The Prescott Cardinals boys basketball team entered 2026 in grand fashion with a pair of impressive non-conference wins. Head Coach Nick Johnson and his charges easily disposed of La Crosse Logan last Friday by a score of 62-30 and followed with a convincing 71-47 road victory over Northwestern on Saturday. The Cardinals will host the Altoona Railroaders this Thursday who feature the dynamic junior guard combo of Grayson Becker and Owen Gunderson. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. 

There is a lot of regular season basketball to be played, but for my money some Cardinal cager fans have begun to follow the results of other teams in Prescott’s WIAA Division 3 tournament bracket. Undefeated Osceola (8-0) looms in the northern part of the bracket and the south, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau also heads into the new year at 8-0. Other teams to watch include Stanley-Boyd and Mosinee. 

The Prescott girls basketball team rebounded from a loss to Colfax on Friday with a 57-48 victory over Wausau Newman Catholic on Saturday. Violet Otto led the Cardinals with 27 points and senior Nora Boles also scored in double figures in the victory. Otto, a St. Cloud State recruit, is approaching 1,500 points for her career. 

When it comes to the girls basketball tournament sectional, Wittenberg-Birnamwood is the only team in the sectional bracket with an undefeated record at 10-0. Earlier this season the school defeated Shiocton by a score of 56-3. Add the Arcadia Raiders (9-2) as another team to watch in the bottom part of the bracket. In the north it’s familiar foe St. Croix Central (8-2), along with Northwestern (7-1) who enter 2026 with solid records.  The conventional wisdom is there is no clear favorite in the Division 3 Region I sectional. 

The Prescott Cardinal wrestling team finished fourth in the 12-team New Richmond Invitational on Saturday. Ninth graders Bryce Feran and Gunnar Doyle both finished atop the podium as did senior Addy Allsop. Trevor Lansing, also a ninth grader, finished second as did junior Emma Schmitz. Feran and Allsop finished third at the Northern Badger Invitational at River Falls late last month. 

Hundreds of area fans were glued to ESPN Sunday night as the University of Wisconsin-River Falls football won their first NCAA Division III National Championship, defeating deafening national champion North Central (Naperville, Ill.) The cheering of the Prescott Cardinal fans undoubtedly reached a crescendo when 2022 Prescott alumnus Jack Olson intercepted a North Central pass midway through the fourth quarter and all but guaranteed a national title for the Falcons. Olson finished the game with five tackles and most importantly wrapped up a very successful college career as a national champion. Bravo!

Congratulations to Kansas Jayhawk Reese Ptacek on being named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-American. A 2023 Prescott alumnus, Ptacek was earlier named First Team All-Big 12, leading one of the league's most efficient and balanced offenses. A sophomore, Ptacek earns her first career All-America honors after hitting .314 with 331 kills, 136 blocks and 27 service aces during the 2025 season. Ptacek was recently named to the AVCA All-Region Team and was named to the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List during the 2025 season. Ptacek became the 14th Jayhawk volleyball player in university history to be named All-American. 

Minnesota State distance runner Madison Matzek and the rest of her Maverick indoor track and field teammates are picked to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this year. A senior, Matzek is expected to once again be a major contributor to both Minnesota State’s indoor and outdoor track and field’s seasons. 

Headshaker of the Week. The number of podcasts available is seemingly endless. From True Crime to Pop Culture, and Personal Finance to Sports, podcasts aim to educate, entertain, or inspire audiences through the on-demand audio platform. Recently I came across a particular podcast regarding the increase in poor behavior of fans, in particular parents, at youth sports events. One of the suggestions made was for high schools around the country to build “timeout boxes” to punish fans for unruly behavior, much like the penalty box in hockey. Offending fans would receive two minutes for typical tomfoolery like yelling at officials but would receive five-to-ten-minute major timeouts for using profanity or making threatening statements. It was quite comical. But then again, I thought, perhaps the WIAA should implement this rule as a way to mitigate the behaviors of today’s fans? I agree. It’s sad for me to consider such an action. It’s a headshaker.