Local historian Chester Owens Jr. will be the guest speaker at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at the quarterly meeting of the Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum.
The meeting will be at the Wyandotte County Museum, 631 N. 126th, in the Wyandotte County Park, Bonner Springs. The entrance road is off 126th and State Avenue.
Owens will speak on the history of Sumner High School.
A graduate of Sumner High School, Owens was the first black person elected to the Kansas City, Kansas, City Council. Elected in 1983, he served two terms on the council.
Owens is a graduate of Pittsburg State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He retired in 1998 as president at H.W. Sewing and Co.
A shooting suspect was arrested at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday in Bonner Springs, according to a news release from the Bonner Springs Police Department.
Bonner Springs and Kansas City, Missouri, police officers worked together to find the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash on Jan. 8 in Kansas City, Missouri, according to a Bonner police spokesman.
The suspect also was wanted for a shooting that occurred in Kansas City, Kansas, the spokesman stated.
After the suspect was located in a residence in the 200 block of North Park Avenue, Bonner Springs, officers from Bonner Springs were able to talk the suspect into surrendering and exiting the home without incident, the Bonner Springs spokesman stated.
The suspect, Yucasante Oropeza, a 20-year-old, was taken into custody for the shooting and on other felony warrants, the spokesman stated, and was taken to the Wyandotte County Jail.
Bonner Springs sophomore Olivia Stean showed off her growing collection of state championship medals after winning the 170-pound championship at the KSHSAA 5A-6A girls’ wrestling tournament. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
Bonner Springs sophomore Olivia Stean took the top spot on the podium at the KSHSAA 5A-6A girls’ wrestling tournament Thursday, repeating her championship performance from a year ago.
She capped a group of four Wyandotte County medal winners from Bonner Springs, Harmon and Turner high schools.
The tournament took place Wednesday and Thursday at Hartman Arena in Park City.
Stean defeated Basehor-Linwood senior Mandy Wilson in the championship round of the 170-pound weight class. Familiar adversaries, they had already faced each other twice this season. Stean pinned Wilson just 49 seconds into the match to earn the win.
Forty-nine seconds was Stean’s longest match of the tournament. She blew through Wednesday’s preliminary rounds by pinning opponents in 15, 30 and 22 seconds.
Speaking after the tournament, she dedicated the performance to her friend, Hayleigh Wempe, a wrestler from Baldwin who took her own life last year.
“I’ve been thinking about her a lot,” Stean said. “I want to wrestle in her name. I want to win these titles for her because our goal was to win state together and now sadly that’s not going to happen.”
Stean finished the season undefeated with a 42-0 record, and she has her sights set beyond the Kansas state championship to becoming a finalist at the 16U national championships in Fargo, North Dakota, this summer.
Turner junior Arianna Ortiz earned state finalist honors in the 101-pound weight class, winning her way through the bracket with two falls and a major decision on Wednesday.
Ortiz faced Derby sophomore Amara Ehsa in Thursday’s final. Though Ortiz took control of the match early, Ehsa recovered and caught her momentarily off balance to make a pin and win the match.
Harmon freshman Kamahni Jackson earned sixth place in the 132-pound class. She won her first two matches Wednesday, pinning both opponents, but she lost in the semi-final to eventual champion Breanna Ridgeway of Great Bend.
Bonner Springs junior Jenna Knight won sixth place in the 120-pound class. She defeated Kaylynn Ottenschnieder of Spring Hill and Addison Otte of Hays in her first two rounds, but class winner Hannah Glynn of Blue Valley Southwest pinned her in the semi-final round.
The performances from Stean and Knight helped Bonner Springs place 15th in the team competition out of 58 schools at the tournament.
Bonner Springs sophomore Olivia Stean pointed skyward after her win over Kapaun Mount Carmel’s Gianna Redcorn in their quarterfinal match. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Turner junior Arianna Ortiz subdued Salina Central’s Haylie James in the quarterfinal round. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Harmon freshman Kamahni Jackson wrestled Kapaun Mount Carmel’s Aalyra Arguelles, winning by fall in the second period. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Bonner Springs junior Jenna Knight wrestled Hays’s Addison Otte in a quarterfinal match in the 120-pound weight class. Knight won by fall in the first round. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Turner junior Arianna Ortiz overpowered Garden City’s Anahi Cervantes and won by fall in the second round. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Bonner Springs sophomore Chloie Knapp wrestled Garden City’s Angel Serrano in the opening round of the tournament. Serrano won by fall in the third period. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Bonner Springs junior Olivia Stean rushed Spring Hill’s Lexi Suter for a quick win in the opening round. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Harmon junior Kamahni Jackson received her medal at the end of the two-day tournament. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Turner junior Arianna Ortiz wrestled Derby sophomore Amara Ehsa in the finals of the 101-pound weight class. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Sumner junior Alissa Harris wrestled Washburn Rural’s Alexis Fredrickson in the third round of the tournament. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Harmon freshman Kamahni Jackson was all smiles after a win. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Bonner Springs junior Jenna Knight wrestled Spring Hill’s Kaylynn Ottenschnieder in the opening round of the tournament, getting a pin in the first period. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
