Trojans young but talented
Staff writer
Rosters may be a bit thin on experience, but the Hillsboro Trojans will hit the courts and mats this winter with experience in key positions for boys and girls wrestling and basketball. Trojan girls will hit the courts ranked 2nd in state in class 2A, and boys ranked 10th, by Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Wrestling
Coach Scott O’Hare will start this season with a 118-116 career dual record.
“We will have a relatively young line-up with only three seniors, two with a fair amount of varsity experience,” O’Hare said.
Three returning state qualifiers are back this year. They are sophomore Jaxon Chrislip and juniors Aaron Hein and Sutton Redger.
“We will lean on them to help the seniors provide positive leadership going into the season,” O’Hare said.
Hein finished with a 29-13 record last year. Redger finished 20-2 but was injured for the second half of the season. Chrislip finished 15-14.
“With a few sophomores returning and a good size incoming freshman class, we should have some depth and hopefully be close to filling the weight classes,” O’Hare said.
Other returning starters for the boys are William Andreas, Emery Dalke, Aidan Simmons, Ben Werner, Logan Rogers. Aimee Kelly and Claire Morey will return for the girls.
“I am anticipating that this team will be very coachable and willing to work hard to improve,” O’Hare said.
The Trojans’ first matches of the season will be Thursday at home against Halstead and Minneapolis.
“Overall, we are pretty excited to see how this team progresses throughout the year,” O’Hare said.
Boys Basketball
The Trojans had a winning season last year with a 13-9 record in head coach Kyle Kroekers’s first year on the job.
This year, the team and coach look forward to building on the experience and the improvement made last season.
Returning starters are Lincoln Wichert, Seth Driggers, Noah Beavers, and Nash Dickinson.
Wichert averaged 15.2 points a game last season.
“The keys to success will be our ability to play hard-nosed defense and balance consistent scoring,” Kroekers said.
Other notable players are Easton Shahan, Anders Weisbeck, Owen Dalke, and Colton Rempel.
“We have many core pieces coming back with people stepping into their new roles,” Kroekers said. “We must manufacture easy buckets in transition and in the half-court.”
The Trojans will open their season at home Friday against Sterling.
Girls Basketball
Third-year head coach Micah Ratzlaff comes into this season with a 44-6 school record after the Lady Trojans dominated last year, posting a 22-2 record.
“We lost four seniors and three starters from last year’s team, which had a great season,” Ratzlaff said.
The Lady Trojans lost in the first round at state by three points to Wichita Independent, which went on to win the tournament.
“This year, we will have a small group, but I believe we will have a chance to compete every night and get better every day,” Ratzlaff said.
Returning starters are Amyah Werth and Kingzley Ratzlaff.
Werth averages nine points a game and four rebounds.
“It all starts with our point guard play, with sophomore Amyah Werth, who is coming off a fantastic freshman year,” Ratzlaff said.
Other players returning are Talia Jost, Addison Jost, and Ella Potucek.
“They will be expected to play significant roles for this year’s team,” Ratzlaff said.
The Lady Trojans will open their season Friday at home against Sterling.