Jordan Dempsey always hovers above the coaches seats next to the wrestling mats at tournaments, never sitting down. She screams until her voice is gone, usually needing two days for it to come back. Dempsey’s coaching style is reminiscent of her wrestling, and also of the fiery spirit of her former coach and current boss, Carl Springer. In a short amount of time, Dempsey has become a beating heart for the ...
A little over a year ago, Gavin McIntosh had never dove competitively before. Now, he’s qualified for state after his first meet of the season. McIntosh, a sophomore at Free State, had always been around the sport of diving to some extent. His dad, Randy, dove in high school and was a two-time state placer in Kansas. He introduced the sport to his son, whose interest grew as he watched more and more videos of ...
Axl and Landon Bland moved to Lawrence in October, just a month before the start of the boys basketball season, leaving the two without much time to get acclimated. It’s been a challenge to learn the players on the Lawrence High team and to learn the system and the actions. Luckily, the two have each other and their dad, Tony Bland, who joined the Kansas men’s basketball coaching staff in ...
It’s been four years since Goldy Stephens first stepped on a wrestling mat at Lawrence, joining the team in its inaugural year. Stephens came in without much of a wrestling background, but she did come in with a few goals in mind. On Friday, Stephens hit one of the biggest ones — winning 100 matches at Lawrence. “It’s a numerical value to all the hard work I put in,” Stephens said. “I finally ...
Free State boys wrestling finished its fall semester by winning the Scott Bacon Classic at Blue Valley High School on Friday and Saturday. The Firebirds accrued 386.0 points, beating the runner-up Blue Valley Southwest by 2.5 points. The win gave the Firebirds their fourth in as many years at the tournament. Two Firebirds reached the championship match of their weight class, as Brogan Hagen won the 144-pound ...
Kansas City, Mo. — The Lawrence and Tonganoxie girls wrestling teams faced some of the top competition in the region at the KC Stampede girls wrestling tournament on Thursday and Friday. The tournament brought tough competition, including several placers and winners at the Fargo Women’s Nationals, which is one of the top interstate wrestling tournaments. “Our only girls that didn’t win a match here ...