Article by Austin Bruzek
The end of winter sports is winding down, but the expectations are still set high for the athletic programs.
The boys' and girls' basketball teams are doing great this year. The boys are currently 13-6, being led by junior, Logan Strom, averaging 16.8 points per game. "All of our goals remain intact. Our team is in a good position as we enter February. We will need to have players be fundamentally sounds and perform their roles. I look for our team to be challenged by our schedule and be pushed to improve. We have leaders in many different roles. Our seniors Brandon Villalpando, Ethan Mittelstaedt, Myles Burkink, and Josh Taylor have been tremendous. Each of them is responsible for various things on our team. We also have several underclassmen that have performed at a high level ." Ben Ries, head coach, said.
The girls are 11-8 and currently their team is focused on one goal they set at the beginning of the year. "We want to be playing our best basketball when districts begin so we can make it back to the State Tournament. As a result we are focused on improving every day, whether it's practices or games. We have a few key areas which have been weaknesses for us this year. First, we want more communication and rotation on defense. Secondly, on offense we are focused on keeping our spacing, setting better screens, and cutting at 100% to create easier scoring opportunities. Our team leaders begin with our seniors. Riley Johnson has been our most vocal leader. Erika Hansen and Tierra Wilson are a little less vocal but are working to lead by example and how they do things on the floor. Together those seniors have worked to lead our team," Jared Oswald, head coach, said.
For the wrestling team, no one is undefeated on the team this year. Caleb Licking is ranked #1 at 152lbs and is seeking his secound state title this year. Dominick Carr and MJ Montgomery have been in rankings this year and T.J. Claussen has beaten a couple rated kids this year as well. "Overall, we have one of the best teams in Norfolk History and records are still being broken." Justin Grey, head varsity coach, said. "Norfolk is currently ranked #10 but they have not been healthy or full strength since Christmas. They have competed well against the #2 Kearney and #3 Columbus teams in the state this past weekend at the GNAC conference where Norfolk finished third. The wrestling team did not have a 160lb wrestler since Josh Kohl has been out with shoulder injury since the West Holt invite. Hayden Rucker is now eligible to wrestle 160 this week for districts and will be challenging Kohl for the spot. Dylan Grey has a fractured foot and they hope he is cleared to wrestle districts this week. If he cannot Noah Matteo will be wrestling for him. Norfolk is the host of the A-3 district Saturday 2/13/16 and State Wrestling is at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 18th, February 19th, and February 20th. The following wrestlers, 106- Grant Taylor, 113- Cutter Anderson, 120- Dylan Grey, Noah Matteo, 126- Tejai Clausen, 132- Black McDonald, 138- Nate Kathol, 145- Zach Hintz, 152- Caleb Licking, 160- Hayden Rucker, Josh Kohl, 170- Conner Neal, 182- Alex Thompson, 195- M.J. Montgomery, 220- Dominick Carr, HWT- Brendan Yoch, Connor Cowling will be competing in districts this weekend and they will have to place in the top four to qualify for state.
On the flip side, the Norfolk High swim team have started out well with the boys currently undefeated with a 7-0 record and the girls with a 4-3 record. The seniors this year are Spencer Olmer, Jackson Bertus, Byron Duarte, Dawson Miller, Andrew Winter, Kaitlyn Summers, Hanna Morris, Maddy Blecher, Emma Lear, Breanna Harthoorn, and Erika Kumm. "All the leaders for the swim team are the seniors, and other leaders are Kasten Walker, Cameron Carney, Lauren Jacobsen" David Nelson, head coach, said." The goal is to finish the year strong and try to make it to state. To win conference and place in the top 10 for girls and top five for boys at state is also a team goal.
Good luck to all the winter activities at Norfolk high. Go Panthers!
For more articles, see the February 2016 Panther Newspaper issue!
