Warrior senior forward Brennan Holthaus maneuvers around a TigerHawk defender as he puts up a shot during South Winn’s 61-48 win over North Fayette Valley on Friday. (Jerry Wadian photo)

South Winn Warrior boys win two!

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winn boys went a perfect two-for-two last week, notching a pair of Upper Iowa Conference wins over MFL/MarMac and North Fayette Valley to improve to 11-6 on the season.

MFL/MarMac

The Warriors picked up a thrilling 80-77 win in overtime over the Bulldogs of MFL/MarMac Tuesday night, Jan. 23, in front of a full home crowd.

West Central’s Mary McDonough as her shot contested by two Janesville defenders on Senior Night, Thursday, Jan. 25. Chris DeBack photo

WC close against No. 11 Wildcats

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

On Senior Night, Jan. 25, the West Central girls’ basketball team came up short of an upset of the Class 1A No. 11 Janesville Wildcats, 47-41. 

There was a little extra motivation on Senior Night with it being the final home game for the five starting Blue Devil seniors. Senior Jalyn Brownell got West Central on the board first when her shot fake caused the defender to leave her feet, giving Brownell a clear path to the basket. Every time Janesville took the lead, West Central countered with a bucket of its own. Down, 4-3, senior Kenzie Squires hit a jumper to grab the lead back, 5-4. She then hit two 3-pointers in a row to tie the game, 8-8, and then give the Blue Devils the lead, 11-10. However, Janesville scored one more bucket before the end of the first quarter. 

West Central senior Collin Kime goes up strong for a shot off the glass as two Janesville players crash down to defend him. Chris DeBack photo

Blue Devils fall to Janesville, Central Elkader

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

The three seniors on the West Central boys’ basketball team played their hearts out in a loss to the Janesville Wildcats, 61-31, on Senior Night, Thursday, Jan. 25. 

The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle that saw junior Adam Dolf give the Blue Devils the lead on back-to-back possessions. He first scored on a layup off the glass and then hit a 3-pointer to put West Central up, 5-3. He hit another 3-pointer later in the quarter to pull the team within two points, 12-10. Dolf score eight of the team’s first 12 points.

South Winn managers, cheerleaders, coaches and wrestlers enjoy the schools first-ever UIC Wrestling Championship after Saturday’s meet in Calmar. A runner-up six times, the Warriors really savored this title.  The 2018 UIC Champions are (front, l-r) Mia French, Madisen Ondrashek, Karissa Kleve, Gabe Kipp, Manning Kuboushek, Rodney Schwartzhoff, Braxton Smith, Jackson Lukes, Felicity Taylor, Taylor Numedahl, and Alexa Jacobsen; (row two) Jake Elsbernd,Kerrigan Upton, Sierra Breitsprecher, Katelyn Heying, Dawson Huinker, Toby Conway, Zach Taylor,, Logan Schnuelle, Gabe Sadler, Alyssa Hertges, Chelsea Dietzenbach, Andy Norton, and Ethan Adams; (row three) Kenny Mikota, Jake Everts, Seth Greve, Tayton Bullerman, Tanner Tollefsrud, Steven Moore, Damon Meyer, Kale Euans, Zach Poshusta, Kaylie Rommes, Jason Schmelzer.

Warriors win it all!

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

“We’re no longer a bridesmaid,” yelled several South Winn fans as their beloved Warriors won their first-ever UIC title. 

It was back in 1998 that SW and Turkey Valley shared a team known as SWTV and it won the conference title. 

Since then, the Warriors have been runners-up six times. The most heartbreaking finish came in 2004 when South Winn lost the title to North Fayette by ½ point! The Warriors have also finished third five times since 1998.

The spell of also-rans was broken Saturday as SW beat MFL/MM, 247-212. Fittingly enough it came in front of the hometown fans in Calmar.

Hunter Kelly powers down the approach at Lilac Lanes in West Union in recent action. Friday at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo, Kelly led NFV with a 188-203-391, which included converting the 4-10 split. (Jerry Wadian photo)

Bowlers roll twice in Waterloo

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The NFV bowling teams spent a lot of their weekend at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo as they faced the Columbus team on Friday and competed in the Columbus Invitational on Saturday.

Friday, the boys continued their string of strong showings, falling by just 20 pins to the Sailors, 2509-2489.

The previous week, the boys beat Denver with their highest series in school history, a 2706 with Brian Roulson shooting a 195-256-451 to lead the way.

Kole Johnson puts in two of his 10 points Friday against South Winn. The TigerHawk freshman has provided a spark since his elevation to the varsity. Last week, he had 24 points in NFV’s two games. (Jerry Wadian photo)

Rough week for NFV boys

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The NFV boys only had a pair of basketball games last week; unfortunately they lost both games. 

Tuesday, Jan. 23, the NFV boys lost, 60-54, at Clayton Ridge. They returned home Friday night to lose, 61-48, to South Winn. 

Tuesday in Guttenberg, the TigerHawks did a lot of things well, such as outrebounding the Eagles, 26-19, including a four-board advantage on the offensive glass. NFV also had more assists, 14-8, and made more steals, 11-9, than CR.

Emma Ney uses the high dribble to get around a SW player Friday in West Union. The NFV versatile freshman has become a key reserve, adding quickness, skillful ball handling, an outside shot and lots of energy on defense. (Jerry Wadian photo)

Gals sweep two in UIC

By Jerry Wadian
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

NFV went 2-2 in girls’ basketball action in the UIC last week. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Guttenberg, the girls beat the Eagles, 44-32.

The game was close through seven minutes with the teams tied, 9-9, going into the second quarter.

The TigerHawks started to pull away in the second quarter as they went into the locker room ahead, 26-22. 

South Winneshiek Warrior girls hover around .500

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The South Winneshiek girls’ basketball team is now 6-8 on the season after a busy week that saw one win and two losses.

Central Elkader

The Warriors began the week with a Tuesday, Jan. 16, road matchup against Central Elkader.

A slow start plagued South Winn throughout the contest as it fell to the rival Warrior squad, 44-38.

Freshman guard Ali Hoffert led the SW scoring charge, tallying 13 points in the game. She was also responsible for a pair of rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

The Warriors were led by Gracie Schmitt on the boards as she grabbed eight rebounds to go along with a team-high three assists and three steals.

Senior guard Hunter Todd helped lead the Warriors to a 66-42 win over Central Elkader last week, dropping six points and dishing out a season-high 10 assists. (Zakary Kriener photo)

SW boys now 9-6 on season

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warriors won a second straight Upper Iowa Conference matchup last week over Central Elkader before dropping a tough matchup to No. 7-ranked Don Bosco to bring their overall season mark to 9-6.

Central Elkader

The hometown Warriors notched win number nine on Tuesday, Jan. 16, with a decisive 66-42 win over the Warriors of Central Elkader.

Senior heavyweight Jackson Lukes maneuvers his opponent during last week’s Warrior wrestling dual against Postville. In a busy week, Lukes improved his season mark to 28-6, giving him the fourth-most wins on the team. (Kris Van Sickle photo)

South Winn Warriors reach 21 dual wins

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Warriors brought 13 wrestlers to the Alburnett Invitational Saturday; they came home with three individual titles, three runners-up, three third-place finishers, 28 total pins, and one team title.

South Winneshiek was led by first-place finishes from Tanner Tollefsrud (152, Rodney Schwartzhoff (160, and Gabe Kipp (182. The three wrestlers accumulated 12 of the team’s pins, including five by Kipp.

Warriors to finish second in their weight brackets included Zach Taylor (132, Damon Meyer (220, and Jackson Lukes (285, while Toby Conway (113, Gabe Sadler (120, and No. 7-ranked Manning Kuboushek (195 each brought home bronze. Kuboushek’s day included a pair of wins via fall with both of his losses coming to top-two ranked individuals (No. 1 Tanner Sloan of Alburnett and No. 2 Garet Sims of Iowa Valley.

The team title was decided by an impressive 56 points as the Warriors (272 finished ahead of Dike-New Hartford (216, Monticello (204, Iowa Valley (160, and No. 8-ranked Alburnett (155.