Winter sports such as Esports, indoor track, wrestling, bowling, and archery found success throughout the season. Esports made it to the playoffs, track had state qualifiers, a wrestler won regionals, and bowlers and archers place individually in state.
Rocket League reaches final eight
Esports head coach Derek Vaske brought the Esports Rocket League team to the furthest they’ve been in school history. Out of the 32 high schools that qualified in the state, they reached the final eight.
The Rocket League team consists of senior Matthew McGahee, and juniors Will Burns junior Riley Parnell with senior Robert Bodenbender as their bench player.
Vaske described them as “dedicated” and “a good group of kids.”
“It means a lot to play for something bigger than just a rank or for fun,” said Parnell. “(It) brings a whole new energy and meaning to the game.”
Boone beat Caverna High School in the first round winning 4-0. They then were brought to round two on Apr 22, 2025, winning match two against Casey County 4-2.
They were neck and neck against Collins High School until the end, taking a loss of 3-4.
Making it to the playoffs is an achievement, but it means something different to everyone.
“It feels great, proving that we’re a top team in the state,” McGahee said.
On April 24, 2025, the team played in the “elite eight”, but were brought to a loss against Collins. The team lost 3-4, closing the season.
Freshman places at state
Freshman Jayden Pointer won the 285 pound weight class at the KHSAA Region Five championship, leading him to become the school’s first regional champion since 2016.
Pointer qualified for state two years in a row, finishing fifth this year, and becoming the first Boone County Rebel to reach the podium since 2012.
Senior Gio Moreno, freshman Cole Young, and senior Alijon Suhrob also qualified for state.
Moreno is in weight class 215 lb and placed second, Young is 113 lb placing second and Suhrob in 190 lb placing fourth in the regional championship.
“I’m really proud of Alijon Suhrob… It was really a long shot for him to qualify,” head coach Joseph Gormally said.
Indoor track has state qualifiers
Despite having no track to practice on, the indoor track team still had members successfully make it to state competition. Both the boys and girls team had a runner place in the 55-meter hurdles.
Jocelyn Haney ran the 55-meter-hurdles on the girls team and placed 11th in state. Ibrahim Ngam also ran the 55-meter-hurdles on the boys team and placed 18th in state.
According to girls indoor head track coach Cliff Riley this is the first time since 2014 that they’ve made it to state with a distance run higher than 400m dash. Riley also stated it to be “refreshing” to see the girls make it to state with a distance run in the 4x800m relay team.
Riley said he never had any doubts in any of the runners; he always encourages his players, but the motivation is all theirs.
Boys track head coach Brian Soules says the thing that sticks out to him the most is when players set a personal record.
“Their eyes light up and you can see/feel the pride they have for their accomplishment,” Soules said.
Ngam, however, talked about his growth despite not achieving a podium finish. He says he showed just how much dedication and hard work he put into track throughout the entire season.
He also said that being surrounded by talented athletes in his environment stood out the most and reminded him why he loves track.
Ngam said the “competition was tough” but it only pushed everyone to strive for a greater desire of success.
Bowlers and archers reach state
Junior bowler Maddox Kuryla won the regional single championship this season and was named Northern Kentucky Athletic Outstanding Boys Bowler for the second consecutive season. Kuryla was named to the all tournament team after he finished second following the seed round.
The girls bowling team also qualified for state after they finished as runner up in the regional competition.
Junior archer Logan Hammer placed second in regionals and qualified for state. He scored a 287 at regionals.
Hammer scored a 274 in the state tournament.
