Sports RIPON
RECAP RiponPress.com Sports Poll
Last week’s sports question on RiponPress.com asked readers who is the best pitcher to come through Ripon High School? ‰ John Floros 25% ‰ Scott Carpenter 39% ‰ Gavin Winfield 19% ‰ Dan Konecny 1% ‰ Jed Dolske 1% ‰ Jordan Jess 5% ‰ Payton Bryden 3% ‰ Other 3% This week’s question: What would be the most important factor for you if you were deciding where to play college basketball? ‰ Academics ‰ Coaching style ‰ Location ‰ Playing time ‰ Program prestige ‰ Other To vote, log on to www. riponpress.com and click on Sports. The poll is located on the right side of the page. Poll results will be published in the following week’s Commonwealth.
LOCAL
SPOTLIGHT
Nick Retzlaff The 2016 Ripon High School graduate had a big week with his bat and his glove, helping the Ripon American Legion baseball team record a 2-1 record. In the three games last week, Retzlaff batted .400 (4 for 10) with three runs scored and one RBI. He also made a gamechanging catch in the seventh inning of Ripon’s 7-6 win over Lomira last week Thursday at Barlow Park. “I would say Nick Retzlaff kind of saved the day,” Ripon head coach Keith Cluppert said. “He went a long ways to get that first catch and then made the catch for the final out, too.” For more on Retzlaff and the Ripon Legion team, see the story on this page.
WEIGHING
HIS OFFERS Ben Vander Plas has many universities to choose from by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
When Ben Vander Plas visited Ohio University for a recruiting visit this past spring, he encountered one of his biggest fears. “I’m really afraid of bugs,” the incoming Ripon High School senior said. “And when we arrived ... there were cicadas everywhere, but the coaches kept telling me that they only come out once every 17 years, so I never would have to worry about it.” The reassurance about his safety from the insects is just one of the different angles pitched to Ben by Division I and II college basketball coaches during his recruiting process. Some have tried to sell him on location, while others have tried luring him with playing time, program prestige or academics. That is just the beginning of his the eye-opening experiences. Ben, who has received offers from 12 Division I and II schools so far, has learned a lot throughout the entire ordeal. “Going into the recruiting process a couple years ago, I didn’t really now what to expect,” Ben said. “My dad [Dean Vander Plas] kind of tried to talk to me a little bit, but when he was in high school he only got recruited by one school. So I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t really know what it was going to be all about.” While the power forward didn’t know what to expect from the recruiting process, he noted nothing has surprised him too much. “It’s been fun,” Ben said. “It’s just been cool to go on some visits and see
different places and to see what’s different about them.” The incoming senior has visited about 10 universities, including Ohio, Wright State, Cedarville, IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), Nebraska, Northwestern, Creighton, the University of WisconsinGreen Bay and UW-Milwaukee. “Every one I have been on so far, the coaches have shown me around or I have gone to practice or a football game,” Ben said of his campus visits. He has received scholarship offers from the majority of the places he visited, as well as some from schools he has not toured. Among the universities to offer him full-ride scholarships are UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, IUPUI, Memphis, Ohio, Loyola of Maryland, Bucknell, American, Wright State, Cedarville and Northern Michigan. He also has an offer from the University of Pennsylvania of the Ivy League, but it can’t provide athletic scholarships. In addition, Ben has received letters and/or talked to several other universities. They include Nebraska, Wisconsin, South Dakota State, Holy Cross, Portland, Elon and Stanford. With so many schools to choose from, the Ripon Tiger is putting a priority on academics. “Basketball for me is a fun game to play and a game I love, but it’s a game I am trying to use to get a good education because I don’t think I’m going to be able to play basketball my whole life and live off of that,” Ben said. “So I’ve got to be able to do something after-
See WEIGHING/ page 24
BEN VANDER PLAS weighs his decision of which university he will attend with two basketballs. Vander Plas has received 12 offers.
Football is in the air
INSIDE
SPORTS
Jonathan Bailey photo
Errors cost Ripon American Legion team in 10-4 loss to Berlin by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
‰ Photos from the Tiger football team’s fourth contact day of the summer see page 18 ‰ Registration is winding down for Ripon Medical Center Triathlon see page 20
BY THE
NUMBERS 12
The number of offers incoming Ripon High School senior Ben Vander Plas has received to play college basketball so far. Among the universities to offer him full-ride scholarships are University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, IUPUI, Memphis, Ohio, Loyola of Maryland, Bucknell, American, Wright State, Cedarville and Northern Michigan. He also has an offer from the University of Pennsylvania of the Ivy League, but it can’t provide athletic scholarships. For information on each of the universities, see the graphic on page 24.
Thursday, July 14, 2016 - Page 17
JACK KINZIGER THROWS the football on the run as he is chased by Jordan Ellis during a contact day Monday at Ingalls Field. For more information and pictures, see page 18. Jonathan Bailey photo
The Ripon American Legion Post 43 baseball team out-hit Berlin 6-5 Tuesday night as it tried to sweep the season series. But it couldn’t overcome six errors as it lost 10-4 on the road. The six miscues led to six unearned runs for Berlin, which turned out to be the difference. “We just weren’t focused,” Ripon coach Howard Hansen said. “It was just one of those games; we’re there physically, but not mentally.” The game got off to a good start for Ripon (5-7 overall) as it scored three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 3-0 lead, but it was all Berlin from that point forward. Berlin scored two runs in both the second and third frames, three in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth — due in large part to the errors — to take control. Ripon plated its only other run in the top of the fifth inning, making the score 7-4 at the time. The unlucky recipient of the poor defense was Bailey Revels, who was charged with eight of the 10 runs in his four innings in relief of starter Nick Retzlaff. “He pitched well; we just didn’t
BAILEY REVELS REACHES up to snag a high throw in Ripon’s Jonathan Bailey photo 7-6 home victory over Lomira. have much defense behind him,” Hansen of Revels. While Ripon struggled defensively in the game, its offense was a bright spot — even if it didn’t always translate into hits. It was led at the plate by Andrew Radloff and Nick Retzlaff. They both finished with two hits in
three and four trips, respectively. “We had some guys that hit the ball; we hit the ball well” Hansen said, noting they hit it right at guys sometimes. Another positive for Ripon is a quick turnaround.
See COST/ page 19
Sports
Thursday, November 5, 2015 - Page 23
Buoyant spirit
RIPON
RECAP RiponPress.com Sports Poll
Last week’s sports question on RiponPress.com asked readers which Ripon High School fall sport had the best season so far when taking into consideration expectations and level of talent? Here are the results: ‰ Boys’ soccer 5% ‰ Cross country 84% ‰ Football 2% ‰ Girls’ tennis 5% ‰ Volleyball 5% This week’s question: How concerned are you about the Packers’ recent offensive struggles? ‰ Very; something just isn’t right with the offense ‰ Somewhat; they are in a funk, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed ‰ R-E-L-A-X; it’s just a small bump in the road To vote, log on to www. riponpress.com and click on Sports. The poll is located on the right side of the page. Poll results will be published in the following week’s Commonwealth.
LOCAL
SPOTLIGHT
Missing leg doesn’t stop Landholm from swimming at RC by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
“Born with limits, living without them.” Ripon College’s Sierra Landholm lives by that motto every time she dives into the pool. The junior was born missing her right leg, but has not let that
Grifin McNeal Making his first career start, the Ripon College freshman quarterback guided the Red Hawk football team to a 14-12 home victory over Beloit last week Saturday. McNeal led the team in rushing with 122 yards on 22 carries, which is the secondhighest total of the season for Ripon, and completed 8 of 16 passes for 56 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His two touchdown passes, which are the most in a game for the Red Hawks this year, came in tough situations as he threw a four-yard strike to Nathan Kuehl on a fourthdown play and hit Nathan Silloway in stride on a thirdand-17 play to make it 14-6. For more on McNeal and the Red Hawks, see the story on this page.
INSIDE
SPORTS ‰ Ripon High School Equestrian Club competes see page 24 at state meet ‰ Sabin selected to D3hoops.com Preseason AllAmerican Team see page 24 ‰ Red Hawk volleyball team sweeps Forestors in tourney tune-up see page 24
BY THE
NUMBERS 2,776 The number of career assists recorded by Ripon College junior Abbi Williamson — which is a new school record for the Red Hawk volleyball team. Williamson passed Ashley Rouse’s record of 2,726, which stood since 2002, during Ripon’s win over Beloit last week Friday and added to it last week Saturday in a win over the Lake Forest Foresters.
stop her from being a member of the Red Hawk swim team. She is in her third year competing at the college level, focusing on longer races. “I know that I was born with this and obviously there’s stuff that I have to do differently than other people, but most of the time I don’t think about that,” Landholm said.
ABOVE, SIERRA LANDHOLM, who was born with one leg, swims in the 1,000-meter freestyle last week Saturday. Inset, Landholm Jonathan Bailey photos situates herself on the starting block.
“It’s just living my everyday life year off of sports and my parents kind of said that I needed to do the way that I live it.” Landholm’s start in swimming something to be active, so I took swim lessons came in middle for about a school as a For a video of Sierra couple weeks result of a rejection in another Landholm in action, visit and then they said I should try sport. www.RiponPress.com. out for a club “I tried out team. I tried out for the basketfor a club team and then started ball team and didn’t make it,” she swimming with them regularly.” said, adding her coach told her it Like many in her family, was because she was not as fast Landholm also played soccer for as the other kids. “I took about a
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around five years before starting to swim, but was too short and too slow to make it as a goalkeeper. Overcoming adversity is nothing new for the Ripon junior. In addition to being born without a right leg, she was put up for adoption at birth and found a home with a family in Nebraska. They moved to Tacoma,
See SWIMMING/ page 25
Zimdars finishes near the top third at the state meet by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
NATHAN SILLOWAY STRETCHES out to haul in a 17-yard Jonathan Bailey photo touchdown pass from Grifin McNeal.
Entering last week Saturday’s WIAA Cross Country State Championships, Seth Zimdars was hoping to finish in the mid- to low-20s. And through two miles, he was right where he wanted to be. But the Ripon High School senior couldn’t keep up the pace as he finished 53rd out of 150 runners in Division 2 is time for with a time the course of 17 minutes, 24 and his finish was seconds. While great because the the finish course was just was not exatrocious.” actly what Zimdars Chris Gatzke Cross county coach was hoping for, Tiger head coach Chris Gatzke was pleased with his performance. The meet took place at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. “His time for the course and his finish was great because the course was just atrocious,” Gatzke said. “It was wet, very soft. He was the fifth race, so the course was all chewed up by the time he ran. It was kind of cold and rainy, but overall I was very pleased with the way he ran.” Gatzke attributed Zimdars’ drop in the final mile to a combination of him running out of gas and the competitors having more in the tank. “I think he worked hard in the first two miles and the last mile was tough to finish and several of the runners just had a little bit more left at the end,” Gatzke said.
“H Red Hawks stave off overtime by smallest of margins by Jonathan Bailey
the ball and before the ball could break the plane for the 2-point conversion. The Ripon College football The senior was aided by sophoteam took the phrase “football is more Tyler Updike, who came up to a game of inches” to a new level help stop Beloit’s forward progress. last week Saturday against Beloit. “A lot of credit goes to Jordan Leading 14-12 because with the with a little more way they ran their For a video of Ripon’s than a minute reroute, Jordan anmaining, the Red overtime-saving play, visit ticipated coming Hawks stopped off a receiver and the Buccaneers www.RiponPress.com. picking up the inches shy of the correct guy,” said goal line on a 2-point attempt to Ripon head coach Ron Ernst, who preserve the lead. picked up his 158th career win and They then recovered the ensuing is now just one away from tying onside kick to ice the 14-12 home Jerry Clark’s Midwest Conference victory and snap a two-game los- record. ing streak. While Ernst was pleased to Jordan Remeza made the over- escape with the victory, he felt the time-saving play, making contact with the receiver after he caught See STAVE/ page 25 jonathanb@riponprinters.com
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See FINISHES/ page 24
SETH ZIMDARS, RIGHT, leads a group of runners down a hill during a rainy state championship race in Wisconsin Rapids. Zimdars finished 53rd out of 150 Division 2 runners. Sheri Schmidt photo
Sports RIPON
RECAP RiponPress.com Sports Poll
Last week’s sports question on RiponPress. com asked readers what the Badgers men’s basketball team should do with its head coaching position at the end of the season. Here are the results: ‰ Let Greg Gard continue what Bo Ryan built 17% ‰ Search for a coach with a different philosophy 17% ‰ Let’s see what Greg Gard does this season and then decide 67% This week’s question: How will the Green Bay Packers fare in the playoffs? ‰ They will lose in the Wild Card round ‰ They will lose in the Divisional round ‰ They will lose in the NFC Championship game ‰ They will lose in the Super Bowl ‰ They will win in the Super Bowl To vote, log on to www. riponpress.com and click on Sports. The poll is located on the right side of the page. Poll results will be published in the following week’s Commonwealth.
SPOTLIGHT Athlete of 2015
Thursday, December 31, 2015 - Page 15
Tigers hit rough patch in loss to Marshall by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
A 13-2 run by Marshall to close the first half was too much for the Ripon High School boys’ basketball team to overcome Tuesday as it fell to the Cardinals 56-44. The Tigers were tied with Marshall, which was ranked No. 1 in Division 3 to begin the season, at 13 with six minutes remaining in the opening half before the run started. The game was part of the 11thannual Rick Majerus Wisconsin
Basketball Yearbook Shootout, gles were a result of both poor shot which took place at Concordia selection and shots not falling. “ We g o t a University in little anxious, Mequon, Wis. “I thought thought we played I think, as we weren’t scoring, we played pretty decent defense so we pressed a pretty decent defense during during that stretch, but they little bit,” Dean Vander Plas said. the stretch, but hit a couple shots ...” “But we had a they hit a couple Dean Vander Plas couple pointshots and I think we scored two Ripon boys’ basketball coach blank shots from guys on great acpoints in our last seven minutes,” Ripon head coach tions that we missed. So it was definitely a combination of both.” Dean Vander Plas said. The Tigers (6-3 overall), who He added the offensive strug-
“I
were playing without star junior Luke Loewe for the fourth-straight game due to a foot injury, scored the first five points of the second half to cut the deficit to six. Marshall (5-2 overall), however, responded with six-straight points of its own to stretch the lead out to 12 and were up by 11 at 38-27 with 11 minutes remaining in the game. But as Ripon has done in its last four games, it didn’t give up as it rallied back to within five at 45-40 on Marshall Morrin’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left. That was as close as the Tigers
Flipping back through 2015 Feb 4 & 7 Two join 1,000-point club KYLE Loughrin, left, and Ty Sabin, far right, become the 29th and 30th players in the Ripon College men’s basketball team’s history to score 1,000 points. The feat happened in back-to-back games.
Feb 14
Grapplers win regional title
THE RIPON HIGH School wrestling team celebrates its first regional title since 2008, defeating Omro 218-206. It wound up losing to Wittenberg-Birnamwood 45-24 in team sectionals.
Feb 20
Feb 28
New football coach hired
Coaching icon passes away
R O N E L L Hubanks, right, is presented a shirt by Todd Elliott after he was hired to replace Mike Yoder as the Tigers head football coach. The Tigers made strides, but finished 1-8 in his first season.
‰ Tiger grapplers in top 10
of the field after first day of see page 16 OTW Classic ‰ Local hunters fare well in recent deer hunting seasons with big bucks see page 19
BY THE
NUMBERS 13
The number of memorable sports moments from 2015 recapped in the Sports Year in Review. Do you have any other moments that you would like to mention? Or would you like to comment on something you read here? Do so at RiponPress.com. Just click on “Sports” from the home page. Comments may be left for every article.
GORDIE GILLESPIE passes away at the age of 88 at his home in Joliet, Ill. Gordie, the father of long-time Ripon College basketball and baseball coach Bob Gillespie and grandfather of former Ripon Tiger and Red Hawk Scott Gillespie, was the winningest college baseball coach upon his retirement. He coached in Ripon for 10 years of his storied career.
See page 17 for more highlights
Jonathan Bailey graphic
INSIDE
SPORTS
See HIT/ page 22
RC women win pair of close games in California by Jonathan Bailey jonathanb@riponprinters.com
The Ripon College women’s basketball team has shown a knack for winning close games this season. It was on display again this week in Whittier, Calif. The Red Hawks won a pair of tightly contested games at the Purple & Gold Poet Classic. They defeated host Whittier 58-54 Monday and Concordia University Chicago 59-57 Tuesday. With the victories, Ripon improves to 7-3 this season. The seven wins more than triple their win total of two from he team last year. “ I t ’s is gaining nice to get w i n s o n more confidence t h e r o a d , in finishing close especially games. It’s an in a different region important charaagainst a cteristic to taking d i f f e r e n t the next step as a style of play,” Ri- program.” pon head Lauren Johnson coach Lau- RC basketball coach ren Johnson said, adding her team did a great job finishing with defensive stops. “The team is gaining more confidence in finishing close games. It’s an important characteristic to taking the next step as a program.” Against Whittier (2-6 overall), the Red Hawks fell behind early as they were out-scored by the Poets 18-13 in the first quarter. However, they rallied to win the second quarter 22-9 and never relinquished the lead after that. The Poets did cut the deficit to two points on a couple occasions in the fourth quarter, including with 15 seconds left, but couldn’t get any closer as Ripon native Maddie Koster sunk two free throws with three seconds left. Making the win even more impressive was the fact Ripon
“T
Michael Polcyn The Ripon native swung a big bat this past spring, helping the Ripon College Red Hawk baseball team reach the NCAA Regional Tournament. Polcyn led the Red Hawks in batting average (.380), home runs (13), total bases (106), walks (27), runs scored (44), slugging percentage (.746), and on-base percentage (.476). He also finished second on the team in RBIs (40) and third in doubles (11). As a result of his performance, Polcyn was selected to the D3baseball.com All-American Team as an honorable mention, American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-American Second Team and ABCA All-Region First Team. He used that success to sign a minor league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie-league affiliate, becoming just the second Ripon native to do so.
got as the Cardinals made enough shots and their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Despite Ripon coming up short, Dean Vander Plas was proud of his team’s willingness to battle. “This group has a lot of fight,” he said. “We figured out a way to get stops. A couple guys made just great offensive cuts and we rewarded them; shared the ball pretty well in that stretch. It was just good team basketball. When we play like that we get some energy going and
See PAIR/ page 18
Catching up with former Tiger Taylor Wurtz by Jonathan Bailey
took some time for “Q&A” with The Ripon Commonwealth Press. Q. What are you up to? Taylor Wurtz made a name A. Currently, I’m playing out for herself on the in Sweden for a hardwood with the city called “OsterRipon Tigers and sund.” Mostly we Wisconsin Badgers stay in Sweden. We women’s basketball play teams around team. the country. The Her success country is actually and passion for pretty big ... We the game has not had our training stopped there. camp out in LithuThe Ripon High ania this year. School all-time Q. What is the leading scorer biggest difference has continued her Taylor Wurtz in playing basbasketball career ketball overseas professionally overseas, where versus in the states? she has picked up from where A. In terms of the game, the she left off in the states. biggest difference would be the Home for the holidays, Wurtz speed of it. Basketball is a lot jonathanb@riponprinters.com
more up-tempo there ... And they shoot a lot of 3-[pointer]s. It’s a lot of draw and kick. The games are high scoring. Q. How would you assess your game compared to those you are playing against? A. Currently our team is undefeated, so I have a really good team. But in terms of level of play, I’m probably one of the better players out on the court
See WURTZ/ page 16 FORMER RIPON Tiger Taylor Wurtz dribbles the ball toward the basket during a game this season in Sweden. She is playing overseas for Ostersund, which currently is submitted photo undefeated.