By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic and Cooper, the top two teams in the Northern Kentucky boys’ basketball coaches preseason poll, will play in two of the seven scrimmage games at Simon Kenton High School on Saturday with proceeds going to the Kelsey Ann Sorrell Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Sorrell, a graduate of Notre Dame Academy, died in an automobile accident in January of 2008. Her parents established a scholarship fund at the school in her honor. Donations will be taken at the door during Saturday’s scrimmage games that begin at 8 a.m. and continue through out the day.
CovCath was voted the area’s top team because the Colonels have four starters returning from last season’s 29-6 campaign. The veteran lineup includes senior guards C.J. Fredrick and Aiden Ruthsatz, 7-foot-1 senior center Jake Walters and senior forward A.J. Mayer, who is still playing football.
Cooper, the runner-up in last year’s state tournament, has three returning starters. One of them is senior guard Adam Kunkel, who was voted the top player in the coaches preseason poll. Last season, he averaged 16 points per game and shot 50 percent (216 of 432) from the field with 67 3-point goals.
The other top 10 teams in the coaches poll that will take the court on Saturday are No. 4 Newport Central Catholic, No. 5 Simon Kenton, No. 7 Dixie Heights and No.8 Scott, last year’s 10th Region champion.
A Northern Kentucky team will play an Ohio team in each of seven scrimmage games. The pairings and scheduled tip-off times are: St. Henry vs. Taylor, 8 a.m.; Walton-Verona vs. Cincinnati Country Day, 9:20 a.m.; Conner vs. Colerain, 10:40 a.m.; CovCath vs. Oak Hills, noon; Cooper vs. LaSalle, 1:20 p.m.; Simon Kenton vs. Roger Bacon, 2:40 p.m.; Scott vs. Western Brown, 4 p.m.; Dixie Heights vs. Harrison, 5:20 p.m.; NewCath vs. Mount Healthy, 6:40 p.m.
The Kentucky high school basketball season begins Monday, Nov. 27.
Local wrestlers land top spots in preseason weight class rankings
Northern Kentucky has the state’s top-ranked wrestler in three weight classes going into the 2017-18 season that begins next week.
Walton-Verona senior Ryan Moore, who won the 126-pound state title in last year’s state tournament, is ranked No. 1 at 132 pounds. One of his teammates, Mason Smith, is the top seed in the 170 weight class after finishing third at 160 last season.
Dixie Heights senior Karius Washington heads the list of leading contenders at 285 pounds. He competed in that weight class last season and lost a close match in the state championship finals.
Union County is the state’s top-ranked wrestling team. The top 10 list includes Walton-Verona at No. 4 and Ryle at No. 9. Ryle’s leading wrestlers are senior Aaron Brossart, the No. 3 seed at 126 pounds, and eighth-grader Noah Duke, the No. 2 seed at 152 pounds.
Ryle placekicker closing in on local record for career field goals
Ryle placekicker Mason Molique made four field goals this season to raise his career total to 22, one shy of the Northern Kentucky career record set by Dixie Heights graduate Mitchell Jeff.
Molique has been a very accurate kicker during his three-year varsity career, converting 96.7 percent (149 of 154) of his extra-point attempts and 78.5 percent (22 of 28) of his field goals attempts for a total of 215 points. During his freshman season, he made 11 consecutive field goals, which ranks second in the state record books.
At a kicking camp in Florida last summer, Molique was selected as a top 20 national prospect for the 2019 graduating class. He also won the Camp Champion Award at the University of Cincinnati special teams camp.
Tobergte among volleyball players named first-team all-state
St. Henry junior Maria Tobergte was named 9th Region Player of the Year by the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association. She was the leading hitter on the team that won the 9th Region championship and the All “A” Classic small-school state tournament.
Tobergte was also named first-team all-state along with Natalie Hardig of Notre Dame and Kelly Franxman of Scott. The local players named second-team all-state were Bridget Bessler of St. Henry, Morgan Kelly of Cooper, Julie Popova of Beechwood and Lainey Stephenson of Notre Dame.