Lady Trojans, seniors finish with winning season

The Park Hill Lady Trojans approached last week’s district tournament as if it were a new season, a fresh start, and in the process hoped to find some of the flare displayed at the beginning of the season, which included a 5-0 start and Fort Osage Tournament championship. They were able to find that stride in the opening round with a victory against Park Hill South, but couldn’t capitalize against host school, St. Joe Central, in the semifinals as they fell to the Indians to conclude the Trojans’ first winning season in the last several years.

Playing against rival Park Hill South for the third time in three weeks, the No. 3 seeded Trojans jumped on the No. 6 seeded Panthers early and never looked back expanding a 27-19 halftime lead to a final of 57-35. The victory gave the Trojans the season series 2-1 behind Katy Plummer’s 14 points and Kyleesha Weston’s 12 points.

The Trojans knew they would have their hands full against St. Joe Central in the semifinals, but there were encouraging signs in the opening quarter as Spenser Rhodus sank a three-pointer putting Park Hill up 7-5 going into the second. Central, known to be able to put a high level of points on the board, came alive as they hit some key threes and took a 20-13 lead into halftime.

Going up against a high powered offense, the Trojans knew they had to be physical in order to keep the Indians away from the basket even if that meant committing a high level of fouls.

“We needed to muddy up the game a little bit, but it was physical both ways,” Rockers said.

Although held to just 41 points, it was enough for the Indians to advance to the championship game as they defeated the Trojans 41-29. In an area Park Hill had focused on throughout the year, the Trojans weren’t able to muster enough offense to compliment their defense as many of the quality shots they took just didn’t fall.

“We wanted to make sure we came out and competed and I think we really did that,” Rockers said of his team’s effort. “We just couldn’t buy a basket.”

A frustrating night wasn’t the way the Lady Trojans had hoped to finish their season, but Rockers talked about how proud he was of what his seniors had accomplished including a winning season, their first as a group, at 16-11.

“I congratulated them on a great year. That group of seniors did just awesome. Thrown into the fire as sophomores, they’ve gotten better each year and it’s shown. A big thank you to them for what they’ve done,” Rockers said.

Trojans fall in district play after successful regular season

It comes around every year and you’re almost sure to hear it in some form or another. “Anything can happen in districts.” That simple phrase can mean a wide range of things, positive or negative. Unfortunately, for the Park Hill Trojans, this year it wasn’t used in the way they had hoped.

After attaining a 19-6 record in the regular season, going undefeated on the way to their first conference championship in eight years, and grabbing a first round bye in the district tournament, the Trojans were eyeing an opportunity at a district championship to add to their resume. It was an opportunity that wouldn’t come to fruition as they were upset in their first district game by Oak Park 47-45.

Coming into the season, Oak Park was described as young and inexperienced. It showed the first time they played the Trojans back in December as they were handedly defeated 56-34. But by the time the conference rematch came around just three weeks ago, the Northmen were a different team. Although Park Hill defeated Oak Park on their home court 51-48, the victory seemed unsatisfying to the Trojans at the time.

A talented and athletic Park Hill team was favored coming into the semifinal game last Wednesday, but Oak Park forced Park Hill to play their style early by holding the Trojans to just seven points in the first quarter. Park Hill was able to narrow their deficit to 20-19 at halftime, but Coach David Garrison’s team struggled to get into a rhythm offensively in addition to having an uncharacteristic poor shooting night (31% from the floor). Justin Leathers led the team in scoring with 18 and Chris Nsenki followed with 12 points, both below their season averages.

“Oak Park did a good job of controlling the tempo, and we had a hard time getting our shots to fall,” Garrison said.

The Trojans tried to stage a comeback in the fourth quarter, but outscoring the Northmen by three in the final quarter wasn’t enough as Oak Park, not Park Hill, advanced to the district title game.

“The game Wednesday was very similar to our game against them at the beginning of February, only we couldn’t get the win this time,” Garrison said. “Anytime you play a conference opponent three times, it is going to be difficult.”

Although the loss is plenty of motivation for a team that returns a significant amount of experience next year including four starters, this year’s seniors provided a foundation for what Garrison hopes is continued success.

“After the game I let them know how proud I was of how they handled all the adversity this season. They took the program forward, and that is something they can take pride in. Their commitment and leadership was outstanding,” Garrison said of his seniors.

Outstanding by not standing out at all

As I watched from the floor of Mizzou Arena the performances turned in by the Park Hill wrestlers last Saturday on the way to their second straight state title and talked to Coach Bill Erneste along with some of his senior leaders, I tried to think of an appropriate way to describe this year’s state champion. It wasn’t the ten state qualifiers coming out of districts or the seven who wrestled for first place. It wasn’t the pure dominance or technique they displayed in each and every match, although it was quite a display. After a while, the thing that stood out the most is that they didn’t stand out.

While you saw an occasional wrestler jump up and down or pump their fist in the air, you noticed every Park Hill wrestler, win or loss, shake their opponent’s hand and jog right off the mat. Erneste said you have to handle winning the same way you do losing and by taking the emotions out of the match then you know it will come down to game plan and hard work. This mentality brings out what seems like a rare quality in successful people, humility. While the Park Hill team has more to celebrate about than anybody in the state, they’re taking it in stride. It’s something that’s been instilled in them over time and is sure to help them accomplish their short-term goals on the mat, but also those outside the walls of any gym.

As senior Kaleb Friendley mentioned, these guys have been wrestling in the Park Hill youth program and going to school together since around fifth grade. They’ve grown up together and Park Hill wrestling is like a second family to them. It’s that sense of family which leads teammates to talk so highly of each other. John Eblen talked about how there are so many individuals that can do so much while Alan Waters mentioned the depth of the lineup and knowing they’d be able to get it done every tournament. Kaleb Friedley added that even though they have differently personalities they all meshed just the same.

The development and hard work has paid off for the four seniors who competed in championship matches Saturday. Waters and Eblen will wrestle at the University of Missouri next year, Friedley at Northwestern University, and Haden Bock at West Point, the nation’s top military academy.

So with state title trophy accounted for and a humble view of such an impressive accomplishment, the Trojans continue to look forward.
As Erneste said, “I like it when our guys go out and do a workmanlike performance, shake everyone’s hand like gentlemen and run off to the next obstacle.”

I’d say they’ve earned a well-deserved week off first though.

Waters makes his mark on history

If you’re not familiar with the sport of wrestling you could have missed a significant piece of history that took place last Saturday at the Missouri High School Wrestling Championships. After already securing a team title, senior Alan Waters jogged to the mat in preparation of his 125-pound state title match against Seckman’s Denny Kleinschrodt. But what astute observers in the arena would have realized is that this wasn’t going to be any regular wrestling match. Waters, a three-time state champion, wasn’t just wrestling this evening for his fourth consecutive individual state championship, but for the right to become a part of a wrestling fraternity reserved for those few who have accomplished the significant accomplishment. He’d become one of only 19 wrestlers since Vernon Whitney of Normandy won his fourth individual championship back in 1952.

The moment came in a flash, literally. Not too soon after the referee blow his whistle, Waters aggressively went after his opponent, took him to the ground and in a workmanlike fashion pinned Kleinschrodt in only a minute and four seconds. It took that small time frame to complete what had been a goal Waters set four years ago. Even with the success of achieving such a sought-after goal, the small amount of emotion displayed by Waters came when the referee lifted his hand in victory with what could be described as relief and satisfaction. As quickly as he jogged on, he jogged off, a Missouri four-time wrestling champion.

“I think Alan wanted it over. He wanted to get through the hype and finish out his career,” coach Bill Erneste said of Waters’ final match.

Waters, a standout on what is an impressive Trojan wrestling squad, finished his season at 47-0 and is described by his coach as calm and mild-mannered.

“You won’t see him real vocal and you’ll never see him real quiet,” Erneste said of Waters’ demeanor. “The way you saw him react after he won his fourth title, it was business-like.”

Waters thought the way he handled the victory was just as champion-like as the performance he put forward.

“After you win act like it’s any other match, don’t celebrate it,” Waters said of his approach to winning. “People that do backflips and everything act like they expected to lose. When you win, shake hands and walk off the mat.”

His fourth state title isn’t the end of his wrestling career as he’ll be attending the University of Missouri next year alongside teammate John Eblen as they look towards setting their sights on higher goals.

“I’m ready to move up to college, it’s a whole new level,” Waters said. “It’s close to home and I’ve got friends and family around.”

“The four championships were just a step towards being an All-American at MU and becoming a national champ,” Erneste said of the confidence he has for his top wrestler’s future success.

Park Hill Wrestlers bring home second straight state championship

After racking up 172.5 points in the first two days of the Missouri State Wrestling Championships in Columbia, Missouri last weekend, the Park Hill Trojans were well on their way to winning their second consecutive state title, but for eight of the ten wrestlers who qualified for the tournament, Saturday was about accomplishing goals they had set 365 days ago when they left Mizzou Arena with the 2009 Class 4 first place trophy. By day’s end, Park Hill had accumulated 202.5 team points, five state champions, two runners-up, and a third-place medal winner.

With seven wrestlers in the title match later in the evening, Preston Crouse (140) was able to secure third place with his victory over Lindbergh’s Michael Slyman by a score of 2-0. The win was the start of a successful day for Park Hill and coach Bill Erneste who says Crouse is a die-hard wrestler.

“Preston looks at wrestling like its fun, like its playing ball when you’re a little kid,” Erneste said. “I’ve never seen the guy sad or upset about anything. He realizes wrestling is a part of his life, but that it’s not his life.”

The championship matches for the Trojans began with a strong performance from John Eblen (189), who suffered a souring 1-0 lose in last year’s title match. Eblen left no doubt this time with a convincing 8-1 decision over Jared Johnson of Jefferson City.

“He thought about it every single day and all of his training and everything he did during the year was gearing for this,” Erneste said. “He had to wait 365 days to make up for that performance. He is truly a state champion.”

“It motivated me to be the best I could be,” said Eblen, who will be wrestling at the University of Missouri next year. “I wanted to show I could make a statement not just by a little bit, but by far.”

At 215, Haden Bock wasn’t able to overcome an early deficit in his title match as he took home a second consecutive second-place finish after falling to Holt’s Andrew Lazalier 11-4. Despite the loss, Bock has only good things to look forward to in the future.

“That’s one of the neat things about Haden, he’s going to West Point,” Erneste said. “Maybe he’s looking at being an All-American in college; he has bigger and better things down the road. The number one thing about Haden Bock is he’s always going to be successful.

The Trojans started a streak of three consecutive state title victories at the 112, 119, and 125 weight classes when Bricker Dixon won his first state title after finishing second the two previous years when he defeated Francis Howell’s Sean O’Leary 11-2. The junior won every match in the tournament by eight points or more.

“It was a workmanlike performance and I know he’s feeling pretty good about it, but I know on the way home he’s thinking about next year already,” Erneste said.

Skylar Wood (119) competed in one of the tournament’s most competitive matches as he went to four overtimes against Francis Howell Central’s John Wood before preventing an escape by holding on at the end of the fourth period to clinch the 2-1 victory.

“He’s got a heart the size of Texas,” Erneste said of Wood. “I knew the longer that match went it was going to come down to his heart and when that happens I’ll take him over anybody.”

The 130-pound title match featured three-time state champion Alan Waters attempting to add a fourth state title to his name against Seckman’s Denny Kleinschrodt. It didn’t take long as Waters pinned his opponent after an impressive 1:04 had passed in the first period. Waters is now only one of 19 wrestlers to win four state titles in the history of Missouri high school wrestling.

Freshman Russ Coleman (130) was given a loud ovation as he came into the title match as an underdog against defending champion Terrel Wilbourn of Francis Howell Central. Although competitive early, Coleman fell behind before eventually losing 14-6.

“He didn’t care and he expected to win,” Erneste said of Coleman’s odds. “If you saw the disappointment on his face, he came to Columbia to be a state champion.

Kaleb Friedley (145) won a state title two years ago, but the Trojans didn’t place first as a team. Then, last year he placed third while the Trojans won first. So Friedley was hoping to be on the right side of both titles as he won a tough match against Holt’s Greg Amos 1-0 for his second state title.

“It was kind of bittersweet,” Friedley said of his previous state tournaments. “It’s the best of both worlds now.”

Thus, concluded a dominate Park Hill wrestling season as they displaying near-perfection on their way to their second consecutive state title, fifth in eight years, with six individual champions.

“It’s special, every state championship team has something unique about it,” Erneste said. “I don’t think we’ve ever scored over 165 points in a state championship before.

Trojans Wrestlers dominate districts, set their sights on state championship

The culture of wrestling is unlike any other sport and where a team’s outcome relies heavily on individual performances, the team mentality can be as strong as any. Shortly after Park Hill Wrestling coach Bill Erneste’s team completed a highly successful district tournament which included eight first place finishes and ten qualifiers for the state tournament next weekend, it wasn’t those who would be competing for state titles on his mind, but those that wouldn’t.

“My number one thing is we left two seniors, Corey Sterling and Ryan Sutten,” Erneste said. “These two men are very special to me. I feel sorry for those two seniors because this is their last year and they’ve worked as hard as everyone else.”

They didn’t qualify all 14 wrestlers, but Park Hill was very pleased with their district performance of 250.5 team points, 98.5 points in front of runner-up Lee’s Summit. They’ll now look to the state wrestling tournament this weekend at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri where they hope to bring home their second consecutive Class Four team championship. The ten wrestlers going on to compete in the tournament is more than last year’s nine qualifiers and is tied for second this year with Lafayette. Francis Howell Central’s 11 qualifiers lead the field.

After Paxton DiBlasi took third at 103, the Trojans won four consecutive first place matches in the 112, 119, 125, and 130 weight classes. Bricker Dixon at 112 improved to 42-0 and sported a spirited buzz cut with the Park Hill logo trimmed on the side. After suffering his first loss of the year last week, Skylar Wood at 119 came back strong to finish ahead of the wrestler who dealt him his sole defeat and Alan Waters at 125 continued his pursuit of perfection to go 43-0 as he looks to be become part of a handful of wrestlers in state history to win four state championships.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing highlights of the weekend was in the 130 championship match between PH’s Russ Coleman and Lee’s Summit’s top-seeded Spencer Courier. Coleman, a freshman who just recently earned his varsity roster spot, was down 2-1 with under a minute to go before mounting a series of moves leading to a pin and bringing a Park Hill crowd to its feet with a standing ovation.

“He truly believes, never made an excuse and just battled,” said Erneste. “Russ Coleman is only a freshman by grade. He doesn’t say he’s hurt or walk away, he just keeps coming back at them.”

Preston Crouse (140), Kaleb Friedley (145), John Eblen (189), and Hayden Bock (215) earned district title medals after their victories while Nolan Smith took third at heavyweight.

“We’re going to train like we always do,” Erneste said of state preparations. “Our main key is to focus on the things we can control and make sure it’s done right.”

They’ve been favored since the beginning to take home the title, but the Trojans aren’t naïve about the competition they’ll be facing. Francis Howell Central and Blue Springs, along with familiar district teams like Lee’s Summit and Liberty are all vying to bring home hardware.

“Everyone keeps telling us we’re the front-runner and we like to know we’re the front-runner, but we’re battling and we know anything can happen. There are a lot of people that go to Columbia to win a state championship,” Erneste said. “We just want it to be us.”

Park Hill hopes to win rematch of season's first game, this time for district title

After having beat every team in their district except for Liberty (16-5), it was expected the Park Hill Trojans (17-6) would be seeded below them as the two seed in the upcoming Class Five, District 16 Boys Tournament, but high school basketball fans from around the area will be highly anticipating what could be a Liberty/Park Hill district championship game. It was way back on December 1st, both teams’ first games of the season, when Park Hill nearly pulled out the upset at Liberty before falling 73-68. Since then, it’s easy to say the Trojans have been looking forward to a rematch. But both teams will have to do their part in winning their district semifinal games before any rematch can take place.

With the top two seeds receiving first round byes, the Trojans will wait for the winner of third ranked Oak Park and sixth ranked St. Joe Central. Even though the Indians are ranked last, for those familiar with St. Joe, there is no doubt they will have an advantage as the host school and a match-up with the young, inexperienced, but full of potential Northmen could lead to an interesting match-up in the tournaments opening round. This should leave a rested Park Hill with a leg-up against either team, both of which the Trojans were able to handedly defeat during the regular season. In either case, Park Hill will likely present a more athletic and up-beat tempo compared to their opponent in the second round game to be played February 24th.

In what was anticipated as an encore performance of an overtime thriller earlier this season between rivals Park Hill and Park Hill South, both schools’ supporters showed up at Park Hill South last week as purple and red reflected on opposite sides of the gym. Park Hill came out a little timid on the Panthers’ home court as they gave up some second chance points off defensive missteps, but took a halftime lead of 26-15. Brady Kreitzer took the Trojans on his back in the third quarter as the games leading scorer finishing with 19 points and the offensive cylinders started rolling as they gradually increased their lead before finally sealing the victory at 63-40. Justin Leathers and Chris Nsenki both added 17 points as they remained undefeated in conference at 8-0 and officially clinched the Big Six Conference Championship for the first time since 2002.

As they complete their last week of the regular season, Park Hill thanked their four seniors on Tuesday night, Bryan Willis, Steven Clark, Austin Kepler, and Justin Leathers, as they hosted William Chrisman. They’ll visit Winnetonka in the season finale Friday, February 19th before heading into post-season play.

Lady Trojans look to Districts, rematch with South

The Park Hill and Park Hill South girls’ basketball teams have already met twice this season resulting in two hard fought games with victories being split between the two. This past weekend they received news they’ll be meeting a third time, but it’ll be more than a regular season game as it will be in the first round of the Class Five, District 16 tournament on February 23rd for an opportunity to go on to play the host school, St. Joe Central, in the second round. Park Hill received the third seed with a record of 14-9 while Park Hill South received the sixth seed with a record of 3-16.

Park Hill was likely one win shy of receiving a beneficial two seed and first round bye, but the nod was given to St. Joe Central (13-7) probably due to the fact that the Lady Indians beat the Trojans 51-41 two weeks ago in a head to head match-up which gave them a stronger resume. Liberty received the first seed and will likely play in the championship game to be held February 27th pending a letdown between the winner of the Winnetonka/Oak Park game.

Park Hill will come into the game against the Lady Panthers favored, but it has yet to be seen how much of an effect the loss of senior Laura Bennett will have on the Trojans scoring. Coach Brian Rockers has leaned on his seniors all season and they’ll be looked towards again as they head into the district tournament. Senior Katy Plummer will be an important key in the post as a leading rebounder and point scorer while it will be important for sophomore Kyleesha Weston and senior Emma Gossett to stay out of foul trouble and be aggressive as the leaders of the Trojan offense.

The Trojans have one more regular season game against William Chrisman on Thursday this week. It’ll be Senior Night at Park Hill for a group which has had a majority of its playing time at the varsity level over the last three years. Last week they defeated Grandview by a score of 48-34 with strong performances from Plummer with 11 and Michele Rupard with ten points. Weston and freshman Sydney Hultz added seven a piece.

Big man smile has produced big time results, Leathers defines positive attitude

With all the pressure and expectations that come with being a varsity athlete, it isn’t hard to understand how every mistake or disappointment can easily be seen on a player’s face each time something doesn’t go their way. Justin Leathers, a senior center on the boys’ basketball team at Park Hill, can be seen as an exception.

As the Trojans look to finish their season with a conference championship and set their eyes on a district title, one thing has held constant throughout the season that can’t always be said about a lot of high school sports teams over the years, a good attitude.

“Justin's attitude, both in school and in basketball, is second to none,” head coach David Garrison said. “He has worked extremely hard to make himself better in both areas.”

Although the first thing you might notice about Leathers is his tall frame along with his average of 19 points and nine rebounds per game, the second you’ll notice is a positive floor presence and a constant smile. As a part of a group of three seniors on a young Trojan basketball team, Leathers has set the tone for a team that follows his example and shows they enjoy playing the game. No one ever said ‘nice’ wins basketball games and Leathers uses it as a way to get into opposing players’ heads.

“It’s kind of a psych thing,” Leathers said. “They see me smiling, but they’re so serious.”

But it isn’t just a way to bother his opponents, it’s an attitude he’s grown up with and made a priority since fourth grade when he started playing basketball.

“My Mom always told me to have fun with the game, and don’t take it too serious,” Leathers said. “I take it serious, but I make sure to have fun.”

It could be said him and his teammates have had some serious fun as they’ve compiled a 16-5 record overall and are currently undefeated in conference with a 7-0 mark. Leathers has been a part of a program that has steadily improved in recent years and hopes his class can start a new chapter.

“We haven’t had a strong tradition of winning, so my class wanted to start it by winning conference and districts,” Leathers said.

“All year, we look at the banner in the gym that says ’02 and we want to add another year to it,” Leathers added as he referred to the school’s basketball conference banner.

Leathers sees himself as a motivator on the team and tries to be an example to his teammates because he knows the effect that positive encouragement can create.

“I come out and set the tone. If I’m slacking, they might slack, so I want to come out with more energy,”

Garrison has noticed the difference the positive attitude Leathers brings to his squad and recognizes how much better it makes his team.

“His work ethic, enthusiasm, and leadership are contagious to everyone he is around,” Garrison said about Leathers. “He is a big part of the success that we are having this year, and I cannot be happier for him."

Like any tested leader, Leathers is always looking to the future and knows his team’s goals established at the beginning of the season will come down to some of the smallest things.

“All we have to do is finish, every play counts,” Leathers said simply.

Park Hill Boys clinch first Conference title since 2002, look to districts for more

Pending an unexpected slump that has yet to come for the Park Hill Boys Basketball team this season, next week they will complete their regular season at the top of the standings as Conference Champs for the first time since 2002. Last week, they defeated their closest rival in the standings, Truman, to remain undefeated and stay two games ahead of the Patriots in the Big Six Conference standings. After being down nine at halftime, the Trojans played what could have been their most complete half of basketball of the season in pulling out the 70-63 victory at Park Hill High School to improve to 16-5, 7-0.

“They played a two-three zone and that got us standing around a lot,” head coach David Garrison said. “We weren’t hitting any shots.”

“We came out in the second half and it was the best we’ve played in a long time with the amount of intensity and focus to get a hard fought win,” Garrison said.

The Trojans see the conference title as accomplishing just one of the goals they set out to achieve at the beginning of the season.

“You approach it like you’ve now accomplished one goal,” Garrison said of the conference title. “It’s not our main goal, it’s just one step. Hopefully it gives you confidence when you go for your next goal, which is to be competitive and try to win that district title.”

Garrison, in his third season as head coach, talked about the progress the program has made since he started and how he’s approached the continued improvement.

“I think every group we’ve had has taken steps. You want to be successful every season, but you want to be successful for the school and the community. The first year we won nine games, 14 games the second, and now we’ve won our 16th. That’s our mindset, we’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not satisfied,” Garrison said.

The Trojans will play William Chrisman on Tuesday as a part of Senior Night festivities and finish off the regular season at Winnetonka on Feb. 19th before district play begins the following week. Park Hill is on course to be slotted as the number two seed behind Liberty.