Sports

With the opening day of Wisconsin’s gun deer season closing in fast, area hunters got fired up for Saturday by attending the annual Buck Fever Night at the Shawano County Highway Department on Tuesday.

Hunters worked their way around the building, checking out the various booths on display. They conversed with others about past hunting adventures and shared what they expected to happen come Saturday morning.

Over the course of the night, the talk of being out in the woods again certainly made hunters eager for Saturday’s opener.

“Oh yes, definitely. It gets the heart pumping,” said Bruce Galleske, of Shawano.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt. I bet it revved up the engine more so when I was younger, but yes,” said Terry Moede, also of Shawano.

Among the booths on display were J. Hoffman Knives, Witt’s Sausage Haus, Krueger’s Taxidermy, Yoder’s Bakery, the Crafty Boutique Gift Shop and artwork from Marie Wawrzyn.

Six players received special recognition as the Marion/Tigerton co-op football team held its recognition night on Oct. 29 at North Winds Banquet Hall in Marion.

At the annual event, players were honored for their play on the field this fall. Varsity players received their letters while others were handed team awards and all-conference awards.

Junior Austin Hoffmann was named the offense’s most valuable player. He started the year playing quarterback and safety, calling plays for the offense and defense. An injury forced Hoffmann to play wide receiver the last few games.

Junior Jared Krueger was named the team’s defensive most valuable player. He opened the year as a defensive end and then transitioned to middle linebacker after injuries hit the Thundercatz. Krueger led the team in tackles and tackles for loss.

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has partnered with Feeding Wisconsin to raise awareness and tackle hunger across the state.

This season, Budenholzer will donate $15 to Feeding Wisconsin for every assist the Bucks tally during the 2018-19 season, with a minimum commitment of $25,000. Should the donation reach $25,000 before the season ends, Budenholzer will continue to donate $15 for every assist the Bucks record until the season concludes.

“Each of us can play a role in eradicating hunger in our communities, and together with Feeding Wisconsin, we look forward to raising awareness and having a positive impact on the work to help this important cause,” Budenholzer said. “Playing unselfish basketball is a core component of our basketball culture and high assist totals are a great indicator that we are playing the right way. With the Assists for Hunger program, they will take on an even more significant meaning this season.”

Shawano senior Tori DePerry fulfilled a goal of hers on Wednesday afternoon, signing a letter of intent to play women’s basketball at Division II Saginaw Valley State University in University Center, Michigan.

DePerry signed her letter of intent in front of family, friends and coaches in the Shawano Community High School library.

“It feels awesome. All of my hard work and dedication has finally paid off in this sport,” said DePerry, who started playing back in first grade. “It’s been crazy because first off I wouldn’t ever dream of playing college basketball, especially on a full ride. In AAU season, I knew I really wanted to work hard to get it (the scholarship) and now the pressure is off so I can go out this season and not have to worry about it.”

After an introduction from athletic director Joel Wondra, Shawano girls basketball coach Ryan Koenig said a few words about DePerry.

You can do your part to stop the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease this season by having your deer tested, particularly if it has shown signs of the disease.

Use this link to find a registration station in your hunting area: dnr.wi.gov/wmcwd/RegStation/Search

All the testing stations in Shawano, Oconto and Waupaca counties are self-service kiosks. You must have completed your electronic registration of your deer prior to bringing in your samples (carcass or head that includes a hand-width length of neck). If you are having your buck’s head mounted, there are still ways to have the animal tested. Heads can be brought in up to five days after harvest, if kept cool (longer if frozen).

This page offers more details: dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/registersample.html

Tami Ryan, the Wisconsin DNR’s Wildlife Health Section Chief, and Erin Larson, DNR’s Wildlife Health Data Coordinator, offered additional information:

As famously described by the winning coach in Super Bowl IV, the learned behavior of winning in the NFL can be a simple matter of matriculating the ball down the field.

The late Hank Stram caught a lot of stick for that English language flub, but no one ever laughed when he said you cannot win if you cannot run the ball.

In a related vein, quarterback Aaron Rodgers noted last week that the Green Bay Packers had yet to learn how to win. In response, the Packers played their most complete game of the year, executing the fundamentals and mixing a healthy dose of running game with the pass. The Packers schooled Miami from wire to wire and broke a two-game losing streak.

Then came the cramming for the tougher test of winning away from home, a subject in which the Pack have thus far put up failing marks. A brief two days after beating the Dolphins, the Packers hit the road for tonight’s game at Seattle.

A year after claiming the Central Wisconsin Conference-North Division title, the Bowler High School girls basketball team will have a new look this upcoming season.

Bowler, which finished 11-1 to edge Northland Lutheran in the division standings, will be under the direction of a new coach and without the standout play of Reanne Kietlinski, last year’s player of the year.

Even with the changes, new coach Tonia Pagryzinski believes the team can still succeed.

“I am very excited about this year; we are a young team and kind of rebuilding with the loss of some key core players,” Pagryzinski said. “The challenge for our girls is dealing with losing those core players but also having a new coach and learning a new system and style of basketball. Overall, with the returning players we have and some new ones coming in, we are going to have a strong team and are looking forward to this season.”

Bonduel seniors Isaac Garside and Colin Hanus played big roles in a powerful offensive attack this football season and were recently honored for their play.

Garside, Bonduel’s all-time leader in receiving yards and receptions, appeared on both the All-Region team and the Small School All-State honorable mention team released by the Wisconsin Football Coaches’ Association.

Hanus, another matchup nightmare for opposing defenses from his tight end position, also was placed on the All-Region team.

“It felt extremely good to be named on the All-Region football team,” Garside said. “It felt amazing to be named honorable mention All-State though. It made me really realize that all my work had paid off, and I am blessed to have played on a team that helped me be so successful this year.”

Since this is my last column before opening day of firearms-deer season — arguably the most important day of the year for the state’s 650,000 hunters and the restaurants, motels, gas stations, sporting goods stores and the rest of the $1 billion economy that depends on them — I wanted to say something profound, witty and helpful before we all venture off into our tree stands, ground blinds and deer camps.

Coming back with a big buck or fat doe is important, sure. Sharing the fellowship of other hunters in your camp or group is vital, and even more memorable. Funny mistakes or minor goof-ups are going to make the adventure more fun. Along the way are thermoses of coffee in the rain, soaked boots from the deer drag across the marsh and trucks stuck in snowy ditches.

The most important thing of all is coming back home alive.

It should come as no secret that the Amherst girls basketball team will be the one to beat in the Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division again this winter season.

Three local CWC-East teams — Bonduel, Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Menominee Indian — that finished near the middle of the conference race last year will need to do their winning with young rosters this year as each team lost its fair share of senior talent from last year and will be turning to some newcomers this winter.

Bonduel finished fourth in the conference with a 5-7 record last year and graduated second team all-conference selection Brynn Reinke.

While the Bears return two starters — seniors Jessie LaBerge and Kylie Guenther — there are no juniors on the roster. Kara Troxel and Mackenzie Moore also return varsity experience at the guard position but coach Jerry Reinke will still have to rely on a handful of sophomores and possibly even some freshmen for big-time minutes.