Varsity High School Sports

Oklahoma High School Sports News, Stats, Pictures, Videos and Information

Catching up with da local boys... June 30, 2009 | Comment on this article

By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com When Harrah wrestling coach Bryan Miller started to tell me about his fund-raising event more than a month ago, I was pretty excited. Not necessarily for the event but because of the names I was hearing. It was going to give me a chance to check in with some of the... Read More

Manship a cut above the rest... June 22, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Another Saturday, another trio of all-state softball games. This time it was the slowpitch variety at the OU softball complex. And once again, it was the Small East winning, followed by the Middle West and Large West coming out on top. Pretty conclusive where the power... Read More

West softball pitchers live up to billing... June 15, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Eerie feeling all day Saturday at the All-State fastpitch softball games at the University of Oklahoma Softball Complex. The ridiculously humid atmosphere had me fearing for the worst. Fortunately, none of the girls succumbed to the heat. However, a couple of umpires... Read More

Tennis conundrums... June 03, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Last year as a pre-emptive strike, I explained in-depth why I chose all six Bishop McGuinness girls on my All-City team. No such explanation this year as very confident/satisfied with the selections of Chris Haworth of Putnam North and Whitney Ritchie of McGuinness as... Read More

Slowpitch softball conundrums... June 03, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Couple of things stood out when making my selections for the All-City Slowpitch Softball team. Most notably, the first team is nine seniors and one junior. Don’t know why I thought that was so shocking, but I did. The teams that did well were senior-laden squads with... Read More

Young, Eagles soar at Big All-City... May 22, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again. The All-Star games are some of the more enjoyable moments with the high school kids. Everyone is so laid back and just having a good time. You get to see their real personalities come through. It was more of the... Read More

The modern Renaissance Men... May 20, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Tuesday’s story on “The Poetry Club” wasn’t my first effort with that same group of kids. But to me, it’s pretty amazing that it had been 18 months since this story where we introduced the poetry club. During that time, I’ve gotten to know a majority of... Read More

Final tennis rankings (boys and girls) May 19, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com The tennis season is over and so too is the speculation about all the rankings. Duncan coach Phil Barnes has passed along to me both the final boys and girls rankings as decided by the Oklahoma Tennis Coaches Association. Girls 1. Bishop McGuinness: No surprise here.... Read More

Cascia 'commands' the court again... May 18, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com I apologize to Class 4A on the boys side as the length of a couple of finals in both 6A and 5A didn’t allow me to watch one final from 4A. Cascia Hall is a beast, ’nuff said. Chase Tomlins earned his third state championship, this time at No. 1 singles. And while... Read More

Comets still scorchin'... May 18, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com When it came to Class 5A in the boys state tennis tournament, my only question like I said was whether or not Bishop Kelley would sweep in earning its third straight title. The Comets were denied at No. 2 singles by Jonathan Kraft of Bishop McGuinness, but that’s it.... Read More

Panthers make history... May 18, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Wow, was that Class 6A race at the boys state tennis tournament one of the more exciting things The Boneman has seen in a while. Seriously, I’m sad it’s all over now. Can’t get me enough of tennis. In the end, it was a “North” thing that led to Putnam North... Read More

Boys Tennis Preview (what to watch for) May 14, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Once again, we put our fate in the hands of Mother Nature and hope to conclude the boys state tennis tournament this weekend. We’ll see. It’s been an exciting season so far with several teams/players really stepping up. You can be the best all season, but this is the... Read More

McGuinness girls soccer closes terrific season May 14, 2009 Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Tulsa Metro Christian ended one of the most successful seasons in McGuinness girls soccer history. Coming off the Class 4A state championship they won last season, the Irish dominated the regular season. Ranked No. 1 throughout, McGuinness was 9-0 entering the playoffs, having... Read More

In case you missed it (softball)... May 13, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Mix in an early rain delay with some long games, and quickly an eight hour day turns into a 12-hour marathon at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. That was the story for me yesterday with the Class 6A-3A state slowpitch championships. By the time Muskogee, Bethel, Washington and... Read More

The Boneman Tennis Invitational... May 12, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com This will never happen, but it’s been itchin’ at me lately how some of the best tennis players are in the wrong class, and we don’t get to see the epic showdowns we deserve to see at the state tournament. Since I have so much “power,” I have devised my... Read More

Heritage Hall 'charges' back to the top May 11, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com 4A was a stroll in the park for Dick Villaflor and his Heritage Hall girls tennis squad. OK, it wasn’t that easy, but I think if Heritage would have lost a match that would have been even more shocking than if McGuinness had dropped a match. That’s how much better... Read More

Huskies reclaim 6A crown... May 11, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com You enter the state tournament with some pre-conceived notions. As much as you try not to, you just do. That was the case for me last weekend at the state tennis tournament. Everything I’ve read, everything I’ve heard had me pointing the Class 6A girls championship... Read More

Irish eyes still smilin'... May 11, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Don’t think there was ever a question about whether or not McGuinness could make it title No. 11 in a row. Absolutely loaded at each spot that it really wasn’t possible for another team to make a dent in 5A. However, there were some real tense moments in the... Read More

Girls Tennis Preview (what to watch for) May 07, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com Biggest thing to watch for is the weather. Here’s to hoping we get everything in this weekend. As much as I love tennis, it’s the first sport that has to be called off with even the smidgest amount of rain. Ever played on a slippery court? You like having healthy... Read More

The Connelly Family Tree... May 07, 2009 By Robert Przybylo BPrzybylo@opubco.com It’s finally state tournament weekend for tennis. Whoo hoo, didn’t think it would ever get here. Bishop McGuinness moved up from Class 4A to 5A, but it doesn’t seem to have posed any problems for the Irish, who are gunning for their 11th team title in a row. No... Read More

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The Varsity High School Bloggers

Ryan Aber

Reporter

Ryan Aber has worked for The Oklahoman since 2006, covering high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks, the Oklahoma City Barons and OU football recruiting. An Oklahoma City native, Aber graduated from Northeastern State. Before joining The Oklahoman, Aber worked for the Muskogee Phoenix, Southwest Times-Record in Fort Smith, Ark., and the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.

Jason Kersey

OU Sports Reporter

Jason Kersey became The Oklahoman's OU football beat writer in May 2012 after a year covering high school sports and OSU recruiting. Before joining the newspaper in November 2006 as a part-time results clerk, he covered high school football for the Newcastle Pacer. During his time with The Oklahoman, he has also coordinated Thunder coverage, worked on the copy desk and covered several NFL games, including Super Bowl XLV. A Noble High School and OU graduate, he lives in Norman.

Jacob Unruh

Copy Editor

Jacob Unruh is a graduate of Northeastern State University. He was born in Cherokee and raised near Vera where he attended Caney Valley High School.During his tenure at NSU, Unruh wrote for The Northeastern (NSU's student newspaper), the Tahlequah Daily Press and the Tulsa World. From there, Unruh spent three years at the Lawton Constitution covering prep sports and Oklahoma football before joining The Oklahoman sports staff.

Scott Wright

Reporter

A lifelong resident of the Oklahoma City metro area, Scott Wright has been on The Oklahoman staff since 2005, covering a little bit of everything on the state's sports scene.

He has been a beat writer for football and basketball at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, writing about athletes like Blake Griffin, Sam Bradford, Adrian Peterson, Dez Bryant and Brandon Pettigrew before they moved on to outstanding professional careers.

He also has covered small college athletics, minor league sports and NASCAR. Currently, he specializes in high school sports, football and basketball recruiting, and coverage of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.