I'm Phil Ney with a look at Southwestern Wisconsin sports today.
Well, the season will officially begin for the Richland Center wrestlers this weekend
at a tournament in El Roy against Royal and other rest of the teams.
Why it seep takes over the Richland Center wrestling program for the boys this year
and I talk with him this week about how it's gone early in the season.
You know, the kids are just getting back into the swing of things, but they've been working
really hard and I think we're on track to have a really good season.
Who do you look at as the leaders for the Hornets?
We've got a lot of kids that have really stepped up and kind of taken that leadership position.
On the girls side of things, Maddie Muller has done an excellent job being that practice room leader.
We've got some new girls out this year. She's been doing a really good job
getting them scored away and taking charge there.
The boys side of things, Ethan Bindle has done a really exceptional job.
Step-in-off he's a senior this year as well.
Ethan Bowen-Dine is also a senior.
Those guys have done a really good job filling that position.
What about numbers? How do they look this year for the Hornet boys and girls?
Good, not too bad. We're still kind of in the rebuilding state,
but as far as boys go, we've got 12 boys out right now.
And on the girls side of things, we've seen a pretty drastic jump in numbers.
We've got 10 girls out right now, so that's about double what we've had in the past.
Who is helping you coach this year, Wyatt?
I've been lucky this year to be blessed with several different coaches.
My varsity assistant this year is going to be Trevon Thielman.
Darren Gunderson is the head coach of the girls side of the wrestling program.
He's assisted by coach Brian Thielman.
And also helping out in the practice room is Terry Thielman's helping out with the JV.
And we've got Warwick Wolf and Cole Breninger also helping out in the room.
Dan McEvick is helping this year and he's going to fill in wherever we're going to need him.
Good luck to the Hornet wrestlers as they get ready to start their schedule this year.
Also, tonight in the area, it's a good local matchup.
Riverdale hosting Ithaca and boys basketball.
That will be our next featured broadcast on the radio.
I asked Ithaca boys basketball coach Aaron Hipsch how the schedule has gone so far for the Bulldogs.
We certainly have learned a lot about ourselves in these first couple of weeks.
We played two very good teams and we've been right there with them.
We have to do a better job of getting into a rhythm offensively,
but that's what good defensive teams do as they get you out of your rhythm.
They pressure the ball and get some tips.
We've got to do a better job of getting back into a rhythm offensively,
but defensively I've been very intrigued with what I've seen and I've liked the effort
that our guys have been given, certainly.
You've had some teams last couple of years that could get up and score a lot of points.
Is the approach a little bit different with this year's team?
Yeah, it's going to have to be, I mean, we're definitely going to have to go about it a different way.
But we still definitely do have some talented individuals and some kids that can absolutely
fill it up. And I think a little bit of our reason that we're not scoring so many points is
we're just not hitting some shots that we usually will.
And I think those will start falling in and we have a lot of guys that are just getting used
to that next level. And I think once they have a good game or see a couple shots go in and
build confidence, I think it's just going to get better as the year goes on.
I ask Aaron Hipsch about tonight's Ithaca Boys basketball opponent, Riverdale.
They could very easily be two and all right now. I think if I remember correctly,
both of their games have been two point losses. And from what I've seen on film,
they certainly play hard. And they have a very talented score on their team that if we let him
see the first few shots go in, it could be a long night. So we certainly have our work cut out
for us defensively. And you know, they play hard and playing hard as a skill. So that's going to
be something we're going to have to counteract a little bit.
But testing power sports pregame show begins tonight on WRC around 715. Other games, boys,
basketball, Seneca at Royal, Brookwood at West P, Lancaster at Belville, Belmont at Benton,
Argyle at Black Hawk, Verokwad de Soto, Sholesberg at Highland, Plattville at Poinette,
Barnavelle at River Ridge, Darlington at Dodgeville,
Wozika Stuban at Phenomore, Iowa Grant at Prairie Dushin. And in Girls Basketball,
Barrow Boo at Redsburg, River Ridge at Potosi Casville, and New Glarris visits Phenomore.
The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association has announced the head coaches for the
2026 WFCA All-Star Games to be held Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th at Titan Stadium
in Oshkosh. Well, the head coaches include for the South All-Star Small Schools and
Retroxill Head Coach of Richland Center will be coaching the South Skull Doll Stars.
And then from the eight player, it will be Evwick of Dusoto representing the South Squad,
coaching the eight players against the North, coming up in July in Oshkosh.
We have some Church League volleyball to check this week. Monday night,
Richland Net is Temple 5, Topped of Oka Bible Church 2, 2 games to 1, 5 points Lutheran,
defeated Bethel Lutheran, 2 games to Nunn, Richland Baptist Temple 3, Blankt, Richland
Baptist Temple 4, 2 games to Nunn, and Richland Baptist Temple 1 got the win over Baptist Temple 2,
2 games to 1. On Tuesday, Hidden Valley Community Down, Free Methodist 2, 2 games to Nunn,
Church of the Nazarene 2, Topped Santa Maria, 2 games to 1, Lighthouse Chapel, Blankt,
St. Mary's 2 games to Nunn, Avoke Bible Church 1 got by Grace Community, 2 games to Nunn,
and Bula Wesley and Sweep Church of the Nazarene 1, 2 games to Nunn. Free Methodist 1 and
Boscowbell Assembly of God had the buys this week. Merchants League bowling, series high, Phoenix
1, 2854, Walsh's Ace Hardware 2788, Kelly's Coffee 2786, Phoenix 1 with a high game 1006,
Walsh's Ace Hardware 981, Kelly's Coffee 977. Isaac Davis in a 714, J.J. Clad had a 639 series,
and the third best was a 623 from Jeff Seckman. Top game Isaac Davison 266, Jeff Seckman at 249,
and Matt Fargeon at a 234 in the Merchants bowling league. On the state of Wisconsin scene,
for the seventh time in the last eight years, the Badgers have opened Big Ten Conference play with
the win. Wednesday's 8573 victory over Northwestern wasn't as close as the final score. Guard John Blackwell
led a first half assault and finished with 26 points and the 11 rebounds. Wisconsin plays
cross state rival Marquette at the Cole Center, Saturday afternoon. Following the game,
Coach Greg Guard talked about Blackwell's performance. He's gotten better. He got on the floor as
a freshman with just effort and his defensive ability and didn't try to chase scoring like some
young players do and that got him on the floor as a freshman and he's continued to improve his
game. I think he's changed and modified his body in a good way of he's leaner. He's a little
quicker. He's pretty strong and he's really on selfish. Coach Guard talked about what the Badgers
did well. Well, just the way we moved the ball. I mean, you have 15 assists, 17 baskets. It
doesn't get a whole lot better than that. I thought we were really sharp. We were good in transition.
We did get in the half court. I thought we didn't over dribble very much. We got the ball moving
and obviously we played really efficiently. So as I told the team, that's how good we can be.
We've shown it in spurts. Now the challenges you chase consistency. Because the second half,
we weren't nearly as sharp last night elsewhere. Minnesota 73, number 22 in the Anna 64,
number 25 Arkansas, over number six Louisville 89 to 80. Yannis Antivacupo went down with a strained
calf three minutes into Wednesday's game. The bucks were playing one of the NBA's hottest teams and
things didn't look good. The pistons led by Kevin Porter, Jr's 26 points. Milwaukee pulled off the
upset 113 109. It is not clear how long Yannis might be out with his latest injury. Milwaukee is back
in action Friday at home against the 76ers. Coach Tak River has talked about Bobby Portis' effort.
No, it's funny. Bobby had great energy in the first half. He just couldn't score. But his
energy was right. And we talked about that today. The guys who play it with the energy are going
to be the guys who play. We're not just going to give you minutes. We're going to play guys who
are playing the hardest and guys who are playing with energy. And the other thing we talked about
is offense will never bring a team together. It'll be your defense. And if you play hard enough
on defense, all the other stuff will take care of itself. Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been
named the NFL's offensive player of the week for the second time this season. He tossed four
touchdown passes in Sunday's 31 24 win at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day. Green Bay players have earned
the honor two weeks in a row. Running Mack Emmanuel Wilson was singled out last week after
rushing for 107 yards in the win over the Vikings. And the Lions and Cowboys are the top two teams
in the hunt for an NFC wild card and are still holding on to hopes to compete for division
championships. Detroit hosts Dallas tonight and the winner will improve its position in the
playoff picture while the loser may not have time to recover from the setback over the last month
of the season. I am Phil Me with an update on sports.