By John Mesh
The player selection show for the Kansas Shrine Bowl football game is 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day) at www/kansasshrinebowl.com and https://www.youtube.com/live/dlvYdP7-4_8.
There will be 88 players (44 for the West squad and 44 for the East team) selected for the 52nd Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth.
Hutchinson High School head football coach Mike Vernon will be one of the West Team assistant coaches.
For tickets and information on additional events happening during the 52nd Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth in Dodge City the weekend of June 21, 2025, visit www.KansasShrineBowl.com.
To learn more about the selection process, visit www.KansasShrineBowl.com/SelectionProcess.
KWCA All-Class girls rankings released on Thursday
The Kansas Westling Coaches Association released its All-Class rankings on Thursday.
The All-Class Boys, 6A boys, 5A boys, 4A boys, 3-1A boys, 6A girls, 5A girls, 4A girls and 3-1A girls were released on Tuesday.
Haven High School senior Trista Rogers is ranked fourth at 155 pounds, Sterling freshman Jacynn Boeken is ranked eighth at 105 pounds and Halstead senior Kahlyn Davis is ranked ninth at 130 pounds.
Former Dodge City CC football quarterback Tommy Lazzaro killed in haunting accident
A former Dodge City Community College and Central Michigan University quarterback was killed in a Florida hunting accident last Sunday (Dec. 22), according to multiple online sources.
Tommy Lazzaro, 27, threw for more than 2,200 yards and led Dodge City to a 9-3 finish in 2015 before playing in 19 games in two seasons at CMU.
Dodge City defeated Hutchinson 27-14 on Sept. 26, 2015, in the fifth game of the season. Hutchinson finished 5-6 in 2015 and again in 2016 and those were the last two losing seasons for the Blue Dragons.
Lazzaro completed 15-of-20 passes for 202 yards, with the longest completion of 38 yards.
Lazzaro led Monument, Colo.’s Pine Creek High School to back-to-back Class 4A state championships in 2013 and 2014 before moving to Kansas.
Lazzaro also helped the Eagles to a 24-game winning streak and set school records with 3,340 passing yards and 37 touchdown passes.
Lazzaro started in five games at Division I CMU in 2018, throwing for a season-high 153 yards against Michigan State.
He saw limited time in 13 games in 2019, completing 4-of-8 passes for 47 yards and running the ball 36 times for 161 yards and eight touchdowns.
Lazzaro was also a United States Army veteran where he obtained the rank of sergeant. A Celebration of Life ceremony is planned for Saturday in Destin, Fla.
NCAA appeals Pavia injunction after Division I board grants waiver to former JUCO players
The NCAA appealed the preliminary injunction granted by a U.S. federal judge giving Diego Pavia another year of eligibility even as the organization’s Division I board of directors granted a waiver allowing athletes in a similar situation as the Vanderbilt quarterback to play in 2025-26.
When U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell issued the injunction Dec. 18, it was limited only to Pavia, arguing that he was likely to win on his argument that NCAA Division I eligibility rules discriminated against him under the Sherman Act over his two years at a junior college.