SHOTS from the Hip

Congratulations to Prescott High School senior Aiden Russell on receiving and accepting a scholarship to Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. Russell ran for over 1,500 yards this past year for the Cardinals and led Prescott to its first playoff appearance in seven years. Russell was named Middle Border All Conference on both offense and defense. A NCAA Division II School, Northern State plays in The Northern Sun Conference that includes such schools as Winona State, Concordia-St. Paul, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Russell plans to major in Graphic Design in college.

The WIAA has done away with the procedure of using high school basketball coaches to seed each regional and/or sectional. A new computer system will be used to seed tournament assignments for regionals with the girls' brackets released Feb. 14, 2022 and the boys' released on Feb. 21, 2022. Electronic seeding will be based on the following factors: 1) Own team winning percentage 2) Opponents' winning percentage 3) Opponents' opponents winning percentage 4) Defeated opponents' winning percentage 5) Defeated opponents' opponents winning percentage 6) Own winning percentage vs. teams in regional/ sectional grouping. It’s a good thing that is cleared up.

The first-ever WIAA State Girls Individual Wrestling Tournament was held this past Saturday at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse. Twelve champions were crowned in the single division state tournament. There were 261 wrestlers entered in the tournament representing 115 programs. Milwaukee Reagan entered the most wrestlers in the tournament with 19. Holmen was next on the list with 14. Martin Luther had the third-most competitors with nine; Muskego had eight; and Merrill and Oregon had six.

Speaking of wrestlers, Cardinal grappler Sam Murphy is now Wisconsin’s #7 ranked wrestler in Division 2 at 152 pounds. Fellow Senior Alex Iberg is ranked #12 at 138 pounds and Benny Olson is listed as Honorable Mention at 106. The WIAA Regional Wrestling Tournaments begin on Saturday, Feb. 12. Prescott will wrestle in the Arcadia Regional along with teams from Arcadia, Ellsworth, Black River Falls, West Salem-Bangor, Osseo- Fairchild- Augusta- Fall Creek, and Gale- Ettrick- Trempealeau-Melrose-Mindoro.

Sophomore Dallas Wallin is halfway to the century mark after scoring his 500th career point in Prescott’s 28-point victory over Mondovi last week.

Practice began this weekend for junior infielder Peter Brookshaw and the rest of the North Dakota State baseball team. The Bison, under new Head Coach Tyler Oakes, will open the 2022 season with a three-game series at Abilene Christian University Feb. 1820. Members of the Southland Conference, Abilene Christian finished last season with an overall record of 36-21. The Bison are coming off their best finish in school history, finishing the 2021 season with a record of 42-19.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR encourages the public to give back to nature by donating to the Endangered Resources Fund on your Wisconsin income tax form.

The Endangered Resources Fund helps support important conservation efforts for rare plant and animal species in Wisconsin, many of which are also declining or absent in other parts of the country, such as the eastern prairie white-fringed orchid and rusty-patched bumble bee. The Endangered Resources Fund also helps Wisconsin care for the nation’s oldest and largest set of state natural areas that protect unique ecosystems and natural features, such as the canyons of Parfrey’s Glen, undeveloped lakes, remnant prairies, diverse wetlands and ancient forests. Nearly 75% of endangered and threatened wildlife species and 90% of endangered and threatened plant species are found on these sites. To make a donation, look for the Endangered Resources Fund in the 'donations' section on your Wisconsin income tax form.

Did you know: Although the mascot of the University of Michigan is the wolverine, the last known Michigan sightings of wild wolverines were in the early 1800's. However, in 2004 coyote hunters spotted what is believed to be the state's last wild wolverine about 90 miles north of Detroit…”On, Wisconsin” was composed in 1909 by William T. Purdy as 'Minnesota, Minnesota,' with the intention of entering it into a competition for a new fight song at the University of Minnesota. Look it up cynics … Cuba City Head Boys Basketball Coach Jerry Pettigoue won his 1,000th game last week. The 81-year-old Hall of Fame Pettigoue is in his 51st year of coaching.

Winter Olympic competition begins this weekend in Beijing, China. Of course, experienced Olympiad watchers will wax poetic about the 1980 USA Hockey and its stunning gold medal performance. Although not as popular as the summer games, the Winter Olympics provided top line entertainment three decades ago where the typical household still only had access to five or six channels to choose from. Some of us veterans remember watching Wisconsin native speedskater Eric Heiden win five gold medals in 1980 and cheering on West Allis, Wis. native Dan Jansen winning speed skating gold in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.

Headshaker of the week. Perhaps I misunderstood a statement I overheard recently during a game. Maybe it was just the competitive nature of the person who uttered the phrase. But the statement was not made tongue in cheek or with a wry smile. It was said with pursed lips and bulging veins in both the fan’s neck and forehead. After a little rough housing between players on the floor, a fan in the stands yelled, “Oh come on settle down ref. There is nothing wrong with some hate on the floor!” I waited for someone to laugh. No one did. So, that to me, was a headshaker.

By Cripe Olson