Sports Section — Barron News-Shield — Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Sports Peltier wins state berth in thrilling 14-13 decision Barron senior Chase Peltier, who a good chance that the loser of the Stephens said. “Chase had a lead won his 100th career match while ad- Peltier/Friemoth bout wouldn’t get a at the end of the  rst period. In the vancing through the Feb. 15 region- chance to wrestle again. second, Jaden came back with a ven- al,  nished third in the 160-pound “Chase and Friemoth had wrestled geance and had Chase on his back. I bracket at the Div. 2 WIAA Osceola at the Badger (in December),” Ste- don’t know how Chase got out, but Sectional held Saturday, Feb. 22, en- phens said. “It was close then, as it he did, and just like that, it was 5-4. suring that he’ll close out his high was on Saturday. Tommy is a strong, This back and forth went the rest of school wrestling career at the state young wrestler. Chase had his hands the match tournament. full, but he won the match by the “With less than a minute in the The highlight of the day was a score 9-5. match, Chase was behind by three thrilling 14-13 decision won over “In the semi nals Chase went points and made a comeback. With Jaden Anderson of Gale-Ettrick- against Devin Wasley. With a 42-1 less than 10 seconds left, Chase took Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro for a record, it was going to be a tough the lead, 14-13, and had to hold An- berth into the state tourney. road. It was close after the  rst period derson down for two seconds. That Peltier, now 34-9 on the season, but opened up in the second period. was a long two seconds; this was will next wrestle Thursday evening In the third period, Chase mounted some match.” in the preliminary round of the WIAA a comeback. He got one takedown With a ticket to the state tourna- Individual Wrestling State Tourna- and was working on more. He cut ment already in hand, Peltier got a ment against 48-3 Prairie du Chien the lead to 11-7 and then gave up a chance to wrestle back for second senior Traeton Saint. The winner will takedown late to lose 13-7. This gave place against 25-6 senior Preston Po- go on to face 37-1 senior Adam Kil- Chase some con dence for the rest of taczek of Stanley-Boyd/Owen-With- gas of Little Chute in the Friday quar- the day.” ee. Potaczek had lost the sectional ter nals, while the loser will have his After losing to Wasley – who went title match to Wasley by a technical season end. on to win the sectional title in relative fall. Peltier had his work cut out at ease – Peltier needed to win his next “Chase took an early lead with a Osceola in order to earn his way to two matches to earn a state tourna- takedown, but Preston reached back Madison’s Kohl Center  oor. ment berth. for a head lock,” Stephens said. “The Osceola Sectional was a “In the consultation semi nals, “Chase tried to roll through and it did day full of work for Chase,” Barron Chase won a 9-4 match over Eli not work.” Jim Bell photo coach Darryl Stephens said. “Every Rohl from Ellsworth (13-23). Chase Peltier was pinned in 1:15, but Nail-biter match was a battle that could’ve gone had some nice takedowns to win the Barron senior Chase Peltier went toe-to-toe with Jaden Anderson of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro in (See Peltier page 3) the 160-pound third place match at the Div. 2 Osceola Sectional. Peltier pulled out a 14-13 decision to claim a spot in either way.” match, and get in position for a third this week’s state wrestling tournament. Peltier  rst wrestled Tommy place match and a berth to state.” Friemoth of Neillsville, a 27-12 ju- Up next was the big showdown nior. With Devin Wasley, a 42-1 with Jaden Anderson, a 37-13 senior. sophomore from St. Croix Central “This match that had a lot of turns lurking in the next round, there was and it was stressful as all get-out,” Gerber wrestles to sectional title! Cameron sophomore Tanner Ger- ber will be one of just 20 former state champions to take part in the 77th annual WIAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament this week in SPORTS SCENE Madison. Gerber is part of that select group By Mark Bell after yet another superb weekend of It’s not often that the sports world is focused on hockey, but that hap- wrestling led to a 113-pound champi- pened after 43-year-old David Ayres made his NHL goaltending debut. This onship Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Div. happens every so often. There is an emergency goalie at every NHL game, 3 Edgar Sectional. although he’s usually a bit younger. He’s there in case either team has both Gerber, who is now 45-1 on of their goalies exit the game. These backups aren’t exactly beer league his sophomore season, won the slouches. In Ayres case, he has worked as a practice goalie for the Toronto 106-pound, Div. 3 state title last year. Maple Leafs and their AHL af liate, the Toronto Marlies. To make this sto- Unlike last season, when he  n- ry all the better, Ayres works as a Zamboni driver for the Marlies. ished second at the local sectional Fast-forward to Saturday night, when both of the Carolina Hurricanes’ and then faced the state’s top-ranked goalies went down to injury. Ayres left his spot in the stands after the  rst wrestler in the state  nals, Gerber injury and began putting on his pads. He was shocked after Carolina’s sec- will have a target on his back at the ond goaltender was hurt in a collision at the net. Ayres was pressed into ser- 2020 state meet. He enters the three- vice, and after allowing goals on the  rst two shots he faced, he stopped the day tournament as the state’s top- last eight and was perfect in the third period of Carolina’s 6-3 victory. Other ranked Div. 3, 113-pound grappler. than a lifetime memory, a celebratory beer shower by his new Carolina Gerber’s sectional title gives him teammates and a standing ovation from the Toronto crowd – even though he a bye through Thursday night’s (Feb. beat the hometown club, Ayre’s pay consisted of $500 and the game jersey 27) preliminary round at Madison’s he wore. If only professional sports could always be so pure. Kohl Center. He’ll wrestle a quar- ************************** ter nal match at approximately Boxing was the other big story on Saturday. For those of us who never got 11:15 a.m. Friday against Jayden too interested in mixed martial arts and grew up at a time when boxing was Glasbrenner of Fennimore (34-10) or still considered a major sport in this country, we’ve longed for a big time Tanner Birenbaum of Random Lake heavyweight feud that could bring some juice (and hopefully, credibility) (26-12). back to the sport. We seemed to get that with Saturday’s title bout between At Edger, Gerber used a second England’s Tyson Fury and Alabama native Deontay Wilder. The two fought round pin, a clean 5-0 victory and in 2018, but after a split draw, both came into last week’s Las Vegas pay- then an impressive technical fall Jacob Maes Photography per-view showdown undefeated. I didn’t pony up to watch the  ght, but to win his  rst sectional title. His Championship bout rout news stories that followed explained that Wilder lost his legs early in the  rst match was a 2:28 pin of Wyatt Cameron sophomore Tanner Gerber rolled over Clear Lake’s Dominic Leintz during a dominating 21-6 technical fall win in the 113-pound championship bout Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Div. 3 Edgar Sectional. Pictured in the background match – long before his corner threw in towel during the seventh round. (See Gerber page 3) Losing your legs is crippling for any  ghter, but even more so for a  ghter is the Cameron coaching staff, including Tanner’s father, David Gerber (left). like Wilder, who is known as the best power puncher in the sport. He almost never wins by decision (41 of his 42 wins came by knockout). Fury, meanwhile, has a redemption story worthy of a movie. He had early boxing titles stripped due to a number of reasons, including depression, drug use and a drinking problem – 20 pints a day, four of  ve days a week Bears run to fourth place  nish – that saw him gain an incredible amount of weight. He also created PR Barron’s girls fell at Northwest- points. Several seniors played extra problems with his mouth but managed to rebound from his demons. ern to the Heart O’North basketball minutes in front of a cheering bench After Fury dismantled Wilder on Saturday, a rematch was in the works champions but bounced back for a of underclassmen. just days later. Then came news of why, supposedly, Wilder’s legs left him convincing Senior Night victory over “I was happy with our efforts,” early in his loss. He wore a costume to the ring that weighed in the neighbor- Cumberland to close out the regular Hover said. “It was a nice team win hood of 40 pounds and included a mask that probably restricted the amount season. to lead us into the playoffs.” of oxygen in his system. Wilder wore the costume for the walk to the ring, The Golden Bears are on a nice Maisen Gores led the Beavers with climb into the ring, introductions, etc. – the whole episode lasted nearly run, winning  ve out of their last six 14 points, with Mecina Garibaldi 15 minutes. The costume was complete with a crown and battery-powered games. That streak pushed the team’s adding 11. lights, and the added load strained Wilder’s legs. It made Fury’s ring en- overall record to 11-11 and 9-7 in trance pale in comparison. Known as the “Gypsy King,” Fury was carried the  nal HO’N standings, good for to the mat on a throne. Why do we have to turn sports into carnival acts? fourth place in the nine-team league. The level of stupidity behind Wilder’s costume is beyond imagination. The WIAA tournament begins this WIAA Update Somebody is about to lose a job, if they haven’t already. So much for box- Girls basketball playoffs began week. Barron was seeded fourth in Tuesday night, Feb. 25, with regional ing making a legitimate return to our country’s sports psyche. an 11-team half sectional bracket, ************************** semi nals set for this Friday, Feb. 28, and after a  rst round bye, will host and regional title games the next night. A few months ago, it looked like Wisconsin’s men’s basketball season  fth-seeded Amery (16-6) this Fri- might be a total loss. A month ago, the news looked even worse. However, Local results and future pairings are day, Feb. 28. The winner will play listed below. instead of buckling, the Badgers have grinded their way to 10-6 Big Ten for a regional championship the next Division 3 record, good for a  ve-way, second place tie in a tough conference. Four night, likely at top-seeded and state- Baldwin-Woodville beat Osceola of those second place teams are ranked. Several, in addition to  rst place ranked St. Croix Falls (21-1). 58-41 and will play Friday at St. Croix Maryland (ranked ninth), have lost to UW. Wisconsin is far from perfect, Northwestern 61, Barron 35 Falls. but the Badgers are in a far better place than they were not long ago – and Playing the Tigers (15-1, 19-3 Barron will host Amery Friday after with just four winnable games remaining on the regular season schedule. A HON) at Maple on Tuesday, Feb. 18, both teams enjoyed a  rst round bye. lot of that credit goes to coach Greg Gard, who folks (myself included) were the Bears fell behind 37-17 by half- Somerset beat Spooner 62-25 and questioning mightily midway through the season. time of a 61-35 loss. will play Friday at Bloomer. ************************** St. Croix Central upset Hayward “We struggled to score,” coach 35-29 and will travel north again Fri- The NFL Draft is approaching (April 23-25) and can’t get here fast Brittni Hover said. “Northwestern is enough. The draft is entertaining, but the constant mock drafts and news day, this time to Northwestern. a great team. They pressed us and we Division 4 tidbits always get blown way out of proportion. The big headline yesterday struggled to get the ball up the  oor. Shell Lake defeated Glenwood City was that national champion quarterback Joe Burrow – who will undoubt- We also struggled to get out on their 61-51 and will play at Colfax Friday. edly be the  rst overall pick anyway – has hands that only measure nine shooters.” Cameron blew out Chequamegon inches. That was a major topic on several national syndicated shows. Pre- Gracie Smith, a junior, led Bar- 65-22 will next play at Phillips on Fri- pare for crazier news to be treated as serious over the next two months. ron’s offense with eight points. Nine day in a regional semi nal. ************************** Tigers made the scoring column, led Chetek-Weyerhaeuser upset Grants- Congratulations to Barron’s Chase Peltier and Tanner Gerber of Cameron, by Karsyn Jones’ four treys and 18 burg 48-45 and next visits Ladysmith. who will both be wrestling at the state meet in Madison this week. Gerber, Boyceville edged Cumberland 64- points. 58 and will travel to Unity on Friday. a sophomore, is going to for his second state title. One of the WIAA’s better Barron 54, Cumberland 31 endeavors, every high school sports fan should attend at least one Saturday Division 5 Cumberland’s Beavers (4-17, Northwood beat Washburn 64-13 night championship round of the individual state wrestling tournament. The 3-13) were in town Friday night and atmosphere is great for the entire tournament, and the thousands of fans are and will next host Mellen, a 68-64 the Bears had little trouble while re- winner over Webster. well aware when a wrestler is vying for a major accomplishment. Arrow- cording a 23-point victory. Clear Lake beat Cornell 70-19 and head senior Keegan O’Toole will attempt to become the 18th wrestler to Jada Brunkow, a junior, scored 10 will next host Owen-Withee, a 54-40 win four WIAA state titles in a high school career. Most every eyeball in the of her 13 points as Barron built a 30- winner over Bruce. Kohl Center will be on O’Toole every time he takes the mat this weekend. 10 halftime lead. Sophomore Macey Clayton’s season ended with a 65- March Madness will get an early start this week, as the girls basketball Herrman added 12 points to the win- 23 loss at Gilman. tournament started Tuesday. It’s an exciting time of year, where memories ning effort. Greenwood won 67-55 at Flambeau Mark Bell photo and heartbreak are created on a near nightly basis. The boys tournament Cumberland mounted a small ral- and will travel to Prairie Farm on Fri- Senior memories kicks off next week. Get to a gym and support a local team before another day. The Panthers cruised past Turtle Barron senior Tiana Dwyer drove to the hoop during the Golden Bears’ regular ly in the second half, but the Bears Lake, 75-32, on Tuesday night. season  nale against Cumberland Friday night, Feb. 21. Dwyer scored two sports season becomes history. quickly pushed their lead back to 20 points in a 54-31 Senior Night victory. 2B — Barron News-Shield — Wed., February 26, 2020 www.news-shield.com Bears play better in loss to Tigers After a pair of home losses last In the end, the visitors had a 33-32 week, Barron’s boys basketball team edge over the  nal 18 minutes. Fresh- will try to get on track in its regu- man Caiden LaLiberty drained three lar season  nale at Cumberland this treys, while his junior brother, Carter, Thursday night, Feb. 27. raised his  nal point total to 22. The Golden Bears fell 63-48 to St. Mathew Dye and Kullan Parks Croix Falls and showed improvement scored 13 points apiece to lead a bal- in a 70-55 setback against Northwest- anced SCF attack that saw four Saints ern. Barron, now 6-15 overall and score in double  gures. 4-1 in the Heart O’North, will try to “We competed with St. Croix Falls snap out of a funk that includes eight for one half, but we have to learn to losses over nine games when they bring that same type of intensity for play at Cumberland (14-6, 11-4). the entire game,” the coach said. “We The WIAA playoffs will then be- have to realize that we can compete gin. The Bears were seeded 10th in with quality teams like St. Croix the local 13-team Div. 3 half-section- Falls if we can put together two con- al bracket and will play a  rst round sistent halves. It’s a mindset that we game at seventh-seeded Baldwin- have to continue to work on.” Woodville (12-9) on Tuesday, March Northwestern 70, Barron 55 3. The winner will play a regional Barron put a different starting line- semi nal at St. Croix Central (15-6) up on the  oor on Thursday, Feb. 20, on Friday, March 6. Regional title and stayed with second place North- games will be held the next night. western (15-6, 11-4) through the ear- St. Croix Falls 63, Barron 48 ly going. St. Croix Falls was in Barron Tues- Senior Drew Nevin drained a day, Feb. 18, for a non-conference af- 3-pointer to give the Bears a 6-3 lead, fair. The 16-5 Saints were up 30-16 but back-to-back turnovers helped midway through a 63-48 victory. Northwestern go on a 9-0 run. Still, “St. Croix Falls is a talented team,” the Bears hung around, trailing 36-27 Barron coach Ky Baumgard said. after Caiden LaLiberty hit a 3-pointer “They have a good post up game, before the halftime buzzer. as well as quality perimeter players. “It was Senior Night, so we started With a team like that, you have to  ve seniors: Andrew Williams, Aus- start the game matching them posses- tin Williams, Taten Mullikin, Gabe sion for possession. Amundson and Drew Nevin,” Baum- “Unfortunately, we struggled gard said. “Our sixth senior, Aden shooting the ball, as well as taking Jerome, was out with an injury. We care of the ball. St. Croix Falls shot came out with a lot of energy. It was 46% in the  rst half and we shot great to see our team with so much 33%. We committed 15 turnovers, energy, from the bench to the guys on compared to seven turnovers for St. the  oor. The energy was contagious. Croix Falls.” We competed with a very talented Only three Golden Bears scored team – a team that has an opportunity in the  rst half, led by Carter LaLib- to win conference.” erty’s nine points. Barron continued to attack in the Amundson scores a dozen “In the second half, we came out second half, and despite being out- Barron senior Gabe Amundson drove into the Northwestern defense Thursday, with a sense of urgency,” Baumgard scored 34-28 over the  nal 18 min- Feb. 20, at Barron. Amundson scored 12 points in a 70-55 Senior Night loss. said. “Our shots started to fall, we did utes and 70-55 for the game, it was a a better job of taking care of the ball much better showing than the 76-51 players scoring eight or more points. with 15 points, with Gabe Amundson and we did a great job on the offen- loss Barron suffered at Northwestern We haven’t had that type of scoring added a dozen. Jagar Stillson, with sive glass. We made six threes, com- that included a 35-14 halftime de cit. since Jan. 10. Hopefully, tonight we 14 points, was one of four Tigers in mitted only eight turnovers and had “We put together two quality found out how we can play if we play double  gures. nine offensive rebounds. We made a halves; something we haven’t done with focus, energy and supporting run but just couldn’t get the neces- in a while,” the coach said. “We had one another.” sary stops when we needed them.” a balanced scoring attack, with  ve Carter LaLiberty led all scorers Panthers split crossover games Breakaway basket After  nishing second in the Cen- The second half showed this. team for making the plays down the free throw attempts. Myah Nelson Barron senior Andrew Williams turned a Northwestern turnover into a fast tral Lakeland Conference, the Prairie “Unity made the  rst basket com- stretch to hold on for a 66-57 win,” added another eight  eld goals and 20 break basket during a 70-55 Senior Night home loss on Thursday, Feb. 20. Farm girls basketball team wrapped ing out of the break, pushing the lead Kahl said. “We needed a game like points. The Eagles’ only regular sea- up the regular season with a pair of to 21 points. After that, it was all this. Even though we lost, we got bet- son losses came to Clear Lake, and crossover games against other sec- Prairie Farm.” ter as a team.” then twice to West Lakeland champ ond place Lakeland teams. The Panther girls turned up the de- Freshman Marnie Kahl had her St. Croix Falls, ranked seventh in the The young Panthers dropped Bruce fensive pressure and fought their way  rst high school double-double, with state for Div. 3. of the East Lakeland, 74-29, then back. With just less than four minutes 17 points and 10 rebounds. Makaylin “I was proud of our effort,” coach Icemen’s season had an eight-game winning streak to play, Prairie Farm whittled the lead Christenson added 17 points to help Kahl said. “It will really help us in snapped with a 66-57 loss to the West to 53-51. pace the Panthers. tournament play coming up.” Lakeland Unity Eagles. “We had a couple chances to tie or Raegan Sorensen led the Eagles ends with 6-2 loss The Panthers ended one of the best take the lead, but credit a good Unity with 25 points, making nine of 11 The Northwest Icemen’s 2019- ciations we draw from, and coupled regular seasons in program history 2020 high school hockey season end- with the development of the junior with a 16-3 record. The girls were ed in a 6-2 WIAA Div. 1  rst round varsity players from this year, we still hosting Turtle Lake (5-17) on Tues- playoff loss at D.C. Everest on Tues- are going to be a competitive hockey day, Feb. 25, in a  rst round WIAA day, Feb. 18. team to deal with next season.” playoff game. The Icemen had hoped to avenge With a win, they’d host a regional a 4-3 loss to Everest from the season semi nal against Flambeau (12-10) opener but instead had their  nal re- Scores & Standings or Greenwood (7-15) at 7 p.m. Fri- cord slip to 10-14, with the team hop- day, Feb. 28. With another win, Prai- ing for better results next season. Girls Basketball rie Farm would host a regional title “It was unfortunate that we didn’t HEART O’ NORTH game the next night, likely against get to see the full potential of this Conf. All third-seeded Loyal (18-4). Northwestern ...... 15-1 19-3 Central Lakeland champ Clear year’s team, with the exception of Bloomer ...... 14-2 18-4 a few times,” head coach Curtis Ladysmith ...... 12-4 17-5 Lake (21-0) and Gilman (16-6) are Cutsforth said. “We had many close Barron ...... 9-7 11-11 the top seeds on the other side of the games throughout the season and Cameron ...... 8-8 9-13 local Div. 5 sectional bracket. all but a couple to where we felt we Hayward ...... 7-9 7-15 In last week’s statewide Div. 5 should’ve won, knowing all too well Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 3-13 5-17 rankings, Clear Lake was listed sec- that we didn’t play the way we could Cumberland ...... 3-13 4-17 ond, Loyal eighth and Prairie Farm have. Spooner ...... 1-15 2-19 ninth. Reigning state champ Black “Like many other teams, we were CENTRAL LAKELAND Hawk (21-0) is ranked number one. hit with the  u bug and other injuries Conf. All Prairie Farm 74, Bruce 29 that made dents in our season, but Clear Lake ...... 10-0 21-0 Playing the Red Raiders (11-10) at in all reality, we had a deep enough Prairie Farm ...... 8-2 16-3 Bruce on Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Pan- bench where we should have been Northwood ...... 6-4 16-5 thers were up 47-10 midway through able to overcome those obstacles, Shell Lake ...... 3-7 8-12 a 74-29 victory in their  rst game of Clayton ...... 3-7 7-15 the inaugural Lakeland Crossover which we didn’t all the time.” Turtle Lake ...... 0-10 5-17 The host Evergreens had a 10-5 Challenge. shooting advantage in the  rst period EAST LAKELAND “The girls used balanced scoring of the playoff showdown, but the Ice- Conf. All and smothering defense to take early men had a few promising rushes in a Flambeau ...... 11-1 12-10 control,” coach Dean Kahl said. “The Bruce ...... 8-4 11-10 girls did a very nice job rebounding scoreless opening frame. Lake Holcombe ...... 7-5 10-11 Everest broke the ice 57 seconds New Auburn ...... 6-6 8-14 tonight; we had  ve girls with six or into the second period with a power Birchwood ...... 5-7 5-16 more rebounds. play goal, then scored twice over a Cornell ...... 5-7 6-16 “Sydney Rassbach had a team- span of one minute, 19 seconds later Winter ...... 0-12 1-21 high 12 rebounds, with eight on the in period. The Icemen pulled within offensive end. The solid rebounding 3-1 with a power play strike netted Boys Basketball led to several fast break baskets.” Jordan Aronson that was assisted by HEART O’ NORTH The balanced scoring was led by Conf. All Sydney Junkans’ 16 points. Makay- Timothy Mirabal and Wyatt Boe at Cameron ...... 12-3 15-6 the 14:22 mark. Northwestern ...... 11-4 15-6 lin Christenson and Marnie Kahl tal- The Evergreens were up 5-1 before Cumberland ...... 11-4 14-6 lied 14 apiece. Avery Hansen added Aronson scored the Icemen’s  nal Bloomer ...... 9-7 12-9 12 points. goal of the season 9:06 into the third Chetek-Weyerhaeuser .. 7-8 11-10 “In the second half, we were able period with a Boe assist. Ladysmith ...... 7-8 11-10 to work on different defensive sets Grant Oertel led a balanced win- Hayward ...... 6-9 9-12 that will help us in the upcoming ning attack with two goals and an Barron ...... 4-11 6-15 tournament,” coach Kahl said. “In Spooner ...... 1-14 4-17 games like this, when you have a big assist. Jacob Jakusz and Davis Hack- Recent Results barth both had a goal and an assist for Cameron 76, Osceola 62 lead, we want to continue to stay fo- the Evergreens, who  nished with a Bloomer 48, Hayward 39 cused and improve. I felt we did that 40-21 advantage in shots on net. St. Croix Falls 63, Barron 48 tonight.” Chetek-Weyer. 66, Cumberland 65 Unity 66, Prairie Farm 57 Ethan Hurt earned the goaltending Hayward 48, Spooner 40 win, with sophomore Connor Mor- Bloomer 56, Ladysmith 54 The Panthers were on the road rison charged with the loss. Northwestern 70, Barron 55 again for crossover game number The Icemen were whistled for six St. Croix Falls 66, Cameron 57 two, and despite a big effort in the Luck 89, Cameron 86 (OT) second half, they weren’t able to penalties and the Evergreens  ve, Cumberland 59, Webster 39 with each team netting one power Elk Mound 58, Bloomer 52 make up for a 41-22 halftime de cit play goal. Rice Lake 66, Hayward 49 in a 66-57 loss. The Evergreens season ended with Grantsburg 61, Spooner 45 “I knew going into this game, that a 14-10-2 record after a 6-1 second Chetek-Weyer. 68, Washburn 45 this would be a very big test for our round playoff loss to state-ranked CENTRAL LAKELAND team,” Kahl said. “Unity has a very Wausau West. Conf. All nice balance of size and quickness. “Nine seniors are graduating this Clear Lake ...... 10-0 18-3 The game was back and forth early, year,” the coach said. “From Spoon- Turtle Lake ...... 7-2 16-4 with both teams wanting to run the er: Thomas Kissack and Dillan Brim- Northwood ...... 5-5 13-7 court. Shell Lake ...... 5-5 10-9 The Eagles (18-3) led 17-15 mid- blecom; from Shell Lake: Timothy Prairie Farm ...... 2-8 3-15 Mirabal and Jordon Aronson; from Clayton ...... 0-9 0-14 way through the  rst half, but foul Cumberland Tyler Bohn and David trouble and cold Panther shooting Johnson; and from Barron: Carson EAST LAKELAND ballooned that lead to 19 points at in- Kurtz, Riley Cutsforth and Wyatt Conf. All termission. Birchwood ...... 11-1 17-4 “In the  rst half, Unity’s physical Boe. Lake Holcombe ...... 9-3 14-8 “All of these players we relied on New Auburn ...... 8-4 13-8 play bothered us,” the coach said. heavily and they will be missed next Bruce ...... 6-6 11-11 “At halftime, we talked about being season. However, watching the talent Flambeau ...... 6-6 9-13 tougher and more physical. The great Keep away that we have developing at the Ban- Winter ...... 2-10 4-17 thing about our team is the girls nev- Barron’s Jada Brunkow fought off a handful of Cumberland Beavers Friday night, Feb. 21. The junior scored 13 points tam level within the three youth asso- Cornell ...... 0-12 1-19 er get down, they just keep  ghting. as the Golden Bears won their regular season  nale, 54-31. See more game photos at bns.smugmug.com Barron News-Shield — Wed., February 26, 2020 – 3B www.news-shield.com Cameron boys play for outright title Thursday Battling both the  u bug and non- into half time, 37-29.” conference opponents last week, the The Saints’ surge carried over to Cameron boys lost two of three bas- the second stanza. ketball games. “The second half did not start well The good news is that the losses for us,” the coach said. “We missed did nothing to knock the Comets out our  rst six  eld goal attempts and of  rst place in the Heart O’North. had three turnovers, and St. Croix Cameron clinched a share of the con- pushed lead up to 18. ference title before last week’s games “They have a really nice ball club. and can claim an outright champion- They are big, and can go inside and ship with a win against second place can shoot from the outside. Tonight, Northwestern in the regular season  - it was their inside game that hurt nale at Maple this Thursday, Feb. 27. us. We really got outmatched on the Cameron, now 15-6 overall and glass. They just seemed to pull down 12-3 in the HON, is a game ahead of timely offensive rebounds.” both Cumberland (14-6, 11-4 HON) Still, Cameron rallied. and Northwestern (15-6, 11-4). Cum- “Down 18 points with nine min- berland wraps up the season by host- utes to go, I was glad that we started ing Barron (6-15, 4-11) Thursday to play better,” LaVallie said. “We night.  nished playing more aggressive, Then it’s off to the WIAA postsea- like we have all year, and it showed. son, where the Comets were seeded We cut the lead to six with three second in a 12-team Div. 4 half-sec- minutes to go, but in the end, we tional bracket. After a  rst round bye, just couldn’t get over the hump. St. Cameron will host either Colfax (12- Croix made some free throws down 9) or Shell Lake (10-9) in a regional the stretch and got some more offen- semi nal on Friday, March 6. With a sive rebounds that hurt our comeback win, Cameron would host a regional chances.” title game the next night. Kullan Parks scored 16 points to “The second/third seed came down lead four Saints who scored in double to us and Spring Valley (16-4),”  gures. coach Troy LaVallie said. “It was “Richie had 19 points and Ian had Jacob Maes Photography nice to get the number two seed, so 16,” LaVallie said of his leading scor- Oh, so close we can have two playoff games at ers. “We are typically pretty balanced Cameron senior Remington Ladd (right) took on Derick Vollendorf of Ladysmith for third place in the 120-pound bracket at the Div. 3 Edgar Sectional on home. Hopefully, we can get back on in scoring, but the ball wasn’t drop- Saturday, Feb. 22, with the  nal transfer position to the state tournament on the line. After beating Vollendorf 8-2 to advance to last year’s state meet, Ladd track with a win at Northwestern on ping for our other guys tonight.” lost a 5-2 lead in the  nal minute on Saturday, suffering a tough 7-5 defeat to cap a  ne high school wrestling career. Thursday and keep it going into the Luck 89, Cameron 86 (OT) tournament.” Cameron was back on the road Gerber Cameron 76, Grantsburg 62 Friday night, Feb. 21, and managed Continued from page 1 Before dropping games to St. Croix another late rally that pushed a game Falls and Luck, Cameron extended a with Luck into overtime. However, Graceffa of Chequamegon (5-17). winning streak to nine games with a the Comets fell 89-86 after the extra “Tanner’s second opponent was 76-62 home victory over Grantsburg period. the sixth-ranked wrestler in the state, (11-9) on Tuesday, Feb. 18. “We were playing our sixth game Karter Stuttgen of Stratford (23-5),” “There has been a lot of sick kids in 11 days and it was our second said Cameron coach David Geber at Cameron High School and our bas- night on the bus traveling to play an- said. “Tanner won 5-0 to advance ketball team was affected,” LaVallie other good opponent,” LaVallie said. to the  nals. Although the score was said. “We were missing several play- “I was a little worried after the pre- somewhat close, Tanner controlled ers on Monday for practice and then vious night’s loss to St. Croix Falls, the match and never came close to a different few on Tuesday for the where we looked  at and didn’t have giving up any points. game. I was really proud of how hard our usual energy. “Many of Tanner’s opponents try we played, given the circumstances “I was hoping we would be able to slow down the action, with the and several of our kids being sick. to bounce back and we did. While hope of keeping the score close and “It was Senior Night, our last we didn’t get the win, we certainly maybe  nding a way to score points regular season home game, so we played really well and so did Luck. at the end.” honored our  ve seniors before the It was a great high school basketball For the sectional title, Gerber faced game. I think that gave us the boost game and it had the feel of a tourna- a familiar foe in Clear Lake’s Domi- we needed. The  rst half was back ment game. It was a real back and nic Leintz (42-3), who was ranked and forth and the game was tied at forth battle all night, with lots of of- fourth in the state. Gerber was more 16-16 before we went on a 13-0 run. fense. than impressive while recording a Ian Payne scored 10 straight points, “Luck only played six guys and 21-6 technical fall. and after a timeout, Richie Murphy had  ve guys who all scored in dou- A week prior, Gerber beat Leintz got a steal on our press and converted ble  gures. We had six guys score 18-5 to earn a regional title. it into an ‘and-1.’ Just like that, the and four in double  gures.” “Tanner wrestled really well score was 29-16 and we had a dou- After Cameron led early, Luck throughout the tournament,” his fa- ble-digit lead!” drained some big 3-point baskets and ther/coach said. “His constant pres- Cameron extended that advantage led 40-32 by intermission. sure on opponents causes them to get to 42-24 by halftime. “Luck made all six of its 3-point out of position and gives Tanner a lot Jim Bell photo “The second half was more evenly shots in the  rst half,” LaVallie said. of scoring opportunities. He was able Tough draw matched, but with our lead ranging “That was the big difference. We Barron senior Lorenzo Meza (right) took on Stanley Boyd’s Blaine Brenner in the  rst round of the Div. 2 Osceola from 20-15 points for most of the made four in the  rst half, three in the to take advantage of all those oppor- Sectional on Saturday, Feb. 22. Brenner, a returning state champ, pinned Meza in the second round. He went on to tunities.” win a sectional title and improve his season record to 42-0. Meza’s season ended at the sectional with a 17-18 mark. half. Grantsburg continued to play second and two in overtime.” Cameron had two other wrestlers hard and wouldn’t let us run away Austin Weis hit a couple of big qualify for the sectional tournament with the game. We also had too many threes to help Cameron pull even by but fail to move on, 120-pound se- turnovers and forced shots in the sec- the end of regulation, 74-74. He hit nior Remington Ladd and 138-pound ond half, which led to some easy bas- two more in overtime, but Luck (14- sophomore Tommy Quinn. kets for them.” 5) made 11 of 16 overtime free throw “Remington’s high school wres- At the  nal whistle, Cameron had a attempts while outscoring the Com- tling career unfortunately came to 14-point victory. ets 15-12. an end Saturday,” coach Gerber said. “The highlight of the night was “Both teams played well,” LaVallie “Remington placed fourth in the that all  ve of our seniors scored in said. “In the end, they made one more sectional and just missed going to the game,” LaVallie said. “Peyton play than us. The biggest difference state, as only the top three qualify for Buzek had 13 points. Mark Daniels, was free throws. Luck shot 26 (mak- state.” Brice Klabunde and Chase Secraw ing 15) and we only shot 10 (making Ladd’s day started with a 12-7 loss all  nished with three points, and seven). If we could have gotten to to Josiah Berg of Boyceville (34-4). Anthony Williams 2. the line a couple more times, it could When Berg advanced to the  nals – “Ian and Peyton both recorded a have changed the outcome. where he later one – Ladd received double-double. Ian had 26 points “You never like to lose, but I told another chance to wrestle. and 10 rebounds, and Peyton had 13 our guys in the locker room that they “Remington wrestled really well in points and 12 rebounds. Richie ended should be proud of how they played the next match, defeating Kaleb Son- the game with 23 points and eight as- and battled a good team all night, and nentag of Cadott (33-12) 7-0,” the sists. that it would help us going forward. coach said. “Remington’s opponent “Hopefully, we can get rested up In overtime, we got down seven in the match to move into third place and healthy before the last week of points right away and again showed was Derick Vollendorf of Ladysmith the season and the tournament run.” our toughness. We battled back and (35-10), who Remington beat last Gustaf Bergman scored 25 points had a chance to tie the game again, year in the match to go to state, 8-2. to lead the Pirates. but unlike at the end of regulation, “This year, Vollendorf came out on St. Croix Falls 66, we couldn’t convert in overtime.” top 7-5. Remington was leading 5-2 Cameron 57 Gage Johansen scored 22 points to with about a minute left in the match. A late rally wasn’t enough to catch lead  ve Cardinals who all scored at He was in deep on a takedown but the Saints at St. Croix Falls on Thurs- least 13 points. ended up losing his balance a little day. Trailing 51-32 midway through “Austin Weis had a big night for and landed on his back, giving up the the second half, Murphy poured in us with 31 points (including seven takedown and three back points to six  eld goals – including three treys threes),” the coach said. “He has fall behind 7-5. – but the Saints held on for a 66-57 been struggling with the  u and “He fought hard to get off his back win. didn’t play well against St. Croix and and just about had a reversal to tie the “The game started fast for both Grantsburg, so it was nice to see him match in the closing seconds. It was teams, but unfortunately in the sec- get back in his usual rhythm. a dif cult loss. To be that close to go- ond half, we just couldn’t keep pace,” “Richie had a big night as well, ing to state but then to have a career Jim Bell photo LaVallie said. “Our night was marked with 22 points and 11 assists. Go- end is a lot of emotions to go through Taking on the Best by poor shooting and too many turn- ing into the night, he was two assists in a short time.” Barron’s 132-pound sophomore, Mason Ecklor (left), tried to  ght off Sawyer Best of Bloomer/Colfax at the Div. 2 overs. It’s really hard to beat a good away from going over 500. He also Osceola Sectional on Saturday, Feb. 22. Ecklor lost by technical fall, while Best went on to win a sectional title. team when you don’t shoot well for hit the big three to tie the game and The senior, who accumulated a 35- Ecklor’s season ended with a loss in his next match. 12 record this season, left his mark stretches of time and then turn the send it to overtime. on Cameron wrestling. a technical fall, Meza got another of Medford (25-5 sophomore) by a ball over. I really thought our kids “Ian Payne has been playing re- “Remington ended a spectacular chance to wrestle. However, Meza 7-0 decision, setting up a consolation played hard, it just wasn’t our night. ally well the last couple weeks and Peltier “Early on in the  rst half, it was that continued Friday night. He had career,” Gerber said. “He won 117 Continued from page 1 lost a 16-0 tech fall to Nelson. semi nal match between Church and matches as a four-year varsity wres- The loss ended Meza’s senior sea- Ecklor. back and forth. With about two min- 14 points and eight rebounds. Mark tler. He wrestled in the state tourna- moved on to Madison nonetheless. son at 17-18. Nelson’s season ended “Church was a strong wrestler and utes left in the  rst half, it was 27-30, Daniels was our fourth player in dou- ment and won an individual con- Meza, Ecklor at Sectional with a 17-7 loss in the third place won by a fall in 1:18,” Stephens said. and St. Croix (16-5) closed the half ble  gures with 11 points.” ference championship. He will be Barron had two other wrestlers match, while Brenner won the sec- “Moving down to 132 pounds was on a 7-2 run to take an 8-point lead missed next year. It will be dif cult qualify for the Osceola Sectional tional title by a 14-0 major decision. big for Mason. It helped him get to to replace his wins and also his lead- who did not advance to state. “Lorenzo was a valuable leader the sectional tournament and gain ership.” “Lorenzo Meza wrestled at 120 for the Bears all year long and a key the experience of the next level of Quinn also lost his  rst match on pounds,” Stephens said. “It was a part of our team the whole year,” the wrestling. That will help out in the LIDEN, DOBBERFUHL Saturday, falling in 3:17 to Ira Bial- tough draw, right away wrestling coach said. future.” zik of Boyceville (25-18). Quinn’s Blaine Brenner from Stanley Boyd, Mason Ecklor, a 132-pound soph- Ecklor ended the season with a & HARRINGTON, S.C. day ended when Bialzik was pinned who is 42-0 and a returning state omore, also wrestled his way to 13-19 record, while Church had his Andrew J. Harrington in the next round. champ. Lorenzo wrestled well in Osceola. season end with a 9-0 loss in the third Bialzik eventually quali ed for “Mason also had two tough match- place match. Best won the sectional the  rst period, fought out of some  ȃ  state with a third place  nish, while takedowns and had a good shot that es,” the coach said. “He  rst had title match, 8-6. ‡‡”ƒŽ‡‰ƒŽ Quinn’s season ended with a 27-15 was countered. In the second period, Sawyer Best from Bloomer/Colfax “Good luck to all the area wrestlers  Ȉ  Ȉ Ȉ  record. things turned around and Lorenzo (46-1), who is tough all the way at state,” Stephens concluded.  ȈȈ Ƭ “Tommy is only a sophomore,” was pinned in 3:13.” around. Mason held his own in the Gerber said. “He will be back next When Brenner advanced through  rst period but lost by a tech fall in year and have a good opportunity to the semi nals over Cole Nelson of the second period.” ͶʹͷǤƒƒŽŽ‡˜‡—‡ȈǤǤ‘šͳ͵͹Ȉƒ””‘ǡ ͷͶͺͳʹWebsite: www.barronlawyers.com get to state.” Ellsworth (23-8 senior) by way of Best next defeated Carson Church Š‘‡ǣȋ͹ͳͷȌͷ͵͹Ǧͷ͸͵͸ ƒšǣȋ͹ͳͷȌͷ͵͹Ǧͷ͸͵ͻ 4B — Barron News-Shield — Wed., February 26, 2020 www.news-shield.com Chetek Lanes Dartball ‘Dogs’ Will Peters Proud sponsor of the Racing Reporter Our pit crew has All team game and series scores listed are more than 70 with handicap; all individual game and series Town & Country Dartball scores are listed as scratch (without handi- East Division W L years of combined cap), except where indicated. Skippy’s...... 43 ...... 8 advances to state Roush’s ...... 40 ...... 11 By Tyler Florczak Peters narrowly edged Spencer Kraus experience! BUSINESS MEN’S – FEB. 17 5th Street Saloon ...... 27 ...... 27 Chetek-Weyerhaeuser/Prairie Farm (31-10) of Athens by a score of 4-2. W / L Red’s ...... 23 ...... 31 senior Will Peters will represent the The win solidi ed Peters a spot in duanesbodyandcustom.com Ponsse Scheme ...... 150 / 90 5th Street Saloon II ...... 17 ...... 34 Bulldogs at the 77th annual WIAA the state tournament, but he still had A&T Industries ...... 131 / 109 The Webb ...... 13 ...... 35 Jimmy John’s ...... 129 / 111 Individual Wrestling Championship one match left—a second-place match 8 South 4th Street, Barron, WI 54812 Barron VFW ...... 10 ...... 41 Tournament in Madison this week. showdown against Clear Lake’s Ivan R&R Home Improve ...... 126 / 114 West Division Phone: (715) 637-7010 Fax: (715) 637-7011 Turkey Ballers ...... 103.5 / 136.5 Peters placed third in the Div. 3 Ed- Ruble (40-6). With Peters nearly out WTHIC.com ...... 80.5 / 159.5 Buckhorn Bar ...... 40 ...... 14 Your Full Service Auto Body Repair Shop Bird’s Place ...... 38 ...... 16 gar Sectional on Saturday, Feb. 22, to of gas, the senior got caught in a bad High team game, Ponsse Scheme—1154, move on to the state meet. spot and was pinned by Ruble in 1:46. Duane Hodgson, Owner PPG Certified Turkey Ballers—1139, A&T Indus- Kate’s Bar ...... 36 ...... 18 tries—1136; high team series, Ponsse Spike’s ...... 32 ...... 22 It is the  rst state appearance for Despite the loss, Peters  nished in Scheme—3388, A&T Industries—3340, Cheers ...... 27 ...... 27 Peters, who was crowned champion third place and prolonged his wres- Turkey Ballers—3193. High individual Kate’s II ...... 25 ...... 29 of the 160-pound weight class at the tling season another week. game, Kevin Johnson—266, Wayne Ecklor The ER Bar ...... 13 ...... 41 Durand Regional tournament. Earlier Stratford won the team portion of Sr.—243, Jonathon Francois—224; high in- Drunk’N Monkey ...... 12 ...... 42 this month, he wrestled to a perfect the sectional tournament with 159 Caution, mishap dividual series, Kevin Johnson—704, Wayne Feb. 20 Results 3-0 record at the Heart O’North Con- team points, followed by Cadott at Ecklor Sr.—666, Jonathon Francois—632. Spike’s over The ER Bar 1-2, 6-3, 2-0 Skippy’s over Red’s 11-6, 6-8, 8-4 ference Meet to become HON cham- 140, St. Croix Falls at 95 and Boy- SENIORS – FEB. 17 pion in the 160-pound weight division ceville at 79.5. C-W/PF took 18th W / L Buckhorn over Monkey 11-5, 9-0, 8-2 lead to Vegas 5th St. Saloon over VFW 4-2, 2-1, 4-2 for the second straight year. place with 12.5 points. Five Pins ...... 20 / 8 The Rascals ...... 19 / 9 Cheers over Kate’s Bar 5-2, 6-5, 6-3 In the 160-pound division at Edgar, Peters now readies himself for Bowling Bombers ...... 16 / 12 Kate’s II over Bird’s 3-0, 7-4, 0-21 Peters (32-5 season record) started off the WIAA State Wrestling Tourna- Short Cuts ...... 13 / 15 5th Street II @ The Webb, no report strong, winning his quarter nal match ment at the Kohl Center in Madison, victory for Logano Spare Time ...... 10 / 18 Roush’s – Bye Hodges News Service 9-1 by major decision over Graidy which is Thursday through Saturday, Blind Squirrels ...... 6 / 22 Weekly .500-plus Hitters Guggisberg (27-16) of St. Croix Falls. Feb. 27-29. LAS VEGAS, Nev.–A late caution and a miscue on pit strategy in Sun- High team game, The Rascals—876, Five Russ Kallenbach .769, Terry Olson .615, Pins—855, Short Cuts—817; high team Peters had to work much harder Peters will take on senior Sawyer day’s 267 lap Cup Series race allowed Joey Logano to get his  rst win of the Jason Lansin .600, Scott Nordin .563, in his next match and was bested by Willis (38-8) of Ithaca/Weston on season. series, The Rascals—2573, Five Pins—2466, Bill Dubnicka .533, Dave Rassbach Short Cuts—2396. High individual men’s .533, Jo Haas .529, Byron Townsend Stratford’s Devin Dennee (46-2) in Thursday night. If Peters loses, his Logano took the lead on a lap 226 restart, after Chase Elliott spun. He lost game, Doug Goldman—235, Chuck Lar- the semi nal round. The loss forced season is over. But if Peters wins, son—211, Gary Fredrickson—194; high in- .500, Troy Hom .500, Randy Selkow the lead to teammate Ryan Blaney on lap 253. Blaney appeared to be in con- .500, Kurt Huber .500 Peters to win his next two matches to he will compete against junior Tyler trol of the race and had pulled away from the other leaders. During lap 256, dividual men’s series, Doug Goldman—583, Chuck Larson—547, Jim Olson—498. High Most RBIs guarantee a third-place  nish or bet- Blanchard (40-5) of Coleman at ap- Logano dropped back to third behind Alex Bowman. individual women’s game, Pat Smith—173, Dave Rassbach – 8 ter—which is what he needed in order proximately noon on Friday. The race’s last caution came during lap 261 after Ross Chastain, who was Jane Miller—151, Barb Jahnke—151; high Feb. 27 Schedule to advance to the state tournament. Another highlight of the week for substituting for Ryan Newman, spun. Blaney, Bowman and Kevin Harvick, individual women’s series, Pat Smith—450, The Webb @ Red’s In the consolation semi nal match, Peters is being named the HON Con- who was running one spot behind Logano, pitted for fresh tires. Logano’s Barb Jahnke—440, Claudia Wold—369. 5th St. Saloon @ Skippy’s Peters was pitted against a familiar ference’s Wrestler of the Year. Saw- Roush’s @ Barron VFW team wanted him to pit. His crew chief Paul Wolfe told Logano to come to MONDAY JUNIORS – FEB. 17 Bird’s Place @ The ER Bar face, Ladysmith’s Ryan Vollendorf yer Best of Bloomer-Colfax was a co- pit road for new tires. Logano didn’t hear Wolfe on the radio and remained W / L Drunk’N Monkey @ Kate’s II (26-16). Peters dominated Vollendorf recipient of this award. The 12 HON on the track. Shadow Strikers ...... 7 / 2 Buckhorn Bar @ Cheer’s 15-0 for a win by technical fall. varsity wrestling coaches vote inde- Death Strikers ...... 6 / 3 Wrestling in his fourth match of the pendently to select the recipient(s). There were just two laps of racing left when the green  ag was given. Girl Squad ...... 5 / 4 Kate’s Bar @ Spike’s Logano was in the lead, followed by William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto and Ballerz #1 ...... 4 / 5 5th Street II – Bye day, which was the third-place match, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Logano was pushed to the front, followed by DiBene- Strikers ...... 2.5 / 6.5 detto and Byron. Cheetahs ...... 2.5 / 6.5 Prairie Farm Dartball High team game, Death Strikers—835, Standings W L Right after taking the white  ag, there was a series of spins and wrecks. Ballerz #1—828, Shadow Strikers—781; Buckhorn ...... 26 ...... 7 Speedway honors top This brought out the caution, freezing the  eld and ending the race. high team series, Death Strikers—1668, Wildcats ...... 20 ...... 13 “Clean air was going to be key with old tires,” Logano said. “If I got swal- Ballerz #1—1647, Shadow Strikers—1525. Yanks ...... 19 ...... 14 lowed up by a couple cars, I was just going to fall backwards really quick. High individual boys’ game, Evan Sheridan ...... 19 ...... 17 drivers of 2019 season Volk—153, Xander Rihn—129, Braxton Hay River ...... 16 ...... 17 I was able to get out in front and then be able to separate myself a little bit Bisset—124; high individual boys’ series, By Ed Reichert Mike Huebner Sr, Devin Fries, Aus- Badgers ...... 11 ...... 22 tin Fencl and Cory Jorgensen. from the  eld.” Evan Volk—250, Xander Rihn—227, Bret St. Paul ...... 6 ...... 27 Runner-up Matt DiBenedetto tied his career-best  nish. Kramer—217. High individual girls’ game, Feb. 17 Scores The Rice Lake Speedway held The Street Stock point champion “This is all just too surreal,” he said. “Tough to be that close, but, hey, this Zoey Kneeland—125, Ella Turauski—104, Buckhorn over Yanks 17-16, 3-8, 7-5 their annual awards banquet Satur- was Hunter Van Gilder from Rice Alexa Johnson—103; high individual girls’ day night, Feb. 15, at the Rice Lake Lake. Also honored were Andrew is only the second race of the season. So it was the strength of this team. It’s series, Zoey Kneeland—215, Ella Turaus- Sheridan over Badgers 1-0, 3-2, 9-8 so cool to have the backing of all the people that allow me to drive this thing.” ki—206, Reese Ridout—193. Hay River over St. Paul 8-10, 7-1, 5-2 Elks Lodge. Hanson, C.J. Wagner, Kolby Kiehl, Stenhouse was third, followed by Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wildcats – Bye With the new Kart track up and Will Fisher, Zach Beaulieu, Cody TUESDAY CLASSIC – FEB. 18 Most RBIs running on the speedway grounds, a Kummer, Parker Anderson, Alex Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon. W / L Dave Rassbach – 10 combined banquet crowned champi- Minks and Jay Kesan. Blaney was leading when the caution came out and ended up  nishing Chetek Lanes ...... 150.5 / 59.5 Weekly Over .500 Hitters Whitmore Account ...... 138.5 / 71.5 ons from both tracks. The crowd was The Midwest Modi ed champion 11th. His crew put four tires on the car during the pit stop, so not only did he Terry Ford .778, Dave Rassbach .750, reported to be the largest ever turnout was Kevin Adams from Cameron. Billy’s Grill ...... 123.5 / 86.5 Terry Olson .588, Scott Nordin .583, have to restart behind the seven cars that didn’t pit, he also had to start behind Hammers ...... 120 / 90 for a track banquet. He was chased in the points by Jamie the few cars that took only two tires. Bev Shultz .538, Andy Olson .533, Dunamis Therapy ...... 116 / 94 Chris Hoff .500 Honored were the top 10 drivers Bisonette, Shane Halopka, Denny “It was just a crappy situation,” Blaney said. “We  ght our butts off to get Sandy’s Salon ...... 78 / 132 in track points in each of the track’s Cutsforth, Kenny Kincaid, Travis the lead there from third and get it. I had a good shot of holding [Bowman] TJ Construction ...... 78 / 132 North Country Dartball  ve divisions, along with the six Anderson, Aric Lindberg, Austin El- LB Farms ...... 35.5 / 174.5 Division 1 W L off. I thought we could have; once we got in clean air, I thought our car was High team game, Dunamis Thera- champions in the Kart classes. Spe- lis, Craig Elliott and Fran Hanson. pretty decent. The caution came out and we pitted, some guys didn’t, some py—1103, Chetek Lanes—1102, Ham- Haugen ...... 35...... 7 cial awards were also given out and The Super Stock point champion mers—1076; high team series, Chetek V&M ...... 32...... 10 guys took two and we just end up getting absolutely destroyed.” V&M II ...... 31...... 11 the 2019 season was reviewed, along was Willie Johnsen Jr. from Superior. Chase Elliott, winner of both stages of the race, had a tire go down on lap Lanes—3136, Billy’s Grill—3112, Dunamis with announcing of the 2020 track He was followed by Adam Soltis, Therapy—3110. High individual game, Jaybirds ...... 23...... 19 220. He spun, brushed the wall and had to pit twice. The  rst time was for John Law—254, Collin Law—235, Tony Poor Folks ...... 21...... 21 schedules. Curt Myers, Josh Bach, Eric Olson, tires. The second time, his team put tape on his rear quarter-panel. He  nished Anderson—224; high individual series, Shananigans ...... 18...... 24 Track co-owner Dave Adams Mickey Anderson, Luke Schultz, Si- 26th after leading  ve times for 70 laps. Collin Law—659, John Law—653, Tony Division 2 W L spoke brie y about the 2019 season mon Wahlstrom, Terran Spacek and Top-10 leaders after 2 of 36: 1. Blaney-85, 2. Logano-82, 3. Harvick-81, 4. Anderson—610. Big Smitty’s ...... 18...... 24 and gave a preview of what the 2020 Nick Traynor. Status Crow ...... 16...... 26 racing schedule will look like. The Kevin Adams won a second title Larson-70, 5. Stenhouse-66, 6. Elliott-65, 7. A. Dillon-63, 8. Buescher-61, 9. WEDNESDAY WARRIORS – FEB. 19 Moose ...... 16...... 26 Hamlin-60, 10. DiBenedetto-60. W / L Hoots ...... 15...... 27 annual Cedar Mall car show will be in 2019, as he was also the Modi ed Results of the NASCAR Las Vegas X nity Series race: 1. Chase Bris- Holy Rollers ...... 15 / 9 Vets Center ...... 14...... 28 held on April 2-4, with on track ac- point champion. He was followed by coe, 2. Austin Cindric, 3. Ryan Sieg, 4. Noah Gragson, 5. Harrison Burton, Charlie’s Angels ...... 14 / 10 Mr. Bob’s...... 13...... 29 tivity starting with a practice session Pat Hoffman, Mike Anderson, Kyle Strike Outs ...... 13 / 11 Feb. 20 Results on Wednesday, April 15. The season Helling, Sam Fankhauser, Steve Hal- 6. Brandon Jones, 7. Michael Annett, 8. Justin Allgaier, 9. Riley Herbst, 10. Bowling Stones ...... 11 / 13 Shananigans 0 @ V&M 3 Fast Lanes ...... 11 / 13 opener will be Saturday, April 18. lquist, Dan Kingsley, Wayne Poteet, Ross Chastain. V&M II 1 @ Jaybirds 2 The season conclude with a double- Cole Varsho and Dave Mayala. Results of the NASCAR Las Vegas Truck Series race: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. Split Happens ...... 8 / 16 Haugen 3 @ Poor Folks 0 High team game, Charlie’s Angels—885, Hoots 0 @ Moose 3 header race program over Labor Day Honored as Rookies of the Year Johnny Sauter, 3. Austin Hill, 4. Matt Crafton, 5. Ben Rhodes, 6. Zane Smith, Bowling Stones—876, Split Happens—864; weekend. at the track were Devin Fries-Pure 7. Todd Gilliland, 8. Tanner Gray, 9. Stewart Friesen, 10. Sheldon Creed. high team series, Charlie’s Angels—2586, Smitty’s 2 @ Status Crow 1 Mr. Bob’s 1 @ Vets Center 2 Among the highlights of the 2020 Stock, Andrew Hanson-Street Stock, RECORD PURSE AT DAYTONA 500 Fast Lanes—2467, Split Happens—2440. High individual men’s game, Chuck Feb. 27 Schedule schedule are four Late Model visits. Duane Halverson-Midwest Modi- In 2016, NASCAR quit releasing race purses and prize money information. Larson—193, Orv Langhough—187, Jim Jaybirds @ Shananigans The complete schedule is available  ed, Josh Bach-Super Stock and Since then, teams have been reluctant to discuss their winnings for fear of Olson—183, Russ Knutson—183; high V&M @ Haugen online at ricelakespeedway.net or on Dan Kingsley-Modi ed. Hanson and reprisal from the sanctioning body. individual men’s series, Chuck Larson—543, Poor Folks @ V&M II the speedway Facebook page. Kingsley were also the national rook- This past week, in an apparent policy change, NASCAR released the Day- Russ Knutson—500, Orv Langhough—489. Vets Center @ Smitty’s Kevin Adams also spoke about the ies of the year in their classes. High individual women’s game, Anita Mr. Bob’s @ Hoots tona 500 race purse, a record-setting $23.6 million to be distributed among Jenson—181, Claudia Wold—179, Linda Moose @ Status Crow  rst year of the Kart track, which was The Kart divisions saw six drivers the 40 drivers. This purse is the highest in American motorsports history, ac- Carey—177; high individual women’s series, built in the spring of 2019. He also honored. Point champions were Cart- cording to a NASCAR press release. Linda Carey—490, Anita Jenson—467, released the schedule for that track, er Zimmerman-Rookie Cage; Tylar In 2015, the Daytona 500 purse was $18 million. Claudia Wold—440. which will also be available on the Alton-Jr. 1 and Jr. Wing; Riley John- In a story by Sporting News, 2015 winner Joey Logano earned about $1.6 AQUA DAIRY LEAGUE – FEB. 12 Spare Time BB&G speedway website. son-Jr. 2; Dylan Alton-Adult Grass- million, approximately 8.8 percent of the total purse. W / L The highly prized “Thanks a lot” roots; and Kenny Porter-250 Wing. award, given to someone involved Racing action in 2020 at the Rice If the 2020 edition has a similar share, the winner of this year’s Daytona Skyway Repair ...... 109 / 73 Spare Time Men’s 500 took home about $2.06 million. It would likely be the  rst NASCAR race Dairy State Bank ...... 108 / 74 with the speedway whose efforts Lake Speedway will continue, with Gilly’s Gals ...... 99 / 83 Week 23 of 30 – 2/19/2020 merit special thanks, went to Vance Pure Stocks, Street Stocks, Midwest to award the winner over $2 million. Chetek Lanes ...... 84.5 / 97.5 Standings Points Won At the 2020 Daytona 500, teams made between $2.06 million and $365,000. Area Signs ...... 82.5 / 99.5 Division 1 Birno of Fry Pan Productions for Modi eds, Super Stocks and Modi- Other races historically have a much lower payout structure, with earnings Paradise Pools ...... 63 / 119 Danca’s Kar Korral ...... 174.0 his help publicizing the track. This  eds all sanctioned be WISSOTA. High team game, Skyway Repair—888, Hoff’s Construction...... 173.0 award was presented by track owners Call either Dave Adams at 715- between $320,000 and $78,500 in the 2020 season. Dairy State Bank—829, Area Signs—823; Austad’s Super Value ...... 154.5 Dave Adams and Mitch Hansen. 205-2861 or Mitch Hansen at 715- Other Racing News: Events leading up to the Daytona 500 are known high team series, Skyway Repair—2504, Hotel Bar & Grill ...... 132.5 Honored as the Pure Stock point 205-1122 for track information, or as Daytona Speedweeks. It features racing in all three of NASCAR’s major Area Signs—2454, Dairy State Bank—2352. Division 2 champion was Ryan Clausen from Kevin Adams at 715-642-0700 for series’, plus some lesser races. When the  nal checkered  ag was given this High individual game, Penny Pierce—235, Cumberland Tire ...... 139.0 Robin Wirth—193, Shannon Saffert—190; Barron. Following him were Aaron information on the Kart track. year, Ryan Newman was sliding upside down across the  nish line. Clear Lake True Value...... 137.5 high individual series, Robin Wirth—533, Perfect Image ...... 127.5 Bernick, Bob Thompson, Ken Of- He has since been released from the hospital and expected to be okay. Penny Pierce—495, Lila Wheeler—490, Lefty’s Hookers ...... 125.5 tedahl, Jay Folz, George Richards, Newman’s Daytona 500 crash reminds us of the fragility of life in a dan- Shannon Saffert—490. Division 3 gerous sport, but why are most of us attracted to the dangerous side of life? THURSDAY JUNIORS – FEB. 13 Spare Time ...... 151.0 The attraction to motorsports, whether it be NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula W / L Becker’s Trucking ...... 141.5 Billiards 7 Brothers ...... 133.0 One or local racing, isn’t about the sounds or the smells or even the speed Death Strikes Back ...... 7.5 / 1.5 SchedulesThursday, Feb. 27 and the danger. We love the excitement that gets our adrenalin going. For a Shadow Strikers ...... 7 / 2 Scheps Dairy ...... 125.5 M&Ms ...... 5 / 4 Division 4 Boys Basketball Wing Nut’s Monday short time. it does away with the hum-drum existence that we experience for WTHIC ...... 3.5 / 5.5 Anderson Storage ...... 150.0 Hayward at Ladysmith Cameron at Northwestern Night Singles League much of our lives. Timber ...... 3 / 6 Sanmina ...... 133.0 Year end standings W L We are both thrilled and scared. Racing makes us scream, smile and cry, Cupcakes ...... 1 / 8 Eagles Lounge ...... 126.5 Chetek-Weyer. at Spooner Barron at Cumberland Cheers I ...... 194 ...... 94 often all at once. Like a great movie or a perfect piece of music, the thrills High team game, Shadow Strikers—664, Busy B’s ...... 116.0 Almena VFW ...... 186 ..... 102 Death Strikes Back—640, M&Ms—626; High Games: Busy B’s 1264, Spare Time Prairie Farm at Webster associated with racing takes us out of our daily routine, like preparing our high team series, Shadow Strikers—1286, 1262, Danca’s 1249; Scott Danca 299, Todd Wrestling Skippy’s...... 180 ..... 108 income tax, and into the world of feelings. Death Strikes Back—1269, M&Ms— Zemke 289, Kevin Larson 259 High Se- WIAA State Tournament - Madison 5th Street Saloon II ...... 168 ..... 120 And what about the drivers, the ones that take the risks in order to provide 1231. High individual boys’ game, Bret ries: Danca’s 3695, Left’s 3639, Spare Time 5th Street Saloon I ...... 151 ..... 137 Kramer—146, Anders Olson—131, Evan 3580; Scott Danca 741, Brandon Anderson Friday, Feb. 28 Cheers II ...... 131 ..... 157 excitement for the fans? It sounds crazy or illogical, and the risk outweighs Volk—122; high individual boys’ series, Roxie’s Bar II ...... 122 ..... 166 the reward, but race car drivers have de ed the odds time and time again. 712, Todd Zemke 700 Girls Basketball Bret Kramer—241, Anders Olson—238, Regional semi nal playoff games Barron VFW ...... 114 ..... 174 These are not special people, they’re just people who believe they can do Mason Anderson—208, Evan Volk—208. Tuesday Women Spare Time Bowl...... 106 ..... 182 High individual girls’ game, Kianna something and set out to accomplish their goal. Week 22 of 29 – 2/18/2020 Wrestling Roxie’s Bar I ...... 88 ...... 200 Kreier—119, Skylar Schaaf—112, Aubree Standings Points Won Feb. 18 Results – Week 18 It’s important to remember that for those drivers who take the risks, it can Kreier—110; high individual girls’ series, WIAA State Tournament - Madison be rewarding. Denny Hamlin, winner of this year’s Daytona 500, took home The Dead Ends ...... 46 Roxie’s Bar II 6 @ Roxie’s Bar I 10 Skylar Schaaf—222, Haidn Tietz—215, Spare Time ...... 44 Kianna Kreier—207. Saturday, Feb. 29 5th Street Saloon II 9 @ Cheers I 7 over $2 million. For that kind of money, there will always be risk-takers. Charlie’s Place ...... 36 Cheers II 6 @ 5th Street Saloon I 10 And as long as you and I have boredom traveling along with us every day, Sexy Mamas ...... 36 Wrestling TAVERN LEAGUE – FEB. 13 WIAA State Tournament - Madison Spare Time Bowl 5 @ Skippy’s 11 we will show up to watch daredevils try to win a big prize. W / L Citizen State Bank ...... 34 Barron VFW 4 @ Almena VFW 12 True Value ...... 26 Girls Basketball Racing Joke: Jimmie and his wife are sitting at the breakfast table talking Red’s ...... 153.5 / 86.5 Regional championship games Mary’s Cafe & Pub ...... 143 / 97 Red Cedar Accounting ...... 24 Wednesday Night and sipping their second cup of coffee before he has to leave to go to the race Range Fire Department ...... 10 car shop. “I just dreamed that you gave me a beautiful diamond necklace. Indianhead White ...... 130.5 / 109.5 Tuesday, March 3 Pool League Chetek Lanes ...... 119 / 121 High Games: Spare Time 768, Citizen Standings W L What do you think it means” his wife said. A&T Industries ...... 109 / 131 State 738, True Value 733; Sherri Munkel- Boys Basketball –– Regional Quarter nals –– Drunk’n Monkey I ...... 113 ...... 43 “You’ll know tonight,” Jimmie said. Bjorkstrand Roo ng ...... 65 / 175 witz 216, Sheila LaBlanc 199, Ali Blom- Bird’s Place ...... 98 ...... 58 That evening, he came home with a small package under his arm and gives High team game, Mary’s Cafe & Pub—1155, berg 189 High Series: Spare Time 2187, Div. 3 Red’s—1136, Indianhead White Tales—1094; True Value 2108, Sexy Mamas 2085; Sherri Ellsworth at Hayward Packer-Inn ...... 97 ...... 59 it to his wife. Delighted, she opens it to  nd a book, titled, “The Meaning of high team series, Red’s—3326, Mary’s Cafe & Munkelwitz 582, Sam Munkelwitz 489, Ali Osceola at Northwestern Buckhorn II ...... 80 ...... 76 Dreams.” Pub—3323, Indianhead White Tales—3206. Blomberg 484 Spooner at Bloomer Pine Crest ...... 74 ...... 82 Weekend Racing: The Cup and X nity teams are at the 2-mile Auto Club High individual game, Collin Law—245, Barron at Baldwin-Woodville Barron VFW ...... 66 ...... 78 Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Scott Rohde—243, Kevin Ranney—234; Monday Night Ladies Div. 4 5th Street Saloon ...... 66 ...... 78 high individual series, Collin Law—660, Sportsmen’s ...... 60 ...... 96 Sat., Feb. 29; X nity Series race 2 of 33; Starting time: 4:00 pm ET; TV: Week 24 of 29 – 2/24/2020 Webster at Ladysmith Scott Rohde—639, Kevin Johnson—625. Standings Points Won Boyceville at Chetek-Weyer. Buckhorn I ...... 60 ...... 96 FoxSports1. Spare Time Bowl...... 50 Drunk’n Monkey II ...... 54 ...... 102 TOP SCRATCH BOWLERS THIS Shell Lake at Colfax Sun, Mar. 1; Cup Series race 2 of 36; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: Fox. Clear Lake Auto ...... 50 Div. 5 Feb. 19 Results WEEK: Men’s scratch game (225+): Kevin Bowlin Buddies ...... 47 5th Street 10 @ Sportsmen’s 2 Racing Trivia Question: Who was the  rst woman to qualify for the Day- Johnson—266, 245, John Law—254, Col- Butternut at Birchwood tona 500? LakePlace.com ...... 43 Frederic at Northwood Drunk’n Monkey I 7 @ Buckhorn II 5 lin Law—245, 235, 227, Scott Rohde—243, Little Debbies ...... 38 Last Week’s Question: At which track did Richard Petty get his last win? Wayne Ecklor Sr.—243, 227, Doug Gold- Winter at Mellen Buckhorn I 7 @ Drunk’n Monkey II 5 Austad’s Super Value ...... 36 Bird’s Place 7 @ Packer Inn 5 Answer. His last win came July 4, 1984, during the Firecracker 400 at Day- man—235, Kevin Ranney—234. Men’s scratch Cornell at Thorp series (600+): Kevin Johnson—704, Wayne Becker’s Trucking ...... 30 Prentice at New Auburn Pine Crest 8 @ VFW 1 tona. He beat out Harry Gant and Cale Yarborough, with Pres. Ronald Rea- Ecklor Sr.—666, Collin Law—660, 659, John Countyline Dairy ...... 30 Gilman at Turtle Lake Feb. 26 Schedule gan in attendance. Law—653, Scott Rohde—639, Jonathon Fran- High Games: Mitzi Hawkins 221, Shan- Prairie Farm at Clear Lake Barron VFW @ Packer Inn Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR writer and author. His books may cois—632, Kevin Johnson—625, Tony Ander- non Bents 203, Brenda Levine 189 High Flambeau at Lake Holcombe Drunk’n Monkey II @ Buckhorn II be viewed and ordered online at Amazon.com. You may contact him by e-mail son—610, Rico Gagner—600. Women’s scratch Series: Brenda Levine 539, Michelle Hol- Bruce at Greenwood Buckhorn I @ Drunk’n Monkey I game (200+): Penny Pierce—235. Women’s lister 516, Mitzi Hawkins 510, Shannon at: [email protected]. Clayton at McDonell Central Pine Crest @ 5th Street scratch series (500+): Robin Wirth—533. Bents 509, Sam Larson 508 Sportsmen’s @ Bird’s Place 10B— Barron News-Shield — Wed., February 26, 2020 www.news-shield.com

Best Birkie conditions in a decade The winter of 2019-20 has had its ups and downs in terms of both tem- peratures and snowfall, but it provid- ed probably the best ski conditions in a decade for this year’s running of the American Birkebeiner Ski Race, according to local resident Tyler Gru- etzmacher. “This year’s Birkie was a continu- ation of a great winter of skiing,” Gruetzmacher said in a Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, email. “We have been skiing pretty much Miles Nolte, Patrick Durkin, Mike Lindemuth, Janis Putelis and Tyler Emmett of MeatEater TV’s Fur Hat Ice-Fishing Tour pose with uninterrupted since December 1 here 18 white sh Putelis and Durkin caught Feb. 13 on Green Bay in Barron. The snowpack up on the Birkie trail was even better.” Race organizers were surprised by an additional  ve inches of fresh snow on Monday, Feb. 17, which af- fected the north end of the trail, he added. “The start and  nish are 17 miles OUTDOOR VIEW apart as the crow  ies, so there can be considerable difference (in trail con- By Patrick Durkin ditions),” he wrote. “But they were able to deal with that, and set up the best course since White sh ice  shing 2010. The snow was  rm and with overnight lows in the single digits, Renaissance on Green Bay the snow stayed cold and fast through STURGEON BAY — Snow churning the morning and into the afternoon.” and whirling across Green Bay’s ice cap The conditions were just as nice on made me think of arctic explorers long lost Friday for the Kortelopet (about half in white oblivions at the Earth’s poles. the distance of the Birkie), Gruetzm- Janis Putelis and I then strapped down acher added. our beaver-fur hats, climbed into our open- For a race that had been cancelled air utility vehicle and followed our crew on by poor conditions as recently as a bitter 3-mile bounce to guide J.J. Mal- three years ago, it was “amazing to vitz’s heated ice- shing shacks. Malvitz promised our shack would shield get two perfect days in a row,” he us from the day’s 20 mph winds and -3 air temperatures. added. Malvitz has been guiding ice- shermen on Green Bay the past 10 years, According to an independent blog- assigning them to one of his 12 ice-houses 80 feet above underwater reefs ger, the Cable/Hayward area was ex- where white sh come to prey. He tells wary clients they’ll get colder fetch- pected to have temperatures between ing their mail than they will ice- shing with him. When they arrive on 10 and 15 degrees on Saturday, “and Green Bay’s eastern shoreline, Malvitz welcomes them into a heated UTV then warm up a bit faster.” for the ice-trail drive, delivers them to the ice-shack’s door, and holds it According to the Faster Skier web- open while they shuf e inside and doff their coats. site, temperatures steadily rose from Putelis and I brought our own UTV, however, freeing our colleagues the 20s at the start into the 30s by the Miles Nolte, Mike Lindemuth and Tyler Emmett of MeatEater TV’s Fur  nish of the Cable-to-Hayward race. Hat Ice-Fishing Tour to pile into Malvitz’s heated UTV. Eight men broke the two-hour The MeatEater crew had spent much of the previous week on Lake Win- mark in the Birkie’s 50-kilometer nebago recording a sturgeon-spearing episode, and two days in the city of skate race. Australian Jessica Yeaton Getting some encouragement – Two Rivers resident Carol Gruetzmacher, left, cheers on her son, Barron’s Tyler Green Bay ice- shing for walleyes and northern pike from Smokey’s on the set a new women’s Birkie 50 k skate Gruetzmacher, during Saturday’s running of the 46th annual American Birkebeiner Ski Race, Hayward. Photo contributed Bay bait-shop at the Fox River’s mouth. It’s all part of a MeatEater  shing course record in 2:13.20.6. series scheduled to air this fall. Malvitz, a  fth-generation Door County resident, is proud of his ancestral bonds with white sh, which his great-grandfather  shed commercially 100 Birkie  nishers Elk hunting applications years ago on Green Bay. “I think it’s cool that I’m going after the same  sh he did, but from the News-Shield Circulation Area can be sent in March 1 sport-angling side,” Malvitz said. “We’re sharing the same great resource Birkie Classic – 35 miles The Wisconsin Department of $10 each, and there is no limit on the that’s a big part of Door County’s history and culture.” Place Name, Hometown, Age Time Natural Resources will accept ap- number of raf e tickets an individual Malvitz feels grateful, too. White sh virtually disappeared from Green 826-745-78 Greg Mikunda, Barron, 61 4:39:307 plications for 2020 elk hunting tags may purchase. An elk hunting tag for Bay for much of the 1900s after paper-mill pollutants and dense sawdust 152-184-17 Bob Peterson, Barron, 52 3:19:41.1 March 1-May 31. This fall marks the the winners of the drawing is $49. from sawmills ruined spawning habitats in the bay’s many tributaries. The Birkie Skate – 31 miles third modern elk hunt in state history. For each application, $7 is ear- waterways rebounded after strong environmental laws took effect in the 1213-1303-113 Tyler Gruetzmacher, Barron, 61 3:03:32.1 Once widespread across North marked for elk management and re- early 1970s, imposing discharge controls and ongoing cleanups. 1472-197-10 Jewel Market, Barron, 52 3:11:52.3 America, elk were eliminated from search in Wisconsin. During the  rst By the mid-1990s, white sh began showing up regularly in surveys on 684-701-76 Ryan Ebner, Cameron, 43 2:46:13.9 Wisconsin in the 1880s. Thanks to two hunting seasons, over $400,000 the Menominee River. By 2006, white sh were booming in Green Bay. In the support of many partners and the was generated and already is being 2009 and 2015, net surveys by the Department of Natural Resources docu- 3270-2619-296 Steven Schultz, Cameron, 59 4:32:57.7 backing of Wisconsinites, the herd is used for elk habitat enhancement mented unprecedented numbers of young white sh in the bay. 3062-2325-331 Louis Muench, Cumberland, 36 4:15:41.7 back, the DNR reports. projects as well as for elk research Even so, until the past couple of years, the DNR couldn’t prove white sh 3158-2379-101 John Hinde, Hillsdale, 68 4:22:53.0 Elk hunting season will open Oct. and monitoring. were again reproducing in Green Bay’s tributaries. But now it can. • The three place numbers indicate, in order: the place the skier  nished 17-Nov. 15 and Dec. 10-18, 2020. Hunters who draw a tag will be no- Scott Hansen, the DNR’s  sheries chief in Sturgeon Bay, said the agency in his/her division, gender and age group Only Wisconsin residents are eligible ti ed in early June. Prior to obtaining has con rmed successful white sh spawns in the Fox, Oconto, Peshtigo Source: 46th annual Slumberland American Birkebeiner to receive an elk tag. an elk hunting license, all winners are and Menominee rivers. Aided by University of Wisconsin-Green Bay re- “We don’t see anything of concern required to participate in a Wisconsin searchers, the DNR has identi ed larval white sh in those rivers in spring, regarding winter effects on the herd,” elk hunter education program offered and documented spawning activity below the  rst dams on the Fox, Peshti- said Kevin Wallenfang, DNR deer in early September. The class will go and Menominee. Ice Age Trail group to host and elk ecologist. “The northern elk cover regulations, hunting techniques Malvitz likes that restoration story and dubs white sh “the comeback population peaked at about 280 last and more. kid” of Green Bay. “White sh got kicked down and put up against the wall, evening hike Saturday, March 7 year, and with over 100 breeding age The 2020 hunting season is expect- but they got the  nal say,” he said. “They have the power and adaptability The Superior Lobe Chapter of For information or to register, call cows in the herd, we’re anticipating ed to occur only within the northern to thrive, not just survive.” the Ice Age Trail Alliance will lead (715) 761-1657 or email heldhar- continued herd growth and are con- elk herd. While the state’s central elk Even though the environmental cleanup spurred the white sh’s come- an evening hike at 5 p.m. Saturday, [email protected].  dent that a hunt will occur. How herd has grown steadily since rein- back, Green Bay’s food base changed drastically the past 50 years. White- March 7, 2020, at the Timberland Timberland Hills includes 30 ki- many tags that are offered will be de- troduction in 2015, no hunting is ex-  sh once depended on a native invertebrate called diporeia, a.k.a. “freshwa- Hills area north of Cumberland. lometers of trail system on 2,400 termined this spring.” pected to occur in 2020. ter shrimp,” but that species plummeted as zebra mussels, quagga mussels, Hikers should meet by 5 p.m. at the wooded acres of Burnett County for- The department is offering an ear- “A number of potential elk hunters spiny water  eas, round gobies, white perch and other invasive species ar- Cumberland Area Ski Touring Asso- estland, and a 2.5-kilometer lighted lier and longer application period to ask if they will be able to  nd a place rived in ballast waters dumped by ocean-going ships. ciation’s lighted trail parking lot on ski trail in northwestern Barron be consistent with other application to hunt if they draw a tag,” Wallen- The white sh’s diet has since shifted to young alewives, round gobies, Barron County Hwy. H, nine miles County. dates and to be responsive to many fang said. “With approximately 70% yellow perch and white perch. Although white sh won’t starve on that in- northwest of Cumberland. The Timberland West Lighted hunters who missed last year’s op- of the elk range under public owner- vasives-rich diet, they now need 6 to 7 years to reach 17-inch lengths, about The hike is about three miles/two Trail meanders through 500 acres of portunity due to a shorter, 30-day ap- ship and open to hunting,  nding a half as fast as they grew 25 years ago on the native diporeia diet. hours to the warming house on Boyd Barron County forest land. This is a plication period. place to hunt has not been a problem Still, Putelis and I weren’t complaining about our white sh catch. We Road, where organizers will serve beginner-type trail with gently roll- In 2019, a harvest quota of 10 bulls for elk hunters. Despite the relative combined to land 18 the  rst morning on Green Bay, and most exceeded 17 light food and beverages and shuttle ing terrain and no large hills. During was established within the original remoteness of the area, there are inches. The next morning we needed only three hours to catch our 10- sh hikers back to their cars. the ski season, the lights come on Clam Lake elk range. Five once-in- campgrounds, hotels and restaurants, limits, and those averaged 18 to 20 inches. The hike will go past a newly built at dusk and stay on until 11 p.m. It a-lifetime bull elk tags were issued so everything you need is within easy Malvitz also credits white sh with rejuvenating Green Bay’s ice- shing Burnett County cabin along the trail, is also available as a beginner-level to state hunters, along with an equal reach.” traditions the past decade. He said anglers target white sh each winter as which can be rented. The trail is trail during daylight hours. number allocated to the Ojibwa tribes For more information regarding soon as the ice allows, and stay after them until the ice deteriorates. That groomed, so snowshoes are optional. following treaty rights. The full quota elk in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s elk generally means December-through-March action. DNR creel surveys from was  lled, resulting in the total har- webpage. January through March the past three winters (2017-2019) estimated an- vest of 10 bulls. nual ice- shing harvests of 167,812, 198,618 and 79,658, respectively; a “It was known before the hunt 148,696- sh average, with ice conditions heavily in uencing the totals. Three die in weekend started that there were a good number Malvitz said white sh keep biting in February, which tends to be ice- of older bulls in the herd, and several  shing’s doldrums for perch and walleyes. After our 18- sh catch the  rst of those harvested were 8-10 years day, for example, Putelis and I asked about  shing walleyes the next day. snowmobile accidents old,” Wallenfang said. “Some of the “You’ll have about a 5% chance of catching one, but if you come back for Three people died while conditions and suggests bigger bulls that we know about are Expert white sh, your odds are probably 100%,” Malvitz replied. snowmobiling in Wisconsin last snowmobilers contact local  shing still out there.” Easy call. weekend, bringing the total to 17 clubs, snowmobile clubs or out tters More than 60,000 Wisconsinites Even though Malvitz and over 20 other guides offer white sh trips on deaths for the season, the DNR to inquire about the ice conditions. applied during the  rst two years of Green Bay, most anglers are do-it-yourselfers. Guided anglers accounted reports. With more than 200,000 registered managed elk hunting, showing the Printing for 95,585 (21.4%) of the 446,088 white sh in DNR creel surveys the past February is often the deadliest snowmobiles hitting Wisconsin’s appeal of pursuing another big game three winters. month for snowmobilers. There have 25,000 miles of groomed trails each animal in Wisconsin to many hunters. In fact, white sh are so prevalent and the action so consistent that an- been nine snowmobile fatalities in winter, safety is an important part of “It may seem like steep odds to – Since 1876 – Service glers across the Midwest and southern Canada  sh Green Bay each winter. the state so far this February. Alcohol, the ride. draw a tag, but one person’s chances “I’ve guided people from about 25 states,” Malvitz said. “White sh have excess speed, driver inexperience or “Safe snowmobiling means you are just as good as the next person,” O Quality Printing O Offset Printing reinvigorated a lot of the area’s lodges and resorts. No place else can match operator error are the leading causes must operate within your speci c said Wallenfang. “All of last year’s Green Bay’s combination of white sh size, numbers and sustainability.” of snowmobile fatalities. capabilities, operating at safe hunters, including our  rst woman O Rush Service O Copy Service Visiting ice-anglers also take their catch to Lindal Fisheries, which cleans There were 16 snowmobile following distances when riding with elk hunter, were thrilled with their and vacuum-seals white sh for $2.50 each at its facility south of Sturgeon fatalities in 2019. Eleven of those others and use the right speeds for experience. Put your name in the hat, O Invitations - personal & business Bay. The company spends most of the year catching Lake Michigan white- involved operation on public trails the terrain, daylight or night riding,” and you just might be the next lucky  sh and packaging them for sale. But when the commercial season closes in and roadways, while four incidents said DNR Conservation Warden hunter out there in October.” O COMPETITIVE RATES fall, it shifts to helping Green Bay’s ice-anglers. It even lets you watch as its occurred on frozen waterways. Lt. Martin Stone, administrator for Elk tage applications can be pur- machinery and expert crew turn your white sh into boneless  llets in less Winter’s  uctuating temperatures, the DNR’s Off-Highway Vehicle chased by Wisconsin residents BARRON NEWS-SHIELD time than it takes to down a Coke. snowfalls and snowmelts have made program. “Wardens and partner law through the DNR Go Wild license Putelis and I agreed that’s a service worth including in every white sh for often-changing terrain and mixed enforcement recreational patrols are system. Each potential hunter may (Bell Press) outing. conditions on snowmobile trails, as on those trails, working to keep the apply once online at gowild.wi.gov Patrick Durkin, @patrickdurkinoutdoors, is a free-lance writer who cov- well as rivers and lakes. The DNR trails safe and fun for all to enjoy. or by visiting a license agent. The ap- Phone: 715-537-3117 ers outdoors recreation in Wisconsin. Write to him at 721 Wesley St., Wau- cautions that no ice is 100% safe. We always ask that people ride plication fee is $10. Rocky Mountain paca, WI 54981; or by e-mail at patrickdurkin56@gmailcom. The DNR does not monitor responsibly.” Elk Foundation raf e tickets are also Fax: 715-537-5640