This is the second of three stories examining EHS athletes moving on to college sports.
Crediting their time in Eudora for their ability to move to the next level, four winter sports athletes will play at two local colleges next season.
A pair of cheerleaders will attend Baker University, where they hope to continue improving together. Heading to Ottawa University are a pair of athletes who both helped grow new programs in Eudora.
Jordan Dempsey, Wrestling, Ottawa University
It was a whirlwind of factors that led senior Jordan Dempsey to continue her wrestling career at Ottawa University, but all of them made her feel at home.
Dempsey said the combination of the campus, coaches and teammates, including a fellow Eudora alumna, all contributed to her choosing Ottawa. She knew she wanted to wrestle and stay close to home, and Ottawa offered her both of those and more.
“Being able to wrestle in college, I’m incredibly grateful for,” Dempsey said. “I think the experience is going to be great and I’m gonna remember it for the rest of my life. I’m just excited to do what I love for more years than most people are able to do.”
Dempsey will take a never-give-up attitude that she developed in Eudora with her. She said the family she built would make the goodbye hard.
“The sport itself is incredibly, like, physically, emotionally, mentally hard on you and your body,” she said, “But my coaches and my teammates, like, we got through it together.”
Dempsey said hopefully she will ride that competitiveness to the national stage. But for now, she’s focusing on the little things.
“As of right now, just like growing and learning a different style of wrestling,” she said. “I’m excited to learn more.”
Madison Karten, Powerlifting, Ottawa University
Madison Karten’s love for powerlifting started to blossom when she first asked head coach Scott Russell to start Eudora’s team. Now, a handful of state titles and records later, the senior is ready for the next step.
Karten will join the Ottawa University powerlifting team next year. Her connections with the university started when she reached out to the coach and expressed interest in joining the team. The coach soon after offered Karten a scholarship and it felt like the next step for her.
“After I received my scholarship and everything, I kind of realized, like, that this is what I wanted to do with the next four years of my life, what I want to be a part of,” Karten said.
Karten said she was impressed by the support the community in Ottawa shows, including a program that encourages athletes to attend other sports games at the university.
“Everybody’s just like a big family there,” she said. “And it’s like a really big community that everybody just supports everybody and wants to be there.”
Karten thanked Russell, the person who granted her wish for a powerlifting team and helped her grow over the last few years, for helping her reach this next stage.
I’m really excited just about the team and what I can do,” Karten said. “Their girls team just won nationals, and I’m really hoping I can be a part of that next year.”
Natalynn Tuckness, Cheer, Baker University
For Natalynn Tuckness’ cheer journey, everything started with her dad.
He’s the one who encouraged her to join cheer in the first place and steered her toward Baker University, where he attended. She said her dad, Tyler Tuckness, was always a person in her corner.
As soon as she visited Baker, Tuckenss said she fell in love with the school and community.
“The main thing that I love about here is the atmosphere,” she said. “You’ll meet some of the best people who are very driven.”
When her dad told her she should try cheer as she searched for a winter sport to try, Tuckness didn’t know how much the sport would become a crucial part of her life.
“I was a very bubbly person,” she said. “And I’ve just stuck with it all these years. And I just fell more and more in love with it.”
As she moves to the college cheer level, Tuckness said her goal is to get a little bit better every day.
“No matter what it is, you have a goal,” she said. “And you just want to reach it and you just have a passion behind it.”
Lealind Trigg, Cheer, Baker University
When Lealind Trigg saw her teammate Tuckness commit to Baker, it opened her eyes to the possibility of cheering at the college level. Now, she’ll head there with big goals in mind.
Trigg decided to reach out to the coach, who helped her realize she had a place at Baker.
“She just was very welcoming even though she didn’t know me at all,” Trigg said. “She was super sweet.”
One thing Trigg was looking for was a team that rebounded after defeat and held each other up in tough times. She said she saw that with Baker’s cheerleaders.
But looking forward to her new community hasn’t made Trigg forget the parts of Eudora that made it special for her, especially her coaches.
“My current coaches at Eudora, they are amazing and lovely,” she said. “And they just wanted to see me succeed.”
The Baker team talked to Trigg about the town, teachers and more, showing her how Baker could fit as her next home. It has her excited for what the next four years could hold.
“It’s kind of the same community aspect as Eudora,” she said. “Just everybody’s out walking their dogs and super happy, and there’s so many community events, and I just, I love that it’s almost the exact same feel as Eudora. That’s something that really drew me in.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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