The Prescott Cardinal boys basketball team will open the WIAA Division 3 tournament at home against the winner of the game between Baldwin-Woodville and St. Croix Central. In this topsy turvy season Baldwin-Woodville defeated the Cardinals twice; however, St. Croix Central fell to Prescott twice during conference play. St. Croix Central swept the season series against Baldwin-Woodville. Who would the Cardinals rather play on Friday in the opening round? 

Some people argue the old adage rings true. 

Impressive. Carl and Emily Calabrese expect approximately 80 girls and boys to compete in track and field this spring. Practice for Cardinal thinclads begins this coming Monday. 

The Prescot CAB Company and Prescott Fastpitch Association will be hosting their annual banquet on Thursday, March 27 at the Old Ptacek’s Event Center. Cost of the banquet will be $30. Stay tuned for further details. 

Southwest Minnesota State Pitcher Cullen Huppert made his collegiate debut last week tossing two innings of scoreless relief against the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The Mustangs fell to the Bulldogs by a score of 7-5. Southwest Minnesota State will travel to Tucson, Ariz. for six games beginning this weekend.

According to a recent survey by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association six years is the average number of years head coaches have served in their position. This is a drop from an average of 10 years a little over a decade ago. The downward trend is expected to continue in the future. 

Michigan Tech Guard Bella Lenz moved into the top 10 after the Huskies split their final regular season games of the season. Lenz scored 18 points in a 78-62 win over Purdue-Northwest on Thursday and scored 13 in a 72-56 loss to Kenosha-Parkside on Saturday. The 2021 Prescott grad has scored 1,315 career points, the 10th best Michigan Tech Women’s Basketball History. Lenz and the Huskies will open the conference this week at #2 ranked Grand Valley State this Wednesday. 

Minnesota State Distance Runner Madison Matzek finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend with a time of 17:21.19. Matzek and her fellow thinclad won their fifth Conference Championship and are ranked #1 team NCAA Division II. University of Minnesota-Duluth Sprinter Megan Gilles and three teammates finished fifth in the 4x400 final in the same conference meet. Matzek is a 2022 Prescott alumnus and Gilles is a 2021 Cardinal graduate. 

From the WIAA…The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Athletics agreed to an eight-year contract extension that grants the WIAA availability of facilities to host high school State championships in boys’ basketball, football, boys’ and girls’ golf, individual and team wrestling, and softball through the spring of 2033 in an announcement made at a media conference. The UW campus and the City of Madison are premier destinations and locations for WIAA State Tournaments. In 2023-24, the State Tournaments at UW facilities drew a paid attendance of more than 196,000 with thousands of additional participants, coaches and school administrators.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources…The DNR announced that the application period for the 2025 elk hunt opens March 1 and continues through May 31. This year, there will be increased opportunity within the Black River Elk Range, as both antlered and antlerless harvest authorizations will be available through the state licensing process. Applicants are required to select a zone when applying (the Black River Elk Range or Clam Lake Elk Range). This year’s elk quota for the Black River Elk Range will be four antlered elk and five antlerless elk. The Clam Lake Elk Range quota will be eight antlered elk, with 50% available to Ojibwe hunters. As a reminder, only Wisconsin residents can be issued an elk license, and only one authorization can be issued per person in their lifetime. Winners will be notified by early June.

Headshaker of the week. Despite what many parents of athletes believe, the chances of a high school athlete receiving an athletic scholarship are approximately 2%. However, when it comes to simply competing in a college sport, the number jumps to about 7%. College athletics are nothing like they were even a decade ago. Name Image and Likeness money have made the word “amateur college athlete” nothing more than a sports oxymoron. But what’s worse is the transfer portal. More and more college coaches have admittedly all but stopped recruiting high school athletes and turned to NCAA free agency, I mean the transfer portal, to fill their open roster spots. Many have argued the ugly monster known as the transfer portal will limit the opportunities graduating high school students to compete at the college level. Sure, “Blue Chip” recruits will still receive visits, emails, and letters from college head coaches. However, with athletes moving from college to college like the child game of Red Rover, the opportunities for the non-scholarship athlete to compete are likely to diminish. And it’s a headshaker.