Gage Wevley takes 220-pound championship in WCC

MACA had a champion in the West Central Conference wrestling tournament. However, I'm discouraged to note that we had many vacant weight classes. This is a puzzle. The WCC tournament is a big deal, or it was in an earlier time.

I was eager to sift through the results but was mystified at seeing the word "open" next to so many weights. Was this a case of some Tigers needing to stay below a certain number of bouts for the season? Maybe it is, but the average fan might not be aware of this background. It's a reason why the sport of wrestling can alienate some fans. You pay to see a match and then find there are "forfeits."
I went out of my way to give recognition to wrestling in my commercial media career. It's nice to see when the sport puts its best foot forward.. Anyway, our champion in the 2017 WCC tourney was Gage Wevley at 220 pounds. Jared Rohloff took second in the 138-pound class. Brady Cardwell had the runner-up distinction at 152 pounds.
Chase Metzger carved out a third place showing at 145. Bain Laine was the third place achiever at 195. Matt McNeill took fourth at 170 pounds. The fifth place achievers were Ben Travis at 120 pounds and Dakota Luepke at 160.
Here are the weight classes where we saw the word "open": 106, 113, 126, 132, 182 and 285. When a team vacates so many spots, it takes some luster from the event. Anyway, congrats to the Tigers who had good showings.
 

Girls basketball: Wheaton-H-N 66, Tigers 43

It looks a little like the good old days being replayed today for Wheaton girls basketball. Those good old days had the Warriors thrilling massive fan turnouts at the UMM P.E. Center. The Warriors climbed high in front of their fans dressed in generous red color.
Today the Warriors are undefeated. They defeated our quality MACA girls team by a margin of 23 points. MACA was down by six at halftime, 29-23. WHN surged to outscore the orange and black 37-20 in the second half. The final score was 66-43. WHN achieved its 18th win against no losses. The Tigers were left with a 9-7 record.
Correy Hickman made two 3-point shots for MACA. Maddie Carrington made one. Jenna Howden led in rebounds with six. Hickman was the top assist producer with five; Ashley Solvie was our top scorer with 13 points. The list continues as follows: Hickman (8), Carrington (7), Malory Anderson (6), Nicole Solvie (4), Howden (3) and Riley Decker (2).
 

Boys hoops: ACGC 72, Togers 52

It was a grim night for the MACA boys basketball team vs. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Falcons took off in the first half with a 35-22 scoring advantage. They cruised in the second half with a seven-point edge, 37-30, so the final score was 72-52.
Three Falcons led in scoring with their double-digit totals: Gabe Eisenbacher (18), Erik Belgum (17) and Adam Johnson (13). Michael Dallmann put in eight points. The rest of the list: Payton Kinzler (5), Elliot Gratz (3), Calvin VanDerPol (3), Brendan Hedtke (2), Kobe Holtz (2) and Jaren Kaddatz (1). Three Falcons each made one three-pointer: Belgum, Kinzler and Dallman. Belgum led in rebounds with ten followed by Johnson with nine. Dallmann and Eisenbacher each had five assists. Belgum stole the ball three times.
 

Girls: BOLD 62, Tigers 59

MACA kept pace with the BOLD Warriors but got edged in the 62-59 final. BOLD scored 31 points in each of the halves. We trailed by one at halftime, 31-30.
Three Tigers each made a three-point shot: Maddie Carrington, Malory Anderson and Correy Hickman. Hickman was a proficient scorer with her 17 points. Two other Tigers scored in double figures: Ashley Solvie (12) and Nicole Solvie (10). The list continues: Carrington (9), Anderson (7), Riley Decker (2) and Jenna Howden (2). Hickman was a dynamic contributor with her eight rebounds, four assists and seven steals, all team-leading figures.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com