Oostburg wins county volleyball title

For the second straight year and the fourth time in six seasons, Oostburg is the Sheboygan County Tournament champion.

After going 4-1 in pool play, the Flying Dutchmen handed Sheboygan Christian its first loss of the season in the semifinals, then exacted some revenge on Sheboygan South - which beat Oostburg earlier in the day - to win the title once again.

Some thoughts from the tourney
*Oostburg is once again loaded and poised for another run at State. Last season, the Dutch went undefeated all the way to the D3 state championship game, then were soundly beaten by Stanley-Boyd. Oostburg has the size and firepower to get back there, if the passing and backside defense can effectively replace those who left via graduation. So far, so good.

*Sheboygan Christian is also a viable State contender, in Division 4. Jocelyn Ver Velde and Liz "Bizl" Egerer are as powerful an offensive tandem around; the pressure is on the other four girls on the floor to hold their own. The Eagles only have one loss so far, so like Oostburg, so far, so good.

*Sheboygan South is the real deal. Size, strength, strong front line, and the best setter in the area in Tia Rupnik.

*Sheboygan Lutheran doesn't have the firepower of Oostburg, Christian or South, but the Crusaders are well-coached and determined, and they're finding ways to win. They're also arguably the area's best serving team; the serves just shoot into the opposite court.

*Howards Grove proved it can play with Christian and Oostburg of the CLC. Whether or not the Tigers can actually defeat them is another thing. But they certainly played better on this day than when they were beaten by Ozaukee earlier in the week.

*Sheboygan North and Random Lake are two teams that could surprise some people as they get more seasoned down the road.

Thoughts on Ozaukee-Elkhart football

* The Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah varsity football story is a good one for fans to follow. The Resorters lost to Ozaukee 8-7, but there were smiles all around from a team that competed hard and knew it after the game. Sure, the Resorters want to win, but they know it's great just to be out there playing. The team's fans were jubilant the entire game and offered support after.

* Elkhart Lake's Alex Brown is taking a smart approach to trying to obtain a scholarship. Instead of trying to be a quarterback or defensive back at a D-I school, he's trying to get one as a kicker. He boots them 45 yards in practice, and attends an elite camp that routinely sends kickers to D-I schools. His dream school? The University of Colorado, because he's a big fan of the Packers' Mason Crosby.

* The Feldmann family IS Elkhart Lake football. The head coach is Barry Feldmann, his brother Brian "Fuzzy" Feldmann is an assistant, their kids handle water for the players and their father, Ron, works the chains.

Ron has been doing it since 1960, and has seen the good and the bad of Elkhart football. The Resorters led 7-6 at halftime, but Ron was worried that Elkhart might get run over in the second half, "We're a little thin," Ron said. To the Resorters' credit, they weren't run over. They battled.

* Ozaukee has a nice three-headed back trio of Collin Scheuermann, Josh Huiras and Shawn Flom. Each had more than 60 yards and averaged better than 4 yards a carry against Elkhart. Ozaukee hosts Sheboygan Lutheran/Kohler next week. If the Warriors win, they will be 4-0 heading into a Week 5 showdown at Random Lake. While walking off the field on Friday, coach Lee Baldwin said "The CLC should be very interesting," and that was probably before he heard about Oostburg's win over Cedar Grove-Belgium. How prophetic.

- Dave Lubach

First state football poll released

The first Associated Press state football poll was released on Monday evening, and it featured few surprises.

Below is the poll in the three divisions.

The top-ranked teams on my poll are Homestead, Kewaunee and Stevens Point Pacelli. I'm very confident in the first two. Stratford is rightfully ranked No. 1 in the Small Division poll.

- Locally, Chilton received 11 votes in the Medium Division, while Cedar Grove (Medium) and Sheboygan Lutheran/Kohler (Small) got one vote each.
- I had Chilton No. 5 on my poll based on its potential, returning players and an impressive week 1 win.
- I also had Cedar Grove at No. 10; the Rockets collapsed in the fourth quarter and handed Cambridge an 18-14 win by being outscored 18-0 in the fourth. I prefer to think of that fourth quarter as an anomaly, one that won't be repeated.
- Lutheran/Kohler received its one vote from somebody else.

As far as local teams who didn't receive votes, New Holstein has a great, albeit very tough, change of climbing very quickly if it can win its next two games: hosting Chilton this week and at Sheboygan Falls for Week 3.

--Adam Thompson


Large Division (enrollment 744 and up)
School Record Points
1. Meq. Homestead (6) 1-0 78
2. Stevens Point 1-0 63
3. Hart. Arrowhead (1) 1-0 54
4. Janesville Parker 1-0 48
5. D.C. Everest 1-0 38
6. Ashwaubenon 1-0 26
7. Menomonie 1-0 23
8. Hartford 1-0 22
9. Verona 1-0 20
10. Franklin (1) 1-0 19
Others receiving votes: Brookfield Central (1-0) 17, Waunakee (1-0) 17, Appleton North (1-0) 14, Sun Prairie (1-0) 11, Kenosha Tremper (1-0) 11, Lakeland (1-0) 10, Kimberly (1-0) 7, Wisconsin Lutheran (1-0) 7, Waupaca (1-0) 5, Oshkosh North (1-0) 2, La Crosse Logan (1-0) 1, Chippewa Falls (1-0) 1, Germantown (1-0) 1.

Medium Division (284-742)
School Record Points
1. Kewaunee (3) 1-0 54
2. Madison Edgewood 1-0 44
3. Brodhead-Juda (1) 1-0 43
4. Kewaskum (2) 1-0 35
5. Platteville 1-0 34
6. Evansville (2) 1-0 30
7. Pardeeville 1-0 26
8. Denmark 1-0 22
9. Ladysmith 1-0 21
10. Horicon 1-0 18
(tie) Walworth Big Foot 1-0 18
Others receiving votes: Green Bay Notre Dame (0-1) 16, West Salem (1-0) 13, Lancaster (0-1) 12, Chilton (1-0) 11, Somerset (1-0) 11, Wrightstown (0-1) 10, Stanley-Boyd (0-1) 9, Lakeside Lutheran (1-0) 9, Amery (0-1) 8, Appleton Xavier (1-0) 8, Ripon (1-0) 7, Waupun (0-1) 6, Clintonville (1-0) 4, Kettle Moraine Lutheran (1-0) 4, Marathon (1-0) 3, Durand (1-0) 3, Whitewater (1-0) 3, Mount Horeb/Barneveld (0-0) 3, Waterloo (0-0) 3, Pewaukee (1-0) 2, Poynette (1-0) 2, Edgerton (1-0) 1, Cedar Grove (0-1) 1, Mosinee (1-0) 1.

Small Division (283 and lower)
School Record Points
1. Stratford (4) 1-0 59
2. Fennimore (1) 1-0 52
3. Eleva-Strum 1-0 41
4. Gilman (1) 1-0 40
(tie) Hilbert 1-0 40
6. Ste. Point Pacelli (1) 1-0 33
7. Racine Lutheran 1-0 23
8. Johnson Creek 1-0 15
(tie) Eau Claire Regis (1) 0-1 15
10. Edgar 1-0 13
(tie) Cambria-Friesland 0-1 13
Others receiving votes: Cuba City (1-0) 11, Deerfield (1-0) 11, Abbotsford (1-0) 9, Pecatonica/Argyle (1-0) 8, Burlington Catholic Central (1-0) 8, Shiocton (1-0) 8, Fond du Lac Springs (0-1) 7, New Glarus/Monticello (1-0) 7, Black Hawk (1-0) 6, DeSoto (0-1) 6, Plum City (1-0) 4, Suring (1-0) 3, Iola-Scandinavia (1-0) 3, Oakfield (0-1) 2, Wausaukee (1-0) 1, Sheboygan Lutheran (1-0) 1, Seneca (0-1) 1.

North-South football

Tonight's North-South game was entertaining, with plenty of big plays (mostly by South) and two diverse offenses who put the ball up in the air a combined 35 times.

I really like South's potential on offense. The Redwings have the excellent feature back (Ray Smith) and quarterback John Cabaj seems to have some special potential. If South's young offensive line continues to mesh and grow, the Redwings will score points.

North's offense seems like it's better than last year's, but the defense has some work to do, especially in the secondary.

South's defense won't come close to that great 2004 unit, but its offense has a chance to be better than any since that year.

Ashley Bares "best of the rest?"

Ashley Bares, who twice scored a state-record 69 goals in a season, who set the all-time state scoring record with 226, who ranks seventh all-time nationally with that total, was named a "best of the rest" player in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association's All-State Team.

Now, the WSCA coaches who vote on things seem to be all right when it comes to their weekly state rankings; the top teams are usually right there on top.

(This is the opposite of the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association, by the way, which often times doesn't have the state's best teams even represented in its weekly poll.)

But leaving Bares off the All-State team - and the second-team All-State squad - is pretty mind boggling.

It can't be due to a lack of team success. Bares helped lead Ozaukee to four WIAA Division 3 state tournament appearances. The Warriors won two state titles in that span, and thus she should be pretty well-known at this point.

It can't be because colleges aren't looking at her. She signed a national letter of intent with NCAA Division I Marquette University before the season began.

Can it be because she plays on a Division 3 team? This must be it, but the WSCA should be embarrassed to simply make this kind of statement, that there are no worthy players on any Division 3 team, ever.

Or maybe the association just doesn't get it. One player from the Appleton area, who earned a full ride to Iowa State University, received no mention. According to the WSCA, she's not even a "best of the rest."

--Adam Thompson

Post 83 looks good in DH sweep

Sheboygan Post 83 rebounded from its season-opening losses to Neenah by sweeping previously unbeaten Pulaski in a doubleheader.
Post 83 cruised to 7-2 and 9-2 wins on the road.
Taylor Schwarz threw a two-hitter, striking out three with four walks. Ben Hendricks went 2-for-3 with two runs and two runs batted in.
In the nightcap, Mitchell Gardner struck out six in five innings of work for the win. Matt Hendricks scored three times for Post 83.

--Adam Thompson

Too bad Ozaukee Warrior couldn't score

One unique tidbit from the Ozaukee-Racine St. Catherine's game today:

The only goal scored in the game, by the St. Catherine's Angels, was in the 76th minute, by a girl named Catherine Angel.

With a name like that, it would have been a shame if she had gone to Racine Horlick.

--Adam Thompson