Congratulations to senior wrestler Nolan Thomley on winning the regional championship this past Saturday. After receiving a bye in the first round, Thomley quickly dispatched Osceola junior Tristan Campeau in his first match with a pin at the 44-second mark of the first period. Thomley followed with a 10-2 decision over Ethan Fischer of Somerset and defeated Taden Holldorf of Baldwin-Woodville 3-2 in the title match.  Ranked #7 by Wisconsin Grappler, Thomley brings an impressive overall record of 41-5 into this weekend’s sectional tournament in Tomahawk, Wis. Thomley will open Saturday’s tournament by taking on junior Candin Yeagar of Stanley-Boyd. 

The Prescott girls’ basketball team grabbed the #3 seed and will take on the winner of the game between the Barron Bears (15-7) and Spooner Rails (5-15). Baldwin-Woodville grabbed the top seed in the upper half of the sectional bracket. In the lower half of the sectional, undefeated and #6 ranked Elk Mound (22-0) nabbed the #1 seed and private school La Crosse Aquinas (19-3) received the #2 seed. The WIAA boys’ basketball brackets will be released this Sunday. 

Michigan Tech guard Isabella Lenz scored 15 and 17 points respectively as the Huskies defeated Purdue-Northwest 67-60 and University of Wisconsin-Parkside 74-68 last week. Lenz and the Huskies moved into fourth place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings. Lenz leads the team in scoring and assists and is shooting 89% from the freethrow lane. 

Prescott Cardinal senior pitcher Cullen Huppert is featured as a “Player to Watch” in the 2024 Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Yearbook. A second team all-conference performer, Huppert will attend Southwest State next year. The Altoona Railroaders are ranked #7 in the WBCA pre-season rankings. The WBCA Yearbook is one of the best baseball publications in the country featuring team profiles of over 400 Wisconsin high schools and every college baseball team in the state. 

Speaking of baseball, Dryden Seeley and the Hamline Piper baseball team open their season this weekend in Buena Vista, Iowa. Bemidji State outfielder Hunter Daymond and his teammates opened their season last week playing four games in Missouri. 

The UW-Stout women’s softball team has two 2022 Prescott graduates on their roster this spring.  -sophomore infielder Liz Rohl and freshman infielder Arianna Temmers will play this season for the Blue Devils. 

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Last week the DNR announced fire management crews are starting to perform prescribed burns on DNR properties throughout the state where local conditions can provide a safe and effective burn. DNR crews will be burning cattail marshes, wetlands, prairies and oak/pine barrens to clear the buildup of dead vegetation and to open waterways for waterfowl to feed and nest. By burning in winter, staff take advantage of wet conditions, which reduces the heat and intensity of cattail marsh and barren burns. Winter burns mark the beginning of the fire management season for DNR crews. Additional windows of opportunity for prescribed burning will continue through spring and open again in late summer and fall (mid-July through November). Prescribed burns support healthy ecosystems for an abundance of plants and animals in Wisconsin. Historically, periodic fire (either lightning or human-caused) would remove the dead vegetation while stimulating native plant growth. Marshes, wetlands and the native species that live there have adapted to periodic fire and even depend on it. 

A WBCA Survey of Wisconsin high school baseball coaches showed that 44% of head coaches were confronted once or twice by unhappy parents regarding their son’s playing time last season. Another 10% of head coaches said they were confronted by unhappy parents 3-5 times during the season. Another interesting fact is that 25% of head baseball coaches are in their first year. 

Once again sportsmanship and appropriate dugout behavior is a WIAA point of emphasis this spring in baseball. Look for those lip service pre-game, home plate discussions between coaches, umpires, and players at diamonds around the state. Another WIAA reminder is the appropriate use of eye black. Today, many players have used eye black as a form of face paint ala former NFL lineman Jon Randle. As University of Milwaukee Head Baseball Coach Shawn Wegner said during his WBCA Clinic presentation on Saturday, “Is there anything that screams ‘Look at me, look at me’ more than a kid using eye black to decorate their face.” With few exceptions, very few umpires make players remove the obnoxious decorative face dressings. 

Headshaker of the week: The Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association held its annual Hall of Fame Banquet last weekend. During the event a number of awards are given to players, coaches, and volunteers. Unbelievably there were eight state award winners, including one person who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, who did not attend the event. Yes, I understand conflicts do happen for a number of reasons. According to Hall of Fame Banquet Chairman Ron Kading, typically there are two or three people who are unable to attend the banquet. This year it was eight. All winners are notified during the week of Thanksgiving so there is ample time to plan ahead. According to Kading, those who chose not to attend gave little reason for their absence. Being recognized by a 600-member sports organization with a state award and choosing not to attend? Now that’s a headshaker.