Sports
Yes Kristen Nuss, Taryn Brasher are still playing post-Paris | LSU
Occasionally, someone from Taryn Brasher’s hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, or her high school will reach out to the former LSU and Olympic beach volleyball star and ask what she’s doing now that the Paris Games are more than a year in the rear-view mirror for her and teammate Kristen Nuss.
“They’re like, ‘So what are you going to do for four years?’” until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Brasher said. “I’m like, ‘We’re still playing.’
“It makes me angry that it’s not better known, but that’s up to us. We’re trying to make (the sport) more known.”
The former LSU duo has certainly been doing their part to promote the sport they love. And yes, for the record, they’re still playing professionally, and playing quite well.
In five top level international tournaments this year, Nuss and Brasher — or Team TKN as they’re also known — have two wins, a runner-up and a third-place finish. They also have two victories on the U.S.-based Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour, including one earlier this month in the AVP Manhattan Beach Open.
Manhattan Beach is like the Wimbledon of American beach volleyball. Nuss and Brasher repeated as champions there, something not done on the women’s side in nearly a decade.
“Winning it again was pretty crazy,” Nuss said.
Now they turn their attention to the AVP championship event, starting Friday in Chicago. After that, they plan on playing two events in Brazil that will get them over the threshold of having played in at least six international events to qualify them for the world championships in November in Adelaide, Australia. In between, they also head back to Southern California for another AVP event in September.
It’s been and continues to be an eventful time for these two dear friends, who live in the same apartment complex in Baton Rouge when they’re not touring the world playing their sport professionally.
Brasher, formerly Taryn Kloth, eloped in January to Miami with her husband Eric, picking the one month of the year when Team TKN is off from competing and the one sure-fire warm spot in the continental U.S.
Nuss will have a hometown wedding this coming January in New Orleans to Trey Cruz and will be Kristen Cruz.
“She is my maid of honor,” Nuss said of Brasher.
“Matron,” Brasher quickly said. “Matron of honor.”
Currently ranked No. 9 in the world, partly because they have played fewer tournaments than any other duo ranked in the top 32, Nuss and Brasher already have their eyes on the 2028 Olympics. As they came off the practice sand at Mango’s beach volleyball club in Baton Rouge, Brasher sported a hat with a logo on the side that says “LA to L.A.”
“That’s what we’re going with,” Nuss said. “Louisiana to Los Angeles.”
The two were the No. 2 seed in the Paris Olympics and went 3-0 in their four-team pool, but were knocked out in elimination play in the round of 16. The shock and disappointment of that result has hardly faded and drives them forward in the new Olympic cycle.
“I take it as a blessing and we’re getting back to doing what we love,” Nuss said. “But don’t get me wrong — there is still a bad taste in my mouth from the Olympics. Do we want to change that at LA in 2028? Absolutely.”
Over his first two campaigns, Caleb Smith has produced successful efforts in the heptathlon and decathlon events. He broke the school record in the heptathlon, posting his best total of 4,952 points to win the Middlebury Winter Classic. A few weeks later, Smith paced the event at the Division III New England Championships to earn all-region accolades and qualify for the NCAA Championships. He translated that success to the decathlon, winning the title at the Carla Coffey Invitational and Williams’ Farley Interregional Extravaganza. He garnered All-NESCAC accolades with a third-place showing in the high jump and claimed all-region honors in the decathlon.
Sam McGarrahan returns after a superb season in the field events. He qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the high jump, clearing the bar with the 18th-best height at 1.95 meters. McGarrahan topped the podium in the event during the Division III New England Championships, soaring to a school-record effort of 2.05 meters. He also set the program mark in the long jump, leaping 6.81 meters at Middlebury’s New England Small College Invitational. McGarrahan became the NESCAC Champion in school-record fashion in the high jump (2.00 meters) and recorded a third-place leap in the long jump. His high jump efforts outdoors earned him all-region honors.
For the first time since the 2018-2019 season, all three schools advanced past the Area round of the playoffs. Archer City and Holliday both were Regional Semifinalists, while Windthorst was a State Semifinalist for the fourth-straight season. With that success comes state recognition Holliday senior Jordan Peters closed out her final season as a Lady Eagle with an All-State honor from the Texa…
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Sports
Cedar Rapids wrestler chases her dream, from a volleyball player to a young star in the sport
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – When Maggie Peters is home, she’s locked in.
She lifts weights at a gym in her hometown of Cedar Rapids. But it’s not just for strength – it’s for safety.
“One things goes wrong, and you’ve got people’s lives in your hands,” she said. “I mean, you don’t want to drop somebody on their head.”
But more often than not, Peters is on the road. Her sport is professional wrestling.
She’s performed performed in front of thousands in arenas and on television. Her fights may be scripted, but her dream of reaching WWE is real.
Peters has a background in volleyball, playing at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy. But her dream has always been in the wrestling ring.
“I wanted to do it right when I started watching I wanna say I was eight or nine I would just go wrestle on my trampoline,” Peters said.
She went from the volleyball court at Mount Mercy to a wrestling school in Davenport.
“We would have a show on a Thursday night, so I would leave class early,” said Peters. “But at that point, I will say, my senior year was my worst year of school. Once I got the wrestling training done, I was like, ‘ooh, this is what I want to do.’”
In professional wrestling, the winner and loser are predetermined, unlike traditional sports.
“Pro wrestling, I will say, is like a dance,” Peters said.
But there’s nothing fake about the pain wrestlers endure, what they call “bumps.”
“Any time you get put down on the mat, you’re taking a bump. You’re hitting the top of your back,” Peters said. “Higher on your neck, sometimes, (is) not good.”
Maggie wrestles in independent shows across the Midwest under the ring name Maggie Lee. She also performs in front of thousands in TNA Wrestling as the villainous character “M By Elegance.”
“Yeah, I do like being the bad guy,” Peters said. “I’ve worked a mix of both the bad guy and the good guy on the independents. But everybody was like, ‘you look more like you as the bad guy.’ I was like, ‘gee, thanks,” Peters said.
TNA – Total Nonstop Action – is high-level televised professional wrestling, one step below WWE.
“I actually really love the whole TV aspect. It’s very organized. Being able to see myself on TV is really cool,” Peters laughed.
Maggie hopes a full-time contract with WWE is next. She’s banking on it, writing a card to her mother labeled “open when I’m in the WWE.”
“And it was one of many letters. I made them for her birthday,” Peters said.
When asked about the letter’s contents, Peters said she doesn’t remember what she wrote as a girl.
“I don’t even remember what’s in it, so I’m kind of like scared,” she said. “When she does open it, I feel like it’s going to be a big deal and I might get embarrassed.”
Sometimes she’s flying high, sometimes she’s taking bumps.
Either way, she’s racing towards her dream.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
OMAHA (KMTV) — She might have a new name, but Norah (Sis) Tebrake still brings the same infectious smile to the court.
The former CU volleyball star is now married to former Creighton baseball standout Dylan Tebrake.
“He’s always encouraging me and challenging me,” said Norah. “And I try to do the same for him. I think it’s such a cool dynamic.”
After spending her first pro season helping Orlando to a league title, Norah had now returned to Omaha to play for the Supernovas. But returning to her hometown actually did take some getting used to again.
“I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold,” Tebrake said. “But now coming back after spending just one winter away, I feel like I can’t handle the cold.”
Along with reuniting with some former Bluejays, Tebrake has also formed friendships with her former rivals and now current teammates, including ex-NU star Merritt Beason.
“She’s just so joyful and leads with so much grace and so much love,” said Beason. “You can see that in her play. She’s one of the best people that I’ve ever met and it’s been so fun getting to know her.”
“To have people that know just kind of what makes you tick and what you need on the court and off the court is super helpful,” Tebrake said. “Obviously we’re all learning that about each other but just to come in knowing that there’s people that already know that about me has been super comforting.”
The Novas host San Diego in the season opener on Thursday at 7 PM at CHI Health Center.
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After a strong 2024 fall season, high school girls volleyball on the South Shore had an even better one in 2025.
There were two local state-championship-winning teams on the court this year. Oliver Ames finished off the best season in program history by winning it’s first-ever Division 2 state title in it’s second ever appearance (which came last season). On the same day, East Bridgewater followed that up with a program-first of their own, winning it’s first-ever Division 4 state championship in it’s first appearance.
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