Post-season playoffs begin this week for WEM athletes

WEM student/athletes have had very successful fall seasons in all three sports.

Three of the four teams have won their league and the fourth took second place.

Now the teams are starting post-season playoffs, with all of them competing in Section Tournaments this week and hopefully into next week.

Volleyball

The WEM volleyball team is the No. 4 seed in the Section 2AA Tournament which began Monday, Oct. 20 with the Bucs sweeping No. 13 seed Maple River in three sets.

Grizzly girls place 2nd in Gopher Conference

Seven WEM/JWP girls cross country runners placed in the top 20 of the Gopher Conference Championship Tuesday, October 14 at Hayfield Oaks Country Club.

All seven earned an All-Conference honor for their efforts.

Eighth grader Norah Welvaert placed 6th overall in a time of 21:16 to earn First Team All-Conference honors.

NRHEG freshman Julieann Wobbrock won the race in 19:17, followed by Hayfield eighth grader Hadley Doman in 19:28, and Blooming Prairie junior Gloria Hernandez in 19:38.

Seven straight for Buccaneer football team

The WEM football team clinched the No. 1 seed in the Section 2AA Tournament and also claimed the Mid-South Silver District Championship with a 32-6 win over St. Clair/Mankato Loyola Thursday, Oct. 9 at Mankato.

The Bucs, rated 7th in Class AA, has opened the season with seven straight wins and are three games in front of JWP in the Section and District Standings with one game to play.

After a solid regular season, which ended Tuesday against JWP, the WEM volleyball team has been seeded fourth in the 17-team Section 2AA Tournament.

WEM, 18-8 overall, will host Maple River (6-15) at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20 in the Section first round. If they win, they would host either No. 5 seed St. Clair (16-4) or No. 12 seed JWP (10-12).

The Section 2AA semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 28 at New Prague. If WEM advances, they would play at 6 p.m.

Four of the top 11 runners in Class A competed in the Thursday, Sept. 25 WEM/JWP Grizzly Pie Run at Prairie Ridge Golf Course in Janesville.

The 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 11th rated Class A individual runners and the 4th rated team in Class A competed.

Fourth-rated Mankato Loyola/Cleveland won the girl’s race with 22 points. Blooming Prairie placed second (66), WEM/JWP third (76), Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin fourth (91), NRHEG fifth (133), and Medford sixth (157).

Throughout the last few years, the WEM volleyball team always tries to bolster their regular season schedule with topnotch teams.

This year has been no different.

Last week the Bucs battled two state-rated teams and despite losing both matches, there were some very positive things which came from these matches.

Bucs pick up big win over Cobras

The WEM volleyball team had a perfect week last week which included a key win over one of the Gopher Conference favorites, Triton.

The Buccaneers notched three straight wins between Sept. 15 and Sept. 18, with two of those against Gopher Conference opponents. The biggest of those was a four-set victory over Triton, handing the Cobras their first conference loss.

WEM/JWP junior Wyatt Jans had the top performance for the Grizzly boys cross country team during the NRHEG Invitational which was held Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Riverview Golf Course in New Richland.

Jans covered the 5,000-meter course in 17:51, placing 6th overall among the 70_ runners.

Mankato Loyola/Cleveland senior Soren Kelly won the race in 16:29. He was followed by Austin Pacelli sophomore Isaac Johnson in 17:08 and Tri-City United (TCU) senior Grant Fitterer in 17:21.

The WEM/JWP girls cross country team had their top five runners finish in the top 25 of the Maple River Invitational Thursday, Sept. 11.

The Grizzlies placed fourth among the five full teams with 72 points. Springfield/ Cedar Mountain won the meet with 38 points. They were followed by Jackson County Central (51), Minnesota Valley Lutheran (66), WEM/JWP, and Medford (142).

WEM/JWP competed without their top runner McKenzie Westphal and with her they probably would have finished second overall.

The WEM/JWP boys cross country team put together their best team performance of the season Thursday, Sept. 11, placing second in the Maple River Invitational.

The Grizzlies scored 57 points top finish as runners-up to Minnesota Valley Lutheran (MVL) for the team championship. MVL scored 29 points and had five runners in the top 11. Placing third through sixth were Springfield/Cedar Mountain (64), Medford (112), Jackson County Central (120), and Blue Earth Area (135).

With six letterwinners, two of whom were All-Gopher Conference First Team selections, returning, the WEM volleyball team is ready to contend for a Gopher Conference Championship this fall.

The Buccaneers are looking to improve on their 2024 season in which they finished 7-3 in the conference (3rd overall) and 18-13 overall.

Seniors Liza Baker, Addison Condon, Alenka Jans, and Robynn Schwichtenberg along with juniors Bryella Pope and Alix Velzke return to the varsity.

Pitching and mistakes are huge in post season play.

Just ask the Waterville Indians and the Litchfield Blues, who faced off Sunday, August 17 in the opening round of the Class C State Tournament at Hutchinson.

The Indians allowed only one earned run and took advantage of some timely hitting to edge the Blue, 2-1, in 11 innings.

Dallas McBroom pitched eight outstanding innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked just one.

Friday night’s Waterville Indians game had a number of very special moments which will be remembered for years.

Before the game there was a tribute to long-time Waterville Indians Board of Director Tom McBroom, who passed away earlier that morning.

There was the presentation of the second annual Shane Sellner Memorial 13-60 League Player of the Year, which went to Indians shortstop Ben Boran. Rick and Luke Sellner presented the award to Boran.

The WEM girls flag football team opened up some eyes this past summer with their performance during their first season.

Their efforts have given them a chance to do something players would only dream of.

They get to play during halftime of the Saturday, August 16 Minnesota Vikings preseason game which starts at noon.

“The girls are ecstatic,” Jon Bakken, who coaches the team, said. “It is going to blow us away to be at the Bank.”

Last year it was an even dozen for the Waterville Indians Amateur Baseball Team. After last weekend they increased that total to a baker’s dozen.

The Indians will be making their 13th Class C State Tournament appearance after winning two straight games in the Region 5C Tournament played Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3 in Cannon Falls.

Waterville defeated Veseli, 7-5, Saturday afternoon and downed Waseca, 9-4, Sunday afternoon to advance to the Region 5C Championship.

13th State Tournament appearance - 4th straight

The 4th straight Class C State Tournament for the Waterville Indians amateur baseball team was much different than the last few times they have advanced.

This year the Indians, rated No. 5 in Class C, will be heading to State as the No. 1 seed out of Region 5C, after defeating Pine Island, 12-2, in seven innings Friday, August 8 in Waterville.