Retterath an All-WIAC pick; football, swim and soccer updates

PART 1: COLLEGE FALL SPORTS REPORT

Our 2022 fall sports update for local student-athletes at the collegiate level will be published in two parts, with cross country to be highlighted next week.

This week’s update features Medford graduates who were on their school’s football, women’s swim and men’s soccer rosters this fall.

Football

One of Nick Retterath’s missions this football season was to be a leader for the young UW-Stevens Point squad and it appears he certainly did that.

A 2019 graduate of Medford Area Senior High, Retterath closed his career with the Pointers by being named the top center in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, earning a spot on the league’s first-team offense.

Retterath started all 10 games this fall for the Pointers and played nearly every offensive snap. The award follows the honorable mention he received in 2021 in his first year as a starter on the offensive line.

The 6-2, 285-pound Retterath anchored a line that powered UW-SP to 288 yards rushing and 430 total yards in the team’s lone victory 2022, a 35-14 non-conference win over Simpson College on Sept. 17.

Not surprisingly in the always-competitive WIAC, the Pointers, who are in the midst of a rebuilding process under first-year head coach Luke Venne, struggled, going 0-7. The team did lose two close non-conference games to start the year, 31-24 to Mayville State and 21-14 to St. Norbert College.

The offensive unit’s best offensive day in conference play came Oct. 29 in a 48-26 loss at UW-Eau Claire. The Pointers ran for 143 yards and passed for 279 more in that game, which the Blugolds led 27-18 at halftime before breaking it open in the third quarter.

A forestry major, Retterath also earned his first Academic Division III All-District award from the College Sports Communicators. He is one of three Pointers to make the list, joining Wayde Ernstmeyer, a junior linebacker from Reedsburg, and Michael Kubicki, a senior offensive lineman from Marshall. They advanced to the CSC Academic All-America ballot with that team’s members slated to be announced in late December.

Blaine Seidl, a 2021 Medford graduate, saw action in eight games this season at linebacker and on special teams for the UW-Stout football team, which went 3-4 in the WIAC and 5-5 overall. Seidl was considered a freshman this season for the Blue Devils.

Seidl was credited with seven solo tackles this season along with seven assisted tackles. Two of his biggest plays occurred on kickoffs. In the season finale at 24th-ranked UW-River Falls on Nov. 12, Seidl forced and recovered a fumble by Falcon Michael Krueger at the 30yard line. Four plays later, Stout scored a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21 in the third quarter. River Falls, however, wound up winning the game 35-34 by stopping Stout’s two-point conversion attempt with 11 seconds left.

Seidl also forced a second-quarter fumble by kickoff returner Robert Mabra during a 66-6 home win over Crown College on Sept. 9. Stout’s offense scored a 9-yard touchdown on the next play. That was one of his two solo tackles in that game. He also had two assists.

In a 55-0 win at Stevens Point on Oct.

15, Seidl had two solo tackles on kickoffs and assisted on tackles on runs for 4 yards and no gain. Seidl had a solo tackle on a kickoff and assisted on a 2-yard run during the Blue Devils’ 16-7 loss to 10thranked UW-Whitewater on Nov. 5.

Ean Wilson, a 2020 Medford graduate, was a sophomore linebacker on the roster for the UW-Oshkosh Titans, who went 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the WIAC under first-year head coach Peter Jennings. Oshkosh was 3-1 and won its WIAC opener 46-7 over UW-Platteville before three close losses in a stretch of four games knocked them out of WIAC title contention. The Titans lost 27-24 at River Falls and 17-3 at Whitewater, After a 19-14 win over Stout, they lost 38-35 at home to UWLa Crosse.

Women’s swimming

Erin Bergman, a 2021 Medford graduate, continues to fill a role in backstroke and freestyle events as a sophomore for the St. Cloud State women’s swim team.

Individually, Bergman has most commonly swam in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke races for the Huskies, who are on their mid-season break before resuming competition Jan. 14 at South Dakota State. In the 200, Bergman had a breakthrough race her last time out in the C Final of the Rochester Invitational on Dec. 4, placing 19th in a time of 2:15.8. She actually had a faster preliminary time of 2:15.05. Other top times so far include 2:22.4 with an 18th-place finish during the Nov. 11-12 St. Thomas JoAnn Andregg Invitational and 2:22.42 with a 10th-place finish at the Augustana triangular, which included the University of Sioux Falls. The Huskies finished third that day and were second at St. Thomas with 689 points in between Minnesota State (721) and St. Thomas (645).

Bergman had a time of 30.4 seconds in the 50-yard backstroke during the team’s intrasquad meet on Labor Day weekend. She swam the 200-yard freestyle and finished in 2:11.84 to place 10th in an Oct. 28 triangular with St. Benedict’s and St. John’s, which the Huskies won handily.

Bergman has been on several 200-yard medley, 400-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay teams this fall. She was on a 200-yard medley team that placed seventh in 1:53.57 at the Augustana triangular. She was part of a 400-yard medley team that took sixth in 4:18.63 at the University of Omaha on Sept. 30. A 400-yard freestyle team that included Bergman was seventh in 3:59.07 in a loss to Northern Michigan Oct. 7-8. She was part of a 20th-place 200-yard freestyle team at the Dec. 2-4 Rochester Invitational that finished in 1:41.97.

Morgan Ball, another 2021 Medford graduate, has competed in a variety of events in the three meets the Minnesota-Morris women’s swim team has competed in so far this season.

In a 118-112 win at the University of Jamestown (N.D.) on Nov. 5, Ball set a collegiate-best time 1:08.25 in the 100yard butterfly, good for fourth place. She was also fourth in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:43.63 and was part of a 200-yard medley relay team that placed second in 2:06.41.

A day earlier, in a 139-78 win over Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., Ball was part of the winning 400-yard medley relay team that was timed at 4:29.31 and won by nearly 14 seconds. She was third in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:35.63 and on a 200-yard freestyle relay team that took third in 1:55.74.

Ball was in eight events during the three-day, 13-team Augustana Invitational Nov. 17-19. Individually, she lowered her 200-yard individual medley time to 2:37.98, good for 75th place, and was 88th in the 100-yard individual medley at 1:12.63. She was 52nd in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:35.67, 78th in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:08.34 and 95th in the 100yard backstroke at 1:10.44.

The Cougars resume competition at the Moorhead State Dragon Invitational Jan. 13-14.

Faith Piller, a 2020 Medford graduate, is in her junior season as a diver for the UW-Stevens Point women and has competed in three meets so far this season.

Her highest score in 1-meter diving so far is 152.7, achieved during a Nov. 19 WIAC dual meet with visiting UWWhitewater. She placed fifth that day. The Pointers won the meet 213-76. She was 10th with a score of 148.85 in a 185115 loss at UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 22 and 16th at 129.7 in a Nov. 5 triangular with Minnesota State and Gustavus Adolphus at St. Peter, Minn.

In 3-meter diving, Piller earned a score of 151.05 while placing fourth against Whitewater, was 10th at 133.2 at Eau Claire and 16th at 121.1 in the triangular.

The Pointers next host UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 13.

Men’s soccer

Quinton Tlusty, a 2022 Medford graduate, saw action in two games this fall for the Northland College men’s soccer team. He was credited with nine minutes of field time during a 3-0 home loss to the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Sept. 5. He put a shot on goal in two minutes of time in a 4-0 home loss to UW-Eau Claire on Sept. 8.

Northland went 8-8-5 overall this fall, including a 7-3-4 record in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, good for third place. The Lumberjacks tied league champion UW-Superior twice in the regular season, 0-0 and 2-2. The season ended with a 2-1 loss to Bethany Lutheran College Nov. 2 in the semifinals of the UMAC tournament. Bethany was second in the conference at 11-2-1 and beat Northland 5-0 and 4-0 in the regular season.

Blaine Seidl makes a return down the sideline for UW-Stout in a JV game with UW-River Falls. Seidl forced two fumbles on kickoffs in Saturday games for the Blue Devils this fall.NOAHALBRICHT/UW-STOUT