DCHS Sports

Panthers rally to beat Red Demons

December 18, 2015 By DCHS Sports

Dodge City High School falls in western conference, 32-30

By John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe

In their first Western Athletic Conference competition of the season, the Dodge City High School wrestling team fell to Great Bend 32-30 on Thursday night.

The Panthers overcame a 30-17 deficit by winning the final four matches of the night to hand the Red Demons their first loss of the year to start WAC competition.

“I think this is a big time wake up call for us coaches and our athletes as well,” head coach Lars Lueders said. “We got what we deserved. (Great Bend) wrestled spectacular.”

Dodge City trailed Great Bend 17-6 before wins from Zerek Rodriguez, Evan Darville and Joel Ostrom gave the Red Demons the lead. Senior Howard Johnson won the first match of the night with a pin. Johnson and Ostrom were the two Red Demons to win by pin.

Dodge City will travel to Hoisington on Friday for the Cardinal Corner Classic. Friday’s tournament will be the Red Demons’ final competition before winter break. Dodge City’s next WAC dual will be their first meet in January when they host Garden City.

“We’re bummed but I think if the kids respond in the correct way this can make us better in the end,” Lueders said.

The Cardinal Corner Classic is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Red Demons have 2 games left before winter break

December 18, 2015 By DCHS Sports

By John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School basketball teams have two games left before winter break. On Friday, both the boys and girls teams will travel to Eisenhower for their first game of two games in two days.

The Dodge City boys team (1-2) will continue with their tough early schedule when they travel to play the Tigers on Friday. Eisenhower (3-1) is led by 6-foot-8 junior Matt Pile that is averaging 17.5 points and 13 rebounds through the Tigers’ first four games.

“(Pile) is probably going to be the best big man that we will see all year in my opinion,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said.

After Friday’s game, the Red Demons will have a quick turnaround when they host Stanton County on Saturday afternoon. Because Saturday’s game was a late addition to the schedule, Dodge City will be without two starters against Stanton County.

“It’s tough when school is not in session and we’re playing a couple games, but it’s a chance for our players to get better,” Hamilton said.

The Dodge City girls team (2-1) will look to rebound after their first loss of the season when they play Eisenhower. Girl’s head coach Kelley Snodgrass emphasized the importance of the two game stretch before break for the Lady Demons.

“It’s huge,” Snodgrass said. “We need another road win and then going into Christmas break with two bigs wins would help the momentum to see where we were at. In tournament play you have to play back to back so it’s a good test to see where we are at conditioning wise as well.”

Eisenhower (2-2) enters Friday’s game following a 53-43 loss to Andover Central. The Tigers’ other loss this season came against Salina Central back on December 8th.

“It’s a tough team,” Snodgrass said. “They’re young but they always play hard and they are scrappy on defense.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Goddard-Eisenhower. The boys game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Red Demons ready for final stretch

December 17, 2015 By DCHS Sports

By John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe

For the first time this season, the Dodge City High School wrestling team is expecting to field the full varsity squad that head coach Lars Lueders anticipated to have coming into the season on Thursday when they travel to Great Bend.

The Red Demons, who took fourth place this past weekend in Colby, were without two varsity starters. Lueders is also expecting senior Cole Trent, a previous state qualifier, to wrestling this weekend.

“We expect everybody back and we are excited to see what the whole team will look like which we haven’t had so far,” Lueders said.

After the dual at Great Bend, the Red Demons will travel to Hoisington for the Cardinal Corner Classic. The two meets this week will be the last bit of competition that Dodge City will face before winter break.

“I think just going into break healthy is number one,” Lueders said. “Having a good mindset and just making sure that we have cleaned up our basic fundamentals so that when we go into break we can do some more advanced technique and really get after it.”

After the first two weeks of the season, the Red Demons are ranked third as a team in class 6A. Dodge City has seven wrestlers ranked in the top-six of their respective weight classes.

“We’ve never really been ranked this high as a team going into Christmas,” Lueders said. “So I’m excited to see what we are going to do when we have a pretty tough team to begin with.”

The Great Bend Dual Meet is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Dodge City native earns All-American honors

December 15, 2015 By DCHS Sports

The No. 11 Dodge City Community College Conquistadors had three players earn National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honors on Monday.

Headlining the group was kicker Dillon Burkhard who was named to the NJCAA First Team All-American list. The Dodge City native hit 11-of-15 field goal attempts this season. Burkhard scored 81 points for the Conqs this year after leading the team in points in 2014.

In his first season as the Conqs head coach, Gary Thomas did not have true kicker on the team in 2013. Once Burkhard decided to transfer from Hutchinson Community College back home to Dodge City, Thomas not only had a true kicker but found that he had one of the best kickers in the country.

‘It takes a lot of pressure off of your offense knowing that if you get somewhere close, you could get points out of the drive,’ Thomas said. ‘(Burkhard) has been as consistent as anyone can be on extra points. Where it brings the biggest difference maker on a football team is actually the kickoffs more so than the field goals.”

Burkhard was excited but surprised to be named the best kicker in the NJCAA when he first saw the honor on Monday. The sophomore kicker credited the Dodge City coaching staff for helping get to this point.

“Coach Thomas is a great coach,” Burkhard said. “As soon as I came in, he told me that I was going to be an important weapon to his team and that they were going to need me. He would put me under pressure in practice to get me ready for game time situations.”

Burkhard will remain at Dodge City Community College next semester as he continues to look for the next school that he will attend.

Sophomore running back Mark Thompson and sophomore offensive lineman Chris Gaynor were the other two Conqs to earn All-American status. Both Thompson and Gaynor earned Second Team All-American honors.

Gaynor was a crucial part of the offensive line that helped Thompson rush for 1,298 yards and 18 touchdowns this season.

“It’s nice to have those guys recognized,” Thomas said. “Not only does it bring publicity to the program but guys deserve individual awards too. As much as the conference championship, the bowl bid and all that other stuff, it’s nice to be recognized as an individual every once an awhile for your accomplishments.”

John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe

Manhattan outlasts Red Demons on Saturday

December 15, 2015 By DCHS Sports

The Manhattan Indians used strong fourth quarter performances in both the boys and girls game on Saturday against Dodge City High School to win both contests.

After seven lead changes in the first three quarters, Manhattan used a 10-0 run to take a 35-29 lead over the Lady Demons in the fourth quarter on their way to a 50-39 win.

Dodge City cut the Indians’ lead to three-points after a basket from junior Kaylyn Maple with 1:37 left in the game but Manhattan closed the game on an 8-0 run that was produced by efficient shooting from the free throw line down the stretch.

“I think we were tired,” Dodge City girls head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “We didn’t get to the 50-50 balls that we usually pride ourselves on. We usually win the battle of the boards which (Manhattan) did tonight. I think our girls just tried to get it all back in one possession and we have to be patient and trust the offense and trust our teammates.”

Manhattan out-rebounded the Red Demons 41 to 28 on Saturday. Senior Jessica Harshberger scored all of her team-leading nine points in the second half. Just behind her was senior Taylor Nichols who finished with eight-points.

“A loss is always tough and you never want one to learn from but I think we can learn a lot from this game,” Snodgrass said. Dodge City (2-1) will travel to Eisenhower on Friday for their first of two games this week.

MANHATTAN 67, DODGE CITY BOYS 49 Dodge City senior Eric Reid hit a 3-pointer with 6:40 left in the game to cut the Indians lead to 42-40. From there, Manhattan outscored Dodge City 25-9 to end the game, beating the Red Demons 67-49.

“They started getting to the foul line and it just avalanched from there,” Dodge City boys head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “They made some shots, we had to stretch our defense a little bit and they got some easy things at the basket. That’s a very deep and talented team and for three and a half quarters, we were right where we wanted to be.”

Dodge City overcame an early nine-point deficit when senior Dayton McGroarty made three free throws to tie the game at 29-29 with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter. After fighting back, the Red Demons gave up two 3-pointers in the final 37-seconds of the quarter which gave the Indians a 42-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“Our kids have a lot of fight in them and we’re proud of that,” Hamilton said. “They’ll come back in the gym next week and we’ll go to work.”

McGroarty scored a gamehigh 17 points on Saturday. ReidwasotherRedDemonto finish in double-figures with 11 points.

The Red Demons (1-2) will be back in action on Friday against Eisenhower. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe