For the first time this year, the WEM boys basketball team is rated in the Class A Minnesota Basketball LifeEnterprise News polls. The Bucs, 18-1 overall and winners of 15 straight games, are rated 10th overall. Section 2A, which WEM will compete in in the playoffs, has four teams rated. BOLD is rated No. 2, Minnesota Valley Lutheran is rated No. 3, and Springfield is rated No. 4. WEM won their 15th straight game Thursday, Feb. 14, downing Faribault BA, 87-53. They will host USC Friday, Feb. 15 and travel to Maple River Tuesday, Feb. 19. Thursday, Feb. 21 will be a make-up game at Medford.

The WEM/JWP wrestling team won its second match of the year, defeating Burnsville Thursday, Jan. 24 at Montgomery.
The Grizzlies competed in the quadrangular with Burnsville, Tri City United, and Grand Meadow/LeRoy- Ostrander/Southland (GMLOS).
WEM/JWP opened with a 65-12 loss to GMLOS. They followed that loss with a 48-25 win over Burnsville. Tri City United downed the Grizzlies 67-9 in the final match.
The Grizzlies recorded eight wins in the victory over Burnsville.
Gavin Krause (106) started the match off with a pin of Ripplinger Xavier in 3:46.

The WEM boys basketball team improved to 14-1 overall with a 78-33 nonconference win over Belle Plaine January 15 and a 68-42 Gopher Conference win over Maple River January 21. The Bucs have won 11 straight games and will host NRHEG Friday, Jan. 25, Faribault BA Monday, Jan. 28, and Hayfield Friday, Feb. 1. Hayfield is the only team to defeat the Bucs this season. For more on the Bucs win over Belle Plaine, check out the Jan. 24 edition of the Life/Enterprise.

Four wins in the final five matches lifted the WEM/JWP wrestling team to a 42-26 win over St. Clair Thursday, Jan. 17. The win was the first of the season for the Grizzlies. Jaxson James, Theo Miska, Brant Melchert, and Michael Sheehy were the winners of the four late matches. For more on the win over the cyclones and two other duals, check out the Jan. 24 edition of the Life/Enterprise.

The WEM girls basketball team improved to 6-2 in the Gopher Conference with a 62-55 win over Maple River Tuesday, Jan. 22 in Mapleton. The Bucs are 13-3 overall and second in the conference behind undefeated Medford. WEM will host Faribault BA Thursday, Jan. 24, travel to NRHEG Friday, Jan. 25, and host Cleveland Tuesday, Jan. 29. For more on WEM's game with Norwood-Young America check out the Jan. 24 edition of the Life/Enterprise.

For much of the last five weeks, the WEM boys basketball team has been leading all Class A teams in point differential.
With a pair of 30+ point wins last week they continue to lead the state by outscoring their opponents by more than 33 points per game.
The Bucs defeated Blooming Prairie, 83-58 Tuesday, Jan. 15 and United South Central, 84-44, Friday, Jan. 11 to increase their winning streak to nine straight.

Two WEM/JWP juniors had the top performances for the Grizzly wrestling team last week.
Jaxson James and Brant Melchert each won multiple matches during the week.
James won both of his matches during duals with Glencoe-Silver Lake (GSL) and Mankato East Thursday, Jan. 3.
He pinned Muhammed McMahon of Mankato East in 3:03 at 160 pounds. He won by a 9-0 major decision at 160 pounds over Carter Ziegler of GSL.
Melchert picked up a pair of wins at the NYA Central Invitational Saturday, Jan. 5 in Norwood.

The WEM girls basketball team had its seven game winning streak snapped Friday, Dec. 21 when undefeated Medford (8-0 overall) edged the Bucs, 48-44 in Medford. These two teams are currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the Gopher Conference. WEM is 4-1 in the conference and 7-1 overall after running their win streak to seven with a 55-40 victory over Le Sueur-Henderson Thursday, Dec. 20. WEM will play in Montgomery Dec. 27 and 28 in the Tri City United Christmas Tournament. The Bucs will play TCU at 6 p.m. on Thursday and will face Norwood-Young America Friday at 10 a.m.

The WEM boys basketball team improved to 6-1 this season with a pair of big wins during the third week in December. The Bucs downed JWP 72-25 Dec. 18 and Medford 78-40 Dec. 21. WEM is 2-1 in the Gopher Conference and will play at Montgomery Thursday, Dec. 27 and 28 in the TCU Christmas Tourney. WEM will play Tri City United Thursday at 8 p.m. and Norwood-Young America Friday at noon. For more on the wins last week check out the Dec. 27 edition of the LIFE/Enterprise.

The WEM girls' basketball team is currently 5-0 this season after opening the season with wins over Faribault BA (73-42), St. Clair (58-51), Maple River (45-35), JWP (60-33), and NRHEG (53-30). The Bucs are tied for the lead in the Gopher Conference with a perfect 3-0 record. Friday, Dec. 14 WEM hosts Hayfield. For more on the WEM girls' basketball team check out the last three issues of the LIFE/Enterprise.

The WEM boys' basketball team has started the 2018-19 season with three straight wins. They defeated Le Sueur-Henderson (73-61) avenging a loss to the Giants from last year. They also downed Cleveland (85-55) and NRHEG (64-33) in the Gopher Conference opener. The Bucs travel to Hayfield Thursday, Dec. 13, host Norwood-Young America Monday, Dec. 17, and host JWP Tuesday, Dec. 18. For more on the Bucs check out the last three editions of the LIFE/Enterprise.

Awards have been released by WEM fall sports head coaches. In cross country, junior Tucker Rients and eight grader Addison Peed were named the Most Valuable Runners. In football, junior Brant Melchert was named the team MVP. In volleyball senior MaeLea Harmon was named MVP for the second straight year.

The three fall sports at WEM had tremendous seasons. The football team won the Blue Sub-District Championship. The volleyball team won the Gopher Conference and placed second in the Section 2A Tourney. The WEM/JWP girls cross country team won the Gopher Conference and the boys team placed second.

For the third straight year, Mayer Lutheran has claimed the Section 2A volleyball championship by defeating WEM. The Crusaders, the No. 3 seed in the Section, pulled out a four set win over the Bucs, who finished the season 31-3. Two of those losses were to the Crusaders. Mayer Lutheran advanced to State and was defeated in five sets by Medford in the opening round of the Class A State Tournament Thursday, Nov. 8. For more on the Section 2A Championship match check out the Nov. 8 edition of the LIFE/Enterprise.

The WEM football team, ranked 4th in Class AA, had its season ended Friday, Nov. 2 when No. 10 ranked NRHEG defeated the Bucs, 46-6, at JWP High School. The Panthers avenaged an early season loss of 48-6 to the Bucs as they gained more than 500 yards of total offense. Junior Brant Melchert scored the lone touchdown for the Bucs. For more on this gamne, check out the Nov. 8 edition of the LIFE/Enterprise.

The 8th rated Lake Crystal- Wellcome Memorial volleyball team provided an early challenge to the No. 1 rated WEM Buccaneers Thursday, Oct. 25 in Waterville in the South Sub- Section quarterfinals.
But in the end, the better team had little trouble advancing.
WEM opened the Sub-Section Playoffs with a 25-13, 25-8, and 25-10 win over the Knights.
LCWM was competitive in the early portions of the three sets, but were unable to compete with the 29-2 Buccaneers, the No. 2 rated team in Class A.