Linemen Show Off Skills At Battle Of The Bigs

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eighty Kansas Big Men competed at Shawnee Heights High School on June 9.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Battle Of The Big Men Lineman Challenge can best be described as an Olympic Triathlon for Big Men. The event has been hosted by the Shawnee Heights coaching staff since 2017.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Linemen from nine different Kansas programs competed in nine different competitions geared to test athletic speed, strength, and agility.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I scouted the camp and appreciated the athletes who shared their information with me. Schools represented at the Lineman Challenge included Blue Valley, Blue Valley West, Eudora, Hayden, Highland Park, Royal Valley, Shawnee Heights, and Topeka West.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Each athlete could score a maximum of 30 points in each skill competition which included the Sled Push, Sled Pull, Scoop-N-Score, and Tire Flip, among others.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Individual awards and team awards were then handed out at the end of the night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at some of the top competitors at the event. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Maxx Sims</strong>, 6'3”, 250, Blue Valley, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top finisher at the Battle of The Bigs was Blue Valley's Sims. Sims heads into his senior season at Blue Valley and scored an impressive 207-point total out of a possible 270 points. He scored highest in the Weight Bench competition with a perfect score of 30. He completed a full 30 reps benching 185 lbs. He also scored high in the Sled Push and posted the highest score in the Medicine Ball Throw with 28 points. Sims' individual title also helped the Tigers win the team title which included points from top five point scorers from each school.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364957' first='Ben' last='McDavid'],</strong> 5'11”, 205, Blue Valley West, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seniors finished in the top four positions in the competition. Blue Valley West senior McDavid finished second overall scoring 195 points which tied the next featured athlete, but McDavid posted the highest individual competition score among the nine common events. He scored 27 points in the Tire Flip which was a timed event at how quickly a big man could flip a Tractor Tire three times. McDavid also posted a top-three time in the Obstacle Course. The Jaguars and McDavid finished second as a team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hendrix Hildebrand,</strong> 6'1”, 235, Blue Valley, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Valley's Hildebrand finished third with an overall score of 195 points. His best three events were Sled Push, Sled Pull, and Obstacle Course. He was also only one of four athletes to finish with at least 20 reps in the Bench Press competition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='570191' first='Lincoln' last='Stueve'], </strong>6'3”, 230, Blue Valley, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stueve finished with 193 points and in fourth place overall. His top event was the Sled Push where he scored 28 out of 30 points. He also collected 25 points in the Medicine Ball Throw and the Sled Pull.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1324151' first='Cage' last='Crabill'],</strong> 6'0”, 220, Eudora, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eudora's Crabill was the highest-finishing junior at the competition. He recorded a point total of 188 and finished in fifth place. His highest scoring mark was 27 points earned in the Sled Push. He also posted scores of 25 in the Pro-Agility, Obstacle Course, and Sled Pull.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hunter Diederich,</strong> 5'11”, 280, Hayden, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Diederich was the only member of the Hayden Wildcats to make it to the event. He finished with 186 points and tied for sixth. He scored 28 points in the Sled Pull and 27 points in the Sled Push. He finished second in the Bench Press event finished with 24 reps at 185 lbs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1402750' first='Chase' last='Blandi'],</strong> 6'2”, 240, Blue Valley, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blandi finished with 186 total points and was the second-highest finisher in the class of 2026. He scored 26 points in the Sled Push and with 25 points in the Sled Pull and Obstacle Course.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other noteworthy performances include: Royal Valley's <strong>Robert Griffith</strong> was one of only four athletes to bench 185 lbs. at least 20 times; Eudora's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1324159' first='Reilly' last='Neis']</strong> was one of only two athletes to score 28 points in the Sled Push; Shawnee Heights' <strong>Royce Daniel</strong> posted the fastest time in the Pro-Agility Drill; <strong>AJ Roach</strong> (Blue Valley West) posted the third best score in the Medicine Ball Throw; and Highland Park's <strong>Philiciono Rice</strong> posted the fastest time in the Forty.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->