8:15 am Amery Housing Authority Meeting at the AHA Offi ce 5:30 pm Polk County Democrats at the Dresser Pizzeria 6:30 pm Bingo at the VFW Hall 7:15 pm Amery Boys Basketball at New Richmond 7 pm Amery Boys Ice Hockey at Grantsburg

BY BRETT HART CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ALLEN CARLSON

Brotzel breaks record

Morgan Brotzel holds the new AHS record for GBB all time leader in three point baskets. Jan. 28 she scored her 88th three-pointer to surpass the record previously held by Lisa (Kuhl) Danielson. She is shown with her Dad/Coach, Gabe.

Clear Lake boys upset by Grantsburg

BY BRETT HART CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Clear Lake's boys basketball team suffered just its second loss in the last 10 games on Jan. 25 when it fell 53-62 at home to Grantsburg.

Ethan Kirk led the Warriors (11-3) with 16 points, three assists and two rebounds. Riley Peterson added 10 points, fi ve rebounds and three blocked shots. And Tyson Blanchard posted team highs in rebounds (eight) and steals (six) while scoring seven points.

Also scoring for the Warriors were: Brett Benson (seven points, three rebounds), Alex St. John (fi ve points, four rebounds, one block), Jarrett Marlett (four points), Brayden O'Bryan (two points), and Will Fitzer (two points).

Grantsburg is currently 9-6 overall and in third place in the Lakeland-West Conference.

Clear Lake wins 15th straight

BY BRETT HART CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Clear Lake's girls basketball team picked up its 15th consecutive victory on Jan. 27 when it took down Boyceville, 66-36, in Boyceville.

The Warriors (15-0) attacked the Bulldogs (6-10) from every direction with four players reaching double fi gures. Madison Zimmer posted a team-high 16 points while tallying four assists, three steals and two rebounds. Julianna Rosen racked up 12 points and nine rebounds. Rayne Vangsness added 12 points, fi ve rebounds and four steals. And Maddie Rosen posted 10 points, nine rebounds and a blocked shot. Also scoring for Clear Lake were: Maggie Rosen (nine points, fi ve rebounds, fi ve steals, two blocked shots), Kaylee Madison (three points, two rebounds), Brooke Cress (two points) and Teagen Monson (two points). Amery's four-game girls basketball winning streak came to a close on Jan. 28 with a 50-67 road loss to WIAA Division 3's 10thranked Prescott.

The Warriors (9-5) had three players score in double fi gures, but even those three combined did not match the 38 points posted by Prescott's Isabella Lenz - who also tallied eight steals.

Amery's Julia Engebretson and Ella Schmidt each had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists. Engebretson also added a steal.

Drew Granica posted 11 points, fi ve rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Also scoring for the Warriors were Morgan Brotzel (nine points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal) and Mariah Waalen (six points, six rebounds, three assists). Lydia Monson contributed six rebounds and three assists.

ALLEN CARLSON Julia Engebretson (15) and Ella Schmidt (32) look to grab the ball. Each of them scored 12 points against Prescott.

Prescott (11-2) is tied with New Richmond for the Middle Border Conference lead, with Amery sitting in third place.

Importance of mouthpieces

SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS

AMERY – Whether or not it helps prevent concussions, Mike Kelly still knows the benefi ts. Kelly – the Amery wrestling coach – speaks from experience regarding the use of mouthpieces in wrestling. Now with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) examining and implementing rules to address potential concussions during events, some area coaches see the use of mouthpieces becoming mandatory in the future. But, Kelly isn’t waiting for an obligation to promote their use.

“I wish I would have worn it sooner when I was wrestling, both in high school and college,” Kelly said. “If (WIAA) could prove there’s a signifi cant benefi t to preventing concussions with them, maybe it will become mandatory. But I think mouthpieces are good, personally.

“I wish I’d be introduced to them earlier because I had a few chipped teeth and they may not be a big deal at fi rst, but those chips lead to bigger problems.”

While the mouthpiece option is up for study and debate, WIAA already implemented rules for the current season in an effort to identify and treat concussions, aiming to at least avoid further ramifi cations for the competitor. The most signifi cant change was made to the injury timeout for wrestlers sustaining head or neck contact during a match.

“Any contestant who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion – such as loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems – shall immediately (be) removed from the match and shall not return to competition until cleared by an appropriate healthcare professional,” as stated in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s updated rule. “(These) injury timeouts will Mike Kelly

be used in all competition regarding injuries to the head and neck, involving (the) cervical column and/or nervous system.”

Such instances now allow for fi ve minutes of injury time, rather than the usual 90 seconds, so the wrestler can have such an examination. While coaches like Kelly often see concussion-causing contact occurring in other sports, he is aware of certain situations that wrestlers are more susceptible to sustaining such an injury.

“When they’re trying to escape, when their arms are strapped and they get lifted, possibly a hit on the head or on a takedown – you can get hit hard, or hit yourself hard,” he said. “Just from experience, I think (concussions) happen a lot less in wrestling than other sports. “I’ve talked to soccer and basketball coaches to ask why a player is out. I often hear it’s ‘because they butted heads on the fi eld or hit their head on the fl oor. I’ve heard a lot more of those, than I have in wrestling.”

But he does recall a specifi c practice last year, when a move led to contact that was obviously an instance for the wrestler to seek examination for a concussion. Since it did not happen during a meet, the fi ve-minute rule wasn’t necessary though the ensuing time away from the mat showed how serious the results can be.

“One wrestler shot and hit his head on the other wrestler’s knee,” he said. “That wrestler was out for probably two weeks.

“In wrestling, you often can kind of see it before it happens. Someone gets out of position or someone shoots and the other wrestler doesn’t react quickly enough, so there certainly are instances where it could happen and it’s not just during a game or meet.”

And when it did happen during an Amery meet this season, Kelly didn’t rely strictly on the fi ve-minute examination.

“We had someone hit their head this year and did the concussion protocol,” he said. “We just defaulted the match and it was in a semifi - nal. He was then taken to the trainer for more testing without being in a rush.

“After the test we were good to go and he ended-up third, but at the time it happened we were like ‘why risk it?’ If he has a head injury, it’s not like he’d miraculously come back and win the match at that point.”

Kelly is for any additional measures that are proven to be benefi cial in deterring such injuries, though he knows some steps can be taken by teams before the meet even starts and that contact sports will never be completely free of injury risk.

“I’m a proponent of strengthening the head and neck area because those injuries are less likely to happen if you’re strong in those areas,” he said. “But no matter what, there always will be a risk in contact sports.”