The Junction City Blue Jay wrestling team opened with a 45-36 loss to Clay Center but came back to hold off Chapman 39-36 in a double dual in Chapman Thursday evening.

JCHS coach Bob Laster knows he has a young team. “We have a bunch of guys that don’t have any varsity experience. This is totally different from when they wrestled on j-v so I have some work to do to try to get these guys up to varsity level.” Laster added he’s not giving up on this team, noting they’re just starting out. “I was really disappointed with our loss to Clay Center because out of the 14 matches I think we got pinned seven times. If they ( Blue Jays ) lost by regular points we would have ended up winning against Clay Center, but I told our team you can’t give up the big points.” Laster noted that’s exactly what happened in the Clay Center match.

In the Chapman match the Blue Jays were ahead by a substantial margin, but the Irish won the last three matches in the heavier weights to make it a close final score.

Junction City will compete in an invitational at Gardner – Edgerton on Saturday.

 

The Junction City Blue Jay wrestling team opens with a double dual at Chapman Thursday evening.

Junction City coach Bob Laster is working with a relatively young team this season. He’ll be watching for confidence. “As far as the confidence of my wrestlers, as far as where they’re at. Most of them have been wrestling for a long time, but they don’t have a lot of varsity experience. So that’s one of the things that I’m looking for, is how they respond.

In the first match of the night Chapman and Clay Center will wrestle at 5:30 p.m. Then the Blue Jays meet Clay Center, and in the final match Junction City and Chapman will wrestle.

Some of the Blue Jays on varsity will include Max Bazan, Hunter Bogenhagan, Kamari Smith, Demarcus Smith, Malik White, Jeffrey Walters, and eventually Aryus Jones. Jones is currently recovering from a football injury.

 

All activities in USD 475 are cancelled for this Monday.

Junction City High School Athletics Director Matt Westerhaus said Monday because no practices can be conducted today that JCHS will cancel the basketball scrimmages scheduled Tuesday night, and instead the teams will hold practices only. The scrimmages will not be rescheduled.

Junction City basketball teams host Salina Central Friday night.

Randall Zimmerman is the 2015 Coach of the Year, and Raye Wilson 2015 Offensive Player of the Year in the Centennial League. The Blue Jay coach and running back have received that All-League recognition.

The selections released on Monday include from Junction City:

1st Team:

–Backs, Raye Wilson

–Defensive Lineman, Darius Hicks, Willie Mabry, Stephon Starks

–Linebackers, Tim Bell

–Defensive backs, Aryus Jones

–Kicker, Wayne Shirley

2nd Team:

–Backs, Jovon Baldwin

–Center, David Graham

–Offensive Tackles, Zach Terry

–Linebackers, Terrell Wilson

–Defensive backs, Christien Ozores, Latrell Miller

Honorable Mention:

–Tight End, Xavier Cason

–Offensive Tackles, Cameron Strahley

–Linebackers, Trae McDaniel

The Blue Jays went 10-1 in 2015 and were Centennial League co-champions.

The Junction City Blue Jays celebrated a successful 10-1 football season Sunday night at the senior high school.

The occasion was the team’s postseason assembly in the Warren Settles Auditorium.

Blue Jay coach Randall Zimmerman called the season a lot of fun. “10-1 varsity, 6-3 freshman, 5-3 JV, very very,very  good year. I know it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt for a long time that we didn’t quite close the door and get all the way to the state championship ballgame but it wasn’t because of lack of effort, because of lack of character from you guys.”

This Blue Jay football team won the Sportsmanship Trophy that goes to the winner of the Junction City – Manhattan football game, claimed a share of a Centennial League co-championship, and claimed District and Regional titles.

A number of awards were presented during the assembly. They included:

–Ron Lowry Memorial Award to Baylor Wilkey and Rooster Adams as the most outstanding freshman players

–Malcolm Tibbets Award to the most inspirational player on the Blue Jay team. This year it went to Raye Wilson and Aryus Jones.

–Joseph Sinegal Award to the player who strives to improve each and every day as a player and a person. The winners was Christian Ozores.

–Al Simpler Memorial Award which goes to the player or players who unselfishly made a significant contribution to the team. The recipients this year were Trae McDaniel and Bradley Breckenridge.

–Elijah Carter / Salisbury Memorial Award to Braden Murry and Angeleau Scott. This award goes to the player who best portrays who Elijah was….a humble, hard working, honest compassional young man of high integrity.

–Black Lion Award to Tim Bell and Dylan Collette. It recognizes relentless, hard working, honest, selfless young men of high integrity.

–Offensive Player of the Year honors went to Jovon Baldwin, Raye Wilson, and Ryan Hennington.

–Defensive Player of the Year honors were presented to Christian Ozores and Terell Wilson.

–Special Teams Player of the Year to Wayne Shirley.

–Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year to John Clark.

–Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year to Kevin Murry and Marc Wells.

 

Approximately 50 wrestlers came out for the first day of Junction City Blue Jay wrestling practice on Monday.

Coach Bob Laster said on Monday he expected more athletes who were on the Blue Jay football team to come out as well.

“First day we just went over the basic things that the wrestlers need to know. We went over our different power positions, just going from neutral to top referee and bottom referee position, pretty much just worked on the basic themes today.”

The Blue Jays open their season December third with dual matches against Chapman and Clay Center.

Laster feels this is a young Blue Jay squad. “Yeah I would say we’re young.”He  added the Blue Jays have some things to do to prove themselves this year. “Yeah, we’re a young team. We did lose a lot of seniors from our last year’s team. ”

One returner Aryus Jones is recovering from a serious leg injury in football, but Laster feels it’s possible he could compete in wrestling sometime in January. Other returning wrestlers who have state tournament experience include Max Bazan, Hunter Bogenhagen, and Kamari Smith.

Derek Petty saw some positives during his first practice as head coach of the Junction City Lady Jay basketball team.

He was a little surprised. “We had more girls show up than expected, so that’s good thing. They all seem like they’ve done some work on basketball. Their skill is pretty decent. ”

Petty noted one girl made a left-hand layup during a scrimmage, which is something they worked on last summer. “Another group that scrimmaged, they got out there and picked up full court pressure defense and ran, just like we’re going to in a real game. ”

The Lady Jays open the season by hosting December 4th.

Approximately 80 players are trying out for a spot on the Junction City Blue Jay boys basketball team this week.

Coach Pat Battle has a number of returning players with experience at the guard positions such as Ricardo Ehrens, T. J. Poole, Reggie Topps, Jovan Baldwin, Tim Bell, Walter Wadford, and Lonnie Autry. “We’ve got a ton of two’s, three’s, the point guard situation will work itself out. They’re really good ball handlers. It might take some time there from a standpoint of decision making. But Christian Ozores is someone who could potentially fill that role.”

There is also competition at the front line spots. “It’s the most depth that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

The final roster will be pared down later this week. The Blue Jays will play their season opener when they host Salina Central on Friday, December 4th.

The Junction City Blue Jays ( 10-1 )  fell to the Derby Panthers ( 10-1 ) 46-27 in the Sectionals round of the Class 6A postseason playoffs at Al Simpler Stadium.

Derby scored on a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brady Rust with 10:36 remaining in the first quarter, and never trailed in the game. The Panthers were up 16-0 before Junction City scored on a 30-yard touchdown by Jovan Baldwin with 7:12 remaining in the second quarter.

But in the third quarter the Blue Jays countered with a 6-yard touchdown run by Raye Wilson, and 20-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Hennington to Wilson, sandwiched around a Derby touchdown. The Blue Jays trailed 23-20 late in the third quarter but never got closer. A Blue Jay drive got to the Derby 30-yard line but after a big loss on a high snap from center the Panthers stopped the Junction City effort. From that point on Derby outscored the Blue Jays 23-7.

It was a tough loss, but Junction City coach Randall Zimmerman said the season was a lot of fun. “Parents have raised some really, really good kids. They were a lot of fun, and I hope that they learned a little bit from us coaches because I sure learned a lot from them.”

Derby will advance to meet Lawrence Free State in the semfinals of the Class 6A playoffs next Friday.

PREP FOOTBALL
Class 6A State Tournament
Sectionals
Blue Valley Stillwell 42, Lawrence 17
Derby 46, Junction City 27
Lawrence Free State 52, Wichita Northwest 34
Olathe North 44, SM East 30
Class 5A State Tournament
Sectionals
Goddard-Eisenhower 16, Maize South 0
Mill Valley 56, Pittsburg 21
St. Thomas Aquinas 42, St. James Academy 7
Wichita Bishop Carroll 44, Wichita Heights 14
Class 4A Div-I State Tournament
Bi-District
Andover Central 35, Abilene 34
Bishop Miege 65, Paola 14
Eudora 47, Basehor-Linwood 28
Topeka Hayden 17, Buhler 14
Class 4A Div-II State Tournament
Sectionals
Andale 28, Hugoton 27, OT
Columbus 36, Santa Fe Trail 27
Holcomb 55, Wamego 14
Holton 22, Frontenac 7
Class 3A State Tournament
Sectionals
Halstead 44, Hoisington 8
Rossville 42, Pittsburg Colgan 32
Wellsville 31, Sabetha 14
8-Man, Division I State Tournament
Sub-state
Hanover 56, Burlingame 32
Spearville 68, Solomon 36
8-Man, Division II State Tournament
Sub-state
Attica/Argonia 52, Axtell 0
Victoria 40, Wallace County 8
Class 2-1A State Tournament
Sectionals
Olpe 26, Jackson Heights 6
Phillipsburg 26, Meade 21
Smith Center 42, Oakley 21
Troy 58, Lyndon 21