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WICHITA — Wichita North High School, on the east bank of the Arkansas River, provided the setting for a day of “firsts” for the TMP-Marian High School and Junior High chess teams. There was the individual first place of Japheth Briney as he collected a rare picket fence, the six “ones” indicating a perfect score six consecutive wins in the junior high section of the tournament.
Teammates Seth Perrett, Aakash Patel, and Ben Pfannenstiel contributed four, three, and three wins respectively to provide the team’s 16 point total, enough for a first place tiebreaker finish. Galesburg Middle School of Erie also put up 16 points, but had faced opponents with weaker scores and was assigned to second place. Lucas Kraus (1.5 points) and Hunter Flax (1.0 points) also participated in the 7 team, 48 player middle school section of the tournament.
On the high school side there were more “firsts.” Senior Patrick Kepka claimed the first place individual trophy with a five and one record. His score was matched by four others in the section including classmate Justyce Briney. Again using tiebreaks, Patrick and Justyce were assigned first and fifth places respectively in a field of 60 individual entrants. Ian Lenser (3.5 points, 10th place), Paul Brull (3.5 points, 19th place), and Ethan Rohr (3.0 points, 35th place) filled out the high school roster in the ten team high school section of the tournament.
The final “first” of the day, again on tiebreaks, was the first place high school team trophy which came home with the TMP-Marian team. The top four players for both the Monarchs and the Erie team had compiled a total of 17.5 points of a possible 24. Valley Center and host Wichita North placed third and fourth in the ten team section.
Four regular season tournaments remain on the Monarch schedule: Onaga on January 30, Concordia the following weekend, Pleasant Valley on February 20, and Hillsboro on March 5. The chess season will end with the state tournament at Lawrence on March 12.
Holy Family Holds on the Runner-Up Spot in K-5
Four 5th grade students from Holy Family also made the trip to compete in the K-5 division. The fifth grade team of regulars, Tate Dinkel, Braydon Binder, Jensen Brull, and Noah Bruggeman, meddled 18th, 13th, 10th, and 6th respectively in the K-5 Division. Binder, Bruggeman, and Brull each had four wins. Dinkel’s three wins brought the team total to 15 points, which was enough to hold off challenger Holy Cross of Wichita and claim the second place team trophy. Wichita’s St. Francis of Assisi’s nine talented team members won the K-5 division.
Holy Family second grader, Jenna Brull, represented the K-2 division and competed for individual honors. She ended the day with two wins and two draws for a 3-3 record and enough to take 10th place in the division.
The Wichita North Invitational had nearly 200 registrants across all four divisions. Hays Catholic Schools were well represented with medalists in all four divisions and team trophies in K-12, K-8, and K-5.
Click HERE for photos of the day’s action.