Wrestling

Wrestling Individual Sectionals were well worth the hype, with Ellsworth advancing to Team Sectionals with a fourth-place finish. Spring Valley/Elmwood finished just out of reach in fifth, River Falls in eighth and Prescott in 11th at their respective Sectionals.

Ellsworth sophomore 113-pounder Hunter Bench won his bracket to advance to Individual State, joined by SVE’s junior Asher Turner (165) and senior Jack Steinmeyer (215) with wins in their brackets, Prescott’s freshman Bryce Feran (106) taking second, and River Falls’ juniors Jacob Hutchins (first place at 190) and Oliver Larson (second place at 132).

The girls Regional also took place in Hudson on Friday. All four county teams participated, with Prescott’s Addy Allsop (114), Alina Bauman (152) and Savannah Whiting (235), River Falls’ Olivia Luther (100) and Providence Kretzmann (145), and Spring Valley/Elmwood’s Delia Larson (185) all coming away as winners.

Girls Basketball

Prescott went a perfect 3-0, beating Northwestern 47-37, Osceola 68-30 and Saint Croix Falls 70-37 to improve to 14-8 overall and 8-4 in Middle Border Conference Play. The Cardinals landed a No. 2 seed, lining up to face a familiar face regardless, taking on the winner of No. 7 Saint Croix Falls and No. 10 Ellsworth on Feb. 27. Ellsworth split its games, beating Spring Valley 50-34 and losing 51-45 to Amery. The Panthers have a set playoff match at Saint Croix Falls on Feb. 24.

Spring Valley bounced back from the loss to Ellsworth with a 52-34 win over Elmwood/Plum City. After the win, the Cardinals came up just short against Durand-Arkansaw 41-30. The 11-11 Cardinals landed a No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Augusta to open the postseason Feb. 24. EPC’s second game of the week was a 42-34 loss to Mondovi. EPC is a No. 13 seed and will take on No. 4 Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran in the playoff opener Feb. 24.

River Falls split a pair of games, beating Eau Claire North 60-57 and losing 56-34 against Hudson. The Wildcats are 13-9 overall and 7-6 in conference, landing a No. 6 seed in the postseason, heading on the road to face No. 3 Onalaska Feb. 27.

Boys Basketball

After a tough loss to New Richmond, River Falls put itself back into a tie for the top spot in the Big Rivers Conference, beating Hudson 73-60 to match their 10-2 Big Rivers Conference record.

Ellsworth took care of business, going 3-0 on the week to improve to 12-9 overall and 5-6 in Middle Border Conference play. The Panthers beat Menomonie 64-62, Spooner 89-44 and Somerset 81-77. Senior Gavin Klos scored 27 to lead the way in the win over Somerset.

Prescott went 2-0, taking down Hastings 60-52 and Altoona 69-66. The Cardinals are hitting their stride at the right time, and a win over the Middle Border’s second-place team (Altoona) found them at a 14-7 overall record and 7-4 conference record.

Following a 70-63 loss to Glenwood City, EPC got back into the win column in a big way, taking an 88-83 shootout over Prairie Farm/Clayton. EPC is 5-14 overall and 2-10 in conference this season.

Spring Valley lost 66-46 against Colfax and 63-32 against Clear Lake, rebounding nicely with a 56-51 win over Mondovi to close the week strong. The Cardinals are 6-14 overall and 4-9 in conference.

Hockey

The St. Croix Valley Fusion nabbed the first seed in the postseason, securing a bye and lining up to face the winner of No. 4 Black River Falls and No. 5 Hudson on Feb. 24. A 7-1 conference record earned the Fusion yet another conference title.

The No. 2 seed River Falls Wildcat boys landed a date with the No. 7 West Salem Panthers on Feb. 19 at home. The Sectional Final is set to be hosted in River Falls on Feb. 28, so the Wildcats would host the entire way as long as they stay alive.

Boys Swim and Dive

River Falls concluded its season as a team with Sectionals in Rice Lake over the weekend. The team took on some tough competition, coming up short of State qualification.

Gymnastics

A 133.750 score was enough to win a Big Rivers Conference triangular, taking down Menomonie and Superior on Feb. 12. The conference meet is Saturday at Eau Claire Memorial with the postseason beginning Feb. 28 at Menomonie.