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Courtwarming, Men’s wrestling Kate Grundy Spotlight
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sophmore Trey Snyder said.
CourtWarming CourtWarming
Basketball Celebrates Courtwarming Basketball Celebrates Courtwarming
written by: Justin Scott
Courtwarming is the pinnacle of high school winter sports and the second semester homecoming equivalent. This year Liberty North’s Varsity Basketball team faced off in a matchup against the Blue Springs Wildcats on Friday, January, 21 in the 2022 Courtwarming Game. The Eagles trailed early against the Wildcats, who scored consistently from beyond the arc. After halftime, the Eagles tried to battle back but could not get past a fast Wildcats offense, leading to a final score of 51-39 in favor of the Wildcats. During Halftime of the JVbasketball game that preceded the Varsity matchup against Blue Springs, MJ Cullum was crowned Courtwarming King. Cullum is North’s first male cheerleader, a member of both Concert and Chamber Choir, and much more. When chosen, Cullum didn’t even realize he had been selected. “I was blacked out kind of, because I didn’t even hear them say my first name but I heard Cullum and I was like, Oh, that’s my last name,” Cullum said. But Cullum wasn’t the only one to be crowned into Courtwarming royalty. Later Friday night, during halftime of the Varsity basketball game vs Lee’s Summit North, Kayley Lenger was crowned Courtwarming Queen. Lenger is a member of the varsity women’s basketball team, varsity softball team, and is committed to the University of Missouri to play softball. “Whenever they first said my name I was really excited just to be out there and I just kind of started smiling,” Lenger said. After winning, Lenger was thankful to the student body for electing her. “It was really nice to see all the support that everyone had for me and just getting all the texts and the hugs and just everyone coming out to me. And all that support makes you feel really loved after all of that,” Lenger said.
MJ Cullum and Kayley Lenger were crowned Courtwarming King and Queen. Both Cullum and Lenger are grateful for their Courtwarming experiences. “It’s a cool feeling. It’s a proud moment. I’m really grateful for the experience,” Cullum said.
On the
MAT
written by: Jack Bendure
The Liberty North Eagles Men’s Wrestling is State Bound. Earlier this season head Coach Logan Searle said he wanted to qualify at least three wrestlers for state, now Micheal Domino, Dylan Alft, Nathan Sola, Trevor Thorn, Jacob Stockard, and Elmotie Williams are headed to the class four wrestling State Championship at Mizzou University. These six athletes doubled the original goal of qualifying three athletes set by Searle at the beginning of the season. “Our greatest accomplishment as a team has been our victories at the Greater Kansas City Suburban, Grain Valley, and Lee Summit North tournaments,” Searle said. Even after battling through struggles with sickness and many injuries, the Eagles still more than tripled their wins compared to their losses with a final team record of 10-3 with one more competition at the State Championship. Three of those wins came at big tournaments with numerous other schools. This season more than ever there have been a higher number of freshmen competing at the varsity level. “My biggest challenge this year has definitely been going up against juniors and seniors,” freshman wrestler Elmotie Williams said. Williams will be up against athletes with 3 years of experience over him in the state championship this season. “My favorite memory of this season is definitely my first win at home, it was cool getting a big dub at home,” said Williams. This season has been a year of firsts for Williams, his first highschool meet, win and state championship as a freshmen. Out of his final match record of 20-11 most came from dual matches. A dual is a competition between only two schools but they also happen to be Williams’ favorite thing about the sport. “What I enjoy the most about wrestling is duals. duals are just so fun and you get to watch your team and have your team watch you and duals are amazing,” said Williams. Senior Dylan Alft has wrestled for Liberty North for three years, qualifying for State each year. “It feels pretty good. If I wrestled my freshman year it couldve been four but it could to set expectations for the school and have everyone beat that hopefully one day.” Alft says. Currently, Alft holds the school record for most tech falls. “I think I’m sitting at 40 tech falls. I think the record before was 14 all time tech falls. So that record I think I crushed, in my opinion. I feel pretty good about it. I’m hoping no one will ever touch [the record],” Alft said.
photos by: Rorey France
Young Wonder Young Wonder
Varsity women’s wrestler Kaydence Grass makes history as the first freshman to advance to state.
written by: Vivian Seley
Freshman Kaydence Grass participates in Varsity wrestling in weight class of 115. Despite being a freshman, Grass has had quite a bit of success in her short period of time of being in high school wrestling. “I have been in wrestling for just about three years, I started at the end of sixth grade. My dad wrestled all of highschool and even now he does cage fighting so I have been surrounded by the sport for a pretty long time,” Grass said. Grass was the first freshman girl to go to state for wrestling. This accomplishment is not only a personal win for Grass, but for the relatively new womens wrestling program at Liberty North. “It’s super exciting. Wrestling is a huge part of my life and this big of an accomplishment is super cool,” Grass said. Grass is looking forward to what the future holds for her and the girls wrestling program, as it is newer and grass still has three more years to participate in this program. “I was shocked and honestly really proud of myself. I know our girls program is super new and I’m really excited to see how much it grows and how many more girls will see that wrestlings not just for boys and anyone can join and get really far in it,” Grass said. Grass has spent lots of time with her teammates and coaches, after school practicing or competing in matches while simultaneously making memories. “My favorite moment from wrestling is my semi-consolation at districts. It was the match that determined whether I made it to state or not. The stakes were high, but I pinned my opponent in the second period and it was just like instant relief. I will never forget the look of pride on my coaches faces, the tears of joy that my dad cried and the big hugs I got from my teammates,” Grass said.
Kaydence Grass advanced to state for women’s wrestling. She has been wrestling for multiple years and is currently on the North varsity team. “Wrestling is a huge part of my life and this big of an accomplishment is super cool,” Grass said. photo from: LN Athletics
