Sports Wrapups: Feb. 9

Nicolet girls gymnastics

Using balance to get the job done and without a single top three finish to their credit, the Knights cruised to the championship in their own invitational on Saturday.

"It wasn't a great day," said Knights coach Chris Dempsey. "We had a fall on floor, and we had a fall on beam and the bars weren't the greatest, but our depth was terrific. It was funny, I was talking with my parents at the meet and I told them that I thought we were going to take second and then the next thing I know they're giving out the awards, and I turn to my parents and they're just laughing (as Nicolet won the meet)."

The Knights will now be at the powerhouse Bradley Invitational at Bay at 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

Nicolet scored 140.275 points to edge Sheboygan (139.4) in the nine-team field.

Dempsey highlighted the efforts of Alicia Berroug, who turned in personal bests on vault (8.85) and floor exercise (8.9) while Jesse Kloehn had top efforts on balance beam (8.8) and vault (8.65).

"I thought our kids handled the situation pretty well," Dempsey said. "They haven't had a lot of big meets yet so some of this stuff makes them a little nervous."

Nicolet wrestling

Turning in its best North Shore Conference Tournament effort in many years, the Knights got individual championships out of Chris Morrell at 103 pounds and Dakota Mitchell at 130 as they took a strong third Saturday in the league event at Cedarburg.

"This was very exciting, a good day" said Knights coach Gus Kaufmann. "We had a solid first round and a solid third round, and all 12 of our guys put together solid tournaments. I think this is the first time we've had multiple champions in years with so many in the finals (five)."

The strong finish gives the Knights impetus as they head into the WIAA regional meet at West Allis Hale at 10 a.m. Saturday. The top four in each weight class advance to the sectional at Hartford on Feb. 20.

Nicolet scored 166 points at the NSC meet as Port Washington defended the title it's held virtually all decade with 230.5 points while Germantown was second with 198.

Morrell looked solid in claiming his title, pinning a Bay opponent in the semifinal (1:06) and then beating a Cedarburg foe 11-7 in the final.

"If he wrestles up to his ability, he can go to state," said Kaufmann.

Mitchell was even more impressive. He pinned a Cedarburg foe (1:10), defeated a Germantown opponent (5-0) and downed a Homestead wrestler 12-6, in the finals.

"We're working hard on him to be more aggressive on his feet," said Kaufmann. "If he gets some offense on his feet, then the rest of the match takes care of itself, because he's so good on the mat."

Other finalists for Nicolet were Ethan Klein at 112 (overtime loss), Matt Dineen at 135 (pin) and John McKay at 215 (pin). Kaufmann was really hoping that Klein, one of just four seniors on the mat this day, could get the title, and he noted that McKay has come a long ways, winning an impressive semifinal match with a Homestead opponent.

Earning thirds for the Knights were Tamir Klein at 119, Bobby Herrick at 140 and Trevor Cole at 285. All went 3-1 on the day. A total of seven Nicolet wrestlers won their last matches.

The only other seniors for Nicolet were Cole, Tamir Klein and Herrick.

Homestead gymnastics

Led by Cori Sanduski's wins on both the uneven bars and the balance beam, the Highlanders earned fourth of nine in the Nicolet Invitational on Saturday.

"We're trying to set her up (for a run at the all-around)," said Highlanders coach Marissa White. "Her scores were very well-deserved."

The Highlanders, who will be at the Bradley Invitational at Bay on Saturday, scored 137.475 as host Nicolet won with 140.275.

Sanduski turned in a score of 9.55 on beam and 9.25 on bars to earn her victories. She needs to work on her vault, said White, in order to become a top all-around.

Katelyn Wright also earned three places for the Highlanders. She was third on vault (9.05), second on floor (9.35) and second in the all-around (36.4).

White also praised the effort of Alex Holtz, who bravely put in a new trick on the bars and made it work in her routine.

"She put the team before her fear," White said. "This was a good meet for us. We know we haven't peaked yet."

Brown Deer wrestling

Justin Naber's championship at 152 pounds highlighted a fine effort by the shorthanded Falcons, as they took seventh of nine in the Woodland Conference Tournament on Saturday.

Brown Deer, which had just eight wrestlers at the Woodland, will now turn their attention to the WIAA Division 2 regional meet at Kewaskum at 10 a.m. Saturday. The top two in each weight class advance to the sectional meet at Milwaukee Lutheran on Feb. 20. Naber is a returning state tournament qualifier.

Naber's efforts at the Woodland led the Falcons to a 106.5 point total as Pewaukee won with 221. He beat Pewaukee (10-0 decision) and New Berlin (6-2) opponents before edging Wauwatosa's Cory Jay, 6-5, in the final.

Also making the finals were Alex Russell at 160. He defeated South Milwaukee (pin) and Wauwatosa (5-1) opponents, before being pinned by Pewaukee's Nathan Knutson (4:27) in the final.

Earning thirds were Brad Dziadosz at 189 and Tory Dibb at 215 (both went 3-1 on the day with three pins each). Pietro D'Amato at 135 and Tony Rheinschmidt at 285 each went 2-2 to take fourth.

All told, Brown Deer grapplers won 16 matches on the day.

Brown Deer/USM boys swim

The Falcons depth was on display all day long at the Woodland Conference meet Saturday, as they took a strong fourth in the varsity competition and dominated the junior varsity portion of the event.

"We did a good job," said co-coach Bob Van Lieshout. "We scored a little less than I thought we would on varsity but we still placed 25 of our 27 entries. No one else did that well. There were no real surprises for us on varsity, but I tell you the JV kids really put on a show. Just huge, huge time drops. A real blue-collar effort."

The varsity will now look to WIAA sectional competition Saturday. They are tentatively scheduled to go to Cudahy but due to concerns over the number of diving judges they may wind up at Plymouth.

The winner of each event, plus all those whose efforts are among the 12 best of all sectionals statewide will qualify for the state meet in Madison on Feb. 19.

Brown Deer/USM scored 308 points for its spot in the Woodland as Shorewood scored 474 points for its first league title in 67 years.

Collin Rice was sixth in diving, with a new school record of 294.4 points.

Other top performances by event for the Falcons included the following: 200 medley relay: Jack Ladd, Matt Daniels, Billy Wong and Adam Brostowicz, fifth (1:52.69); 200 freestyle: Stephen Grambow, seventh (1:56.86); 50 free: Rob Davis, seventh (24.35); 100 butterfly: Steve Lillie, fifth (1:00.3); Matt Daniels, eighth (1:02.61); 500 free: Grambow, sixth (5:18.09); Wong, eighth (5:28.18); 200 free relay: Jim Jens, Lillie, Andrew Burant, and Davis, fifth (1:36.61); 100 backstroke: Lillie, eighth (1:02.31); 100 breaststroke: Wong, sixth (1:07.03); 400 free relay: Jens, Lillie, Grambow and Wong, fifth (3:35.07).

Homestead wrestling

Mike Kress won the 171-pound title to lead the Highlanders to fourth place in the North Shore Conference tournament Saturday at Cedarburg.

"We had our highlights and our disappointments," said Highlanders coach Barry Bernstein.

The Highlanders will now turn to WIAA regional competition at Sussex Hamilton. The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the sectional meet at Hartford on Feb. 20.

Homestead scored 161 points for its spot in the NSC meet as Port Washington repeated as champion with 230.

Kress, who was a third-place finisher in conference last season beat a Port opponent (17-5 major decision), a Germantown foe (pin 3:25) and Matt Sieracki of Grafton (13-6) for his title.

The only other finalist for the Highlanders was Nick Weyker at 130. Weyker had a first round bye and then pinned a Port opponent in the semifinals. He lost in the finals to a Nicolet foe 12-6. It was the second straight year Weyker has fallen in the finals.

Earning thirds for Homestead were Jason Findling at 112, Spencer Bold at 125, Taylor Ruffin at 160, Pat Farrell at 189 and Ryan Greve at 215 while a fourth went to Jason Ottem at 145.

Brown Deer girls basketball

Just two days after losing an 11-point fourth quarter lead and falling to St. Francis, 48-43, the Falcons found their heart and held on for a messy 37-36 decision over St. Thomas More on Friday.

"It was funny," said Falcons coach Mark Busalacchi. "We played so well for so long against St. Francis and we lost, and we didn't play so well at all against More and we won. That's the way it goes sometimes."

The split left the Falcons at 6-10 overall. They have a brutal schedule, visiting Pewaukee on Friday and nonconference foe Whitefish Bay on Feb. 16.

"We'll be OK with it," said Busalacchi. "We'll see where we are."

The Falcons were down six to More with only 3:30 remaining before putting on a half-court trap and getting some key turnovers. They were able to tie the score with about 30 seconds remaining.

They got a stop and put the ball in the hands of sophomore guard Mariah Weddle, who went to the basket and was fouled with 0.5 seconds remaining. She hit the first free throw to put the Falcons ahead and then deliberately missed the second to run out the clock.

Chelsea Stingley had 11, Monique Morris 10 and Weddle eight for the Falcons.

"Chelsea and Monique really stepped up for us last night," said Busalacchi.

Whitefish Bay girls basketball

A couple of days after getting drilled by Germantown, 61-46, the Blue Dukes found their footing with a 51-25 rout of Port Washington on Friday.

"We really played up to our potential on both ends of the floor," said Blue Dukes coach Greg Capper. "We executed well and got the shots that we wanted, and we really did a nice job on the defensive end."

The split left the Blue Dukes at 5-5 in the North Shore and 7-8 overall. They will be at Grafton at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In the win over Port (1-9, 2-13), the Blue Dukes blew out to a 21-6 first quarter lead and never looked back. Freshman guard Elisabeth Johnston continued her fine run of play with 15 points while Jessica Switzer had 12.

"Elisabeth is what I call 'Freshman Fearless'," said Capper. "It's a good trait to have."

Second-place Germantown (8-2, 14-3) hit 15 of 17 shots from two-point range in the first half and never gave the Blue Dukes a chance to breath, taking a 31-14 lead into the half.

"I don't think I ever saw anyone do anything like that before," Capper said.

Alexa Herasimchuk had 15 points and Switzer 10 for Bay.

Homestead girls basketball

Though the Highlanders are still struggling for consistency, they are still finding those rare moments where they're able to put everything together.

That was the case when they grabbed the lead in the third quarter and then hung on for a 38-32 win over Milwaukee Lutheran on Feb. 2.

"Last time we played them, we were down 14 points in the first quarter," said Homestead coach Matt Heuser. "We've played three teams in the second half (of the conference schedule) and in each case, we've played that team 10 times better than we did the first time around."

The Highlanders, who also lost a tough decision to Cedarburg on Friday, started this week at 2-8 in North Shore play and 4-11 overall. They will host league-leading and second-ranked in state Nicolet (15-1) on Friday.

Hannah Young (six points) and Siena Mitman (9) came up with some big plays in the second half against Lutheran (4-10) as Homestead overcame a 15-13 halftime deficit.

"At this time of year, teams usually go one way or the other," said Heuser. "We're elevating our game. I think that makes us dangerous."

Homestead boys basketball

After a bump in the road against Milwaukee Lutheran, the Highlanders found their feet again and stayed one game back of the North Shore Conference lead with a strong second and third quarter push that sent them past Cedarburg, 61-48, on Friday.

With the win, the Highlanders (10-7 overall) remained in a tie for third with Nicolet at 6-4, just one game back of co-leaders Port Washington and Germantown (7-3).

"We came out so flat against Lutheran," said Homestead coach Ray Curry, "but we played a good second half and wanted to carry it over to the start against Cedarburg. It didn't quite work out. We were down 9-0 before we knew it, but then we outscored them 61-39 the rest of the way."

"Our seniors said 'enough is enough' and our defense took over."

The Highlanders will be at Nicolet at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Tuesday game with Menomonee Falls was postponed by the snow with no re-scheduled date yet.

Homestead trailed 13-8 at the quarter against Cedarburg but then had the lead for good at the half (24-20). Coy Smith would lead Homestead with 21 points while John Laihinen had 13 and Bryan Bronaugh nine.

Lutheran outscored Homestead 32-14 in the middle two quarters and walked away with the Feb. 2 game as Smith, fresh off a hot streak, fouled out after scoring only five points.

Lamonte Moore had 14 and Laihinen 13 for the Highlanders.

Whitefish Bay wrestling

The tournament format did not prove to be kind for the Blue Dukes as they finished a somewhat disappointing sixth in the North Shore league event Saturday at Cedarburg.

"I told my AD (athletic director) before the tournament that we could finish anywhere from third to sixth," said Blue Dukes coach Dale Loebel. "The kids weren't too disappointed. They knew they could have done better."

Bay will now turn its attentions to WIAA regional competition at West Allis Hale on Saturday. The top four in each weight class will advance to the sectional tournament at Hartford on Feb. 20.

"If we can get eight or nine guys through that would be great," said Loebel.

Bay scored 114 points for its spot at the NSC meet as Port Washington repeated as champs with 230.

The best finishes for the Blue Dukes were a trio of thirds.

Joey Davey at 103 pounds, Logan Schwenker at 152, and Jake Beckert at 171 earned the spots, all turning in 3-1 marks on the day. Beckert lost an overtime semifinal match to a Grafton opponent. Lebel was very pleased with the freshman Davey's effort.

Earning fourths for the Blue Dukes were Rashadeem Gray at 140, Tim Carlin at 160, Henry Dixon at 189 and Austin Hill at 285, all of whom went 2-2.

The one major disappointment for Bay was senior Luke Davey reinjuring his shoulder and having to default the rest of his matches. Loebel said that Luke will try to give it a go at the regional.

Whitefish Bay gymnastics

Prepping for Saturday's Robert Bradley Invitational in the finest way possible, the Blue Dukes turned in a season best of 140.875 in beating Menomonee Falls/Germantown in a North Shore/Greater Metro Conference dual on Feb. 3.

"It was a great night," said Blue Dukes coach Mary Liniewski. "We had two really great events (vault and floor exercise), one good one (balance beam) and one OK one (uneven bars). Once we start stringing events together like that we'll be just fine."

"I was really encouraged. We really needed that."

Because up next is the 18-team Bradley on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. A total of 18 teams will compete. The schools involved include state Division 1 champ Arrowhead, which is supposed to be back at full-strength after working through some injuries the first half of the season.

Other powers like Nicolet, Waukesha, Antigo, Sheboygan, Homestead and Falls/Germantown will also be in the field.

Maggie Anderson had a career day to lead the Blue Dukes. She won the all-around with a personal best of 36.65. Further, she claimed the floor (9.5) and beam (9.55) with best efforts and won the vault with a 9.1.

Kelly Danek tied for first on bars with an 8.1 while Liniewski praised the efforts of Sofie Yang who turned in great scores of 9.025 on beam, 9.075 on floor and 8.575 on bars. "An amazing meet," Liniewski said.

Tessa Hansen also turned in an 8.75 on beam.

"We're really starting to hit our stride," said Liniewski.

Brown Deer boys basketball

A late rally came up just a little short for the Falcons on Friday as they fell 48-47, to St. Thomas More. Earlier in the week, on Feb. 2, they broke an eight-losses-in-nine-games skid with 49-36 win over St. Francis.

The Falcons (6-8 in the Woodland and 6-12 overall) will host Pewaukee on Friday.

Brown Deer dropped the game to More despite a 22 point effort from Kierre Ogbonna while Jamon Jackson-Wilson had 15. The Falcons deficit had been 24-15 at the half.

The Falcons struggled against St. Francis, falling behind 20-18 at the half but took the lead for good with an 18-9 effort in the third quarter.

Jackson-Wilson and Ogbonna had 12 points apiece while Joziah Mallett contributed 10.

- Steven L. Tietz