How...
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Chanute cross country dominates at Iola
Brian McDowell Sports Editor IOLA — Both the boys and girls cross country teams from Chanute won their meets in Iola on Tuesday. The boys team has won this meet multiple years in a row. Senior Trevor Summers came in third place in the boys race with a time of 17.57. Connor Lair came in right behind Summers, in 4th place with a 18:15, and Jefferson Holmes finished in 6th. Colton Fiene and Chandler Summers also wound up finishing in the top 10,...
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Setters vital to CHS volleyball success
Brian McDowell Sports Editor When a volleyball is sailing over a net, the awaiting team has to hit it three times or less with the ball staying inbounds and without it touching the ground — their seemingly simple objective of sending it back over the net. The second one of these hits is delivered by the setter, a highly specialized position. In doing their job, the setter doesn’t actually score points for the volleyball team. They put a hitte...
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Comets claim Erie tournament crown
Brian McDowell Sports Editor ERIE — Katie Martin, the primary setter for the undefeated Chanute volleyball team, celebrated her 15th birthday by helping to serve up a resounding victory for the Comets at a tournament in Erie. Not only did Martin have 67 set assists during the event on Saturday, Sept. 17. She also served the ball 51 times with no service errors. This win occurred even though two of the best players for the team were absent fro...
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St. Paul rolls over Burlingame
ST. PAUL — After a slow start, St. Paul put up 20 second quarter points en route to a 48-0 shutout over visiting Burlingame. “We came out slow,” said Coach Doug Tuck, lamenting critical holding calls on offense and third down lapses on defense. “But we kept them out of the end zone.” With the defense getting the ball back for the offense, the Indians took advantage by cleaning up mistakes. “The offense did a good job of opening holes and the ...
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Chanute delivers 41-7 rout of Titans
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Before his team’s Friday night home game against the Columbus Titans, football coach Don Simmons predicted that the Blue Comets would deliver a balanced attack on offense and a hard hitting defense. Chanute certainly lived up to this billing in the contest, scoring on both runs, passes and an interception, and delivering a 41-7 rout of their SEK rivals on a cold, drizzly night at the sports complex. The scoring st...
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Chanute native wins MMA belt
Brian McDowell Sports Editor By day, Chanute native Cale Petersen is an unassuming student of history and anthropology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. At night, he beats people up. Petersen currently holds the amateur featherweight 1Zero8 title in mixed martial arts, a full contact sport that combines kickboxing with wrestling-style grappling. The basis for Ultimate Fighting, it is rapidly gaining in worldwide popularity. Petersen wre...
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Chanute excited about first home game
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Don Simmons estimated that during his eight-year tenure as the coach of Chanute’s football team, the Comets have won 90 percent of their home games. Simmons said he suspects that this is because the team doesn’t have to go on a long bus ride to get to these games, other teams aren’t used to playing on the kind of turf that carpets Chanute’s football field, and because of the loud encouragement offered by local foot...
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Comet frosh win in overtime
After being down by 8-0 at halftime, Chanute’s freshman football team came back to beat the Labette County Grizzlies 14-8 in a home game on Monday. The Comets scored first on a 36-yard sweep pass from Ethin Van Anne to Derrick Sharp for a fourth quarter touchdown. Then, Colton Erickson threw a short pass to Dakota Gough for a successful two-point conversion, which tied the game at eight. In overtime, Erickson threw a pass to Van Anne for a t...
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CHS adds Eureka, Fredonia to ‘W’ list
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Chanute volleyball team extended its season-long unbeaten streak in victories against both Eureka and Fredonia at a tournament in the Comets’ home gym on Tuesday evening. Chanute beat Eureka handily in the first game 25-12. “We knew they would be good,” coach Gail Petersen said, “and I told the girls beforehand I wanted Eureka to go home wondering what had happened and I think they were wondering, especially a...
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Sam Son makes the most of offensive opportunity
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Sam Son has heard plenty of jokes about his name, but he said that, overall, he is very comfortable with his unique moniker. “It just makes me easy to remember,” Son said. He has been one of the Chanute Blue Comets’ primarily outside linebacker since his sophomore year. When the team’s star runningback Jared McComb moved to Texas with no notice in what would have been the beginning of his senior year, Son saw an o...
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Chanute volleyball remains undefeated
Brian McDowell Sports Editor At one point in the Chanute volleyball team’s second match up in Labette County on Thursday, the Comets were behind 10-19, but the Comets turned it around against the nemesis Grizzlies. The team came out strong against the Grizzlies in the first game, according to Coach Gail Petersen, moving the ball well and keeping a tempo. “They were having a hard time getting the ball through us and down,” Petersen said. Howev...
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Rocket defense carries teams to wins in season opener
The Royster Rocket football teams kicked off their seasons against Labette County with a couple of home victories Thursday night. The seventh grade first quarter got off to a slow start after two Labette three-and-out possessions, another Grizzly fumble and two Royster fumbles. Things picked up in the second quarter for the home team. The Rockets picked up a first down on a sweep by Dalton Denny and then scored on a counter with five minute...
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Ramos wins three matches, boosts Chanute to third
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Three winning matches by Czarina Ramos gave a boost to the Chanute girls tennis team at a tournament in Independence on Thursday. The team was only one point behind second place winner Fort Scott, as it picked up third place in the tournament that was won by its host school. Ramos beat Pittsburg’s Megan Reed 8-6, Fort Scott’s Courtney Crain 8-5, and Iola’s Katana Smith 8-2, before falling to Abbi Groff, from Indep...
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Chanute survives early scare to win 27-13 at Labette
Brian McDowell Sports Editor ALTAMONT — “I guess an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.” This is the eloquent way that Chanute football coach Don Simmons summed up his team’s 27-13 victory over the Labette County Grizzlies on Friday night. The Blue Comets missed some opportunities in the red zone, but still came away with a hard-earned road win. The Blue Comets had some fear put into them early in the game when Labette Co unty senior Hunt...
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Chanute freshmen volleyball serving up good season
The Chanute freshmen volleyball team is serving up a successful season. At the first Quad on August 30, CHS won against Labette County (25-17, 25-11), Parsons (25-10, 25-14), and Iola (25-7, 25-19). Their season opened at Iola with strong defensive start. “The girls moved to their positions and communicated well,” coach Tracy Walker said. “They have a long way to go, but played well as a team”. Serving 25 points and 3 aces was Bailey Herzber...
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Running offers NCCC’s Rosario a second chance
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Leslie Rosario feels like running cross country and track for Neosho County Community College is giving her a second chance. In her sophomore year of high school, Rosario was one of the top distance runners in her native Florida. She was attracting the attention of several Division One schools. Then, before her junior year, she got pregnant, had a baby, and didn’t run for her last two years of high school. She sti...
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NCCC men’s soccer earns first win in Oklahoma
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The NCCC men’s soccer team came away with its first victory of the season Wednesday, winning on the road at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 5-1. Coach Steve Harrison characterized the effort as ”a very good game.” Freshman Michael Campbell, who is originally from the UK, scored two goals in the contest. Kevin Eames, Brett Havel and Jorge Rodriguez also scored in the win. Injuries have plagued the Panthers so far this se...
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