New season begins for youth archers at Badger State Games event

NASP ARCHERY

The National Archery in the Schools Program’s (NASP) 2022-23 season is underway for the teams at Medford and Gilman, highlighted by the first full-scale event, last weekend’s Badger State Winter Games shoot, hosted by Wausau West. Medford’s Archery Club earned second place in the middle school (grades 6-8) team standings with 3,048 points, trailing only Stratford’s total of 3,110. Gilman came in sixth with 2,811 points. Medford placed third in the high school division with 3,260 points, trailing Cadott (3,349) and Stratford (3,314). Marshfield was fourth with 3,221 points and Faith Christian Academy (2,863) rounded out the top five.

Medford senior Landen Viergutz was the top archer in the tournament, earning a score of 296 out of a possible 300 in his 30 shots, 15 of which came from 10 meters and 15 of which were at 15 meters. He hit the 10-point circle 26 times and added four nine-point shots for his total.

Raider eighth grader Kella Gebert also won an individual championship, taking the girls middle school title with a score of 270. Medford fifth grader Jax Gosse came close, finishing second in the boys elementary division (grades 4-5) with a score of 244. He was nine points behind champion Lucas Xiong of Auburndale.

Colton Lang had the highest finish among the participants from the Gilman Pirate Archery Club. The sixth grader took second in the boys middle school division with a 283 that included 16 10-point shots. Lang came out on the short end of the tiebreaker with champion Noah Bornbach of Stratford, who hit the 10-point circle 18 times.

Tatum Weir was Gilman’s top scorer with a fourth-place finish in the high school girls division. The senior shot a 284 with 15 10-point shots.

The Badger State 3-D competition is a parent-child team competition and local duos did well in the high school division. Landen (295) and Shane Viergutz (260) combined to shoot a 555 that put them in first place, just ahead of Kirsten (281) and Chrissy Weix (265), who combined for a score of 546. Gilman’s Jaylyn (268) and Benji Orth (255) placed fifth at 523 and Medford’s Jenna (282) and Jason Wickersheim (237) were sixth at 519 Ezra (249) and Ryan Hillebrand (253) of Medford were seventh.

Colton Lang (267) and Ron Borek (217) of Gilman were seventh out of 26 middle school teams with a score of 484. Brock (245) and Sean Anderson (203) of Medford were 13th at 448, Wyatt (238) and Ryan Stephens (201) of Gilman were 16th at 439, Makii Mallo (214) and Jason Romig (221) of Gilman were 17th at 435, Brody (258) and Terra Peche (173) of Medford were 18th at 431 and Cade (190) and Chad Kowalczyk (179) of Gilman were 23rd at 369. Jaylin (132) and Douglas Mallo (242) of Gilman were 10th out of 17 teams in the elementary division with a score of 374, while Chloe (93) and Bo Krueger (237) of Medford were 11th at 330.

Badger State shoot results High school boys: 1. Landen Viergutz, Med., 296; 15. Collin Rausch, Med., 272; 17. Coy Loucks, Med., 269; 22. Ezra Hillebrand, Med., 267; 23.

Corbin Sperl, Med., 267; 37. Tyrel Mravik, Gil., 257; 38. Preston Adams, Med., 257; 41. Gordon Jensen, Med., 256; 45. Wyatt Webster, Gil., 253; 58. Colin Irwin, Gil., 241; 59. Ethan Emmerich, Med., 239; 60. Logen Underwood, Med., 239; 62.

Collin Sperl, Med., 237; 63. Matthew Brunner, Med., 237.

High school girls: 4. Tatum Weir, Gil., 284; 8.

Kirsten Weix, Med., 281; 13. Melanie Kreklau, Med., 275; 16. Jenna Wickersheim, Med., 274; 22. Christine Czeshinski, Med., 271; 25. Kaedence Ecklund, Med., 271; 30. Alison Krizan, Gil., 269; 33. Jaylyn Orth, Gil., 268; 37. Olivia Buske, Gil., 264; 40. Mylie Stephens, Gil., 261; 43. Mattie Gebert, Med., 260; 50. Unica Ramm, Med., 256; 55. Misty Mravik, Gil., 248; 59. Elizabeth Nelles, Med., 243; 60. Allison Paul, Med., 243; 71. Destiny Bertsinger, Gil., 226.

Middle school girls: 1. Kella Gebert, Med., 270; 11. Reece Weir, Gil., 259; 13. Haley Wesle, Med., 255; 20. Ella Ewings, Gil., 251; 28. Ashlyn Kropp, Med., 244; 32. Kennedy Buske, Gil., 242; 34.

Kadence Weix, Med., 241; 37. Erin Kreklau, Med., 240; 39. Cora Semrau, Med., 238; 40. Rayanna Romig, Gil., 238; 41. Ava Webster, Gil., 238; 42.

Kodi Rappe, Med., 238; 44. Kameron Baltzley, Gil., 236; 62. Sabrina Underwood, Med., 204; 70.

Kyra Scheithauer, Med., 177; 76. Ally Zawacki, Med., 142.

Middle school boys: 2. Colton Lang, Gil., 283; 14: Jake Erl, Med., 264; 16. Brody Peche, Med., 262; 17. Brock Anderson, Med., 262; 25. Logan Langdon, Med., 255; 29. Anthony Graf, Med., 252; 33. Hank Paul, Med., 250; 35. Eric Paul, Med., 248; 42. Karson Ecklund, Med., 245; 49. Wyatt Stephens, Gil., 239; 51. Cade Kowalczyk, Gil., 239; 52. Bentley Cooley, Med., 238; 75. Xander Schmidt, Med., 197; 76. Kayne Adams, Med., 193.

Elementary boys: 2. Jax Gosse, Med., 244; 7.

Nicholas Langdon, Med., 220; 16. Chet Paul, Med., 188; 21. Brycen Larson, Med., 171; 26.

Asher Moodie, Med., 152.

Elementary girls: 19. Chloe Krueger, Med., 152.

Previous events

Medford had a few high school archers get a head start on competition for the season before the Badger State event. In the 2022 Centershot Christmas Classic, a virtual event held in December, Landen Viergutz posted the highest overall score out of 316 boys with a 295. He hit 26 10-point shots in his round of 30 attempts and placed first out of 92 high school boys and out of 10 seniors. Kirsten Weix shot a 289 with 21 10s to rank second out of 54 high school girls and first out of 14 seniors. She was second overall among 246 females, trailing only Alyssa Willis of Sarcoxie, Mo., who shot a 296 to post the top overall score of all 562 archers.

At the Sun Prairie tournament Jan. 14, Naomi Fleegel shot a 278 to place second out of 55 archers in the high school girls division. Ezra Hillebrand was sixth out of 61 high school boys with his 275. Fleegel trailed champion Kallie Westerbeke of Oostburg, who shot a 283. Robert Warren of Portage won the boys high school title with a 291.

First and second place in the Badger State Winter Games 3-D Parent-Child team shoot went to Medford’s Landen and Shane Viergutz and Chrissy and Kirsten Weix.

The Rib Lake Middle School boys basketball teams recently finished their 2022-23 regular seasons with the seventh-grade team going undefeated at 11-0. Team members for the seventh grade team include (kneeling) Max Miller and Lance Schwoegler, (standing l. to r.) coach Rebecca Hebda, Slade Scheithauer, Ty Niemi, Lucas Cook, Kylan Bartelt, Blake Henderson, Cayden Leonhard, Dene Zuleger, Josiah Mann and coach James Cook.

Rib Lake Middle School’s eighth grade boys basketball team includes (front l. to r.) Will Johnson, Briley Leonhard, Riley Johnson, Jack Jensen, David Pichea, (back) coach Rebecca Hebda, Jackson Schutt, Jeremy Wiitala, Royce Treffinger and coach James Cook.SUBMITTED PHOTOS