Sports

The Oconto Falls High School girls golf team finished in eighth place at the Bay Conference tournament Tuesday at Wander Springs Golf Course in Greenleaf.

The finish was not enough for Oconto Falls (16) to catch Luxemburg-Casco (28) in the final conference standings. The Panthers finished eighth, while Luxemburg-Casco finished seventh.

Denmark (132) edged Marinette (125) for the conference championship.

Liz Coopman led Oconto Falls at the tournament, shooting 112. Julie Moore carded 116, Brittany Russell 122, Bridget Gorman 123 and Amanda Blazer 124.

The Panthers will compete in the WIAA Division 2 regional Wednesday at Mid Vallee Golf Course in Lawrence.

The Oconto Falls High School volleyball team wasn’t at the top of its game against Denmark. However, it didn’t matter.

The Panthers showed they were the superior squad, winning three tight sets and sweeping the Vikings 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 in a Bay Conference match Thursday in Oconto Falls.

The Panthers (2-0 Bay Conference) built leads of at least six points in all three sets before Denmark clawed back to make it interesting.

“You’re going to have matches like this,” Oconto Falls coach Dawn Larsen said. “This is really our first home match with all the fans here, so maybe a little jitters. Overall, you have to be happy with the win.”

When the Panthers got into a bind, they turned to their two big hitters, McKenna Larsen and Carly Lemke. The two seniors combined for 37 kills, with Larsen tallying 18 kills, 21 assists and 15 digs. Lemke added four blocks and sophomore Alyssa Nelson tallied 12 digs.

High school volleyball teams taking on Oconto Falls this season, consider this your warning.

The Panthers have a deadly duo in seniors McKenna Larsen and Carly Lemke, and both know how to kill — spiking the volleyball, that is.

Larsen and Lemke have been playing together for years, and their hard work has culminated into a great start to the season. The pair has helped Oconto Falls jump out to a 13-1 record, and Larsen and Lemke are among the top players in the state in hitting percentage. Larsen ranks fourth at 44 percent and Lemke 12th at 37.4 percent (through games on Sept. 18).

Since they’ve been teammates for so long, Larsen and Lemke know one another’s tendencies and have a good feel to where they will be on each possession.

The Gillett Secondary School football team lost to visiting Wausaukee 36-28 in a Marinette and Oconto Conference game Friday in Gillett.

A pair of second-quarter touchdown runs by Gillett’s Alex Zeitler, a sophomore quarterback, tied the game at 14-14 before halftime.

“Zeitler once again played well, as the young signal caller put up another 100-yard performance, his fifth in as many games,” Gillett coach Rick Kamps said.

Zeitler finished six of 13 for 117 yards and the two rushing touchdowns for Gillett (1-4, 0-3 M&O).

Matt Peterson and Monte Noffke scored on fourth-quarter runs, but it wasn’t enough.

Wausaukee quarterback Beau DeLaet tallied three touchdowns, two passing and another on a 53-yard run, in the second half to put Wausaukee (1-3, 1-1 M&O) in control.

Mike Friedman and Bailey Wolf had third-place finishes and the Oconto Falls High School boys cross-country team finished second Sept. 17 at the Bonduel Invitational.
Friedman finished third with a time of 16 minutes, 38 seconds. Teammate Liam Spillane took sixth, finishing in 17:40.
Wolf’s time of 16:24 helped lift the Panthers girls to a sixth-place finish.
Freedom won both the boys and girls meets.
Local results
Boys
Team: 1. Freedom (32), 2. Oconto Falls (51), 3. Bonduel (79), 4. Peshtigo (90), 5. Omro (124), 6. Wolf River Lutheran (158), 7. Oconto (180)
Oconto Falls: 3. Mike Friedman, 16:38; 6. Liam Spillane, 17:40; 13. Michael Fifield, 17:58; 14. James Malcheski, 17:59; 15. Alex Young, 17:59
Girls

Panthers blown out, remain winless
The Oconto Falls High School football team lost 64-0 to Hortonville in a Bay Conference game Friday in Hortonville. Hortonville (5-0, 5-0 Bay) took a 29-0 lead in the first quarter and was up 36-0 by halftime. Tyler Kowalczyk had 120 yards on 21 carries for Oconto Falls (0-5, 0-4 Bay). Quarterback Samuel Konitzer was limited to one completion, on six attempts, for 30 yards. Hortonville’s Andrew Thompson went six of seven for 269 yards and three touchdowns.
Suring loses to Florence
The Suring High School football team lost 15-13 Friday in Florence. No other stats from this game were available by the Times Herald’s press time.
Lena/STAA falls to Crivitz

For many Oconto Falls area residents, high school football has been as much a part of fall as back-to-school shopping and the smell of burning leaves.

Football field lights have shined as beacons across the Friday night sky, as the Panthers, Tigers, Hawks, Bears, et al. battled on the gridiron, just as their fathers and grandfathers had done, for community pride, school spirit and individual glory.

But the sport beloved by so many for so long is in danger.

“Just with the experience and the trends that I have seen through the last 10 years, seeing the number of kids coming out and getting in sports and things, there are just not the numbers there used to be,” Bowler/Gresham high school football coach Ralph Smith said.

State athletic associations across the country are reporting fewer and fewer athletes are participating in high school football.

Mike Friedman led the way with a second-place finish and the Oconto Falls High School cross-country team took third at the Shawano Hawk Invitational on Saturday in Shawano.

Friedman finished with a time of 16 minutes, 15 seconds in the race, finishing behind only Green Bay Preble’s Daniel LaLuzerne, who crossed the finish line in 16:11.

Oconto Falls had a team score of 159. Preble (40) won the event, followed by Green Bay East (139). Gillett (521) finished 20th.

Max Zeitler led Gillett with a time of 17:34.

On the girls side, Oconto Falls (483) finished 17th, followed by Gillett (485) at 18th. Green Bay East (70) won, followed by Preble (106) and Appleton West (129).

Bailey Wolf finished eighth overall, with a time of 15:46. Gillett’s Cassie Baranczyk led her team, finishing 80th at 17:48.

Winneconne’s Abi Salm had the top time, 15:23.

Local Results

Boys

The Oconto Falls High School volleyball team was a perfect 6-0 at the Shawano volleyball tournament Saturday in Shawano.

The Panthers and host Shawano both were 5-0, having beaten Clintonville, Valders, Oconto, Kewaunee and Peshtigo, heading into the championship game.

Oconto Falls won the first game 25-16 and then took the second game 25-11.

Seniors McKenna Larsen and Carly Lemke led most of the stats on the day. On the day, Larsen finished with 17 aces, 47 kills, 63 assists and 38 digs. Lemke racked up 52 kills and nine blocks. Liz Watzka had seven aces, 42 assists and 16 digs. Mikayla Johnson had 38 digs.

Oconto (4-2) finished third in the tournament, followed by Peshtigo (3-3), Clintonville (2-4), Valders (1-5) and Kewaunee (0-6).

Oconto Falls, which has only lost one match so far this season, opened up Bay Conference play against Seymour on the road Tuesday. Results from that match were not available by the Times Herald’s press time.

Lena/STAA shut out by Peshtigo

The Lena/STAA football team was shut out 59-0 by Peshtigo on Friday in Lena.

Lena/STAA fell behind 28-0 in the first quarter on a pair of Dakota Keller touchdown passes, a 52-yard Jake Venees punt return and a 8-yard Levi Samborn run. Peshtigo went on to score 19 points in the second and six in each of the third and fourth quarters.

Keifer Powere went 2 for 6 for 15 yards passing and had seven yards on two carries for Lena/STAA (0-4, 0-2 Marinette & Oconto). Roy O’Harrow was 1 for 5 for 19 yard passing and two interceptions. He also rushed nine times for minus 21 yards.

Keller led Peshtigo (2-0, 2-0 M&O) going four for four for 88 yards. Steve Strojny had 14 carries for 88 yards.

Suring loses to Crivitz

Suring lost to Crivitz 45-12 in a Marinette and Oconto Conference game Friday in Suring.