The Reedsburg Special Olympians have finished their basketball season with a loss in the Wisconsin sectional playoffs. They needed to win both of their games to advance to State. After winning against Polk County during the first game, they lost to Appleton VMI by three points in the second.

    With the basketball season over, the Special Olympians have began practicing for their track season. “The athletes just started doing the long jump the other night,” said Coach Gasser. The regional competition is at the Oregon High School on May 11. A total of 13 athletes will compete in the events during the meet.

    Despite bad weather, the Reedsburg throwing team is a having a successful season.  Jason Whalen shattered his PR last night to win the shot put competition with around 49’.  Coach Mike McCarville mentioned that he has never before had four athletes break 42’ in shot put.  McCarville seems to be fulfilling his goals for the team: “for my athletes to enjoy themselves and have fun, learn the sport and technique, and do the best they can possibly do.” 

    Shot put and discus may seem like simple activities, but there is quite a bit of technique involved with each.  When asked which was more important, strength or technique, McCarville answered with a quick, “technique.”  This is not to say some natural ability is not required.  McCarville said, “There is a large technique side to it, but also an athletic ability is required.”

    The cold, wet, and generally bad weather has posed some problems for the throwing squad, who usually practices outside after the first couple of weeks of the season.  McCarville said, it has, “forced us to stay inside and limited the amount of throws we can get, especially the discus.” 

                The weather has not been in any of the spring sports' favor, but the soccer team is still holding on.  The girls have only had a couple of outdoor practices, and the month of April is almost over.  Despite how bad mother nature has been, there have been two games this spring season.   

                This year, the team is very young.  There are many new players who haven’t played on varsity before, so the team is learning how to play together in a short amount of time.  Because of the limited space in the gym, it is hard for the team to get the real game experience.  

                They have had two games and have pulled out one win and a tie.  The first game of the season was at West Salem and the score of the game was 1-1.  Junior Kate Fearing scored the first goal of the season and scored early in the first half.  The game ended up going into double overtime.  Each overtime is ten minutes long, so the game lasted for about 100 minutes.  Unfortunately, after the double overtime, the game just ends, and stays the same.

                During their second game of the season, the girls pulled off a win, 3-0 to Platteville, at Platteville.  The long haul there paid off and newcomer, Demi de Block, a junior, scored her first goal of the season.  Fearing scored the second goal, and Olivia Douglas, a sophomore, scored her first goal of the season.  Once the girls scored their first goal, they didn’t back down and took over the game completely.  

    The captains of the team are Andrea Greenwood, Meghan Douglas, who are both seniors, and Fearing.  Greenwood said, “We have gotten a lot better from the beginning of the season and have shown so much improvement since then.  We have a big game coming up against Baraboo, and we will prepare for the game as much as possible.”

    Assistant coach, Erica Gronley said, “Even if Baraboo is not the strongest team in the conference, they will fight and push and will put on a good game, no matter who they go against.  They will get into your head.”

                The girls’ schedule will be very busy the next couple of weeks.  They will have at least 2 games a week and sometimes even three.  Looking back on the weather that we’ve already had, even more games could be postponed and the next weeks could be tough for the girls.

    By Meghan Douglas

            The boys' golf season is most certainly not in full swing.Two factors are coming into play for the struggling Beaver golf team.  The first is simple: weather.  Only two matches have been played.   The first was played against Mt. Horeb, on a wintry day, and the scores shot by the Beavers also ran cold.  With potential snow on Tuesday, the match began quickly and ended poorly for the Beavers.

Unfortunately, the other factor is crucial, performance.  Cortland Maxfield, third spot on varsity, shot 8 over par 44, and one spot Tanner Keel shot 45.  The other 3 varsity members shot an average of 50, unfortunately not enough for the win.  The match on Tuesday night was not much different, also resulting in a loss, and much qualifying for varsity and j.v. spots.  Only senior Tanner Keel has a guaranteed spot on varsity, and the other 9 j.v. and varsity places are up for grabs.  Hopefully a qualifying match Wednesday will kick things into gear for the golfers.

            With a sarcastically exciting mass text sent from Coach Johnson reading, “Qualifying tonight! 9 spots up for grabs tomorrow and Friday,” a serious reboot is needed if the golf boys still crave a Badger North Conference championship.

    The Beavers are certainly living up to expectations. Despite the horrid weather our community has faced this year, the baseball team has laced up their cleats and taken to the diamond. With a conference title just one year behind them, the team looks forward to another successful year, and they show no signs of regression, despite losing many starters to graduation in the last year.

    The varsity squad has a young team this year with all but four players being underclassmen. After a handful of cancellations, the Beavers began their season with a bang, beating the Mauston Golden Eagles 10-1. Players on the team cite their stellar defensive play, despite practicing inside, and their hot bats.

    The Beavers have continued to prove themselves. Against the Deforest Norskies, their first conference game, the Beavers racked up an astounding 12 runs in the first inning, easily cruising to an impressive 18-3 win. Junior pitcher Sam Peterson credits “team chemistry, and the ability to score runs” for their early season success. Team chemistry has come with age. Let’s not forget, these players have been playing with each other since their early days in Little League.

    For now, they look to the future. The ultimate goal this year is to once again win conference and even make a state run. It’s one step at a time though. The next objective is to beat the Badger North powerhouse Waunakee Warriors. “They (Waunakee) are usually contenders and it’s always nice to take them down,” Peterson said.

    By Jack Johnston

Photo Credit to Reedsburg Times Press

    Much like most spring sports this season, the weather is playing a large role in slowing the Lady Beavers softball team, as well as other teams throughout the Badger North.  Snow and cold weather have been hindering the game, as well as several players.

    Four games have been played as of the 23rd of April, and two players are on crutches.  The cold weather is known to increase the injury rate, and the Reedsburg softball team is no exception.  

    The kinks should be easily worked out.  Head Coach John Brandt says,  “We are doing so many good things, and the items that need fixing can be cleaned up.  We just need to get mentally tougher.”

    Only four games in, the Lady Beavers are 1-3 overall.  There is not much to worry about, considering the outcome of the season; however, and Coach John Brandt is looking up.  “It [would] be nice to have a practice outside for a change.  The gym is just tough to practice in day in and day out.  We’ve only been on the field for practice two days to date."

    The Reedsburg wrestling season has officially come to a close. The end of the season marked a sort of celebration for the team, as they were able to send two wrestlers to participate in the state tournament. Both senior Nick Noye and junior Nate Erbs qualified to represent Reedsburg in Madison, and even better yet, they got to miss a day of school.

       The wrestling season was once again coached by Mr. Rob Bautch, who was assisted by both Mr. Mike McCarville and Mr. Dustan Garrigan. The coaches are definitely doing their jobs, as they sent ten wrestlers to participate in the sectional competition.

        The 126-pound Nate Erbs came into the season expecting nothing less than last years results. Erbs was the only wrestler with experience in the state tournament, qualifying to participate as a sophomore. That year Reedsburg only sent one wrestler to Madison.

        Erbs began wrestling at age four and found that this year, as in all other years, it was difficult to stay healthy and cut weight. None the less, this small obstacle hardly affected him. He went into the Kohl Center with a very impressive 36-9 record and loved every bit of representing Reedsburg for a second time. “When you look up and everyone is watching you, there is no other other feeling.” Clearly Erbs doesn’t experience stage fright in the least.

        Both wrestlers had their customary state send off and were off to Madison. Upon arrival, Erbs lost a close one to Menasha wrestler, Jimmy Sell. Erbs attained only one escape point and ended up losing the match 2-1. Noye’s opponent was very quick for his weight, and Noye struggled to ever get much of a handle on him. Regardless, both wrestlers were able to accomplish a huge feat and attain any high school athlete’s dream: to compete at the state level.

        For junior Nate Erbs, the dream continues. He’s already been to the state tournament twice and has no plans of stopping there. “Next year I don’t want just to go I want to win it, I want to go down to Madtown and leave a 2014 State Champion.”

By Jack Johnston

    They came in with perseverance and left with a bang that lead to lessons learned.  Head Coach Brain Bestor says he wishes he could go back and have a few “do-overs” with the way the 2012-2013 basketball season unfolded at RAHS.  The Beavers ended up having a record of 14-11 overall and were 6-6 in the Badger North Conference.

    These boys had a few correctable downfalls this season.  They ended up losing two one-point games to Portage, both on last-second shots.  A loss by two to Mount Horeb when senior guard Capreace Salinas’ game-tying basket was (correctly) ruled to have been released an instant after the final buzzer sound was a let down.  A final shot in their nonconference game against Poynette led to a loss of 47-45.  The most difficult to forget was when the Beavers’ shooting went cold in a 12-point second half and a three-point fourth quarter, that spelled doom in a 38-32 loss to Monroe in a WIAA Division 2 regional final.

    However, these Beavers were also able to crank out some impressive victories.  They beat Mount Horeb, the Badger North runner-up, twice.  Their archrival Barboo also suffered two losses, one by 22 and the other by 29 points.  Also, they won an early game at Mauston and beat DeForest, the sectional finalist.  They came back after a loss to Fort Atkinson by crushing the Blackhawks by 19 points a week later.

Bestor said, “I compare basketball seasons to life in that there are certain things you’d like do-overs with, specifically, those close games, and you don’t get them back, so you need to learn from them.”

These mighty Beavers built their whole season up around five core seniors with 10 underclassmen, four of whom ended up being starters this season.  With this being said, the offseason can in fact, become one huge do-over for Bestor and the Beavers.  “There were all the ups and downs of this season, but a lot can be said about playing a varsity season with a bunch of guys who are doing it for the first time,” Bestor said.  “We were relying on (juniors) Steve Gavin, Tyler Dregney, Sam Peterson, and Alex Wolter (along with sophomore Ty Horkan) as first-time performers in that tough league.”

The Beavers will also have to find a way to build their new season next year without their standout player, 6-foot-1 Salinas.  He was always the focal point of opposing defenses, and Bestor praised the way he would alter his game to make that work against opposing defenses saying, “His commitment to getting other players involved was a real sign of growth for him, this season more so than the last.  He also doubled the number of times he got to the free-throw line compared to last season.”

Junior Nate Runde, was complimented on his strong guard position throughout the season, and Peterson was the player whom Bestor thought made the most individual progress.  Also, Gavin made a lot of progress in the second half of the season, bouncing back from the early loss of his starting position to reclaim it in a big way.  Dregney was admired for the mass contributions he made as a key defender to make the entire team better.  Horkan was also known to make improvements as a defender, even though he struggled with his own expectations (shooting).  Nic Knuth and Wolter both had similar roles on the team.  They were a couple of the teams’ most dangerous three-point threats.  Justin Bergman ended up playing his best game in the regional loss at Monroe.  Justin Lankey, Dillon Klahn, Deven Quick, and Payton Sterkowitz all made extraordinary moments in offense, defense, and even a little guarding.  Austin Westerwille and Thane Rogers also ended up with some of these moments.  

    The Reedsburg Special Olympians are heading into the playoffs once again as they look to continue their streak of success. Their last game before competing in the playoffs was against Sauk Prairie on February 23. Coach Gasser said, “We consider them our nemesis because they have beat us both times we have played them.” The Beavers then went on to compete in the regional playoffs at Verona on March 3. They won their first game 31-27 over Sauk County. Their second game, however, was a 21-27 loss to Sauk Prairie.

    The settings of the basketball playoffs are a bit different than other sports. If a team wins, both of their games they will automatically move on to the next round of playoffs. If they would lose both they would be knocked out, but since Reedsburg won at least one game, they get their name put into a drawing. A certain amount of teams that win at least one game then get picked from this drawing to move on to the next round of playoffs.

    Girl’s Soccer is right around the corner, and the players couldn’t be more excited. The team, coached by Sonny Hyde and Erica Gronley, is comprised of JV A, JV B, and Varsity subsections made up of approximately 20 girls each.

    “I am very excited for the upcoming season.  We have large number of girls going out for soccer this season, and it is very exciting,” Gronley said. “We have a great group of freshmen and new girls going out for soccer this season.  I believe they will be very successful.” Gronley said that there will be about 20 new players this season. “We will play approximately 20 games. Every year we look forward to playing our games against other conference teams. These games are exciting and we look forward to the competition.”

    Cassie Ring, a junior on varsity who has been playing for 12 years, said, “ I'm looking forward to the new season to start and excited to see how we do. I think that the season will go really well this year. We have great players, and if we are able to work together, I think we will be able to prove how good we can be.”

    A sophomore who has been in the game since she was four years old, Kaylie Polk, is curious to see how the season unfolds. “I'm extremely excited! I love soccer and think this year will be a lot of fun. I've been looking forward to it all year. I think the season will go well. We have a lot of talent coming up and the varsity last year did pretty well also.  The first game should be interesting because everyone's going to be on different teams this year, and it will be difficult to work with new people, but I'm excited for it and hope all goes well.”

    Though new players might be a bit nervous for the season to kick off, the seasoned vets are quick to offer reassurance. “Being a freshman in a high school sport is always a new experience. I think it's probably different for everyone. They can make the most out of the soccer season as they want,” Polk stated. Douglas agrees, “I am really excited for the new players, I think it's going to be fun.”

    The girls will work inside on their soccer skills and improving their fitness until the weather warms up enough to start holding practices outside. It is evident, however, that that day cannot come soon enough for both the players and their coaches. “The coaching staff is really excited to start this season,” Gronley said. “We have a tremendous amount of talent and a great group of girls!”

    By Jordyn Schara