LIBERAL FIRST
Liberal's leading source for news and views
The Liberal Redskin boys swim team competed at the Hutchinson YMCA in a meet with seven teams total Tuesday.
“It was a great meet in which many of our swimmers continue to achieve personal records by shortening their times,” Liberal coach Lidia Thomas said.
Liberal finished seventh overall with 109 points.
The Liberal Wrestling Club traveled to Pratt for the Pratt Ground & Pound Tournament On Saturday.. There were 750 wrestlers from around the state that competed that day.
“It was a tough day for some of our wrestlers,” coach Krista Holcomb said. “There was a lot of tough competition with wrestling growing rapidly in Kansas. I think a lot of our kids know what they need to work on to come back and bring the medals next time. We are so proud of all of the kids for putting their time and effort into such a tough sport.”
Jason Fraire brought home first place in the 10U boys 150 pound division, pinning all three of his opponents.
“Jason is always ready for a challenge and brings the heat,” Holcomb said. “He went into the 150 bracket, weighing only 138. Most of the boys he went against were on the upper weight of 148-150, but that never stops him. He focuses on his goals and usually gets it done!”
The Lady Redskins used crushing defense and a strong performance in the lane from Maliyah Mullens to dominate Wichita North 62-18 in The Big House Friday.
The win was a needed rebound from a 66-34 road loss to Hays Dec. 9.
Wichita North was held to their lowest score of the season while the Lady Redskins defense forced turnovers and dominated the rebounds.
The Lady Redskins used a full court press to force turnovers, but in the first quarter they struggled to get back when the Lady Red Hawks broke the press, and after the first quarter the Lady Redskins only had a 12-9 lead.
After an 0-4 start to the season including an overtime loss to Haysville-Campus, the Redskins were finally able to play a game in their own gym Friday and came away with a 75-44 win over Wichita North.
The Redskins scored early and often, but North kept the game in reach in the first quarter, and the Redskins jumped out to a 21-15 lead.
The Redskins continued to outpace the Red Hawks in the second quarter led by seven points in the period by James Fieser, but the Redskins only added two points to their advantage by half, 37-29. But Fieser found his stride in the third quarter and dropped 17 of Liberal’s 25 points in the period while the Redskin defense held North to only 10 points, and the Redskins shot out to a 62-39 advantage.
Seward and No. 18 Butler combined to attempt 102 free throws in a hotly defended game, but the aggressive defense led to a combine 68 points from the free throw line and ended with a 130-110 Seward win.
After only winning two conference games last year, the Saints head to the break in first place with a 6-2 conference record and 11-3 overall.
Seward had little trouble breaking the full court press that Butler ran the entire game, and the Saints had a seven point lead late in the first half before the Grizzlies rallied to tie the game and then take a 61-59 lead at half with a last second jumper that sent Seward coach Austin Downing to the hallway before he went to the locker room. But the Saints took a 66-64 lead with 17:41 to play and built the lead to 80-71 with 13:13 to play after a Korbin Dowdell jumper.
