WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A day after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a public health advisory for blue-green algae in Kansas lakes, a fisherman found hundreds of dead fish in Clearwater’s Chisholm Ridge ponds.

He said what he found surprised him.

“I was kind of in shock,” Ryder Frickey said. “It started out by I just saw one, and I looked more down the bank, and I just saw hundreds of them. Didn’t really know what to say or do.”

According to the KDHE, blooms of blue-green algae can impact how much oxygen is in the water, and low oxygen can result in fish mortality.

Walter Dodds, a professor of biology at Kansas State, said warm temperatures also help blue-green algae grow and spread.

“So, it’s just kind of a one-two whammy of making the algae grow more, but there’s less oxygen in the water,” Dodds said.

This is not uncommon. Dodds said several lakes in Kansas have routine blooms.

Although the cause of the spread is unclear, Dodds speculates that fertilizer runoff could be a factor, which helps algae grow.

“We did get those spring rains, pretty hard spring rains,” Dodds said. “And so, it’s possible that people fertilized and then just shot it all in there and just dumped a whole bunch of fertilizer into the system.”

Clearwater is cleaning up the fish in both ponds on Tuesday, but, for now, there is not much to do other than let the algae take its course and wait a couple of weeks.

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading back to Omaha for the College World Series for the first time since 2022 after OU swept Kansas in the super regionals. Oklahoma outscored the Jayhawks 21-3 in the two games that took three days to play due to a rain delay on Sunday.

The Sooners head to Omaha as one of the hottest teams in college baseball after knocking off Georgia Tech in the regionals and sweeping Kansas to punch their ticket to Omaha.

Oklahoma hit seven home runs in the two games against Kansas, and on Sunday and Monday, the Sooners pitching staff limited the Jayhawks lineup to just four runs.

The Sooners are one of five SEC teams heading to Omaha, joining Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, and Georgia. The Sooners will open College World Series play against Alabama on Saturday. But before we get to that, here’s how social media reacted to the Sooners series clinching win.

Collin Klein and the K-State coaching staff made a major statement on the recruiting trail over the weekend. Cooper Ohnmacht, a four-star recruit and the top-ranked player in Kansas in the 2027 recruiting class, committed to K-State on Sunday. The Wildcats defeated Penn State, Wisconsin and several other power four programs in securing the services of Ohnmacht.

The Great Bend, Kan., native is ranked as the No. 304 player nationally and the 10th-best athlete in the country in the 2027 class, according to the Rivals industry consensus rankings, which incorporates the evaluations of the three major recruiting services nationally. 

Ohnmacht is a big-time athlete who has excelled at both safety and wide receiver while also earning major accolades in track and field. The 6-0, 185-pounder, recorded 52 receptions for 755 yards as a junior to lead his team, which also featured national recruit in tight end Ian Premer, who has signed with Notre Dame. Ohnmacht, who is projected to play safety at K-State, had 57 tackles along with five interceptions during the 2025 season. 

Ohnmacht is also a two-time state champion in the triple jump in Class 5A. His triple jump of 48-3 as a sophomore was the best all-class jump during the 2025 track season by seven inches, according to Catch it Kansas. He placed 14th in the triple jump at the Nike Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in 2025. 

The commitment of Ohnmacht marks the third time the Wildcats have landed the state’s No. 1 recruit since 2023. Avery Johnson’s decision to sign with K-State in 2023 ended an 18-year drought of the top player in Kansas going elsewhere. Offensive tackle Gus Hawkins, a top-200 player nationally from Mill Valley in the 2024 class, made it back-to-back years the No. 1 player in the state elected to continue their career in Manhattan. The Wildcats landed another national recruit in 2025 when Linkon Cure, a top-50 recruit in the country, chose K-State over Oregon and others. However, the Goodland, Kan., native was the second-ranked player in the state behind Andrew Babalola, who signed with Michigan.

K-State also earned the commitment of Correll Buckhalter Jr. on Sunday. The Texas native is the son of former Nebraska running back and NFL veteran Correll Buckhalter. He is ranked as the No. 742 player nationally and a top 100 prospect in Texas for the 2027 class.

Klein and his staff have now secured 17 commitments in the 2027 class, which is ranked 40th nationally and fourth-best in the Big 12, per the Rivals industry consensus rankings.