Way to go, Trojans!

Last week, over the course of three days, three New Prague Trojans athletic teams competed for a chance to go to the state tournament in their sports.

While the girls hockey team lost their game to a powerful Red Wing team, the squad can be proud of their outstanding season. The girls topped the 20-win mark for only the second time in school history. This year’s squad included a mix of seniors that had been through some lean years and a group of youngsters who hope to keep the squad competitive for years to come.

The other two teams had much better outcomes. On Friday, the Trojan gymnastics team continued their quest for a state title by scoring a school record 148.675 points in winning the Section 2A championship.

Winning section titles is nothing new for the Trojans, who have won 13 of the last 14 section titles. However this year’s team began with lofty goals and has been through so much with the death of Coach Matt Shetka early in the season that they were the sentimental favorites. Assistant coach Nikki Fischer was named section assistant coach of the year, and head coach Doug Amundsen, who took over in December after Shetka’s death, shared the head coach of the year award with his longtime friend and mentor. Both received a standing ovation.

Finally, on Saturday, the Trojan wrestling team defeated Watertown-Mayer 43-17 to claim a spot in the Class AA team championships to be held Thursday, Feb. 28. The Trojan wrestling program has been getting stronger in recent years, and the title serves as an affirmation as to how far they’ve come.

Also last week, Trojan Maria Berg became the first athlete to represent New Prague at the State Nordic ski meet.

Good luck to both of these teams in their state competition, and also to the other Trojan teams as they begin their section competition: The boys hockey and boys and girls basketball teams and the adapted floor hockey team have all had successful seasons and hope to continue that success in the post season.