FHSU Sports Information
INDIANAPOLIS – Fort Hays State wrestling continues to share the No. 16 ranking as a team in the latest edition of the NCAA DII Wrestling Coaches Association Poll, released on Wednesday (Feb. 1). Tied with FHSU is Newberry, jumping two spots from its No. 18 spot in the prior poll.

In the individual rankings, 197-pound senior Jon Inman holds steady as the No. 2 wrestler in the nation, a spot he has held since January 4. Inman is the only Tiger to remain unbeaten this season sporting an 18-0 record.

Heavyweight wrestler Christian Lance also holds steady as the No. 9 wrestler in the nation. Lance has been a force for the Tigers as he leads the team in wins at 35-4 on the year.

A third Tiger holding steady in the rankings is 141-pounder Brandon Ball. Reaching as high as No. 7 in the nation this season, he holds on to the No. 10 spot for a second straight poll. The redshirt-freshman has put together an outstanding season currently at 27-4 in his first varsity campaign.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

Hays, Kan. – Fort Hays State was held to one field goal and was outscored 13-5 after taking a one-point lead with 6:04 to play and lost to Lindenwood 71-62 in front of 3,525 Saturday afternoon. The Lions (15-9, 5-7 MIAA), who shot 28-percent in the first half and trailed by three at halftime, scored 46 points in the second half to pick up their first ever win at Gross Coliseum.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers (11-8, 5-6 MIAA) were held to 39-percent shooting for the game and were outscored by 10 at the free throw line.

Rob Davis was held to a season-low seven points and hit his only 3-pointer with less than a minute to play. Hadley Gillum led FHSU with 17 points and seven rebounds. Trey O’Neil added 15.

Chandler Diekvoss scored 19 and Bakari Triggs, who had seven interceptions for the Lions football team this fall, added 16 along with nine rebounds.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Lindenwood scored the first 14 points of the fourth quarter to build a 16-point lead then held off the Fort Hays State women the rest of the way for a 76-70 win in front of 3,071 Saturday afternoon at Gross Coliseum. The win was the Lions first ever over the Tigers in six tries and snapped FHSU’s 25-game home court win streak.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Lady Lions (8-11, 4-8 MIAA) quick fourth quarter start broke open a tight game that saw them lead by two after each of the first three quarters. Each team’s largest lead up to that point had been five points.

The Tigers (15-5, 6-5 MIAA) held Lindenwood without a field goal over the final six and-a-half minutes but could only get as close as five in the final 10 seconds.

Jill Faxon came off the bench for the second straight game and led the Tigers with 13 points. Emma Stroyan recorded her first double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Carly Heim, who made her second straight start, added 11.

Lindenwood was led by freshman Lindsey Medlen and senior Alex Haley who both scored 16.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Softball has been picked ninth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Friday (Jan. 27). The Tigers are coming off a seventh place finish in the conference in 2016 and enter their third year under head coach Adrian Pilkington.

The Tigers are very young this year with just three seniors on the roster, which includes Kylie Strand, Claudia Vazquez and Ashley Beavers. Strand has the most experience of any player on the team at FHSU, now in her fourth year with the program. Vazquez and Beavers both transferred in last year. Nine of the 14 on the roster are newcomers this year, which includes seven freshmen and two junior transfers. Juniors Veronica Knittig and Carrie Clarke are the only other two with experience in an FHSU uniform beyond the three seniors.

Finding cohesiveness early in the season will be key to the team’s success with so many new faces. The Tigers are coming off a 21-30 season in 2016, which saw the team reach .500 just once early in the season at 6-6. Following that, the Tigers were never able to push their record north of the break-even mark, but they did finish the year strong by winning eight of their last 10 regular season games.

Fort Hays State lost its top seven hitters by batting average from last year, making Strand the top offensive returner. She hit .219 with four home runs, eight doubles, 25 RBI, and 20 runs scored. Vazquez was right behind in average at .212, adding five extra-base hits, 20 RBI, and 21 runs scored. Beavers was used mainly for defense and pinch running purposes in 2016.

Clarke is the only pitcher to return after going 5-11 with a 5.66 ERA in 118.2 innings pitched last year. Lexie Kimminau and Hailey Chapman are freshmen looking to make an immediate impact in the circle.

The Tigers open their season in Texas on Friday, February 10. They play five games at the West Texas Invitational in Canyon, Texas to kick off the season. They will be at home for the first time on February 22.

2017 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Central Oklahoma (12)           168
2. Missouri Western (2)              152
3. Pittsburg State                        151
4. Northwest Missouri                 128
5. Central Missouri                     105
6. Northeastern State                 101
7. Southwest Baptist                    90
8. Emporia State                          86
9. Fort Hays State                      75
10. Missouri Southern                  62
11. Washburn                              55
12. Nebraska-Kearney                 46
13. Lindenwood                           40
14. Lincoln                                  13

FHSU Sports Information

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

Hays, Kan. – Hadley Gillum hit two free throws with four seconds to play in overtime to break a 72-72 tie then O’Shai Clark missed a midcourt shot as time expired and Fort Hays State beat Lincoln 74-72 Thursday at Gross Coliseum.

The Blue Tigers (13-7, 6-5 MIAA) had a chance to win it in regulation but Anthony Virdure’s 3-point shot bounced off the back rim as time expired.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

Fort Hays State (11-7, 5-5 MIAA) led by as many as eight in the first and by five at halftime, but the Lincoln opened the second half with a 10-2 run and led by seven with 13 minutes to play. The Tigers responded with a 17-2 run to go up eight with 6:58 left but Lincoln answered with an 11-2 run  to take a 59-58 lead with 3:17 to play.

Rob Davis, who went 1-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first half and was held to five points, finished with a game-high 24. JaQuan Smith scored a season-high 17 along with 11 rebounds and Trey O’Neil added 11.

Anthony Virdure, who’s second in the MIAA in scoring, had 19 for Lincoln. Jaylon Smith, who’s third in the conference in scoring, added 16 along with 11 rebounds.

By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post

HAYS, Kan. – Tatyana Legette scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Fort Hays State women to an 81-68 win over Lincoln Thursday at Gross Coliseum. Emma Stroyan and Carly Heim added both scored 12 and Jill Faxon came off the bench to chip in 11 as the Tigers (15-4, 6-4 MIAA) end their second two-game losing streak of the season.

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers held Lincoln (3-15, 2-9 MIAA) scoreless for over six minutes in the first quarter, scoring 15 unanswered. They led by 17 at halftime and by as many as 21 late in the third before the Blue Tigers rallied to close the gap to 11 with 30 seconds to play.

Freshman Erica Gibbons scored 17 to lead Lincoln who has now lost 22 straight games against teams from Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Fort Hays State baseball team is ranked 12th in the 2017 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released Thursday by the conference office. The Tigers finished 10th in the league standings last year. The poll is voted on by every coach in the league, and coaches do not list their team on their ballot.

Fort Hays State picked up 36 points in the balloting process, eight points back of 11th-place Lindenwood. Defending champion Central Missouri tops the poll with 140 points and nine first-place votes. Emporia State is picked to finish second with 130 points and one first-place pick, while Missouri Western was listed atop a pair of ballots to rank third with 119 points. Washburn received the final top vote, but is ranked fifth with 100 points, one point behind fourth-place Missouri Southern.

The Tigers return nine players from last season, including a pair of All-Conference performers in Nick Hammecke and  Alex Weiss. Joining them on the roster will be five redshirts from last season and 20 newcomers.

The Tigers open the 2017 season next weekend in Alva, Okla. with a non-conference matchup with Northwest Missouri State on Friday, February 3. First pitch with the Bearcats is set for noon. FHSU will then play host Northwestern Oklahoma State twice, once Friday and again on Saturday (Feb. 4). Both games are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

2017 MIAA Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Central Missouri (9)	140
2. Emporia State (1)	130
3. Missouri Western (2)	119
4. Missouri Southern	101
5. Washburn (1)	100
6. Central Oklahoma	90
7. Northeastern State	75
8. Pittsburg State	53
9. Northwest Missouri	49
10. Nebraska-Kearney	46
11. Lindenwood	44
12. Fort Hays State	36
13. Southwest Baptist	31

FHSU Sports Information

WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State, ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II, improved to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA with a 26-15 victory over No. 22 Newman on Wednesday (Jan. 25). Newman dropped to 0-3 on the season and 0-3 in the MIAA as well.

Newman got off to an early 3-0 lead after the 125-pound bout. The No. 2 wrestler in the nation, Dustin Reed, rode an early 6-0 lead to a 9-2 decision over Conrad Cole. Caleb Furr then evened the score at 3-3 when he got the better of Cole Sutterfield in a 1-0 decision. The Tigers then took the lead 9-3 after the Jets were open at 141 pounds.

After a major decision given up by the Tigers at 149 pounds, 157-pounder Greg Tooley took to the mat looking to extend the lead once more. He did by picking up his ninth technical fall of the year by a score of 16-0, extending the Tiger lead to 14-7.

Newman cut into the lead once again as the No. 9 wrestler at 165 pounds, Colton Duhr, picked up a technical fall in the 165-pound match.

Newman regained the lead 15-14 after a decision at 174 pounds by Kyle Ryan over Micquille Robinson, leaving three matches to go. But the Tigers are strong in the heavier weights and Rakim Dean changed that at 184 thanks to his 16-0 technical fall over Noah Ornelas.

Leading 19-15 with two matches to go, the Tigers never looked back. At 197 pounds, No. 2 ranked Jon Inman defeated Dalton Weidl for the second time in four days with a 9-7 decision, extending the lead to 22-15 and sealing the victory for FHSU with a match to go. Ranked No. 9 at 285 pounds, Christian Lance finished the night with an 11-2 major decision over Thor Balavage, giving the Tigers an 11-point win.

The Tigers hit the mat again on Thursday (Feb. 2) when they host Central Missouri at Gross Memorial Coliseum for Senior Night. Wrestling is set to begin at 7 pm.

Fort Hays State 26, Newman 15
125: Dustin Reed (NEWM) over Conrad Cole (FHS) (Dec 9-2)
133: Kaleb Furr (FHS) over Cole Sutterfield (NEWM) (Dec 1-0)
141: Brandon Ball (FHS) wins by forfeit
149: Tyler Mies (NEWM) over William Homalon (FHS) (MD 16-7)
157: Greg Tooley (FHS) over Forlanda Parker (NEWM) (TF 16-0 2:26)
165: Colton Duhr (NEWM) over Kyler Mick (FHS) (TF 18-2 7:00)
174: Kyle Ryan (NEWM) over Micquille Robinson (FHS) (Dec 9-4)
184: Rakim Dean (FHS) over Noah Ornelas (NEWM) (TF 16-0 3:18)
197: Jon Inman (FHS) over Dalton Weidl (NEWM) (Dec 9-7)
285: Christian Lance (FHS) over Thor Balavage (NEWM) (MD 11-2)

FHSU Sports Informatoin

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State sprinter Dillando Allotey was named the MIAA Men’s Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday (Jan. 24) for his efforts at the Deloss Dodds Invitational, hosted by Kansas State University. Allotey joins Central Missouri pole vaulter Cole Phillips, the Field Athlete of the Week, for the weekly honor from the conference office.

Allotey gained a provisional mark in the 200 meters with a converted time of 21.47. He is now fourth on the national performance list in the event. He placed second in the race only to Terrell Smith of Kansas State, who ran the fifth-fastest time in NCAA Division I for the season.

FHSU Sports Information

FHSU Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State senior Jon Inman was named MIAA Co-Wrestler of the Week on Monday (Jan. 23) for his efforts this past week at the Kansas Cup. Inman went 3-0 on the way to his second straight individual title in the Kansas Cup. He shares the honor this week with Kevin Barrett of Nebraska-Kearney.

Inman, ranked No. 2 in the nation at 197 pounds, pinned all three of his opponents. He remained undefeated on the year, now 17-0. It was his first wrestling action since December 3. He defeated Chance Shull of Northwest Technical College in 2:13, then defeated Ethan Dean of Barton Community College in 1:40. In the finals, he defeated Dalton Weidl of Newman in a time of 3:35. Inman was one of four Tigers to claim individual titles, helping the team to its fourth consecutive Kansas Cup title.

Ranked fourth nationally at heavyweight, Barrett has now won six matches in a row after a 5-2 decision at Newman and a 1:06 fall of 2nd-ranked Caleb Cotter of UCO. Barrett, a 2012 All-American, is now 23-4 with 12 falls on the year.