The 43rd annual Kansas Shrine Bowl game is set for Saturday, July 30th at Welch Stadium at Emporia State University at 7:00pm and five area football stars and one area coach will be participating in the contest this year. 

The six area athletes set to compete in the game are Wykeen Gill of Atchison, Mason Barta of Holton, Winston Meyer of Nemaha Central, Chris Winkel of Troy, Jarrett Roy of Royal Valley and Konnor Penning of Washington County. Five of the six area athletes will be on the East squad, while Penning will be on the West team. While, Troy Trojans head coach, Derek Jasper will serve as an assistant coach for the East squad. 

Holton Wildcat, Mason Barta helped the Wildcats make a deep playoff run in 4A-DII finishing 9-4 on the season and State runner-up, falling to Holcomb in the State title game. Barta led the team in rushing and tackles posting 1,051 yards rushing with 15 touchdowns and 128 tackles on defense. Mason added a sack, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, fumble recovery and blocked field goal on defense. The Holton senior picked up first team All-Big Seven League honors at inside linebacker and runningback, while being named an All-State linebacker and selected to the Top 33 honors by the Topeka-Capital Journal. 

Nemaha Central Thunder put together a season to remember winning the Big Seven League title going 6-0 in League action, while also winning a District title and making the 3A playoffs finishing 10-1 on the year. The Thunder won an opening round playoff game against Riverside and fell to Rossville in the second round. Senior, Winston Meyer was a key piece of the Thunder's success as he was an anchor on the offensive and defensive lines. Meyer blocked for a Thunder offense that ran for 246.7 yards per game and posted 403.9 total yards of offense per contest, while on defense registering 54 tackles and a sack. Winston earned first team All-Big Seven League offensive line and outside linebacker/defensive end, while picking up All-State offensive line honors from the Wichita Eagle at offensive line and All-State honors at defensive line by the Topeka-Capital Journal. 

Troy Trojan, Chris Winkel was a key senior leader and playmaker for the Trojans in their 10-2 season in which saw them make the State title game for the first time in school history and finish as State runner-up in Class 2-1A, falling to Philipsburg by just one-point in the title game. The Trojan senior snagged 11 touchdown passes with around 700 yards receiving, while registering around 70 tackles on defense. Winkel earned first team All-Twin Valley League honors at outside linebacker and second team at receiver, while also picking up honorable mention All-State honors at end and linebacker. 

Royal Valley Panther, Jarrett Roy helped the Panthers finish 6-3 in his senior season. Roy enjoyed a great season along the defensive line especially earning 4A-DII All-State honors at defensive line from the Wichita Eagle and Topeka Capital Journal. While earning first team Big Seven League offensive line and second team defensive line. 

Atchison Redmen, Wykeen Gill enjoyed an expectional senior season helping the Redmen go 8-1 on the year winning the KCAL title and just missing out of the 4A-DII playoffs. Gill racked up 1,539 yards passing with 19 touchdowns to two interceptions as the Atchison quarterback and ran for 950 yards with 18 touchdowns, posting an 8.7 yards per carry average helping him earn KCAL Player at of the Year honors. He also recorded 39 tackles and had two interceptions on defense on the year. Gill was named All-State defensive back by the Topeka-Capital Journal and honorable mention at quarterback and defensive back by the Wichita Eagle. Gill while selected to the game will not play due to injury. 

Washington County Tiger, Konnor Penning helped the Tigers have one of their best seasons in school history leading the team to a 10-1 record which included winning the TVL 11-man title, winning a District title and making the 3A playoffs and getting an opening round win against Beloit. Penning earned first team All-TVL honors at both quarterback and defensive back, along with All-State honors by the Topeka-Capital Journal at defensive back and honorable mention honors by the Wichita Eagle. 

Troy Trojan head coach, Derek Jasper lead the Troy Trojans to their first ever appearance in a State title game in football and a State runner-up finish in 2-1A, posting a 10-2 record. The Trojans returned to the playoffs this year and after a trip to the Sub-State round two seasons ago, took the step the Championship game this year and also snapped Centralia's big TVL game win streak this year, also. 

The 43rd annual Kansas Shrine Bowl is set for Saturday, July 30th, in Emporia, Kansas, at Welch Stadium on the Emporia State University campus. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm.  Tickets and additional information are available at www.kansasshrinebowl.com or by calling 800-530-5524.