Bravo to Prescott High School Nolan Thomley who opened the 2023-24 wrestling season with a second-place finish at the Ellsworth Invitational on Saturday. Thomley opened with a 6-4 decision over John Graham of Prior Lake and followed with an impressive 3-1 victory over Blake Nelson of Ellsworth. In the championship match Thomley fell to Damon Bye of Dover-Eyota by a score of 5-2. Thomley, who placed fourth in sectionals last year, finished his junior season with a record of 30-11. Head Coach Ian Ruble and the Cardinals are back in action this Thursday in Osceola. 

Five first-half three-pointers and a career high 22 points from senior guard Ian Leask proved to be the difference in Prescott’s 65-62 victory over Somerset last Friday. Leask’s play coupled with double figure scoring off the bench from senior guard Kyle Cogan proved crucial in helping the Cardinals upend the previously undefeated and ninth-ranked Spartans. 

From the WIAA…The Board of Control voted to establish an ad-hoc committee to examine season lengths, game maximums and coaching contact at its December meeting today. The composition and timetable for the formation of an ad-hoc committee to study length of all seasons, season game maximums in all sports and expanding coaching contact will be determined at a future date. 

It will be interesting to see what the recommendations will be from the aforementioned WIAA ad-hoc committee. Tampering with season lengths along with possibly increasing coaching contact days will undoubtedly lead to even greater competition for athletes both in and out of sports seasons. Who knows? Maybe the WIAA will begin to consider inventing a high school transfer portal akin to the disaster that has been ridiculously created in the NCAA. I do know this, small town high school sports are nothing like they were a decade or so ago and increasing contact days will most likely make matters worse. High school sports used to follow the Gregorian calendar. The fall was for football, volleyball, and cross country. The winter for basketball and wrestling. The spring for baseball, softball, track and field, and golf. And the summer was for fishing, bike riding, summer jobs, swimming, picnics, trips to the park, vacations, family reunions, and pickup games with your friends. You know, just being a kid. Not anymore. Today, high school sports “seasons” are a thing of past. Teenagers believe, or are led to believe, in order to “keep up with the Joneses” they need to specialize, focus on one sport during their high school playing days in order to garner an athletic scholarship. For small towns, the growing competition for players and the near extinction of the three-sport athlete makes everything connected to high school sports from scheduling to even being able to field teams all the more difficult. The college athlete mentality in small high schools is ruining competitive athletics. Sadly, the trend shows absolutely no signs of waning. 

Michigan Tech Guard Isabella Lenz is poised to score her 700th career point for the Huskies. The 2021 Prescott grad is not only on pace to score over 1,000 points in her collegiate career, but poised to finish among 10 all-time scorers in Michigan Tech women’s basketball history. 

Lenz is currently the team’s second leading scorer and leads the Huskies in both assists and steals. Lenz is also shooting 92% from the free throw line. Incidentally, Lenz was a 1st Team All Conference athlete in three sports, a high honors student, a National Honor Society member, and president of the Prescott High School Student Council. 

From the Department of Natural Resources… The DNR reminds hunters across the state that additional deer harvest opportunities are available this fall and winter.

Opportunities include: Muzzleloader season, Nov. 27–Dec. 6; statewide Antlerless-Only Hunt, Dec. 7-10; Antlerless-Only Holiday Hunt, Dec. 24-Jan. 1, 2024, in select Farmland Zone units. Hunters may use any unfilled antlerless harvest authorization during any of these hunts, but the authorization must be used in the zone, county and land type designated on the harvest authorization. Only antlerless deer may be harvested during the statewide antlerless-only hunt and antlerless-only holiday hunt, regardless of weapon type.

A shout out to River City Lawn for their impressive cleanup job at Firehall Field over the weekend. Affectionately known by some as “Gary Bayer and Son Inc.,” the popular local business has donated countless hours of time to Prescott High School athletics. Well done.