Condon, Velzke win WEM Girls Basketball MVP Awards

WEM senior Addison Condon and junior Alix Velzke received top honors during the WEM Girls Basketball Recognition Banquet Thursday, March 19.

Condon was named the Offensive Player of the Year Award for the second straight season. She scored 681 points, averaging 26.2 points per game, a school record for points and average.

Velzke received the Defensive Player of the Year Award. She had 108 rebounds, 64 deflections, and 48 steals in 26 games played.

Six Grizzlies finish their wrestling careers

Six WEM/JWP Grizzly wrestlers finished their careers at the end of February and one of those was named this year’s Most Valuable Wrestler.

Brady Murphy was named the Most Valuable Wrestler after finishing an outstanding career which saw him finish in the top 10 in many Grizzly school records lists.

Murphy, along with Zach Quast, Charles Adams, Devin Cowdin, Spencer Nordstrom, and Kayle Langford were seniors this winter who will be hanging up their wrestling singlets.

Nearly two dozen WEM/JWP wrestlers have qualified for NYWA (Northland Youth Wrestling Association) Regional Tournament.

They advanced through four different local tournaments including Janesville, Mapleton, Blooming Prairie, and Tartan.

Those who advanced include the following:

Pre-K: Johnny Deleon.

Kindergarten: Koda Knish.

1st Grade: Mateo Masso.

2nd Grade: Gabriel Behne, Beau James, Maddox Knish, Mariella Masso, Rhett Melchert, and Ryatt Melchert.

3rd Grade: Lucas Grother.

LAKE CRYSTAL - Throw out the three-point shooting in the Section 2AA opening round boys basketball game between No. 13 seed WEM and No. 4 seed Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (LCWM) Tuesday, March 4 and the results would have been much different.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, three-pointers counted and the Knights held a distinct advantage in the long range shooting in their 74-54 win over the Buccaneers.

LCWM made 10-of-23 from behind the three-point arc while WEM hit only 4-of-23, giving the Knights an 18 point advantage on the 19+foot shots.

The trip to the Class A State Wrestling Tournament for the first Grizzly wrestlers will provide memories of a lifetime.

Four of the five were making their first appearance. Two of the five were able to win a match. Three of the five have a chance to make a second appearance.

Seniors Brady Murphy and Kayle Langford and juniors Kavan Sheehy, Trenton Huber, and Aiden Gruber each represented the team with great determination and pride.

Twelve of the 13 WEM/JWP wrestlers placed in the top six at the Section 2AA Wrestling Tournament. The tournament was held Saturday, Feb. 21 at JWP High School.

WEM/JWP had two champions, senior Brady Murphy (139 pounds) and junior Aiden Gruber (152 pounds) and two runners-up, junior Trenton Huber (189 pounds) and junior Kavan Sheehy (215 pounds). All four will represent the Grizzlies at the Class A State Wrestling Tournament this week in St. Paul at Grand Casino Arena.

The WEM boys basketball team finished its regular season schedule with an 11-15 record after winning their final two games.

The Bucs picked up a 74-52 win over NRHEG Friday, Feb. 20 to end their Gopher Conference season with an 8-6 record and second place finish in the West Division. Monday, Feb. 23 the Bucs picked up their biggest win of the season, defeating Nicollet, 78-61. Nicollet came into the game with a 21-4 record after winning the Valley Conference Championship.

Being a repeat Section runner-up is something which the WEM/JWP wrestling team can certainly be proud of.

Before last year, no Grizzly team had ever advanced to this level. Now they have accomplished it two years in a row. Last year Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial defeated the Grizzlies, 40-25, in the Section 2A Championship. This was WEM/JWP’s 1st Section Championship appearance.

Two school records were set by a pair of seniors last week during a pair of Gopher Conference girls basketball wins by the WEM Buccaneers.

Addison Condon and Kaitlyn LaFrance each set records while defeating United South Central (67-49) Thursday, Feb. 12, and Faribault BA (62-48) Friday, Feb. 13. The Bucs started the week with a nonconference loss to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (LCWM), 57-43.

Six Grizzly girls wrestlers placed in the top six of their respective weight classes at the Section G-2 Tournament last weekend at Rochester.

One of those six will be making a trip to the 2026 State Tournament.

Senior Kayle Langford, who was seeded second in the 136-pound weight class, won four straight matches to place first and advance to State.

The month of February started off on a positive note Monday, Feb. 2 for the WEM boys basketball tam.

After losing their last four games, three last week, the Buccaneers scored 54 points in the first half of their 86-53 win over Medford on Senior Night.

Four players scored in double figures, led by sophomore post Cole Bartz who made 13-of-20 from the field, finishing with 26 points and grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds, nine of those were offensive rebounds.

Senior Talen Taylor finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

Approximately one month ago, the JWP girls basketball team handed the WEM girls a 70-29 defeat December 16, 2025.

Thirty-four days later the Buccaneers held the Bulldogs to 57 points in a 57-52 win for JWP in Gopher Conference action.

WEM took a 28-21 halftime lead only to see the Bulldogs outscore them 36- 24 in the second half.

WEM limited the Bulldogs to one of their lowest scoring games of the season. They held a 44-35 rebounding advantage and a 16-9 offensive rebounding advantage.

The WEM/JWP wrestling team opened up a 48-0 lead on their way to a 57-15 win over Medford Thursday, January 22 in Waterville.

Medford forfeited six of their first seven matches allowing the Grizzlies to open up an insurmountable lead.

Seventh grader Otto Root improved to 16-7 this season with a pin of eighth grader Kyle Witter in 3:54 at 114 pounds.

Junior Parker James improved to 11-13 with a 36 second pin of sophomore Grayson Burr at 152 pounds.

Junior Trenton Huber decisioned junior Chase Baler, 10-3, to improve to 17-9 at 189 pounds.

Five of the seven WEM/ JWP girls wrestlers made their way onto the podium at the Saturday, Jan. 17 St. Croix Lutheran Invitational.

The Grizzlies placed fourth in the 17-team invitational. scoring 96 points. Apple Valley won the event with 187.5 points. Roseville Area placed second with 128 points, Placing third was St. Paul Como Park with 96 points.

Junior Bre’Ana Masso led the team with a...

To see more on this story pick up the January 22, 2026 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.

Last season, the WEM/ JWP wrestling team squeezed out a 1.5 point advantage over Ogilivie to win the St. Croix Lutheran Invitational.

The Grizzlies repeated as team champions, winning the title Saturday, Jan. 17 by more than 40 points over runner-up Cannon Falls. WEM/ JWP scored 215 team points in finishing ahead of Cannon Falls (172.5), Ogilvie (135), Chisago Lakes (126), and Robbinsdale Armstrong (106.5).

The WEM boys basketball team split a pair of Gopher Conference games last week.

They defeated Medford, 86-67, Tuesday, January 6 and were defeated by United South Central, 67-64, Thursday, January 8.

The squad is now 2-3 in the Gopher Conference West Division and 4-7 overall. They will host Randolph Friday, January 16, play at JWP Tuesday, January 13, and at Faribault BA Thursday, January 22.

In the win over the tigers, senior Talen Taylor scored 30+ points for the third straight game. He finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists.