South Central Conference
Ryan Pfaff Named New Mauston Varsity Baseball Coach
Ryan Pfaff has been named the new Varsity Head Baseball coach for Mauston. Pfaff is 2002 graduate of Mauston High School and served as pitching and assistance coach to previous head coach Mike Stoughtenger for the previous few year. Pfaff takes over a baseball team that has won back to back South Central Conference Championships.
Golden Eagles Knock Off Green Devils in Tough SCC Volleyball Match
The Mauston Golden Eagles hung on to defeat Adams-Friendship 3-2 Tuesday night in South Central Conference volleyball action. Mauston got off to a slow start dropping the first set but bounced back to take the next two to take a 2-1 lead. Adams-Friendship bounced back to take down Mauston in the 4th set to force a winner take all 5th set. The 5th set was back in forth but Mauston came away with the win 16-14. Maddi Quist led the team with 16kills and 13digs and Ella Franek had some crucial blocks in the Mauston victory. Mauston improves to 5-2 in the South Central Conference and 11-12 overall. Adams-Friendship got a strong game from freshman Piper Moyer. Adams-Friendship drops to 1-6 in conference play.
Mauston Volleyball Takes Down Rival Dells
The Mauston Golden Eagle Volleyball team won a thriller over Wisconsin Dells 3-2 Tuesday night. Mauston and the Dells split the first 4 sets Mauston winning sets 1 & 3 25-22 and 25-21, Wiscosnin Dells took sets 3 & 4 25-18 and 25-16. Mauston jumped out to the early lead in set 5 and hung on for the win 15-9 to pull off the victory. Bre Heller had 10kills and 3blocks for the Golden Eagles while Ellie Poullie notched 34assists. Maddie Quist added 4aces in the victory. Mauston improves to 4-1 in the South Central Conference and 10-11 overall. Mauston will host Nekoosa on Thursday night Nekoosa is just one game ahead of Mauston in the Conference standings.
Mauston Cross Country Teams Continue to Take Flight
The MHS Cross Country teams have had a very positive week of competition having three races in the last week with very positive results.
The Golden Eagles traveled to Baraboo on Tuesday September 24th to compete at the 26 annual Thunderbird Challenge. The girls team had a 5th place team finish led by senior Aleyxs Smith’s 1st place finish. The boys team placed 1st at the 2024 Thunderbird-led by senior Josh Ellerman.s 1st place finish.The boys team placed five runners in the top eleven places: Brekk Peterson 4th, Weston Pouillie 6th, Sebastian Nauquayoma 10th and Hakkon Peterson 11th.
The team traveled to Naga Waukee County park in Waukesha on Saturday September 28th to compete at the 2024 Peter Neilsen invite.. The boys team placed 1st in their division as well as placing 3rd overall in the 22 team invite.Senior Josh Ellerman raced to a 2nd place finish with a time of 16:40 for the 5K race. In the girls races, the girls team was led by senior, Aleyxs Smith’s 11th place finish out of 146 runners..
Tuesday, the teams traveled to Black River Falls to compete at the 2024 Black river Falls Invitational. The boys team raced to a 2nd place team finish out of 11 teams. West Salem won the meet with 28 points -mauston scored 34. West Salem is currently the top ranked boys CC team in Division 2 in the state of Wisconsin. The boys team swept the top two places, Josh Ellerman 1st and junior Brekk Peterson 2nd, the balance of the boys team placing:
Weston Pouillie 8th,Sebastian Naquayoma 10th,Hakkon Peterson 13th, Noah Cortez 24th,Jonah West 30th and Oscar Spindler 31st.
The teams will travel to Altoona on Saturday October 5th to compete at the 2024 Railsplitter Invite.
Mauston Cross Country Has Successful Week
The Mauston High School cross country teams have a very positive week of competition.
The teams competed at the 58th Annual Verona Invitational on Saturday September 7th.The meet featured over thirty teams from Wisconsin and Illinois. The boys varsity team placed 2nd in their 13 team division with senior Josh Ellerman the top finisher for the boys varsity with a 34th place finish out of 232 varsity runners.
The MHS CC teams Traveled to G-E-T to compete at the 2024 Redhawk Invitational held at the Ettrick Golf course. Fourteen teams competed at the meet. The boys varsity earned the team championship with a score of 19 points placing five runners in the top eight places. Josh Ellerman was the individual meet champion winning the 5K race in 17;02. The balance of the medalist finishes for the MHS CC crew: Brekk Peterson 2nd, Westin Pouillie 5th, Sebastian Naquayouma 6th and Hakkan Peterson 8th place. The girls varsity team placed 5th led by senior Alyexis Smith 5th place finish. It was a great night for the Golden Eagles.
Mauston Volleyball Loses Heartbreaker to Nekoosa
The Mauston Golden Eagles Volleyball team lost a heartbreaker to Nekoosa Tuesday evening falling 3-2 in 5 sets. Mauston dropped the opening set but came back to take set two. Nekoosa went on to win the third set but Mauston dominated set 4 to force a winner take all race to 15 set five. Mauston built a 9-3 lead in the deciding set but saw Nekoosa finish on a 12-3 run to win the set and the match. Maddi Quist had 16kills while Bre Heller had 5 blocks. Ellie Poullie had 37assists for the Golden Eagles who drop to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the South Central Conference.
HS Football Preview –2024 Mauston Golden Eagles
Mauston Golden Eagles
2023 Record: 5-6 (5-1 South Central Conference)
Head Coach: Dustin Vickerman (3rd Season 9-12 Record)
Mike’s 2024 Projected Record 5-4 (5-2 South Central Conference)
Players to Watch: QB/S Tyler Link RB/LB Hayden Gyllin RB/LB Eli Rader TE/LB Bryan Kastner OL/DL Espyn Sweers
Team Preview: Mauston is another local team that got hit hard by graduation but there is still plenty of talent on this team to compete at a high level in the revamped South Central Conference. Hayden Gyllin ran for over 500yards and 4 touchdowns last year and led the team in tackles on defense with 65. Tyler Link was one of the top passers in the state last year throwing for 2183 yards and 24touchdowns. Espyn Sweers led the team in sacks last year with 5. Bryan Kastner and Eli Rader also are key returners from last year’s team that was one half away from being conference champions. The concern for Mauston as normal is size. Mauston struggled at times in its ground game last year and struggled to stop the run defensively. Link has had some monster passing seasons but must work with a new receiving corp. Cayden Walz and Tyler Hartje will have to step up their game to help this Mauston team. I believe Mauston has enough talent to finish in the upper half of the conference and keep their playoff streak alive.
Key to Success: Development of receivers. Brock Massey, Alex Suhr, Andrey Tougas, Brady Baldwin, and Kyle Dahl made a deep talented receiving group for Mauston a season ago but they all have departed due to graduation. QB Tyler Link will have to find new talent to throw to or hope Mauston can reignite their rushing attack. Cayden Walz and Tyler Hartje hope to take over some of the slack from last years talented group of pass catchers.
Game to watch: Week 8 Friday October 11th home vs Wisconsin Dells 7pm
There is never a lot of love loss in this rivalry, its two team that don’t really care for each other at least while they’re on the football field. I expect both these teams to be in the upper half of the conference and this should be a great clash.
Mauston Games on WRJC Radio: Hopefully all of them
Next Preview: Necedah Cardinals
Thanks to Wissports.net for statistics and player information.
HS Football Preview –2024 Wisconsin Dells Chiefs
Wisconsin Dells Chiefs
2023 Record: 7-4 (5-2 South Central Conference)
Head Coach: Michael Janke (5th Season 31-10 Record)
Mike’s 2024 Projected Record 7-2 (6-1 South Central Conference)
Players to Watch: QB/LB Lex Rettinger RB/LB Sam Ersland OL/LB Logan Goodrich WR/S Raphael Berje
Team Preview: The Wisconsin Dells Chiefs were extremely young last year and still managed to finish 7-4 on their season, creating big expectations for this year. Lex Rettinger had a tremendous sophomore campaign at quarterback throwing for nearly 1400 yards and 17 touchdown passes. He loses favorite target Deagen Jensen but brings back Raphael Berje (18-522 5tds). Once again taking a lot of pressure of Rettinger will be running back Sam Ersland who scampered for 1540 yards and 16 touchdowns last year. The defense should be solid as well as they welcome back Logan Goodrich who led the team in sacks and tackles last year. Payne Carroll is also back who led the Dells in tackles for losses last year. The Chiefs have a good combination of speed and size on this years team and should be able to compete for a conference championship.
Key to Success: Complimentary players! The Dells has a very good big 3 in Rettinger, Ersland and Berje on offense but can they get the role players to step up around them. If there is an injury to that core group who will step up for the Dells? If they can develop the role players it will take the Dells up another notch and maybe even to a conference championship.
Game to watch: Week 7 Friday Friday October 4th home vs Berlin 7pm
This game might decide the conference championship. The two teams met in the playoffs in 2021 with the Dells routing Berlin in a level 2 matchup. It should be a good battle on the gridiron in early October!
Wisconsin Dells games on WRJC Radio: Week 8 Friday October 11th at Mauston 7pm 92.9FM
Next Preview: Bangor/Ithaca
Thanks to Wissports.net for statistics and player information.
HS Football Preview –2024 Nekoosa Papermakers
Nekoosa Papermakers
2023 Record: 3-6 (2-5 Central Wisconsin Large)
Head Coach: Derek Baker (2nd Season 3-6 Record)
Mike’s 2024 Projected Record 3-6 (1-6 South Central Conference)
Players to Watch: QB/DB Nash Krcmar RB/LB Francisco Vega RB/DB Jacob Bertling WR/DB Branden Winteland
Team Preview: The Nekoosa Papermakers are back in the South Central Conference after a brief absence. The Papermakers have not had a lot of success over recent years but have some young talent on this years team. Nash Krcmar led the team in passing and rushing last season and is back to lead the offense. Krcmar ran for nearly 600yards and threw for 497 yards and accounted for 15 offensive touchdowns for the papermakers. Francisco Vega (95-522 5tds) and Jacob Bertling (103-466 4tds) are back to lead a heavy rushing attack for Nekoosa. The Papermakers have talent to compete in the conference but I still see them struggling a bit this season finishing just 3-6 overall.
Key to Success: Defense. Nekoosa gave up a lot of points last year. They gave up 29 or more points in 6/9 games last year. The offense should be there for them if the defense can step up they should be much better then I predict them to be.
Game to watch: Week 5 Friday September 20th at Wautoma 7pm
Nekoosa and Wautoma will once again square off on the football field. I have both these teams struggling in the conference this season. This game might be about who wants it more.
Nekoosa games on WRJC Radio: Week 3 Friday September 6th home vs Mauston 7pm 92.9FM
Next Preview: Wisconsin Dells
Thanks to Wissports.net for statistics and player information.
HS Football Preview –2024 Adams-Friendship Green Devils
Adams-Friendship Green Devils
2023 Record: 7-4 (6-1 South Central Conference)
Head Coach: Nick Stormoen
Mike’s 2024 Projected Record 3-6 (2-5 South Central Conference)
Players to Watch: QB/DB Eli Cole RB/LB Robert Irey RB/LB Cody Henricksen WR/DB Tyler Erickson WR/DB Robert Weaver RB/LB Crispin Landon
Team Preview: The Green Devils are the defending South Central Conference champions but things will be more difficult this season. The conference is better and QB Lincoln Smith, RB Johnny Drankiewicz, Linemen Jake Long are all gone. Those 3 were huge factors in their conference title run. There is some valuable pieces to build around for the Green Devils. Robert Irey (60tackles) led the team in tackles a season ago is back along with last years leading sacker Robert Weaver (5sacks). Irey should also see a majority of the carries on the offensive side of the ball behind Drankiewicz he ran the ball 57 times for 423 yards and 3 touchdowns last year. Tyler Erickson is also back at WR for the Green Devils Erickson had 5 receiving touchdowns last year. Replacing the big 3 won’t be easy for Adams-Friendship and I see them taking a step back this season and failing to make the post season.
Key to Success: QB play! Adams-Friendship must develop a new quarterback after the graduation departure of Lincoln Smith. Eli Cole might get that opportunity; he completed 2-4 passes for 10yards and an interception last season. The quarterback decision might determine the success or lack thereof for this team.
Game to watch: Week 6 Friday September 27th at Mauston 7pm
This matchup last year decided the South Central Conference Championship. This game might not decide the championship but it’s still a big game between two rivals.
Green Devils games on WRJC Radio: Week 6 Friday September 27th at Mauston 7pm 92.9FM
Next Preview: Nekoosa
Thanks to Wissports.net for statistics and player information.
