Football

Coming off an absolute domination over Wisconsin Rapids as the lone county win during the opening week, River Falls moved to 2-0 by beating D.C. Everest 54-21 on the road. Quarterback Tino Massa had a phenomenal game at 20-25 passing with 284 yards and two scores. Running back Joseph Tarasewicz pitched in 209 yards on 25 carries with four scores. Trevor Bartlett also ran for over 100 yards and Mason Novak again led the team in receiving with 87 yards on five catches. River Falls returns home this week to face Superior.

Ellsworth got into the win column to start the year 1-1, beating La Crosse Central 23-21 off some clutch defensive stops late in the game in the county’s lone week two home game. Senior running back Coen Hinrichs ran in three touchdowns. Ellsworth is set up for a rivalry game against Prescott at home.

The aforementioned Prescott team struggled mightily in the first half at Durand-Arkansaw, trailing 28-0 into the break, but showed some heart in the second half in a 34-21 loss. They are hoping the strong second half will translate to the Middle Border battle against Ellsworth.

Spring Valley headed to Chetek-Weyerhaeuser and came up just short in a 13-8 loss. The Cardinals remain on the road to take on a 1-1 Clear Lake team this week.

An always tough 2-0 Blair-Taylor team proved to be too much for Elmwood/Plum City, winning 35-13. Elmwood/Plum City joined Prescott and Spring Valley at 0-2 entering conference play, and will next head to Boyceville.

Volleyball

The Menomonie Sprawl at UW-Stout featured River Falls, EPC and Ellsworth among the 40 teams in attendance. River Falls had the best showing, going on to an 8-0 record to win the event. Along the way, the Wildcats beat conference foes in Chi-Hi, Hudson and Eau Claire Memorial.

Ellsworth took 32nd with a two-set win over Clayton highlighting the pool play round and EPC’s three-set win over Menomonie found them in 38th.

Spring Valley got its season underway with a quad at New Richmond and is looking forward to making another push for a conference title. Prescott also got underway with some tough competition at a quad, including River Falls’ undefeated team.

Cross Country

River Falls hosted the annual extreme meet where they battled the elements to take first place in the boys race and second in the girls race. Olive Halvorson won the girls race for River Falls.

Prescott hosted an early season event that also featured Ellsworth. Prescott finished second of five in the girls race and sixth of eight in the boys race while Ellsworth took fourth in the boys race but did not have enough runners in the girls race to place.

Jacob Michels, Adolfo Mendez and Ben Baker finished second, third and sixth for the Ellsworth boys and Nolan Leask and Dawson Langer rounded out the top 10 for Prescott. Kyra Dix, Amber Van Loon and Addyson Allsop finished second, fourth and ninth for the Prescott girls and Mackenzie Hince took eighth for Ellsworth.

EPC and Spring Valley competed in a no-spectator scrimmage in Glenwood City. The Cardinals also competed in a St. Croix Falls event, with Bryson Hoolihan taking sixth and Chase Glaus taking eighth.

Girls Golf

Ellsworth and Prescott are duking it out for the Middle Border this year, with Prescott in first place as a team and Ellsworth tied for second. A first and a second-place finish for Ellsworth’s Lexi Marks puts her atop the early season standings individually.
River Falls is also off to a great start to the year, winning the Viking Invitational. The Wildcats are fighting for the top spot in the Big Rivers Conference.

Girls Tennis

River Falls had its first home match on the new courts Aug. 26 and Macie Oian was the highlight with a huge comeback win against Chippewa Falls (0-6, 6-4, 10-6). The team takes on Eau Claire Memorial on Sept. 2 and New Richmond on Sept.4, both on the road. The team has been active in invitationals, most notably winning 5-2 against Holmen and 4-3 against Milton.

Ellsworth’s season is underway, with the lone win coming over Barron 6-1. The Panthers are also grinding through invitationals like the Wildcats.

Boys Soccer

River Falls lost its season opener against Wausau East 4-0 Aug. 28 at home. The Wildcats will look to get into the win column with Altoona/Fall Creek on Sept. 2 and Chippewa Falls on Sept. 4, both on the road.

Girls Swim and Dive

River Falls won seven of 12 events to open the year. The Wildcats are now coached by Michael Brudzinski.