My Favorite Stories of 2024

By: D. Scott Fritchen

First, from most recent, we begin with Kansas State's greatest comeback win in bowl history — the 44-41 victory over Rutgers in the Rate Bowl. Wow, what an unbelievable story that will go down in Wildcat lore. There simply was no quit in these Cats.

And really, that's what it's all about: No quit. All heart. It's the good stuff. And K-State is so fortunate.

Truthfully, there are so many favorite stories from 2024 that it becomes difficult to whittle down the list. But here's an attempt to find the most favorite stories of this past year.

I hope you enjoy reading them half as much as I enjoyed writing them.

I am eager to see what 2025 holds.

Editor's Note: Click on the title to read each story.

K-State Tallies Record-Breaking Comeback to Capture Rate Bowl Victory

Published: December 26, 2024

There was no quit in these Cats.

Kansas State saw Rutgers score its most points in a first half this season at the Rate Bowl on Thursday in Phoenix. The Scarlet Knights led by double digits most of the game and momentum appeared devastatingly on their side. In the third quarter, ESPN Analytics gave Rutgers a 95% chance of victory.

Then the Wildcats flipped the script.

K-State bounced back from a 34-17 deficit midway through the third quarter and used a bowl record-setting night from running back Dylan Edwards to pull off the greatest bowl comeback win in school history in a 44-41 victory, using proverbial home-run hitters in Chase Field to smack away any doubt and clawing to nine wins behind a group of coaches and players that simply wouldn't give up in their final meeting together.

Playing Free

Published: December 10, 2024

The announcement came with 1 minute, 48 seconds remaining in a game that had long become merely an exhibition, a showcase of the depth of talent and execution unleashed by Serena Sundell, a Kansas State senior, and perhaps the least talked-about dominant point guard in women's college basketball. Sundell high-fived head coach Jeff Mittie, the assistant coaches, and her cheering teammates as she made her way down the bench, and as the crowd at Bramlage Coliseum gave the Preseason All-Big 12 selection hearty ovation for her seemingly effortless display in a runaway 110-24 victory over USC Upstate.

The occasion? Sundell had recorded a triple-double.

"That's just fun basketball," Sundell said, seated in the postgame interview room following her historic performance. "That feeling you get when everything is going well is the reason you play. Everything was flowing."

Back Home Where It Belongs

Published: November 15, 2024

On a drizzly, cool Thursday morning of April 25, 2024, Bobby Sloan steered his black F-150 into the Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot in Wanamaker Square in Topeka, Kansas, and shut it off after stopping beside a white Ford Explorer. Out stepped a man in his 70s who Sloan had never seen in his life. Sloan, a 42-year-old marketing director at a bank in Manhattan, had labored for weeks for this grand moment. After introductions, Sloan said, "I was hoping this was real." The man laughed.

The man opened his rear driver's side door and pulled out a large piece of canvas bound in old twine. He untied the twine and unrolled the canvas to reveal what Sloan refers to as the "one of one." And there it was. The one-of-a-kind lost treasure. The gem went missing from the historic Ahearn Field House in April 1971, disappearing without a trace. Gone. Poof. And now, here it was, in plain sight. The man re-rolled the canvas, which remained in fair condition. Not bad, Sloan thought, for an item stashed away for 53 years.

Green Light Go

Published: November 11, 2024

One of the smoothest long-range shooters to step foot inside Bramlage Coliseum in three decades saunters down the wide tunnel to the basketball court shortly after 5:30 p.m. Saturday wearing a white No. 11 Kansas State jersey and his white socks. Indomitable Brendan Hausen, who performed his own dribbling and shooting warmup exercises two hours before tipoff, poured in a career-high 22 points and sank 6-of-9 3-point attempts while leading the Wildcats to a 77-64 win over Belmont, and nearly an hour after his performance he returns to the court, holding a protein drink, looking for someone to high-five or hug.

"I'm just a laid-back guy who loves to meet people and have fun," Hausen says. "This is home. I never want to leave this place. Great fishing. Great people. Great food. I'm in heaven."

People Will Remember

Published: October 28, 2024

Where does the baseball go? And where does it sail? And where does it fall, this imaginary baseball that Chris Tennant hits with his imaginary bat seconds after drilling a game-winning field goal at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. There's a boy. A ball. A dream. Except the boy is all grown up now. He's a 6-foot-5, 226-pound field goal machine from Shawnee, Kansas, a 21-year-old special teams leader for the Kansas State Wildcats, and he has just launched an imaginary baseball over the celebratory fireworks and high above the crowd of 52,074 cheering so loudly that it vibrates the metal railings in the stands. We can only assume his mighty right-handed swing was a grand slam blast, like in the World Series, where dreams also come true, but, alas, this is no dream, the imaginary baseball bat swing celebration by Tennant a mere sidebar to the biting reality that exists here in this moment, and that shouldn't be taken lightly.

There's 1 minute, 42 seconds left on the clock. It's the fourth quarter. Kansas leads No. 16 K-State, 27-26. It's just before 11:00 p.m. The game that has stretched more than 3 ½ hours has been an off-the-rails joyride of in-state passion, a Dillons Sunflower Showdown for the ages, so much pride, so many hoarse voices, so many songs by the K-State and KU marching bands, an array of hair-pulling moments awash in purple and white, blue and red, as school colors and visions begin to blur. When will it end? And how will it end? Yes, the game deserves a hero.

A Family Reunion On and Off the Court

Published: September 19, 2024

Jason Mansfield had an idea. The Mansfields had a single pair of old boxing gloves. Jason was 14 years old. Aaron was 8. Jason and Aaron agreed to fight. Jason took the right boxing glove. He gave Aaron the left glove. Jason whipped Aaron. It was big brother besting younger brother in their home in Sunnyvale, California.

"It was the maddest I've ever seen Aaron," Jason says.

Aaron tried to connect with his ungloved right fist. His wild swings proved unsuccessful.

"Yep, big brother gives little brother the left-handed glove and beats up on him a little bit," Aaron says, laughing, "which was probably deserved. It was actually a pretty good strategy by him."

There's No Place Else Like It

Published: September 12, 2024

Jordy Nelson was one of those little kids running around the grass hill on the northeast corner of KSU Stadium back in the 1990s. Yes, it was called KSU Stadium back then, back before it became known as Bill Snyder Family Stadium in 2005. Anyway, there was little Jordy playing on the grass hill. One game, he decided to leave the stadium at halftime and go to the eastside parking lot. Suddenly, the stadium erupted.

"It was one of my most memorable moments and not a good one," Nelson says. "Snuck out right before halftime and Martin Gramatica hit his record-setting 65-yard field goal. You knew immediately something special had happened."

'I'm Doing This For You'

(Published: August 12, 2024)

In less than 72 hours, Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso will be in the arms of Lilian Chinyere, his mother, who he hasn't seen the last two years of his life. He was born in Owerri, the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria. It is state's largest city with more than 1.4 million residents and consists of three local government areas. Mother raised five children in her home following her husband's death. She told her oldest son, Ugonna, "Someday you've got to be a man and in order to be a man it comes from your own." Ugonna became a man early. He had younger ones to help take care of. When it came time for Ugonna to seek his future in the United States, it was his mother who wrangled with all the paperwork to make a dream come true.

"I keep telling her I'm doing this for you," Ugonna says. "Every time I wake up, she's the one I think about before I start my day."

A Wildcat Wedding

Published: June 12, 2024

One day last September, before the leaves of autumn began to turn gold around the outdoor entertainment venue and accompanying vineyard nestled just outside of Wamego, Kansas, Ty Zentner stood waiting like a place-kicker eager to take the football field to win a ballgame. The former Kansas State standout had been in pressure situations before, yet none compared to the sweat that beaded across his brow, as he saw Emilee Ebert exit the building. She turned to find Zentner, who was waiting behind the door to surprise her.

"More nervous than any football play my entire life," Zentner says. "As she walked out of the door everything left my mind."

'We Plan On Getting There'

Published: June 10, 2024

Here he sits, Pete Hughes, upon a stage. Behind him is a blue backdrop that in white letters reads, "THE GREATEST SHOW ON DIRT." He sits upon a medal chair and at a table with the fancy black bunting and in front of a paper nameplate that says, "PETE HUGHES," and he grabs a Dasani water bottle and begins to twist it open before speaking into the microphone. He is still wearing his gameday attire — a purple long-sleeve Powercat top and purple ballcap with the trademark "KS." And alas, he is not in Kansas. He is currently on the second-floor ballroom of a red-brick manor with dark wood trim nestled behind Disharoon Park, where Hughes saw the Wildcats' incredible baseball season come to a heartbreaking end in a 10-4 loss to Virginia.

Virginia — not K-State — is going onto the College Baseball World Series in Omaha. The Wildcats fall two games to none in the Super Regional in Charlottesville, Virginia, which bustles with activity as the Cavaliers prepare for their third trip to Omaha in four years.

A couple times on stage, Hughes' throat tightens. He swallows hard.

Pop Warner Teammates Reuniting at K-State

Published: May 1, 2024

Breakfast was a make-your-own-omelet bar inside the home of Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman. It was omelets, fruit and assorted pastries for a gathering that featured Klieman and wife Rhonda, offensive coordinator Conor Riley, co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells, running backs coach Brian Anderson, along with other football staff members, and sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson. The guests of honor were the Edwards family, including sophomore running back Dylan Edwards.

Edwards, a native of Derby, Kansas, had spent the weekend visiting the K-State football program. He met with Klieman and his offensive staff. He spent time with Johnson, his longtime friend. Edwards sought a new college home after entering the transfer portal following one season at Colorado. K-State was on his list of potential schools.

As breakfast came and passed, Edwards, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound offensive threat, made a grand announcement to the gathering.

The Journey of a Coaching Legend

Published: May 20, 2024

He never planned to get into coaching. Cliff Rovelto, the Kansas State legend, and one of the most remarkable track and field coaches in the world, attended the University of Kansas as a political science major thinking he'd go to law school, and he took the LSAT, but ended up getting a degree in education in 1978. He taught history and civics. His favorite sport? Basketball. He served as assistant basketball coach at McLouth High School in Kansas, and they needed someone to coach track and field. And so began an unparalleled marriage between Rovelto and track and field, and cross country.

In two years, Rovelto coached six state champions, five state record-holders and one high school All-American.

What a journey it's been.

Living The Dream

Published: March 20, 2024

There's this boy. His name is Jeff. His father, Larry, is a terminal manager for a couple of truck lines. His mother, Joyce, is in real estate. A working-class family. Busy. Everybody doing stuff. Jeff is the oldest of three children. There's Mike and Nichole. All three are outstanding athletes. They all love sports. But maybe not as much as Jeff. There's a basketball goal upon a concrete slab behind their home in Blue Springs, Missouri. That's where the kids play. Jeff and several of his buddies. He's organizing games, picking teams, and putting the less-skilled guys on his squad. Why does he do that, you ask? He says, "Because I want to make it more competitive."

And there's this, a yearning, a calling that will follow him through life, which will cause him sleepless nights, and which will give him great joy. Is it a curse? Is it a dream? We'll go with dream for now. An unrealized dream. It's the 1980s. Things are different in the 1980s. Sports, including basketball, are different. Some kids dream of being Julius Erving or Larry Bird. Little does Jeff know, but he's in the infant stages of chasing a slightly different passion. So, it starts with this, a ball and a handful of buddies on the basketball court in the backyard. And there's Jeff, picking teams. He puts the less-talented guys on his team not so that the great light of hardwood heroism shines upon him.

No, Jeff picks the less-talented guys because of this: He believes that he can bring out the best in them.

A Night That No One Will Forget

Published: March 12, 2024)

They're brought together at this occasion because of their mutual passion for punching out opponents — Jacob Frost with his left arm; Jackson Wentworth with his right. They've seen players crumble. Heck, they saw many do so tonight, again and again, as wind blew in from 11 miles per hour from the north in 38-degree weather, as the Big 12 Conference flag behind the right-field wall flapped wildly in some instances, and as one by one, Cincinnati, in its first-ever game as a league member, strung together a series of zeros across the scoreboard at Tointon Family Stadium.

And about the stadium, yes, the stadium had never seen anything quite like this, the sportswriters had seen nothing like this, and Pete Hughes had seen it only twice in a head coaching career that spans nearly three decades, as Frost and Wentworth, leftie and righty, served up retirements and strikeouts like flapjacks, pausing only briefly to adjust their ballcaps. Frost & Wentworh. Sounds like a name of a business of importance. Well, Frost & Wentworth meant serious business as they combined for a piece of K-State history on Friday, March 8, 2024.

'There's Nothing Like This'

Published: February 6, 2024

Where were you at, say, Monday at 10:37 p.m.? Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang and his players will remember that moment for a while. That's when Tang, following the Wildcats' 75-70 overtime win against No. 4 Kansas, rushed into the stands and celebrated with the student section, bobbing, weaving, clapping and shaking, with a pair of signs that read "WE OWN THIS STATE" held by students above his head. That's when senior point guard Tylor Perry, then Cam Carter, and then Arthur Kaluma, joined their teammates in high-fiving fans. That's also when K-State basketball really felt like K-State basketball again. There was no court storming, because, as Carter puts it, "We're used to winning, we're used to this, and there's going to be a lot more." But the Sunflower Showdown victory, which snapped the Wildcats' four-game losing skid, ran deeper than no court storming.

Kansas State University Athletics

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