By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Highlands wide receiver Alex Veneman, the leading pass receiver in Kentucky high school football last season, plans to join the Western Kentucky University team as a preferred walk-on.
“About two months ago they started recruiting me and said they had no scholarships to offer,” Veneman said. “But they really think I could come in and contend for a receiver spot and that intrigued me a lot.”
Last season, Veneman led the state in pass receptions (95) and receiving yards (1,595) playing wide receiver on the Highlands football team that won the Class 4A state championship. He also caught 22 touchdown passes for the Bluebirds.
He said the Western Kentucky coaches actually recruited him to play slot receiver, which usually lines up in the slot between the offensive line and wide receivers.
“They lost their top two guys at slot receiver so it’s probably the position where they have the least depth,” Veneman said. “I never played slot receiver before, but they said if I do end up contending for that position I could earn a scholarship as a freshman or a sophomore.”
Last season, Western Kentucky posted an 8-5 record competing in Conference USA and defeated Central Michigan, 49-48, in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. The Hilltoppers have most of their starters returning next season, including quarterback Brandon Doughty, who threw for 4,830 yards and 49 touchdowns.
Campbell County senior Austin Myers is five wins away from becoming Kentucky’s first four-time state wrestling champion to go undefeated through out his high school career.
Myers enters the state tournament this weekend with a 177-0 career record and three consecutive state titles in the 220-pound weight class. If he wins five matches in the 220 weight bracket this weekend, he’ll finish high school with a perfect record.
Meyers, a University of West Virginia recruit, is one of 10 Campbell County wrestlers who qualified to compete in the state tournament. If they all do well, the Camels could score enough points to win their fifth state championship under coach Mike Bankemper.
Wrestlers from 10 other Northern Kentucky high school teams also qualified to compete in the three-day state tournament that begins Thursday morning at Alltech Arena in the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington. The championship finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Bowlers from Boone County High School ended the season on a high note at the state tournament last weekend in Lexington with the girls’ team bringing home a runner-up trophy and the boys’ team making it to the semifinals.
The Boone County girls’ team won three matches in the single-elimination bracket before falling to Pleasure Ridge Park of Louisville in the championship match. The
Boone County boys’ team beat local rivals Campbell County and Simon Kenton before being eliminated by Lexington Henry Clay in the semifinals.
In the state singles tournaments, Taylor Evans of Boone County placed fifth in the girls’ competition and Andy Campbell of Highlands placed fifth in the boy’s competition.
Boone County school officials hope to have a new head football coach hired before the team’s spring practice begins in late April.
Marty Steele, the school’s athletic director, said the coaching vacancy has to be posted for 30 days before a new coach can be hired and that deadline will be the first week of March.
“Right now, the assistants are running the winter (weight training) program and all is going well,” Steele said in an email. “Our spring practice window begins on April 20 and that won’t change.”
Jeff Griffith resigned as Boone County’s head football coach with a 1-22 record in two seasons. He will be head coach at Barren County next season.
Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.