The WEM volleyball team won their opening Gopher Conference match of the season and placed third in their home invitational this past week.
The Bucs swept JWP 25-11, 25-20, 25-15 Thursday, Sept. 7 in Waterville. Two days later they hosted the 45th annual WEM Invitational and split four matches.
WEM defeated Minnesota Valley Lutheran (MVL) 25-20, 25-15 and TriCity United 25-14, 15-13, and were defeated by Cleveland 17-25, 25-19, 15- 12 in pool play.

The opening game for the WEM football team ended in a loss, with Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop picking up a 22-6 victory Thursday, Aug. 31 in Waterville.
A pair of early touchdowns by the Thunderbirds gave the visitors a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
The two teams played a very evenly matched game for much of the final three quarters. Penalties hurt the Bucs in the second half. They started a pair of drives with successive penalties, forcing the team into some longer possessions.

New WEM football coach Sam Stier will be starting the 2023 season with a number of returning players from the Buccaneers team which finished 1-8 last season.
With a new coaching staff and more than 15 players returning with varsity experience, the Bucs should be able to show some improvement.
Stier has nine seniors, nine juniors, and 16 sophomores on his varsity team. A number of freshmen will also get a chance to see some action this season.

With three returning All-Gopher Conference players returning and only one play gone from last year’s team, the WEM volleyball team should be a contender for the Conference, Sub-Section, and Section titles in 2023.
WEM finished third in the conference with a 9-2 record and was 18-14 overall, winning the Sub-Section Championship and losing in the Section 2A title game.
Seniors Claire Bohlen (1st Team All Gopher), Alayna Atherton (2nd Team), and Josie Volkmann (3rd Team) will be the team leaders for a squad which graduated only Jordan Green (Honorable Mention All-Gopher).

St. Patrick topped St. Paul while Veseli, Union Hill and Waterville suffered season-ending losses in the opening round of the Minnesota Baseball Association’s state tournament this weekend.
After defeating the St. Paul Capitols, 7-1, Saturday, Aug. 19, the Class B Irish will face Baseball 365 Saturday, Aug. 26, 11 a.m., at Delano. If the Irish win, St. Patrick will face the winner of the Metro Knights vs. Minnetonka Millers game Saturday, Sept. 2, 11 a.m., in Litchfield. A loss would be season-ending.

The story about the Waterville Indians amateur baseball team advancing to the 2022 Class C State Tournament could be written almost exactly the same this year.
The Indians did it the hard way, but in the end it really doesn’t matter how it was accomplished. The Waterville Indians won two straight elimination games Saturday, Aug. 12 to punch their ticket to the 2023 Class C State Tournament.

Two wins last weekend has advanced the Waterville Indians amateur baseball team into a familiar spot… the Region 6C Tournament.
The Indians defeated Minnesota Lake (10-3) and Morrisown (6-1) to move into the 13-60 League Championship and secure one of four spots in the Region Playoff field.
Waterville will host Blue Earth Saturday, July 29 at 2 p.m. for the No. 1 seed and 13-60 League title. Blue Earth upset North Mankato (10-4) and Waseca (5-4) to advance to the league championship.

Two runs in the bottom half of the 12th inning lifted the Morristown Morries amateur baseball team to a 9-8 win over Blue Earth in the 13-60 League finale for both teams Saturday, July 15.
The win moved the Morries into 3rd place in the 13-60 League American Division standings and help them avert a post-season play-in game Saturday, July 22.
Morristown will play Eagle Lake in the league quarterfinals. A win or a loss and the Morries will play Sunday either at Waterville or at home against Minnesota Lake or Lake Crystal. Game times are 2 p.m. at the high seed.

When he was 4 years old, Jay Williams introduced his son, Zack, to motocross racing. By the time he was 18, he won an amateur national championship. A year later, he turned professional and began racing for prize money.
He was initially attracted by the speed, the grit and determination of motocross racing. Later, Williams grew to appreciate the individual nature of the sport.
“You put the helmet on and it’s just you and the bike,” he said.

The WEM Girls Track and Field Team had three athletes be named to an All-Gopher Conference team for the second straight season.
Junior Josie Volkmann, sophomore Ashlyn Pelant, and freshman Addison Condon were named Honorable Mention All-Conference. All three were named to the First Team in 2022. Sophomore Maddie Heuss received the Conference Sportsmanship Award.
Volkmann placed fifth in the conference 800-meter run and ninth in the triple jump.
Pelant placed third in the shot put and fifth in the discus.

Three straight wins in the 13-60 League has vaulted the Waterville Indians amateur baseball team into a commanding lead in the 13- 60 League American Division Standings.
The Indians defeated Wells, 9-4, Blue Earth, 7-2, and Morristown, 12-2 in seven innings Sunday, July 2.
The wins improve their record to 9-2 in the division, two full games in front of the North Mankato Gators and 4 1/2 games in front of Morristown.
In the win over the Morries, Bladyn Bartelt pitched a complete game, allowing one earned run, struck out 15, and did not walk a batter.

The WEM softball team received a number of post-season awards.
They also presented team awards and named their 2023 letterwinners.
The Bucs finished with an 8-8 overall record and were 5-6 in the Gopher Conference, tied for sixth out of 12 teams. As a team they received the Minnesota High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Academic Gold Award. As a team, the Bucs carried an impressive 3.859 grade point average.
Receiving Academic AllState honors were Jenessa Baumgarten, Hannah Bruns, Jordan Green, and Emma Woratschka.

Eight WEM girls track and field athletes have advanced to compete in the Section 2A Track and Field Meet Saturday, June 3 at Mankato West High School.
Juniors Ella Duenes and Josie Volkmann, sophomores Ashlyn Pelant, Jaiden Williams, Tatum Richards, Loryn Caldwell, and McKenna Schuster, and freshman Addison Condon advanced after placing in the top eight in individual events or top four in relay events at the North Sub-Section meet Thursday, May 25 at Sibley East.

A total of 14 wrestlers from the WEM Grizzly Youth Wrestling Club competed in the NYWA Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament Thursday, March 30 through Sunday, April 2 at the Rochester Civic Center.
The junior high team competed and won one of their five dual matches, placing third in the Pool 8 Bracket. Each of the following wrestlers got five matches:

Four WEM/JWP wrestlers combined for a 22-0 record in conference matches this last season and they were all honored by Gopher Conference coaches.
Sophomores Keegan Kuball and Carson Petry were honored for the second time while freshman Brady Murphy, sophomore Avery Fall, and senior Jack Cahill were honored for the first time.
Kuball, Petry, and Murphy were named to the 15-member All-Gopher Conference Wrestling First Team. Fall was named to the 8-member Honorable Mention Team. Cahill was one of seven wrestlers to receive the Sportsmanship Award.

Class A No. 9 rated Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial outscored the WEM girls basketball team 34-25 in the second half, helping them defeat the Bucs, 60-48 in the Section 2AA, South Sub-Section Semifinals Thursday, March 2 at Mankato East.
The Knights, 27-1 overall and winners of 20 straight games, had defeated WEM 64-45 February 13.
The contest Thursday was much closer than the 12-point victory margin. One little scoring spurt was enough to push the Knights into the Sub-Section Championship against NRHEG, a winner over Waseca in the other Sub-Section Semifinal.