DCHS Sports

Red Demons claim first WAC title with 34-31 win over Liberal

February 12, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Holding on for history

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School wrestling team knew what was on the line going into Thursday night’s dual against Liberal.

After taking a 34-12 lead, the Red Demons’ first ever Western Athletic Conference wrestling championship seemed to be in the fold. However, the Redskins refused to go down without a fight.

Liberal won the last five matches to make it close but in the final match of the evening, senior Cole Trent avoided a pin and Dodge City avoided the letdown. The Red Demons won their first WAC title by beating Liberal 34-31.

“I told myself that no matter the situation that I wanted to win for the team,” Trent said. “Whether I lose on the mat or win on the mat, I needed to secure the win tonight.”

The Redskins had two quick pins that put them up 12-3 after the first three matches. Dodge City responded with three straight pins from freshmen Joel Ostrom, Couy Weil and sophomore Devon Griego.

Major decisions from junior Juan Chavez and senior Clay Weil were followed up by a pin from junior Tylor Garcia to put the dual out of reach for the Redskins.

“I felt like we wrestled hard and we did some really good things,” Dodge City head coach Lars Lueders said. “It was just frustrating at times with us being up big and then being pinned in the third period. That’s uncharacteristic of us. That’s frustrating but at the same point we wrestled well besides those three pins that never should’ve happened.”

In the second match of the evening, senior Zerek Rodriguez finished with what proved to be three big points for the Red Demons. Rodriguez trailed 1-0 going into the third period before a takedown with just over a minute to go in the match gave him the 2-1 win.

“He’s a very mentally tough kid,” Lueders said. “He wrestles hard for six minutes.”

Five seniors wrestled in their final varsity home dual on Thursday night. The conference championship acknowledges how the senior class has help shape the imagine of Red Demon wrestling.

While they hope it is a gateway to more success in the future, the message that the current seniors what future Red Demon wrestlers to know is what it means to represent the school on the mat.

“I don’t want to say that we are setting a bar because that puts pressure on teams,” Trent said. “I think that everyone just needs to go in and learn how to be a Demon wrestler. That’s someone that’s going to go in there and fight with his brothers, because that’s what we are. We’re a family.”

Thursday night was the seniors last time wrestling in a dual-meet at home but they will wrestle in Dodge City one final time when the Red Demons host the regional tournament next Saturday.

Solidifying Seniors

February 11, 2016 By DCHS Sports

By John Zetmeir / Dodge City Daily Globe

When Lars Lueders took over as the Dodge City High School wrestling coach, the senior Red Demon wrestlers were just entering middle school.Lueders began to shape the student into the type of wrestlers that could turn the Red Demon wrestling program into one of the most formidable in the state.

On Thursday night, the group of seniors has a chance to celebrate senior night by winning the program’s first-ever Western Athletic Conference championship when they host Liberal for their final regular season dual.

Last season, the Red Demons took third place at the 6A state tournament.

“It means that all of our hard work over the last seven or eight years has come to fruition,” Lueders said. “It’s not just us at the high school involved. It’s a community effort from the little kids, to the middle school to the high school. It’s definitely been a process and it’s good to see that we’re finally in this position.

“There have been a number of talented wrestlers that have come through the program during Lueders’ previous seven seasons at the helm. However, an argument could be made that the current senior class has been the foundation for what is now the No. 2-ranked team in class 6A.

“That first step was finding the three or four guys as the sixth and seventh graders that were going to be the leaders and push everyone,” senior Clay Weil said. “I think a lot of us knew that it was a work in progress. There was never really any disappointment whenever we were younger and not doing so hot as a team just because we knew once we got to (senior year), this was the end goal.”Lueders believes his team is prepared for the moment and know what they have to do to be beat Liberal.

Since losing to Great Bend back in December, the Red Demons have not lost a dual. That includes wins over the No. 1 ranked team in 6A, Garden City, and Colby, the No.1 ranked team in 4A.In hindsight, the Red Demons believe that the loss to the Panthers was exactly what the team needed.”It gave us that kick in the butt to get us working,” senior Howard Johnson said about the loss to Great Bend. “It showed us what we needed to do.

“Weil and Johnson highlight the senior class for Dodge City. Weil is currently the top-ranked wrestler at 132-pounds in 6A. Johnson ranks second in 6A at 145.Senior Zerek Rodriguez, is the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 220. Rounding out the senior class is one of the team captains, Cole Trent, and Osbaldo Mendez.

The dual is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Dodge City High School on Thursday.

Red Demons disband Tigers

February 10, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Red Demons disband Tigers

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School girls basketball team won their third game in a row by beating Ulysses 58-20 on Tuesday night.

After allowing Ulysses to take a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, the Red Demons used a 15-0 run to take control of the game.

Dodge City’s defense played one of its best games of the season on Tuesday night. The Red Demons held the Tigers to five or less points in three out of four quarters and forced 32 Ulysses turnovers.

Senior Jessica Harshberger scored a game-high 23 points to lead Dodge City.

Ball movement played a big factor in the Red Demons win, as well. Dodge City finished with 17 assists.

“The biggest stat for me was the assists,” head coach Kelley Snodgrass said during her post game radio interview. “I think we were making the extra pass and hitting the people that were open.”

The three-game winning streak for the Red Demons began last Friday when Dodge City beat the McPherson Bullpups, who had lost just one game prior to that.

After playing three games in five days, the Red Demons will have the remainder of the week off before traveling to Garden City next Tuesday.

DODGE CITY BOYS 64, ULYSSES 34.

Despite playing a double- overtime game on Friday and a hard-fought game on Monday night, the Dodge City Red Demons came out firing on all cylinders in a 64-34 win over Ulysses.

The Red Demons (7-9, 2-2) used a 17-0 run in the first half to run away from the Tigers, taking a 28-6 lead midway through the second quarter. Ulysses was held scoreless for nearly an eight-minute period that stretched from the first quarter to midway through the second quarter.

“I thought our kids brought a lot of energy tonight,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said during his post game radio interview. “We had some kids that played some major minutes (Monday) night. We talked about today being a clean slate.”

Dodge City had three players finish in doublefigures with seniors Caden Walters and Noah Williams each tallying 14 points. Senior Matt Karns added 10 points.

The Red Demons will travel to Garden City next Tuesday.

BOX SCORES

■ Dodge City girls – 12 17 17 12 – 58

■ Ulysses girls – 3 10 2 5 – 20

■ DC – Harshberger 23, B. Bradshaw 8, Nelson 6, Shelor 6, Cecil 5, T. Bradshaw 4, Nichols 2, Maple 2, Price 1, Okoro 1.

■ Dodge City Boys – 19 14 14 17 – 64

■ Ulysses Boys – 6 6 9 13 – 34

■ DC – Walters 14, N. Williams 14, Karns 10, Baker 6, McGroarty 6, Heath 5, Unruh 4, Reid 3, D. Williams 2.

Demon bowlers beat Liberal on senior night

February 10, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Demon bowlers beat Liberal on senior night

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School bowling team celebrated senior night with wins against Liberal on both the boys and girls side on Tuesday afternoon.

The boys took all 11 WAC points by finishing with a series score of 2284 and a baker score of 2901.

“It was great to see that we were able to win and take all 11 of the possible points for the match,” head coach Tyson Clark said. “It was also good to see Shawn Burton have a good day.”

Senior Shawn Burton took first place with a series score of 668. Just behind him was fellow senior Dalton Krayenhagen who took second place with a score of 584.

A pair of seniors also helped the Red Demon girls beat Liberal. Senior Katlyn Tabor took first place with a score of 536. Senior Cecilia Wiser finished behind Liberal’s Kaleigh Cobb for third place. The girls captured nine of 11 possible points.

“We bowled okay,” Clark said about the girl’s team. “Obviously it wasn’t quite as well as we had been bowling over the last week and a half. That happens from time to time but all in all we competed as hard as we could.”

The Red Demons will travel to Garden City on Thursday. While the boys team may be out of the race for a Western Athletic Conference championship, the girl’s team are still in the race.

“It’s us, Great Bend and Garden in the running for a WAC title,” Clark said. “Thursday is going to be a big day on the girl’s side. For the boys, it seems like Garden and Great Bend have separated themselves but it would be nice if we played a spoiler role, which we are definitely capable of doing.”

Boys varsity scores

■ Shawn Burton, 668.

■ Dalton Krayenhagen, 584.

■ Zachary Ridgway, 522.

■ Erick Villa-Valverde, 471.

■ Esteban Garcia, 448.

■ Quintin Coghill, 421.

■ Girls varsity scores

■ Katlyn Tabor, 536.

■ Cecilia Wiser, 478.

■ Makayla Burton, 434.

■ Alexandra Schawe, 409.

■ Madison Elliot, 363.

■ Chantal Solorzano, 337.

Two for two-Demons outlast rival Garden City in Monday night matchup

February 9, 2016 By DCHS Sports

Two for two

Demons outlast rival Garden City in Monday night matchup

John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The DodgeCity High School boys basketball team survived a 3-point barrage from the Buffaloes in the first half to beat Garden City 47-41 on Monday night.

Senior guard Jarrod Koster scored all 15 of Garden City’s points during a 15-4 run that gave the Buffaloes a 26-25 lead at halftime.

The senior guard scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. The Buffaloes made 6-of-12 3-pointers in the first half.

The Red Demons defense was able to disrupt Garden City’s shooting rhythm in the second half, holding the Buffs to just 1-of-14 makes from long range in the final 16 minutes.

“We told our kids at halftime to just continue to stay the course,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “We felt like Koster couldn’t continue to shoot the way he did and he didn’t. But he didn’t get the looks either, credit to our defense.”

A pair of free throws from Matt Karns gave Dodge City their first lead of the second half with 4:01 to play in the game.

Senior Eric Reid’s second 3-pointer of the game put the Red Demons up 43-39 with just over three-minutes to go. That shot ultimately sealed the win for DodgeCity.

“Eric is our best outside shooter right now,” Hamilton said. “That was a set play to get him a look.”

Senior Dayton McGroarty continued his offensive consistency, finishing with a team-high 17 points. Fellow senior Noah Williams scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. The Red Demons won the battle of the boards by out-rebounding the Buffs 38-26.

Dodge City will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Ulysses on Tuesday. It is the Red Demons first back to back game since the Tournament of Champions.

“We expended a lot of energy and emotion tonight but our kids have got to be ready,” Hamilton said. “This is probably one that everybody thinks that we should go win.” DODGE CITY GIRLS 40, GARDEN CITY 32.

The Red Demon girls over came a sluggish first half to beat their conference rivals, Garden City, 40-32 on Monday night.

A 10-0 run put Dodge City (10-5, 4-0) ahead 28-24 with 3:14 to go in the third quarter. The Red Demons outscored the Buffs 24-10 in the second half. A big reason for the turnaround was the length of the Red Demons around the basket.

“(Garden City)hit some big threes early,”Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “Give them credit. The girls trusted the offense and got it inside.”

Senior forward Taylor Nichols took command for Dodge City, scoring a team high 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

A pair of 3-pointers from Garden City’s Abbie Dart gave the Buffaloes a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter. The eight-point lead was the largest for the evening for the Buffs. Garden City was 4-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half but were held to 0-of-3 from long range in the second half.

The Red Demons defense ramped up their intensity in the second half, forcing 18 of the Buffs’ 29 turnovers after the halftime break. Garden City turned the ball over 10 times in the fourth quarter.

“We made them throw it away,” Snodgrass said. “It was always out of bounds so we didn’t get a lot of transition buckets, but they still had to set up their defense. Our length gave them trouble.”

The Dodge City girls are scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. in Ulysses on Tuesday with the boy’s game following.