Shawano Leader Sports Headlines

Triathlon returns for 31st yearBy: 

Leader Staff

Unincorporated Leopolis has a population of 87. Nearly twice that many people are expected to overrun the community Monday for the 31st annual Leopolis Triathlon, also known as the Leopolis Iron Man.

About 150 triathletes are expected to participate in the Fourth of July tradition sponsored by the Leopolis Booster Club.

Many of the competitors plan vacations to the area around the holiday and competition.

“They always come on the Fourth for a good run,” booster club member Carol Peterson said.

The booster club receives the proceeds from the event, which is followed by a parade at 1:30 p.m. and music in the park from 2-6 p.m.

Peterson estimates the day will bring in roughly $2,000, which the club uses to sponsor other holiday activities throughout the year and to maintain the park’s playground.

The race has two divisions, “jock” and “beer belly.” Each division has various age categories.

The jocks race begins at 11 a.m. and includes a 50-yard swim, 12-mile bike ride and 5-mile run.

The beer belly race includes a 50-yard swim, 5-mile bike ride and 2-mile run.

Competitors ages 16 and younger will complete the same course as the beer belly division.

Neenah’s Mike Heidke has won the past three races in the jock division, posting a time of 59 minutes and 30 seconds in 2015.

Brenton Steudel, of Greenville, won the beer belly race in 24:48 last year, and the top youth finisher was Shawano’s Ben Carroll, who took 27:57 to complete the course.

The Leopolis Triathlon started in 1986 as the Leopolis Iron Man with just 22 participants.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Players to be pulled at 100 pitchesBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School sophomore Wyatt Erb, who will return next year as the team’s ace, will have to cut down on his pitches due to a new rule passed by the WIAA in June.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Nate Laude was the Hawks’ No. 1 pitcher this season. Under a new rule for 2017, pitchers who throw 100 pitches will be required to be taken out after the at-bat.

Local coaches agree that a new WIAA rule imposing a 100-pitch limit on high school baseball players will create some challenges next season.

In addition to the pitch-count rule, the WIAA Board of Control earlier this month also mandated a minimum three-day rest, up from two, after a pitcher throws at least 76 pitches in a game.

The rule changes will require coaches to develop more pitchers, beginning as early as youth leagues, according to area coaches.

Shawano Community High School coach Rob Wolff also faces an expanded Bay Conference schedule, increasing from 12 conference games to 18, which will increase the pressure on the pitching staff.

“You’re going to need to have three very strong, quality pitchers for your conference games, and that’s not even talking relievers, and then you are talking your nonconference games,” Wolff said. “It’s going to be a lot of juggling.”

Although most pitchers usually don’t reach 100 pitches in a game, it did happen a handful of times for each of the area’s teams this spring.

Any pitcher reaching 31 pitches will have to sit out the next day; 50 pitches will require a two-day rest. The two-day rest was previously mandated only when a pitcher threw seven innings.

When a pitcher reaches 76 pitches, he will have to sit out three days. At 100 pitches, the pitcher will be allowed to finish the at-bat before being taken out for three days of rest.

“Looking at our program, there’s going to be some kids that I’m going to have to look into developing as pitchers, that probably, maybe, in the back of their mind, didn’t really want to do it,” Wolff said.

Sally Egan, SCHS athletic trainer, said the rule changes were based in part on a study that found an increase in Tommy John surgery in adolescents. The surgery is a procedure done to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in the throwing elbow.

In the past, the surgery was only for adults, mainly professional baseball players.

“It’s a step in the right direction of helping a younger pitcher be aware of the importance of understanding pitch count and why it’s something to be aware of,” Egan said.

Players will need to learn to throw more strikes early to get through the early innings with low pitch counts.

Bonduel head coach Donnie Gruenewald pointed out that senior Trevor Pedersen made a big jump between his sophomore and junior seasons in throwing more strikes and reducing his pitch count.

The rule changes could also give younger pitchers varsity experience earlier than expected.

“I could have thrown my (top two) pitchers during our nonconference games because they had ample amounts of rest, but then I was looking big picture too,” Wolff said. “Is is worth sacrificing their arm or getting some of my younger kids experience?”

Shawano’s pitchers this spring were getting close to seven days of rest between starts because of their arms’ respective recovery times.

“You’ve got to go by the eye test. There’s some kids that, depending how much strength and conditioning they do with their arms in the offseason, they rebound quicker than others,” Wolff said.

Wolff still wonders how the rule will be implemented and regulated across the state for fairness.

The WIAA rule states that each team will need pitch counters in its dugout, along with a neutral pitch counter provided by the home team. Wolff said teams will report pitch counts to the WIAA for anyone to view.

Although counting pitches seems like a simple task, discrepancies can arise.

“I know we always had one guy on a counter clicking off the pitches,” Gruenewald said. “And Mark Margelofsky would always chart the pitches a little bit, and very rarely were they on the exact same (count).”

Just another wrinkle for the WIAA to figure out.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

By: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

There may be other NFL players to jump on board a nascent campaign to get medical marijuana removed from the league’s banned substances list.

But some may wait until after the ink has dried on their contracts.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan joined Eugene Monroe in asking the NFL to re-consider its ban on medical marijuana, citing credible research studies pointing to long-term medical benefits of cannabis.

Various retired players – Jim McMahon, Jake Plummer, Kyle Turley and Nate Jackson among them – have spoken out in a similar vein.

But Monroe, a free agent left tackle, became the first active NFL player to advocate for medical marijuana’s removal from the list, for better league funding to research medical marijuana, and for the league to stop prescribing so many addictive opioids to players.

Soon after, he became the first active player advocating for rules change to be released by his team.

The Ravens cut Monroe on June 15, but insist that there was no correlation to that roster move and his medical marijuana activism. Monroe says the Ravens are “distancing themselves” from him and did not support his advocacy. On his website – eugenemonroe.com – he makes an eloquent presentation of marijuana as a safe alternative to the more dangerous prescription painkillers that the league condones and team doctors routinely issue.

McMahon, a quarterback whose 15-year, six-team career included a stint with the Green Bay Packers, said he used to take upwards of 100 Percosets every month. Retired former Packer Brett Favre struggled with Vicodin addiction.

Turley, who played guard and tackle for New Orleans, St. Louis and Kansas City, regards pot as literally a lifesaver.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for cannabis, period,” he said. “Cannabis has saved my life. I don’t think of suicide anymore. That’s a big thing.”

If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to score some forward-thinking points for the league – as they appear serious in their recent addressing the issue of concussions – he would heed the cry from voices past and present and move to have medical pot removed from the list of banned substances.

As a dangerous drug, marijuana is overrated. It is heroin and prescription opioids, not pot, that are responsible for the vast majority of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. Innocuous as alcohol is often portrayed, it can be lethal too if, for instance, some unwise fellow decides to chug a quart of rum in one go. But you can do bong hits until you’re a red-eyed zombie dullard, and you’ll never die from it.

The irony in all of the foot-dragging on recognizing marijuana’s medical benefits is that elements in cannabis actually help prevent CTE – chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the brain injury suffered by a disproportionately high number of football players. There are cannabinoid receptors throughout the human body, and there is evidence that elements in the cannabis plant work with various receptors to stave off or greatly limit the effects of CTE.

“We believe (our current policy) is the correct policy, for now, in the best interest of our players, the long-term health of our players,” Goodell said. “I don’t foresee a change in that, clearly in the short-term. But we’ll be in touch with our medical personnel. If that changes, we’ll discuss it.”

Otherwise, they’ll stick with that which last year resulted in suspensions totaling 70 games for 19 players. The Packers lost defensive end Datone Jones for the first game of last season and nose tackle Letroy Guion for the first three due to pot-related violations.

Morgan, who had 4.5 sacks in 10 games for the Titans last year, is signed to a four-year, $27-million deal. Hats off to him and Monroe for having the courage to speak up on an important issue, and good luck to Monroe hooking on with another team.

Time to lose some old concepts that were proven duds. The War on Drugs has been about as wildly successful as the 1920s precursor War on Alcohol.

Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymour’s column appears weekly in the Leader. To contact him, send an email to [email protected] this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Maule drives in 3 for GrizzliesBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel’s Josh Richter steals third base in the fourth inning, sliding around the tag of Wittenberg’s Matt Alweys. Richter would score the game’s first run two batters later during Bonduel's 5-0 victory Tuesday at home.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel pitcher Trevor Pedersen threw a no-hitter in his return to the mound after rehabbing a fractured thumb from the high school season. Pedersen struck out 16 batters on the night.

In his Bonduel American Legion baseball return from a fractured thumb, Trevor Pedersen no-hit Wittenberg during a 5-0 victory at home Tuesday night.

Pedersen, who allowed three base runners, used his entire arsenal on the mound to strike out 16 batters.

“He was probably a few more miles per hour faster on his fastball with the layoff,” Bonduel head coach Jason Boldt said. “The arm is probably stronger with the extra rest. He had her dialed in.”

Pedersen, who hurt his thumb at the end of the high school season, walked one batter all night and was able to get ahead in the count with first-pitch strikes.

In addition to striking out the side in the seventh inning, he struck out four batters in the third inning after Zach Urquhart reached base on a passed ball after striking out.

Wittenberg head coach Dan Kapitz thought his players were too patient early in counts, instead of attacking Pedersen right away.

“Because he was so much around the strike zone, you really can’t take a strike in a situation like that, so you’ve got to be ready on the first pitch,” Kapitz said.

Wittenberg had not seen a pitcher as good as Pedersen so far this summer, Kapitz said.

“Even the kids said he’s got a very good fastball, but an even better off-speed pitch that throws off timing,” Kapitz said. “With high school hitters, if you’re not timed correctly, it can make you look pretty bad. I tip my hat to him. He did a great job.”

The Grizzlies (6-1) loaded the bases in the first inning, but allowed Wittenberg pitcher Zach Urquhart to get out of the jam without giving up a run.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning.

After Josh Richter singled, Austin Siolka sacrificed him to second base. Richter then stole third base. Brandon Olsen walked and stole second base, putting runs in scoring position for Bryce Maule.

“I think the biggest one was Olsen,” Kapitz said. “That would have been a big out. … That was a big non-out in that case, especially when we’re struggling to score.”

Maule, batting ninth for the Grizzlies, singled to left field, pushing two runs across.

Bonduel was back at it in the fifth inning, this time off Wittenberg pitcher Matt Alweys.

Olsen’s RBI single to center scored Brent Pieper, and Siolka scored from third base during a double steal for the 4-0 lead. Maule then drove in Olsen with his second hit of the day.

“Maule sitting in on the nine-spot, he actually, on any other team, could be a three or four hitter,” Boldt said. “It just shakes out with our depth that he’s a nine hitter.”

Urquhart gave up two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out one over four innings. Alwes gave up three runs on three hits in the final two innings.

Bonduel, sitting on a perfect 6-0 Central Wisconsin League record, will look to avenge its only loss of the season in a rematch against Shawano at home at 4 p.m. July 4.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

Wittenberg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Bonduel 0 0 0 2 3 0 x 5 8 2

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Shawano 7

Oconto 1

Cole Nelson, Shawano’s leading run producer, drove in two runs as the Patriots snapped a six-game losing streak with a home victory Tuesday.

Nate Laude pitched a complete game, earning the victory for Shawano (3-7).

Waupaca 7

Shawano 3

Waupaca scored four late runs to break a 3-3 tie in the second game of its doubleheader at Shawano on Saturday.

Losing pitcher Dylan Sumnicht, who pitched a complete game, had two hits at the plate to go with an RBI for Shawano (2-7). Jacob Lacy and Alex Hoffman also tallied RBIs.

Waupaca 3

Shawano 2

Bryce Gagnow threw a complete game and took the loss for Shawano in the first game of a home doubleheader Saturday.

Seth Sousek was 3 for 4 with two RBIs as the leading hitter for the Patriots (2-6).

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Fury at the Fairgrounds pays out $5KBy: 

Scott Owen, Special to the Leader

Jeff “Bone” Larson was the first IMCA Modifieds car to hit the Shawano Speedway track for hot laps Saturday, and it paid dividends for the Freeport, Illinois, racer. Larson won the third leg of the Cheesehead Triple Crown and left the track with $5,000 and a huge trophy.

In Saturday’s other races, Nick Anvelink won his fourth Late Model feature of the year, Travis Van Straten scored IMCA Stock Car win number six, and Wyatt Block picked up his second win of the year in IMCA Sport Mod action.

IMCA Modifieds

The much anticipated Luisier Drilling Fury at the Fairgrounds feature started out with Larson and defending track champion Jerry Wilinski racing wheel to wheel for the lead. Wilinski had Larson by a few car lengths on lap two before the yellow flag came out.

When the race returned to green, Wilinski continued to lead as Larson ran near the wall trying to gain an advantage. Behind the leaders, seventh-place starter Jon Snyder and ninth-place starter Kelly Shryock began to battle for third. Another caution, the final caution of the 30-lap feature, flew after lap five.

As the race went back to green, Larson again tip-toed along the wall to the outside of Wilinski and took the lead. Wilinski now battled Shryock for second. Konnor Wilinski, Jerry’s teenage son, battled with Jay Noteboom for fourth.

On lap 21, Shryock passed Jerry Wilinski for second, for the second time. Through the late stages of the race, Larson continued to tour the track inches from the outside wall and extended his lead. Noteboom was able to catch Wilinski on lap 26 to move to third, then battled past Shryock on lap 28 to move to second.

In the end, it was all Larson, with Noteboom taking second, Shryock third, Jerry Wilinski fourth and RC Whitwell fifth.

Late Models

Mark Rose grabbed the lead on the opening lap of what would turn out to be a wild feature. Rose was quickly pressured by Ron Berna.

Berna put a slide job on Rose entering turn one on lap four to take the lead. On lap five Jeff Curtin passed Rose to grab second. On the ensuing lap Troy Springborn passed Rose to join the top three.

As Berna continued to lead on lap nine, Springborn passed Curtin to take second. By lap 11, it was Berna in the lead, with Springborn second and Anvelink in third. On lap 16, Springborn and Berna were side by side for the lead. As they exited turn four, Berna’s car slid a bit too high and got into the front-stretch wall, ending his night and bringing out a yellow flag.

Springborn led the field back to green with Anvelink, Curtin, Jared Siefert and Tom Naeyaert right behind him. Heading down the back straightaway on lap 19, Springborn and Anvelink made contact battling for the lead. Anvelink would take the top spot while Springborn coasted to pit lane.

The final caution after lap 20 slowed the pace of the race and set up a five-lap dash to the finish. On lap 22, Naeyaert passed Curtin for second and began to hunt down Anvelink. As the white flag waived, Naeyaert was right on Anvelink for the lead, but Anvelink was able to fend off Naeyaert for the victory. Jeff Curtin, Doug Blashe and Jared Siefert finished third through fifth, respectively.

IMCA Stock Cars

Van Straten took the lead on the opening lap and led all 20 laps for the win. The race was by no means a boring affair, though, as Dan Michonski ran the Larson line around the track on the wall. Michonski started the race in ninth place, but steadily worked his way through the field and into second place on lap 16. Van Straten won the race, while Michonski came home second. Joe White, Shawn Wagner and Kyle Frederick completed the top five.

IMCA Sport Mods

Jeff Schmul shot from the pole position into the lead at the start of the feature and would hold the lead for the first two laps. Colton VanHierden made his presence known in the race with an outside pass on Schmul to take the lead on lap three. Lap four saw Block pull even with Schmul in the battle for the second spot, while Lucas Lamberies and Jordan Barkholtz battled side by side for fourth.

As Block and Schmul duked it out for second, VanHierden began to distance himself from the rest of the field. On lap 10, Block was able to pull ahead of Schmul into second place and set his sights on VanHierden. On the following lap, Lamberies got past Schmul as well and began to hunt down VanHierden and Block. Over the next three laps, Block steadily closed the gap on VanHierden. On lap 15, Block got to the inside of VanHierden entering turn three and the duo crossed the start-finish line side by side with Block ahead by a bumper.

Block went on to score the win. Lamberies got past VanHierden on the final lap to finish second. VanHierden took third, Barkholtz finished fourth and Schmul completed the top five.

Shawano Speedway

June 25

Race Summary

IMCA Modified Feature: 1) Jeff Larson, 2) Jay Noteboom, 3) Kelly Shryock, 4) Jerry Wilinski, 5) RC Whitwell, 6) Dylan Smith, 7) Marcus Yarie, 8) Mike Mullen, 9) Konnor Wilinski, 10) Kyle Strickler, 11) Jason Grimes, 12) Justin Obrien, 13) Joel Rust, 14) Mitch Stankowski, 15) Shane Demey, 16) Jason Zdroik, 17) Jerry Muenster, 18) Chris Engels, 19) Johnny Whitman, 20) Jon Snyder, 21) Jeremy Christians, 22) Brad Lautenbach, 23) Benji LaCrosse, 24) RM VanPay.

Last Chance Qualifier 1: 1) Smith, 2) Lautenbach, 3) Mark Weisnicht.

Last Chance Qualifier 2: 1) Strickler, 2) Mullen, 3) Kyle Brown.

Last Chance Qualifier 3: 1) LaCrosse, 2) Zdroik, 3) Troy Jerovetz.

Heat 1: 1) Jerry Wilinski, 2) Noteboom, 3) OBrien.

Heat 2: 1) Konnor Wilinski, 2) Demey, 3) Grimes.

Heat 3: 1) VanPay, 2) Larson, 3) Muenster.

Heat 4: 1) Shryock, 2) Stankowski, 3) Yarie.

Heat 5: 1) Christians, 2) Engels, 3) Rust.

Heat 6: 1) Whitwell, 2) Snyder, 3) Whitman.

Late Model Feature: 1) Nick Anvelink, 2) Tom Naeyaert, 3) Jeff Curtin, 4) Doug Blashe, 5) Jared Siefert, 6) Jeo Reuter, 7) Tim Rothe, 8) Mark Rose, 9) Tony Habeck, 10) Brett Swedberg.

Heat 1: 1) Brett Swedberg, 2) Anvelink, 3) Ron Berna.

Heat 2: 1) Troy Springborn, 2) Jeff Curtin, 3) Doug Blashe.

IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1) Travis Van Straten, 2) Dan Michonski, 3) Joe White, 4) Shawn Wagner, 5) Kyle Frederick, 6) Trent Nolan, 7) Vern Stedjee, 8) Larry Karcz, 9) Mike Schmidt, 10) Aaron Stolp.

Heat 1: 1) Stolp, 2) Jeremy Christians, 3) Michonski.

Heat 2: 1) White, 2) Harley Simon, 3) Nolan.

Heat 3: 1) Van Straten, 2) Schmidt, 3) Frederick.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1) Wyatt Block, 2) Lucas Lamberies, 3) Colton VanHierden, 4) Jordan Barkholtz, 5) Jeff Schmul, 6) Jason Jach, 7) Hunter Parsons, 8) Brian Besaw, 9) JJ Anderson, 10) Brock Saunders.

Last Chance Qualifier: 1) Kyle Raddant, 2) JJ Anderson, 3) Jordan Bartz.

Heat 1: 1) Schmul, 2) Barkholtz, 3) Kelsey Hayes.

Heat 2: 1) Saunders, 2) Brekken Kleinschmidt, 3) Parsons.

Heat 3: 1) Lamberies, 2) Block, 3) VanHierden.

FYI Racing at Shawano Speedway will continue at 6:30 p.m. Saturday with Family Night sponsored by 22 Shell of Shawano. Mom, dad and the kids all get in for $15. Spectator Eliminators will be back on schedule. More information can be found online at www.shawanocountyfair.net.Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

EAST-WEST DIVISION

MARION 2, CAROLINE 1

WP — Cody Reimer; LP — Mike Weatherwax

TIGERTON 6, CAROLINE 3

WP — Paul Sellner; LP — Nick Desrochers

LITTLE FALLS 10, GRESHAM 9

WP — Seth Korb; LP — Nate Ejnik

LEOPOLIS 5, SHAWANO 3

WP — Aaron Hoffman; LP — Dan Buettner

CLINTONVILLE 15, BOWLER 0

WP — Mitch Ebben; LP — Zach Olsen

NORTHERN DIVISION

POLAR 9, ELAND 1

WP — Cole Kuenzli; LP — Jarod Richter

ANIWA 10, BIRNAMWOOD 3

WP — Denton Mortenson; LP — Austin Reed

WITTENBERG 4, HATLEY 3

SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION

SCANDY 9, OMRO 4

WP — Adam Dietrich; LP — Preston Goetz

LANARK 9, NEW LONDON 7

WP — Gerrid Estrada; LP — Joe Schuester

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Club moving show to new location next yearBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Brad Keuschel, left, and Eric Gran, right, help stabilize adaptive skier Ben Kosbob on the Wolf River as part of the Shawano Ski Sharks adaptive learn-to-ski event Friday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Jacob Unger, center, coasts to the shore at Smalley Park with the help of Mick Siolka, left, and Nick Spalding, after completing a circle on the Wolf River during a learn-to-ski event Friday.

Dave Passehl and the Shawano Ski Sharks held their biggest, and final, adaptive ski class of the season Friday at the Wolf River Beach at Smalley Park on Friday afternoon.

With 21 adaptive skiers signed up, Passehl was hoping the Ski Sharks could give them all multiple chances to ski on the Wolf River.

“It’s a lot of people coming at one time, and we just want to make sure they have a good experience so they want to come back and do it again,” Passehl said.

Ski Sharks members, one on each side of the adaptive skiers, took turns guiding the skiers, pulling them up at the beginning of the ride, stabilizing the weight on the ski during the ride and helping them slowly fall into the water as the skiers approach the beach.

A rotation of eight support riders helped the adaptive skiers.

“Fatigue is a big thing for the able-bodied support riders, because there’s two able bodies, one on either side of the skier, hunched over, knees bent, going around the river over and over and over again, which is very exhausting,” Passehl said.

The runs continued to go smoothly all afternoon.

Niki Hoefs, one of the Ski Sharks helping the skiers get ready prior to their runs and out of the river afterward, heard nothing but positive comments, he said.

“A lot of them are very excited and very excited to learn to do things and excited for this opportunity, because not many people get to do this,” Hoefs said.

Friday’s class was the Sharks’ final adaptive ski event of the season, but that doesn’t mean adaptive skiers are out of luck if they want to give it a shot.

“We are always willing. If they just show up at a practice one night, we would pull them,” Passehl said. “We are that passionate about getting disabled people to experience what we experience every day.”

Hoefs started with the Ski Sharks nine years ago at the age of 8 after driving past one of the team’s shows. From there, she joined and learned to ski in under two weeks.

The team has many younger skiers, who Passehl hopes can improve the quality of its shows each Wednesday night over the summer at Smalley Park.

“If we can focus on development and then our competition quality, we could just be huge,” Passehl said. “We are so excited for the size we are back to now.”

The shows already draw roughly 500 spectators each night, but even larger audiences are expected when the club moves to a bigger location next spring.

The Ski Sharks will move the show location just south of Third Street. In addition to a larger viewing area, the Wolf River Pond is wider and right next to the Shawano Lake outlet.

“I think when we have our new ski site next year, we’ll be able to hold actual ski tournaments here,” Passehl said. “We’re just pumped for the city of Shawano and for our team. It’s been put on a map over the past couple of years as our team has grown so much and (become) respected in the water ski community.”

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

SCHS grad ready for final season at LouisvilleBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Contributed Photo Mackenzie Buss, who just finished her junior year at the University of Louisville, first swam at the Olympic trials at the age of 17. She believes she will still be nervous Monday morning for the 100 backstroke prelims at the 2016 trials.
Contributed Photo Shawano Community High School graduate Mackenzie Buss will compete in her second U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter backstroke Monday in Omaha, Nebraska.

It has been a long road for Mackenzie Buss, a 2013 graduate of Shawano Community High School who will compete in her second U.S. Olympic trials Monday in Omaha, Nebraska.

Buss, who holds three SCHS swim records — the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 100 individual medley — was determined to win all her races, even from a young age, according to her Shawano Community Swim Club coach Paul Villez.

“She was always extremely determined and wanted to win all the time, no matter what the race was,” Villez said. “She wanted to beat everybody and because of that, she always worked very, very hard.”

Following a breakout season as a freshman at the University of Louisville, which included setting a school record in the 100-meter backstroke and finishing fourth on a relay team in the consolation bracket of the NCAA championships, Buss a year later considered giving up swimming.

With the Louisville program attracting more and more talent, Buss struggled though she continued to improve as a swimmer.

“Convinced I had to be the best … I think that pressure got to me a little bit,” she said.

After the season, with the support of her family, teammates and coaches, Buss decided to stick with the sport.

Buss, 21, said she has learned many lessons over the three seasons with the Cardinals, both in the lanes and in life.

“I’ve learned so, so much,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot in the pool and with like nutrition and sports performance, but the biggest thing I learned was being part of a team.”

She had a strong junior year and called the past few months “one of the best summers of my life” as she prepared for the Olympic trials.

“I’m excited to see what I can do,” Buss said.

She got the full experience of the Olympic trials four years ago, from going from the ready room to the pool, when she was a qualifier in the 100 backstroke as a teenager.

“I think when the time comes, I’m still going to be nervous,” Buss said.

Buss’ time of 1:03.29 in the 100 backstroke during the qualifying period ranks 155th in the country. She originally hoped to reach the qualifying time of 1:03.39 last summer but did not hit the mark until March 5.

Her personal best time in the event, about 0.6 seconds faster, would put her 73rd in the country.

She will swim in the prelims, which begin at 10 a.m. Monday. The semifinals will be final event of the evening session, which begins at 6:45.

Buss is not expected to advance to the Rio Olympics, which can take away some of the pressure, but she would like to match or improve on her best time.

“I’m living my dream every day, so it will be good either way,” Buss said.

Buss planned to study health and human performance with a concentration in exercise science when she enrolled at Louisville. But she has also always enjoyed working with numbers and recently completed finance and accounting classes, which could affect her career choices after graduation.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

By: 

Chris Caporale [email protected]

Contributed Photo Jacob Bigelow, left, and Karson Rades hold up fish they caught Sunday while taking fourth place at the Wisconsin State High School Fishing Championship in Minocqua.

Two Shawano students, Karson Rades and Jacob Bigelow, took fourth place at the Wisconsin State High School Fishing Championship on the Minocqua Chain of Lakes on Sunday.

Rades, who just completed his freshman year at SCHS, and Bigelow, who will be a freshman this fall at SCHS, teamed up to catch the five-bass limit with a combined weight of 9 pounds and 2 ounces.

The two anglers went out on the Minocqua Chain of Lakes on Saturday for a practice run and to decide where they wanted to fish.

They woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday and headed out to the lake.

“We launched on Minocqua Lake, and we tried fishing that the day before, and that didn’t really work for us,” Bigelow said.

The two then traveled to Tomahawk Lake, where things went a little bit better. The team finished out its eight hours of fishing there, with its biggest catch of the day coming in at 2.15 pounds.

The tournament, sponsored by The Bass Federation, was open to anglers in the state from grades 7 through 12.

Rades and Bigelow, who are among an estimated 20,000 high school anglers who participate in competitive tournaments across the U.S., plan to travel to an open tournament in Minnesota on Aug. 14.

“Tournaments are fun in general because you are competing, but you’re doing something you love at the same time,” Rades said.

Waunakee’s Colin Steck and Nathan Lorenz won the state title with a combined weight of 25 pounds and 6 ounces, including the biggest fish of the day, which weighed over 13 pounds.

The top three teams from six open tournaments, along with the top 10 percent of teams at each of the 10 state championships, qualify for the Central Conference Championship tournament in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in September.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

By: 

Scott Owen, Leader Columnist

This Saturday night the biggest IMCA Modifieds show in the history of the Shawano Speedway will hit the historic half-mile. The third leg of the Cheesehead Triple crown, the Fury at the Fairgrounds, will pay the IMCA Modifieds feature winner $5,000.

The first leg, held at 141 Speedway, went to Benji LaCrosse and paid him a cool $10,000. The second leg, Friday night at the Oshkosh Speedzone, paid $5,000 to the winner.

The race in Shawano, the third and final leg of the triple crown, will pit the local frontrunners against some of the top pilots in the nation. Multi-time USMTS champion Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, former IMCA Supernationals winner Jeff Taylor of Cave City, Arkansas, and former Supernationals winner Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, North Carolina, are among the headlining invaders slated to be on hand.

Also look for the likes of Oregon’s Tom Berry Jr., Minnesota’s Dale Mathison, Iowa’s Justin O’Brien, Shane Demey, Darin Duffy, Jon Snyder, David Brown and Kyle Brown. Also looking to compete Saturday will be Nebraska’s Jordan Grabouski, Missouri’s Hunter Marriott, Arizona’s RC Whitwell and North Dakota’s Jason Grimes, among others.

It will be interesting to see how the visitors handle the high-speed, half-mile track. The great majority of racers no longer race at a half-mile track on a weekly basis.

My feeling is that most will adapt quickly. I still feel that the local racers will have a leg up on the competition. Weekly Shawano Speedway racers Marcus Yarie, Jerry Wilinski, Eddie Muenster and Lance Arneson have to be considered among the favorites.

Other area racers like LaCrosse, Mike and Brian Mullen, Mike Mashl and Mike Wedelstadt have each won races in the past at Shawano and will stand a good chance to score the win, in my opinion.

Other stout Wisconsin challengers Brad Lautenbach, Greg Gretz, Luke Lemmens and Shawn Kilgore are drivers to keep an eye on as well.

The great thing about this race, much like when the World of Outlaw Late Model series competes at Shawano, is that you can watch racers that you normally only read about race at your local track.

Also, not only is this a Modifieds show, but the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods and Late Models will also be in action. Racing will start at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The format is draw-redraw, so anything can happen, folks. This should go down as one of the big ones in the storied history of the Shawano Speedway. Who will walk away with the big cardboard check and the big trophy?

See you at the speedway and we’ll find out together.

Scott Owen is the track announcer at Shawano Speedway.Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Patriots manage 4 hits, fall 7-1By: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano American Legion catcher Kasey Kristof keeps New London from crossing the plate after an error in the first inning.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano American Legion pitcher Nate Laude fields a ground ball after getting hit with a line drive in the first inning of a 7-1 loss to New London at home Thursday. Laude pitched a complete game and allowed three earned runs.

Early defensive errors by Shawano and an aggressive mindset at the plate for visiting New London resulted in a 7-1 Shawano loss Thursday in Fox River Valley Legion West Division play.

The Patriots committed four errors in the game, accounting for four unearned runs for New London, which scored all of its runs in the first four innings.

Shawano head coach Ryan Koenig said simple things can help reduce the number of errors.

“The focus, being mentally ready and expecting the ball to come to you,” Koenig said. “Right now, there’s not much of that, and we need to start getting that way.”

Logan Lacy’s RBI single to left field opened the scoring in the first inning, driving in Austin Hansen after a two-base error. The Clippers added another run in the second, on a Kyle Wolfe double to left field, three in the third and two in the fourth.

“We’ve been playing a lot of baseball here so far these past two weeks, so they are hot at the plate,” New London head coach Jim Thorp said. “They are seeing strikes, hitting strikes.”

Despite being hit in the elbow by a comebacker in the first inning, Nate Laude pitched a complete game for Shawano. He struck out three and gave up nine hits, all in the first five innings.

“He wanted to stay out there, keep pitching,” Koenig said. “We don’t have many pitchers right now, so he did a good job sucking it up for us tonight.”

Laude got some help from his outfielders, as Seth Sousek made a diving catch in center field in the second inning, and Kien Moorman added two difficult catches in left field.

Pitcher Tylan Brown kept the Patriots off the board, giving up just one hit through the first five innings and four overall, allowing one earned run in the seventh inning. He struck out eight and walked three.

Brett Ainsworth bunted for a single to open the seventh for Shawano. He stole second base and scored on a hit by Brad Bartz.

Jacob Lacy drew two walks to be the only Shawano (2-5, 1-3 West Division) player to reach base multiple times in the game.

New London defeated Shawano 7-2 on Tuesday, rallying for five runs in the sixth inning. The Clippers, who moved to 3-1 in division games, wanted to prove they could control the entire game this time around, Thorp said.

“We wanted to prove a point that we were the better team, and we did that,” he said.

Koenig did not get the energy from his team that he would have liked.

“Tonight, I didn’t see that spark in our eye like we wanted to play,” Koenig said. “We just showed up and we were here, and that’s got to change.”

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

New London 1 1 3 2 0 0 0 7 9 0

Shawano 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 4

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Menasha 13

Shawano 2

A fast four-run start from host Menasha proved to be to much for the Shawano Patriots to overcome in a five-inning road loss Sunday.

The Patriots (2-3) recorded more walks in the game than hits.

Dylan Sumnicht took the loss for Shawano.

Nate Mentzel picked up the victory.

New London 7

Shawano 2

New London’s five-run sixth inning was the difference in Shawano’s road loss Tuesday.

The Patriots (2-4), who posted just two hits, scored a run in each of the first two innings but went scoreless from then on.

Cole Nelson took the loss. Tasa Grignon came in to record the final three outs.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

By: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Among the takeaways from Cleveland’s amazing 4-3 series win over Golden State in the NBA Finals was the reminder never to crown any team as the greatest of all time until the season is over.

Golden State’s record of 73 wins and just nine losses was a phenomenal achievement that might never be matched. But in failing to close the deal in the postseason, the Warriors join ranks with an elite but forlorn group that includes the 2007 New England Patriots and the 2005 University of Southern California football Trojans. Those teams were also rhapsodized over throughout a glorious regular season before it all came crashing down in the money game.

Or, in the Warriors’ case, games. In a most far-flung statistical anomaly, the Warriors managed to lose as many times in the playoffs as they did throughout the entire 82-game season. That will be a tough one to top.

LeBron James, the runner-up in the regular-season MVP voting, led the way for the Cavaliers, who in winning their first NBA title also became the first team to do so after trailing the Finals series 3-1.

Throughout the hangdog city of Cleveland, where disappointment with sports teams had become commonplace, they were partying like it was 1964 – the last time any Cleveland team had won a championship.

As for the Warriors and back-to-back MVP winner Steph Curry, there might never be another year like this one, but there will be another year.

“This (loss) will fuel us to come back,” Curry said.

Another takeaway from the Finals is that it wouldn’t hurt to articulate a more clear meaning of the MVP award. Is it a Player of the Year thing, given to the guy who put up the best numbers, or is a “most valuable” award given to the player most indispensable to his team’s success?

Curry’s numbers were sparkling. He led the league in field goals, 3-point field goals, scoring (30.1 points per game), steals (2.1 per game) and free-throw percentage (.908). Without his services, the Warriors almost certainly would not have won 73 games.

Without James, though, the Cavs could have easily finished around .500. With him, Cleveland is hoisting its first-ever NBA championship trophy. Curry is a great player and one of the best outside shooters ever to pick up a basketball. Between James and Curry, though, there is no question which player was the more valuable to his team’s success.

In terms of memorable NBA seasons, this was one of the best ever, all the way down to the last minutes of the great Game 7 of the Finals won by the Cavs 93-89.

Now that Cleveland has shook the monkey off its back and beaten Golden State, the Cavs-Warriors can be considered a real rivalry, and not the semi-annual gut-punch that the Warriors were threatening to turn it into. Before Cleveland’s win in the third game of the Finals, Golden State had beaten the Cavaliers seven straight times and appeared to have their number.

A rivalry like the Warriors and Cavaliers are capable of waging could be one of the best things to happen to the league since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson took turns beating each other in the 1980s.

The Cavaliers’ championship was the third title for the legacy-minded James, the Finals MVP who played in postseason like a possessed, 6-foot-8 demon.

All season long, the Warriors were neither shy nor apologetic in their pursuit of history and 73 wins. But in the final analysis it was James making the contributions to the “best-ever” conversation.

Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymour’s column appears weekly in the Leader. To contact him, send an email to [email protected] this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Tailgate Tour brings in 800 attendeesBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Attending the VIP meet and greet Tuesday at the Sun Drop Museum, Sam Carroll looks on as former Packers player Sean Jones poses for photos and Irene Luenberger captures the moment.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale LeRoy Butler walks up to hug a fan during a question-and-answer session Tuesday at the Packers Tailgate Tour at the Crawford Center.

Standing on a temporary stage with the Packers Tailgate Tour bus sitting behind them, Packers President Mark Murphy and six current and former players stood in front of a crowd of nearly 800 fans Tuesday at the Crawford Center.

Murphy took the time to talk about each of the men, including former greats Sean Jones, LeRoy Butler and Robert Brooks, and current Packers Jared Abbrederis, Sam Barrington and Jayrone Elliott.

Fans from around the state came to see the Packers during the stop, the final tour event before the bus headed back to Lambeau Field to conclude a five-day trip around the state.

The event was a fundraiser for the Red River Riders, a nonprofit group that provides therapeutic horseback riding to address physical and emotional needs of disabled people.

“There were a lot of people excited about the Packers being here,” said event coordinator Idell Johnston, a Red River Riders board member. “We had several people buy tickets online from out of the area. We had people that are from Milwaukee, Madison, so that was really neat.”

Murphy took questions from the audience, which included whether fullback John Kuhn will be back and the possibilities of hosting a Super Bowl.

Murphy said the cold weather and lack of hotel rooms make it unlikely a Super Bowl would be held at Lambeau. The NFL mandates 30,000 rooms within a 50-mile radius of the stadium, he said, and Green Bay has roughly one-sixth the necessary amount.

Abbrederis, who played with Russell Wilson for one season at the University of Wisconsin, was asked if he expected Wilson to succeed as a quarterback in the NFL. The wide receiver said that it was hard to judge how Wilson would fare in the NFL, and Murphy chimed in that it is difficult to project production from players based on the college level.

Abbrederis, a Wisconsin native, said he enjoyed the road trip and getting the chance to meet with fans across the state.

The Tailgate Tour departed from Green Bay on Friday, making its way through Ripon, Fort Atkinson, Dodgeville and Black River before making its way to Wausau on Tuesday morning and into Shawano in the afternoon.

“It’s been fun to be able to see everybody so welcoming,” Abbrederis said. “You definitely feel the love and the support. It’s special to give back to the community that’s given so much to me throughout the years.”

The spirit was evident, too, when LeRoy Butler walked from the stage to hug a fan.

Johnston said it was not difficult to promote the event to the Packers fans in the area and beyond.

“The Packers just being here, that was the draw,” Johnston said.

Eventually, the questions gave way to an autograph session, with a long line winding through the building.

Murphy placed his Super Bowl rings on the table next to him for fans to see.

The Red River Riders agreed to host the event in January, giving Johnston six months to plan. Through ticket sales, sponsors, raffles and auctions, the Red River Riders were able to raise roughly $30,000 for renovations to its riding arena.

Roughly 50 volunteers helped ensure the first-time Shawano event went well.

“This is the 11th year of the tailgate tour, and then they pick Shawano, and then they picked us, we just felt really, really blessed,” Johnston said.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

By: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Exuberant fans cheer the arrival of Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy along with current and former players during the team’s Tailgate Tour stop in Shawano on Tuesday.
Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Packers players Sam Barrington (58), Jared Abbrederis (84) and Jayrone Elliott (91) step onto the stage at the Crawford Center during the Packers Tailgate Tour on Tuesday.

The three Green Bay players who spent the past five days traveling around Wisconsin with the Packers Tailgate Tour are ready to take a break and then get back to business.

Jared Abbrederis, Jayrone Elliott and Sam Barrington met fans all over the state during the tour, which concluded Tuesday in Shawano.

With about one month until the team needs to report for training camp on July 25, Abbrederis plans to take the next few weeks off to prepare himself.

“It’s been great, it’s been awesome, it’s been a blessing to be on (the Tailgate Tour), but I’m excited to have this full month basically until we get back,” Abbrederis said. “So it will be nice to have that month to relax and train.”

Abbrederis did not let the stress of training camp affect his interactions with fans during tour, but he wants some time to himself to get in the right mindset before the grind of the season begins.

“It’s been a great five days, but I’m ready to mentally unwind a little bit,” Abbrederis said.

The third-year receiver will have to fight for a spot on the team again this year, so he will enjoy the next month before returning to work.

“This is the short time we get off before training camp, which is obviously the biggest month of your career really, to get prepped for the season and really compete at the position and earn your spot,” Abbrederis said.

The demands of training camp will take their toll on the athletes, especially at the loaded wide receiver position that includes two players, Jordy Nelson and Ty Montgomery, returning from injuries a season ago. Returning starts Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, are back along with Jeff Janis and Abbrederis. The Packers also drafted speedy Trevor Davis in the fifth round.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

WEST DIVISION ALL-STARS

Bowler: Zack Olson, Thomas Kazik

Caroline: Connor Senzig, Tyler Marquardt

Leopolis: Aaron Hoffman, Austin Hoffman

Little Falls: Kal Fischer, Drew Radies, Hunter Gruenwald

Tigerton: Eric Kroening, Paul Sellner, Pat Provoast, Gunner Kopitzke, Dylan Berg

Tilleda: Brad Brei, Matt Rueb

Manager: Dylan Berg

EAST DIVISION ALL-STARS

Clintonville: Jansen Van Daalwyk, Garrick Morgan, Mitch Ebben, Jared Westphal

Gresham: Mitch Plesek, Brent Berkholtz, Jordan Stitchman

Marion: Dave Jueds

Menominee: Cody Vigue, Melvin Chavalier III

Neopit: Bob Peters, Dallas Madosh

Shawano: Taylor Prey, Kregg Boldig, Bobby Brunker

Manager: John Fietsch

NORTHERN DIVISION

BIRNAMWOOD 6, POLAR 3

WP — Austin Reed; LP — Cole Kuenzli

ELAND 7, WITTENBERG 6

WP — Jarod Richter; LP — Dominik Anderson

Eland: Shane Larson was 2 for 3. Jake Larsen had a double.

Wittenberg: Tommy Froom was 2 for 2. Zach Urquhart was 2 for 5 with a double.

ELDERON 7, ANIWA 5

WP — Casey Kerstner; LP — Wade Farmer

Elderon: Matt Meronk was 3 for 5 with a home run. Brandon Groshek was 2 for 5 with a home

run. Justin Meronk and Logan Hickman each added two hits apiece.

Aniwa: Bryce Chrudimsky was 2 for 5 with a home run. Max Nowinsky, Josh Krueger and Wade Farmer each had doubles.

SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION

SCANDINAVIA 15, WEYMONT 4

WAUPACA 22, LANARK 0

NEW LONDON 9, OMRO 8

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Bonduel 11

Marion/Tigerton 2

Josh Richter threw a complete game, allowing two earned runs on 12 strikeouts and seven walks, in the first game of Bonduel’s round-robin tournament Saturday. He gave up four hits.

Bailey Dingeldein was 3 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and three runs scored. Bryce Maule had a single and double as well for the Grizzlies (3-1).

Bonduel had nine hits on the day, including an RBI triple by Jordan Boldt in the second inning.

Bonduel 17

Menominee 4

Brent Pieper, Austin Siolka and Brandon Olsen all drove in four runs during the second game of Bonduel’s round-robin tournament Saturday.

Bailey Dingeldein scored four runs, and Jordan Boldt threw all five innings for Bonduel (4-1).

Boldt struck out seven batters over five innings. He gave up three hits.

Bonduel 10

Manawa 0

Jordan Boldt pitched a five-inning shutout victory for Bonduel at home Tuesday.

Brent Pieper was 4 for 4 at the plate with a double, and Boldt added three hits.

Bonduel (5-1) had 14 hits in the game while holding Manawa to four.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Lamberies, Yarie pick up 4th winsBy: 

Scott Owen, Special to the Leader

Contributed photo Jeremy Christians won the IMCA Stock Car feature against an all-star field at the Shawano Speedway on Saturday.
Contributed photo Ron Berna took the Late Models feature victory Saturday at the Shawano Speedway, his first win of the season.

Jeremy Christians bested an all-star field that included three former national champions, two Super National winners and several track champions to win the IMCA Stock Car feature Saturday at Shawano Speedway.

Christians withstood a late challenge from Brandon Czarapata following a caution on lap 23 to take home the top prize of $1,000 on Hammond Farm and Greenhouse night at the races.

In other action, Ron Berna (Late Models) and Josh Slewinski (Mighty Fours) each scored their first feature wins of the year. Lucas Lamberies (IMCA Sports Mods) won his second feature in a row and fourth overall, and Marcus Yarie (IMCA Modifieds) also won his fourth feature of the year.

IMCA Stock Cars

Longtime racing stalwart Joe White grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the IMCA Stock Car feature. White quickly received pressure from Travis Van Straten, while Kyle Frederick raced past Christians to move to third on the track by lap four. On lap five, Van Straten pulled to the inside of White and the pair went side by side for the lead. The battle between White and Van Straten allowed Frederick to catch the lead duo. White and Van Straten raced door to door for two laps with Frederick glued to their rear bumpers.

On lap eight, Van Straten lost the handle of the car in the middle of turns three and four, but instead of stopping and bringing out a caution Van Straten stayed on the throttle and kept going. The incident dropped Van Straten back to ninth on the track and cost him a considerable amount of track distance to the leaders. Frederick was now the chief challenger to White, while Christians ran third, Brandon Czarapata fourth and Rod Snellenberger fifth. Lap after lap, White and Frederick toured the track virtually glued together. Frederick moved inside of White on lap 11, but White again held the lead. A caution after lap 12 bunched the field up with the all-star collection of White, Frederick, Christians, Czarapata, Snellenberger and Van Straten restarting in the top six positions.

On the restart, it was Christians who pulled to the inside of White. White, Frederick and Christians went three-wide for the lead through turn four. White and Frederick made contact with one another as Christians pulled ahead to take over the lead position. At lap 15, the running order was Christians, followed by White, Frederick, Czarapata and Gary Kasperek.

Christians continued to lead with White and Frederick giving chase. Czarapata passed Frederick on lap 22 to move to third place on the track. With the race seemingly in hand for Christians, another caution came out after lap 23, setting up a two-lap dash to the finish.

As the race went back to green, it was Czarapata who remained the chief challenger to Christians. Christians would not be denied though as he scored the win and took home the $1,000 top prize. Czarapata, White, Van Straten and Frederick completed the top five.

Late Models

Jeff Curtin led the opening lap of the late model feature as Derek Janke ran second. On lap two, Berna passed Janke and set his sights on the leader. Curtin and Berna raced side by side for two laps before Berna put a slide job on Curtin to take the lead exiting turn four on lap six.

Jared Siefert raced past Curtin on lap eight to grab second, as Berna continued to lead and Siefert chased. On lap 16, Siefert pulled even with Berna but was not able to muster a pass. On lap 17, Siefert brushed the wall in turn four and lost a lot of ground to Berna as he gathered the car back in.

While Berna continued to show the way, Siefert did not give up the chase and was able to get back within striking distance of the leader with two laps to go. As Berna ran the high side of the track, Siefert was able to drive his car deep into the corners down low on the track. As the white flag flew, Siefert pulled even with Berna entering turn one. Berna was a bit faster exiting turn two and had a two car-lengths lead on Siefert down the back stretch. Siefert again pulled even with Berna entering turn three for the final time, and the two cars exited turn three side by side.

Berna found more traction and beat Siefert to the line for the win. Eleventh-starting Tim Buhler finished third, Curtin took fourth and Tom Naeyaert finished fifth.

IMCA Modifieds

Last week’s winner Shawn Frelich led lap one of the IMCA Modified feature before Jeremie Hedrick took over the lead on lap two. Eddie Muenster put the pass on Hedrick to take over the lead on lap four. Hedrick would go high on the track to take back the point position on lap six.

Muenster returned the favor though on lap eight, as Hedrick’s car dropped off the pace. On lap nine, Yarie and Lance Arneson joined Muenster out front. Yarie took the lead on lap 11 as Muenster and Arneson ran side by side for second. Yarie led the rest of the way for the win. Arneson finished second, Jerry Wilinski took third, Muenster and Mitch Stankowski completed the top five.

IMCA Sport Mods

Kyle Raddant grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the IMCA Sport Mod feature and held the top spot through lap six before succumbing to the pressures of Lamberies.

Lamberies was soon joined by Wyatt Block as Raddant ran third. Raddant’s night came to an end though when he brought out a caution after lap 10 when he got into the wall. When the race went back to green, Block pressured Lamberies for the next seven laps before spinning and pulling off the track. Lamberies was able to fend off Jason Jach over the final two laps en route to victory. Tyler Thiex, Brekken Kleinschmidt and Jordan Barkholtz rounded out the top five.

Mighty Fours

Slewinski led the entire Mighty Four feature to score the win. Hollie Welch applied pressure to Slewinski, but she was forced to settle for second. Grant Kastning, Dalton Nelson and Brad Wedde finished third through fifth.

Shawano Speedway

June 18

Race Summary

Late Model Feature: 1) Ron Berna, 2) Jared Siefert, 3) Tim Buhler, 4) Jeff Curtin, 5) Rom Naeyaert, 6) Doug Blashe, 7) Brett Swedberg, 8) Troy Springborn, 9) Derek Jahnke, 10) Tim Rothe.

Heat 1: 1) Mike Stangl, 2) Naeyaert, 3) Swedberg.

Heat 2: 1) Berna, 2) Blashe, 3) Rick Scheffler.

IMCA Modified Feature: 1) Marcus Yarie, 2) Lance Arneson, 3) Jerry Wilinski, 4) Eddie Muenster, 5) Mitch Stankowski, 6) Chris Engels, 7) Jerry Muenster, 8) Brian Joski, 9) Clint Forstner, 10) Beetle Bailey.

Heat 1: 1) Shawn Frelich, 2) Jerry Muenster, 3) Wilinski.

Heat 2: 1) Yarie, 2) Eddie Muenster, 3) Matt Oreskovich.

Heat 3: 1) Arneson, 2) Jeremie Hedrick, 3) Engels.

IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1) Jeremy Christians, 2) Brandon Czarapata, 3) Joe White, 4) Travis Van Straten, 5) Kyle Frederick, 6) Rod Snellenberger, 7) Gary Kasperek, 8) Nate Michonski, 9) Trent Nolan, 10) Tom Riehl.

Last Chance Qualifier: 1) Mike Schmidt, 2) Ray DePew, 3) Kurt Olson, 4) Chris Loewenhagen, 5) BJ Giese.

Heat 1: 1) Van Straten, 2) Nate Michonski, 3) Luke Uttecht.

Heat 2: 1) White, 2) Riehl, 3) Christians.

Heat 3: 1) Kasperek, 2) Czarapata, 3) Harley Simon.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1) Lucas Lamberies, 2) Jason Jach, 3) Tyler Thiex, 4) Brekken Kleinschmidt, 5) Jordan Barkholtz, 6) Alex Roffers, 7) Wyatt Block, 8) Jordan Bartz, 9) Kyle Raddant, 10) Karah Taycher.

Heat 1: 1) Barkholtz, 2) Raddant, 3) Jach.

Heat 2: 1) Lamberies, 2) Brock Saunders, 3) Block.

Mighty Four Feature: 1) Josh Slewinski, 2) Hollie Welch, 3) Grant Kastning, 4) Dalton Nelson, 5) Brad Wedde, 6) Lucas Hacker, 7) Travis Welch, 8) Jason Hopinka, 9) Matt DeWilde, 10) Tony Hokenstad.

Heat 1: 1) Hopinka, 2) Nelson, 3) Wedde.

Heat 2: 1) Hacker, 2) Hollie Welch, 3) Travis Welch.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Senior ends storied career in BonduelBy: 

Chris Caporale [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Recently graduated Bonduel High School athlete Kaylee Rynish concluded her high school softball career at the senior all-star game in Wisconsin Dells. She had two hits and an RBI to help the Black team to two victories.

It wasn’t going to be the last time she stepped on the softball diamond, but it was still special for recent Bonduel High School graduate Kaylee Rynish when she played in the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association’s Division 3 end-of-the-year senior showcase Tuesday in Wisconsin Dells.

Rynish was among the 37 Division 3 players chosen to compete in the all-star showcase. She caught the second half of both games for the Black team, getting two hits, including one RBI, to help her team record two victories.

“I really enjoyed meeting the new people and just seeing the competition that we missed out on, whether it was nonconference or just not around us and we didn’t make it far enough in the playoffs to be able to see this competition,” Rynish said.

Her team, coached by Manitowoc Lutheran’s Matt Menges, defeated the Division 3 Gray team, 8-7, and the Red team, 8-2.

With her final high school game behind her, Rynish now can focus on continuing her softball career at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa, next spring.

Bonduel head coach Chris Reinke said one of Rynish’s best traits is her leadership.

“(She) takes the younger kids under her wing and is really good with them,” Reinke said. “I don’t have to worry about her leading them in the wrong direction.”

Although several Bonduel High School have continued playing sports in college, it has not had a college commit in softball for many years.

Reinke hopes Rynish, who is also an academic all-state nominee, inspires the younger athletes in his program.

Rynish was a four-year starter with the Bears, including the last two seasons as the team’s clean-up hitter. Behind the plate, Rynish had seen so many pitchers that she could act as another coach on the field.

“She just takes the game in and remembers so many details,” Reinke said.

Rynish had some simple advice for aspiring players who need to put in the extra work to get recognized among the state’s best players.

“Anybody who has the opportunity to put themselves in a better position to even get in the all-star game, to take that opportunity,” Rynish said.

Rate this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet