7 | SPORTS
SNOWTIME SPORTS
As winter sports wind down, here are some highlights from the season. By Nathan Judd Reporter
SWIM & DIVE
BOWLING
WRESTLING
Junior wrestler Brett Summers attempts to take down his opponent from Blue Valley North. Photo by Jack Wagner
W Samuel Aldeguer, a senior at South, dives into the new aquatic center during the Boys Varsity Duel. Aldeguer has qualified for state dive four years in a row. Photo by Landrea Van Mol
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wim and dive’s season started Dec. 4 and now the team is more than halfway through the season. Juniors Owen Krussow, Nathan Snyder, Charlie Krause, freshman Carson Guthrie and sophomore Ryan Owens have all qualified for state for swim, and seniors Sam Aldeguer, Jacob Held and Tim Holmes have qualified for state in dive. “ [The season is going] pretty good. We are hoping to get a few more state qualifiers and hoping to compete there,” senior Sam Aldeguer said. The swim team only has their league and state meets left, while the dive team has one more tournament before then.
Sophomore Blake Williams throws the ball down the lane toward the pins. Williams finished with a 364 series. Photo by Naomi Mitchell
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owling started on Dec. 2 and the team has already had seven meets. The boys’ Varsity team consists of juniors Tucker Kramer, Reid Venable, Paul Brandt, Hayden Spratlin, sophomores Tony Thomas and Will Kersting, but the Varsity lineup changes based off of averages. The girls’ Varsity lineup consists of seniors Nichole Thomas, Ashley Haines, Haley Ledman, juniors Jocelyne Trujilla-Mendoza, Cynthia Herman and sophomore Emily Haines, but this also changes. A lot of the success this season has come from siblings Nichole Thomas and Tony Thomas, who have both won in their respective competitions three meets in a row. “We have good upcoming talent, but our team is young so we just need to grow and get more experienced and then we will be a lot better,” Kramer said. The bowling season is winding down and the team is looking to end the season on a high note and win their last three meets.
restling started Dec. 7 and they have gone through four tournaments so far. “[The hardest part of it is] the mental part of it – knowing that you have to go in for two hours everyday and work your butt off and possibly have six minute matches where you are wrestling 100% with another guy who just wants to beat you down,” junior Sam Wright said. The wrestling team only has 13 spots on Varsity, but it is more individual than most other sports. The team only has six tournaments left with the season ending Feb. 29. “We are most of the way through the season, kind of getting into the ladder end stuff. We [have] one more normal tournament, then we go straight to district, league and then regionals and whoever gets out of regionals goes to state,” said Varsity coach Derek Bayless.
