Shrine Bowl rosters released last week

The East and West rosters for the 2009 Kansas Shrine Bowl game were released last week, and seven area football players landed on the East roster.

Free State and Perry-Lecompton, squads that represented the eastern side of Kansas in their respective state title games, led the way with two players apiece.

Free State running back Chucky Hunter and lineman Grahm Saunders will represent the Firebirds, while quarterback Shane Gimzo and tight end Joel Gantz will represent the Kaws.

Joining those four on the East roster are: Mike Sprowl, De Soto High; David Tuley, Baldwin High; and Nicholas Woods, Mill Valley High.

In addition to those area players, the Sunflower League had seven additional players make the roster. They are: Darion Hillman, SM Northwest; Justin Scott, SM West; Doug Peete and Bryan Shepherd, Olathe North; Tanner Miracle, Olathe South; and Jake Woten and Dehran Williams, of Olathe East.

All-state honorees

Michael Lisher, Free State’s junior center, was a consensus All-Class 6A pick of both the Topeka Capital-Journal and the Wichita Eagle. Also on the Topeka newspaper’s All-6A first team was senior tailback Hunter.

Meanwhile, the Wichita paper named junior quarterback Camren Torneden to its third all-classification team and Perry-Lecompton quarterback Gimzo was among the Capital-Journal’s Top 11.

In addition, Saunders, Hunter and Preston Randolph also were named to the Kansas Football Coaches Association all-state team.

Recruiting watch

Lawrence High senior basketball player Dorian Green is one of the hottest basketball commodities the city has seen in several years.

The interest Green has received so far seems to back that up.

Throughout the past several months Green has heard from countless schools interested in his services for next season. Among the most intriguing are Division I schools Colorado State, which sent a coach to watch Green score 26 in a win against Free State, Oral Roberts, which had a scout in the stands last Friday at Olathe South, and Wagner College, which Green visited in 2008.

Endurance and intelligence

The following area cross country runners recently were named to the 2008 Academic All-State cross country team.

Class 4A: Calleigh Durr and Connor Twombly, of Baldwin High, and Katie Hirsch, of Perry-Lecompton High and Austin Hinchey, of De Soto High.

Class 6A: Morgan Flannigan and Kyra Kilwein, of Free State High, along with Stephanie Stuever and Roy Wedge, of Lawrence High.

In order to qualify for the team, which is open to juniors and seniors only, the athletes had to have a grade-point average of 3.75 or higher and had to place in the Top 30 of this year’s state meet.

Athletes were nominated by their coaches in November.

Cards take third

The Eudora High wrestling team took third place at last week’s Bonner Springs Invitational tournament.

Junior Dalton Hladky took first-place in the 135-pound weight class, Boomer Mays (215) and Caleb Clayton-Molby (189) both made it to the finals in their respective weight classes and each took second-place and junior Thomas McLees finished in third at 119.

Cody Salzman took third-place at 112, Ethan Becker took fourth at 160 and Jackson Wiley took fourth at 125.

Four Chieftains place

Four members of the Tonganoxie High wrestling team brought home medals from last weekend’s Bobcat Classic at Basehor-Linwood High.

As a team, THS placed 14th, thanks to a fourth-place finish from 140-pound senior Matt Brock, sixth-place finishes from 189-pound senior Steve Davis and 171-pound junior Jeremie Maus and an eighth-place finish from 160-pound junior Jeremy Elliott.

Game of the Week

Tune in to Channel 6 at 10:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday for the HyVee High School Game of the Week.

This week’s featured game pits the Free State High girls basketball team (5-4) against Olathe South (7-2).