Wow. What a year 2019 was in Northeast Kansas. We are blessed each and every year with some of the top talent in the state of Kansas which delivers some of the highest sports moments throughout the year.

We have tried our best to put together the top 10 high school sports moments of the year and each day leading up to the start of 2020 we will reveal our top moments beginning today with moments five through 10 with moment No. 4 coming on Saturday.

#10 Four Local Kids Start for K-State Football

We start our countdown with four former Northeast Kansas athletes who this season got the chance to start for the Kansas State football team this season in Horton’s Trey Dishon, Maur Hill-Mount Academy’s Harry Trotter, Atchison’s Wykeen Gill Jr and Holton’s Mason Barta.

Dishon was named a co-captain heading into the year and started at defensive tackle for the Wildcats while Gill Jr. earned a starting nod at the beginning of the season at receiver.

As to Trotter and Barta they each earned starts in the backfield throughout the year with all four guys seeing significant time and seeing plenty of success to represent Northeast Kansas.

#9 State Wrestling – 11 Top Six Finishes for Area Athletes

Just like each year in Northeast Kansas the high school state wrestling meets were full of area athletes in 2019 with 11 guys earning medals and finishing in the top six of their respective classifications.

In the Class 4A meet at Salina the Holton Wildcats finished with three guys in the top six, as Kolby Roush and Konnor Tannahill each took third place at 132 pounds and 182 pounds, respectively while Jake Barnes finished sixth.

At the 3-2-1A meet at Hays the Sabetha Bluejays finished with the most guys on the podium, as six wrestlers earned top six finishes giving the Jays a seventh-place team finish. Elliot Strahm led the way with a third place finish at 285 pounds, falling in the semifinals after three overtime periods. Walker Lowdermilk and Cauy Rokey each finished fourth at 160 and 220 pounds, while Kamden Brownlee finished fifth at 145 pounds.

ACCHS also had two guys finish inside of the top six of their respective weight class, as Mason Scholz finished fifth at 106 pounds while Brodie Page took sixth at 120.

The final top six finishes came from Riverside, as the Cyclones Luke Horn finished his junior season with a second-place finish in the 145-pound weight class. He had the top medal of all local state grapplers for 2019 after losing his championship match in a close 3-1 decision. Beau Horn places 5th for the Cyclones, beating Kamden Brownlee of Sabetha in the final state match. 

#8 State Track – 14 State Champions, 99 Medalists

It was a wild, wet and exciting weekend at the 2019 State Track and Field Meet in Wichita where for the first time ever the event spilled into Sunday due to weather, but when it was all done Northeast Kansas was once again well-represented.

This year 14 area state champions were crowned including a team champion as well to go along with 99 total medal winners on the weekend.

The meet was dominated by the Nemaha Central girls who for the third straight year won the Class 3A team title with four gold medalists. Senior Jacy Dalinghaus was the talk of the meet as she ended the weekend with three state championships sweeping the throwing events. She won the shot put by over two feet, set a personal best in the javelin and also dominated the discus. Along with Dalinghaus, junior Alleigh Kramer had a stellar weekend as she was the state champion of the 200-meter dash along with finishing second in the 100-meter dash.

Fellow Big 7 League foe Perry Lecompton added the final 3A state champion, as Shane Quinlan captured the 400-meter dash title getting under 50 seconds with a time of 49.52.

Three state champions were crowned in Class 2A, led by ACCHS’ Trystin Myers who captured a state championship in the 110-meter hurdles which he didn’t begin to run until midway through this season.

Jeff County North and Valley Heights rounded out 2A state champs with one each, as the Chargers had Adison Manville win the girls high jump while the Mustangs had Emma Yungeberg win the javelin.

In Class 1A the Centralia Panthers ended with four state champions led by senior Daegan Steinlage who captured the shot put and discus titles. The Panthers also added two girls state champions, as Beanna Schmitz repeated in the pole vault while Madison Lueger did the same in the javelin.

Frankfort rounded out area state champions with two, as Emilee Ebert took home the girls long jump while she teamed up with Mariah Broxterman, Grace Dressman and Lydia Loiseau to win the 4 by 100-meter relay.

#7 Centralia Football Claims Fourth State Championship

In thrilling comeback fashion, the Centralia Panthers captured their fourth state football championship in school history beating Smith Center 18-14.

The Panthers trailed 14-12 with a little over a minute to go, but on a fourth-and-goal play from the two-yard-line senior Kamble Haverkamp made a man miss and dove into the end zone for his third rushing score of the game.

Haverkamp accounted for 104 yards on 23 carries and all three touchdowns while going 3-7 passing for another 36 yards.

Centralia will take a 12-game winning streak into 2020 after losing just five senior starters.     

#6 Nemaha Central Claims First Ever State Football Championship

After starting the season 1-2, Nemaha Central turned things around due to a couple personnel changes from head Coach Warren Seitz and rattled off nine straight victories including a second-round overtime victory over Rossville to reach the Class 2A State Title Game.

In Salina the Thunder did exactly what they had done all postseason long by smothering Norton defensively and forcing five interceptions to shutout the Bluejays and claim state 19-0.

Running back Gavin Duryea had a big day on the ground for the Thunder with 130 yards and one touchdown, while Dylan Schultejans threw for 146 yards and two scores including one to Tyler Gerety who finished with four catches for 94 yards.

In the win the Thunder put themselves into the Class 2A record books with the second fewest yards allowed (67), sixth least rushing yards allowed (38) and tied for the most interceptions in a title game (5). 

#5 Royal Valley Volleyball Claims 3A State Title

After claiming the school’s first ever state basketball championship in March the Royal Valley volleyball team made it 2-for-2 inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena claiming the first ever state volleyball championship.

Royal Valley was completely dominate in going 3-0 in pool play on Friday and then putting a beat down on Cheney 25-17 and 25-17 in Saturday's semifinals before cruising past Beloit 25-19 and 25-18 for the title. 

Royal Valley went 10-1 in state games with a lone set defeat coming against Big 7 foe Nemaha Central on Friday morning.

The Panthers finished the season with a record of 39-6.