Eureka defeats Marquette in Park/Rock Tournament, Sports Briefs

High school girls basketball

Eureka defeated Marquette 43-36 in the recent Park/Rock Tournament at Parkway South to win the championship.

Madison Taggert led Eureka with 13 points. Ainsley McCrimmon and Collin Patton each added eight  points.

Eureka finished with an 18-2 record.

“This was really a special group of girls to work with,” coach Zach Crow said. “I knew from watching and working with them this summer that they were going to be a talented team. I had extremely high expectations for the girls and they worked extremely hard to reach those expectations.

“The girls played for one another, they understood what it means to play as a team. Our success this season was a team effort. Finishing in first place in the Park/Rock Tournament playing a tough Marquette team was the perfect ending to a perfect season.”

 

High school boys wrestling

The Westminster Christian Academy Wildcats won the Metro League wrestling tournament and made it look easy.

The Wildcats won the wrestling meet by a whopping 91 points, finishing with 310 points.

MICDS came in second with 219 points. The other teams were Priory (205), Principia (166), John Burroughs (117) and Lutheran South (90).

Coach Tim Muethelsen said he thought his squad would perform well.

“I expected them to wrestle well,” Muethelsen said. “We wrestled at or above expectations in almost every weight class.”

The margin of victory was huge but Muethelsen said his Wildcats just got it done.

“The fact that every weight wrestled well was the reason the score was big,” Muethelsen said. “It really was a team effort.”

The Wildcats won seven weight classes. Joe Welker won at 113, Mike Nothum at 132, Will Egan at 145, Keegan Brown at 152, Michael Weston at 160, Bennett Lewis at 195 and Joe Isaacs at 285.

“They are being the wrestlers I see every day, and it is really showing on the mat,” Muethelsen said. “This is a confidence builder program. Our young kids know that we can wrestle at a good level and that I expect that.”

 

High school rowing

The St. Louis Rowing Club has two athletes who attend Ladue sign scholarships with Ivy League schools.

Isabella Benduski and BJ Francis signed letters of intent. Benduski will join SLRC alumni Laura Bleeke and Jon Young at Harvard. Francis will attend Princeton.

“I chose Harvard because of the feeling I felt on campus during my visit,” Benduski said. “The atmosphere was friendly and full of opportunity. The team and coaches, Liz O’Leary and Cory Bosworth, were welcoming, and I could see that they are all brilliant women who love rowing as much as I do.”

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If you’d like to learn to row, here’s an opportunity for high school athletes offered by the St. Louis Rowing Club.

There will be an introductory practice for new high school rowers and coxswains at the boathouse on Creve Coeur Lake on Sunday, Feb. 24 from 2-4 p.m. There is no charge to attend. Parents are welcome.

Athletes should wear clothes that are comfortable to exercise in and gym shoes.

For more information, call coach Tim Franck at (314) 489-2017 or email TimSLRC@hotmail.com.

High school boys basketball

The Parkway Central Colts recently stopped a state-record winning streak.

The Colts defeated Webster Groves 52-48. It was the first time in 12 years the Statesmen lost a Suburban South Conference game.

Helping Parkway Central pick up the victory was senior forward Andrew Chekadanov, a standout soccer player who led the Colts with 17 points. Junior center Nathan Biggs added 12 points and junior forward Connor Kraus chipped in 11 points.

 

High school girls volleyball

Westminster Christian Academy senior Erin Bognar was nominated as a top-60 finalist for the National Player of the Year award.

To be considered for this honor, a senior must make a significant impact on her high school team and the state. Bognar fit the bill.

Her statistics must be the best on her team for her position. Bognar helped lead the Westminster varsity girls volleyball team to the Missouri Class 3 state championship last fall. The Samford signee led Westminster in kills (310) and service receive attempts (329) and was tied for second in digs (206). She recorded a double-double in the team’s state finals sweep of Pleasant Hill.

 

High school baseball

The 26th annual Parkway South Baseball Clinic for elementary students will be held March 2 at the high school.

To register, go to parkwaysouthbaseball.com, call Dave McFarland at (314) 415-9715 or call Adam Stahl at (314) 415-9716. The clinics will be held in Gyms A, B and C.

The cost is $20 a person or $15 for a team of eight or more.

The session for grades one through five will be from 9-11 a.m. The session for grades six through eight runs from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Participants need to bring a baseball glove, a bat and indoor workout clothes.

The Parkway South coaching staff and varsity baseball players will serve as the instructors.

 

High school girls dance

Whitfield’s varsity dance team competed in the recent St. Charles Classic and placed first in Mix, second in Kick, and third in Pom.

Sophomore Alexis Anderson, junior Shelby Cook, sophomore Hunter Leake, and junior Sami Friedman also performed in the solo competition.

“I am very proud of the dancers’ hard work and determination,” said coach Leah Fiske. “The dancers gave three great performances after a challenging week.”

 

Signing Day

Whitfield senior Will Hahn has signed a national letter of intent to wrestle at Duke University. That makes him the second Warrior to sign with an ACC school. His teammate Chris Wilkes signed earlier to go to North Carolina State.

Hahn had a junior year that saw him win the district championship and then go on to win state at 152 pounds.

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Andrea Wheeler (volleyball) and Lauren Jin (tennis), both of Chesterfield, have signed letters of intent with Newman University and Truman State University, respectively. Wheeler is coached by Aaron Montgomery and Brittany Willett. Jin is coached by Huntley McNab. For more information about area athletes who signed letters of intent on Feb. 6, visit newsmagazinenetwork.com.