Sports

Five Excelsior Springs varsity boys wrestlers were looking to be standing on the awards podium at state competition this week. At press time, Wyett Shipman, Cooper Collins, Micah Danner, Ryne Marcum and Hunter Scoma were competing in the Class 2 state tournament.

Varsity basketball season is over at Orrick in one way — and it continues in another. Orrick’s varsity girls basketball season ended Monday with a 38-30 loss to Norborne in Class 1 District 13 Tournament play at Norborne.

Like other larger schools in Missouri, Excelsior Springs is about to go into survive-and-advance mode for varsity boys basketball. The Tigers wrapped their regular season this week with two games – Tuesday at Smithville and Wednesday at home against Oak Grove.

Like their varsity boys basketball counterparts, the Excelsior Springs girls have wrapped their regular season and are readying for postseason play. The girls finished the regular season this week, facing Smithville Tuesday on the road in Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference-Blue Division action and Oak Grove Wednesday at Excelsior Springs.

An Excelsior Springs four-year letterwinner is heading to college to continue her softball career and education. Bailey Carder recently confirmed she’ll attend Kansas City, Kan., Community College (KCKCC), where she’ll pitch for the Blue Devils, who play in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and are affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Annalese Happy and Adrien Crawley have more matches to wrestle this season for Excelsior Springs. Happy, a first-year high schooler; and Crawley, a sophomore, will represent the Tigers at Class 1 state competition, scheduled for Feb.

Excelsior Springs looks to send some boys wrestlers to state competition again. The Tigers will pursue that goal this weekend, when they host the Class 2 District 4 Tournament.

Excelsior Springs ran into two hotshooting teams last week in varsity girls basketball. First, the Tigers met Kearney Feb.

The Excelsior Springs varsity boys hoopsters ran into teams with high-octane offenses last week, just as their varsity girls basketball counterparts did (see related story). Like the girls, the boys faced – and fell to – Kearney and then Raytown South in Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference-Blue Division play.

LATHROP – On Feb. 3, eight Excelsior Springs boys wrestlers who had battled injuries or illness this season opted to get in some mat time by competing at the Lathrop Invitational.