Sauk Prairie’s year in sports

Thrilling victories. Magnificent individual performances. Memories to last a lifetime. These are the norm inside the sports programs at Sauk Prairie High School. But there was nothing normal about 2020. The sports world came to a screeching halt on March 12 due to COVID-19. And it wasn’t until August that sports started again at Sauk Prairie. In that time, there were plenty of memorable moments. There was also a lot of waiting, watching and wondering. Over the next two weeks, I’ll examine the top-10 sports stories of the year. Stories 6-10 will run this week, and stories 1-5 will run next week.   6. Wrestlers shine at state Marcus Hankins made the final wrestling appearance of his prep career a memorable one. Hankins finished fifth at 182 pounds at the 77th annual WIAA Division 1 individual state wrestling tournament at the Kohl Center in late February. “I met my goal for the season,” Hankins said afterwards. “I wanted to get as high on the podium as I could. It was amazing. My last high school tournament, a state tournament down here in Madison. It was a great environment, a great experience. I’m grateful for it.” Hankins (45-8) met sixth-ranked Fort Atkinson junior Thomas Witkins (41-9) for the second time in three days in the fifth-place match and pulled out a 3-2 victory to go out a winner. “It feels great,” Hankins said moments after accepting his fifth-place medal. “All of my hard work paid off. I came down to the Kohl Center and made it on the podium.” Ranked fifth in the WIwrestling.com Division 1 poll, Hankins had to go the distance to win his first two matches and make the state semifinals for the first time. After losing his only match a year ago in his state debut, Hankins came in determined to take it to the limit in his final tournament. “This whole season I thought I’ve wrestled the best I’ve wrestled,” said Hankins, who plans to attend UW-Eau Claire to study Kinesiology and compete in wrestling next year. “So when I qualified for the state tournament, I knew I was going to be ready to go.  “This is what I was training for all season, to be on that podium at the Kohl Center with hundreds of fans watching me.”  On day one of the state tournament, Hankins got off to a terrific start when he pulled out a 10-9 decision over eighth-ranked Cedarburg senior Jacob Steidinger (31-7) in the preliminary round.  “I got to my offense early,” Hankins said. “He turned me once in the second period, but after that it was all me.”  Hankins then secured a berth in the semifinals with a 5-3 decision over Witkins in the quarterfinals. First-year head coach Matt Gaffney, a former state champion for the Eagles, said Hankins came in with a different mind-set from a year ago. “Marcus was very much composed this year,” Gaffney said. “You could tell last year the nerves were getting to him. This year he was a lot more confident and talkative. He was real calm, cool and collected.” Hankins met second-ranked Hartland Arrowhead junior Mason Diel (38-2) in the semifinals. Diel had recorded two early pins in his first two matches, but Hankins made him go the distance before Diel pulled out a 6-1 victory. Diel then went on to defeat Baraboo’s John Gunderson 9-7 for the state championship, “It was a very good match,” Gaffney said. “That kid’s a tough wrestler. (Diel) was tough on top and good on his feet, and Marcus battled him tough. To wrestle six minutes with a guy like that, I was happy with the way Marcus wrestled.” Diel got an early takedown before Hankins earned an escape point to open the second period. Diel then earned a takedown to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. Hankins gave up another takedown, and Diel maintained control the rest of the match. “Any time you’re scoring points, you’re in the match,” Hankins said. “It was just unfortunate that I couldn’t score as much as he could.”  That sent Hankins to the consolation round where he lost a major decision, 12-3, to fourth-ranked Burlington senior Qwade Gehring (42-6). However, Hankins met a familiar foe in Wilkins in the fifth-place match. Hankins pulled out his fourth victory over Witkins this season and sixth in six matches during their prep careers. “He’s a tough competitor,” Hankins said of Witkins. “He’s only a junior, so he’ll be happy I’m gone next year. I knew I had to keep wrestling and finish strong.” Gaffney was proud of the way Hankins responded Saturday afternoon after losing a chance to place as high as third. “It’s tough to beat a kid who’s really good, and that was four times this year,” Gaffney said of his win over Witkins. “To go out with a win his senior year was awesome for Marcus. It was my first state place-winner as a head coach. It was an emotional moment. “Marcus had a great tournament. To come home with some hardware, it was a tremendous season. He’s a terrific kid. He listens well. He’s a team leader, a team motivator. We’re definitely going to miss him next year.” Senior 220-pounder Simon Patterson capped his prep career winning a match at the state tournament before he was eliminated in the consolation round. Patterson, ranked ninth, got off to a great start, pinning seventh-ranked Mukwonago senior Caleb Willmann (43-9) in 2:47 in their preliminary round match. “I honestly didn’t think I’d make it that far. That kid was pretty good,” Patterson said of Willmann. “He was definitely no pushover. “To get to the state tournament was a win. To get a win at the state tournament was a win. And to get a pin at the state tournament was a win. So I was happy with my performance.” But Patterson — who enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard last year and is planning on a career as a heavy equipment operator — dropped a 5-1 decision to fifth-ranked Ashwaubenon senior Nathan Moynihan (41-5) in the quarterfinal round. “It was 2-1 late, and Simon went for a reversal and the kid threw him on his back,” Gaffney said. “For his first trip down (to state), he was in the right place.” Patterson ended his season in the consolation round when he was pinned by third-ranked Schofield D.C. Everest junior Orion Boe (47-2) in 46 seconds. Gaffney was pleased that the Sauk Prairie kept up its tradition of competing at state. “We’re bringing home a medal,” he said. “That’s a good way to end it. For Simon to get a win in his first trip down here was good, too.”   7. HTL season canceled Brandon Hellenbrand, who manages Middleton’s Home Talent League team, had a hunch this was coming. The same goes for Sauk Prairie skipper Lucas Koenig. As cases from the COVID-19 pandemic rose, the challenges mounted for HTL teams to play their season. Finally on June 26, the league’s executive board voted to call off the season. While teams across the league were disappointed, no one was arguing with the decision. “I do agree with the Board’s decision to cancel the 2020 season,” Hellenbrand said. “Over the last week or so, watching the number of cases grow and hearing from other teams that have played exhibition games and the difficulty they’ve had with following the guidelines, I don’t think there was any way this season could have been played safely.” Koenig, who sits on the HTL’s Board, felt the same way. “In the past two weeks, three teams have acknowledged that players have either tested positive or been quarantined,” Koenig said. “With this in mind it is hard to envision teams completing a season schedule without significant disruptions.” The league, which typically begins in early May, had pushed its start date back twice. As the season neared, though, a handful of obstacles made surging ahead virtually impossible. Among them: • The HTL Board instituted a “3 Strike” rule, meaning if there were three COVID cases throughout the league the season would be canceled. With the season set to start, a third case popped up, ending any hopes there would be a 2020 campaign. “I think it was inevitable that there wouldn’t be a 2020 season,” Hellenbrand said. “We had a good team discussion last week, and as much as guys wanted to play, including myself, when we started to look at the bigger picture on how this virus could spread so easily and affect family members and work and everything else, I think we all came the realization that this season just wasn’t going to be possible and wasn’t the best idea to try and push it.” • The league features 41 teams from across Southern and Southwest Wisconsin. Before the league decided to cancel the season, six teams had already said they wouldn’t play in 2020. • At the time the season was canceled, Dane County was in Phase 2 of the Badger Bounce Back plan instituted by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Until the county entered Phase 3, no baseball fields inside Dane County could be used.  Considering 20 of the league’s 41 teams are from Dane County — and couldn’t play home games — scheduling became a nightmare. In addition, many high schools in and out of the county remain closed due to local COVID-19 guidelines. • Several umpires were also hesitant to work games following the recent COVID-19 outbreak. “With these infections, we also need to be concerned for our players’ families and our fans,” Koenig said. “I think the guidelines established by the league and our ballpark could have kept people safe, but there is always risk.” Teams continued to practice and could hold exhibition games if they chose. But for the first time in the league’s 91-year history, it didn’t have an official season. “We are going to continue to practice once a week so we can get our baseball fix in,” Hellenbrand said. “But taking a risk playing another team at this point just isn’t worth it.” Koenig agreed, and already had one eye on the future. “We have been able to practice and we look forward to playing baseball together in this manner over the next month or so,” he said. “Although the 2020 season did not go as planned, there is no doubt the excitement for 2021 will be high.”     8. Hockey team  enjoys huge year ‘Remember where we came from.’ The motto on the poster for the 2019-20 Sauk Prairie boys’ co-op hockey program said it all. From entering the program after the Eagles were winless in conference play the previous season to making a run at the Badger North Conference title and a berth in the sectional semifinals in their final year, it was a great run for an Eagles’ senior class that won’t be forgotten. However, the Sauk Prairie co-op — which included players from Sauk Prairie, Mount Horeb and Wisconsin Heights high schools — had its season of dreams dashed when top-seeded and fifth-ranked Verona used a four-goal outburst in the first period to record a 6-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Eagles in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal on Feb. 25. “They’re awesome,” Sauk Prairie coach David Lohrei said of his eight-member senior class that played key roles in the turnaround. “It’s just a group of multi-sport athletes, mostly all good students, who took about two-three weeks to buy into what we were doing as freshmen. “By the time they were juniors and seniors, they were pretty much on auto pilot. They were disciplined and hard-working and talented. Even the guys without a lot of talent, we got a lot out of them. There wasn’t anybody, none of those seniors, who didn’t give everything they had.” Cale Rufenacht recorded a hat trick for Verona (23-4-0), scoring a goal in each period and goalie Kaden Grant stopped 36 shots to end the season for visiting Sauk Prairie (21-5-1). “It was a great team,” Lohrie said of the Eagles. “We don’t want to dwell on that loss. “I looked around that (locker) room and said, ‘I can’t imagine anyone coming back next year that wouldn’t start training in April to get ready to play because 20-win seasons don’t come along very often.’ ” Sophomore wing Nick Mast scored twice for Sauk Prairie, which outscored its opponents 170-46 this season. The Eagles had allowed more than two goals in a game only four times entering the matchup against Verona. Verona’s Walker Haessig started the scoring when he converted a feed from Josh Ostig just 20 seconds into the game. Sauk Prairie pulled even at 5:06 of the first period when Nick Mast scored off an assist from senior center Camden Desroches. Verona, which finished with the most goals scored in a game against Sauk Prairie this season, then peppered senior goaltender Jordan O’Connor for three goals in a span of nearly 3 minutes to take a commanding 4-1 edge at the 8:34 mark. The Eagles, though, weren’t ready to concede anything. Freshman Kaden Stracke made his varsity debut, replacing O’Connor in goal, and stopped 22 shots to help hold Verona to a shorthanded goal from Rufenacht at 15:53 of the second period and an open-net goal in the final minutes.  “We could have beaten them,” Lohrei said. “We kept playing. They were up 4-1, but we didn’t quit. We kept coming. We outplayed them after that start.” Nick Mast pulled Sauk Prairie within 4-2 with an unassisted goal at 14:33. But that would be as close as the Eagles would get the rest of the game. Rufenacht scored a short-handed goal with 67 seconds left in the second period to push Verona’s lead to 5-2. Sauk Prairie senior wing Riley Jelinek scored the final goal of his stellar career off an assist from freshman Luke Mast on the power-play 31 seconds into the final period to trim Sauk Prairie’s deficit to 5-3. Rufenacht, though, finished off the Eagles with an unassisted goal at 16:48. While Sauk Prairie was unable to make its first state tournament appearance since 2004, the Eagles’ eight seniors leave quite a legacy behind to build upon. Sauk Prairie was 5-19-0 overall, including 0-10-0 in the Badger North, in the 2015-16 season. The Eagles were outscored 141-39 and shut out in 10 games that year. But the current senior class posted a 62-30-5 mark the past four seasons. While Sauk Prairie was 18-19-3 in conference play during that span, the Eagles finished 7-3 and in second place in league play this season. Coming up short of their goal of a trip to state, though, was still a disappointing way to end the season. “We played great. We put 39 shots on them,” Lohrei said. “If you had told me that we were going to take 39 shots, we were going to win the specialty battle and shut down their power play and score on the power-play, I would have told you there was no way we were losing that game. “We just couldn’t get it done.”   9. Fiene leaves,  Andres takes over Amber Fiene loved her three years as Sauk Prairie’s girls basketball coach. She was excited about the progress being made inside the Eagles’ program. And that’s what made it so tough to step down. Fiene has an infant son, and although it’s rare, children under the age of 1 are at higher risk of severe illness with COVID-19. This is likely due to their immature immune systems and smaller airways, which make them more likely to develop breathing issues with respiratory virus infections. With that in mind, Fiene decided to resign from a job she loved — and a program she once excelled inside of. “(It’s) mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that it brings for this summer, fall and upcoming season,” Fiene said when asked why she’s stepping down. “It is the right decision for my family right now and (my son’s) health is number one. I’m excited to have a little bit more time with him and focus on my family.” Fiene inherited a program that hadn’t produced a winning season since 2009-10. After going 13-32 in its first two years under Fiene, Sauk Prairie turned a corner last winter and went 13-11 overall. The Eagles also won their first postseason game since 2014 last year, downing Portage in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal. “I have loved my past three years of coaching at Sauk Prairie and this will be the first time in nine years that I haven’t been coaching high school basketball,” Fiene said. “What I’m most proud of is the fact that we were able to turn the program around and get it heading in the right direction.  “We created a much more competitive atmosphere, as well as a more inclusive, proud environment for youth through high school girls basketball players and their families. I’m very proud of the girls for working so hard and taking on a new style of basketball this past year as it was a much faster pace and was very demanding of them, especially on the defensive end.” Aaron Andres, an Assistant Principal at Sauk Prairie High School, was named the interim coach for the 2020-21 season. Andres has been involved in the Eagles’ basketball program at both the youth and high school levels the past seven years. Sauk Prairie athletic director Josh Boyer asked Andres to help with the Eagles’ five contact days last summer.  When that went well, Boyer asked Andres to take the job on an interim basis. That will give Boyer a chance to search for his next coach in what’s hopefully a post-COVID environment. “I am really excited to try and put together the best possible season we can have with the strange conditions,” Andres said. “It is a great group of girls and families and I hope we get the opportunity to play.” As for Fiene, don’t be surprised to see her leading a team in the near future. Fiene, a 2008 graduate of Sauk Prairie, ranks as the second-leading scorer in school history. She also earned Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-state honorable mention honors as a senior. Basketball is definitely in her blood. That’s why Fiene said she might return to coaching if, and when, the time is right. “I definitely am open to coaching down the road, but right now am excited to focus on my family and to be present for all the milestones of my son, Maverick, as he continues to grow up so fast,” she said. “My passion for basketball hasn’t died a bit since the first time I stepped foot into a gym, so I think there will definitely be more basketball in my future.”    10. Boerger reaches state XC meet Jack Boerger’s wild and wacky cross country season came to an end on Oct. 31. And what a ride it was. Boerger finished in 44th place at the WIAA Division 1 state meet held at Hartland Arrowhead High School. Boerger finished in a time of 16 minutes, 53.1 seconds. West Allis Hale senior Joshua Truchon won the race in 15:18.3. “It was a great day,” Eagles coach Andy Sherman said. “To have Jack be a part of the state meet was very special. I am so proud of the season Jack and both of our teams had this year. We never knew if we would get a shot at that next one, but we were able to make it through the season and have a representative at the state meet.  “I know I am very thankful that our athletes were able to compete this season and I know they are too. The race format was very different, but it was still great to see Jack competing with the best in our state, especially after such a bizarre year it has been.” Due to social distancing, the race was run in three sessions, with times and finishes combined afterwards. Boerger started strong in his race and was in the top five after the first mile. The field started gaining on him, and by the two-mile mark, Boerger was in 10th place. “He started as he has in all of his races this season, but this time he had others out in the front with him,” Sherman said. Boerger finished his race in 13th place, and when the three races were combined, he finished in 44th place overall. It capped a sensational year in which Boerger was second at the Badger Conference meet, second at the Portage Sectionals and won several invitationals along the way. “I know he is disappointed with his time and he was hoping for a bit higher of a finish,” Sherman said. “I tried to remind him that this is a springboard for the future. He raced the state meet like he had raced every other event he was in this year. Jack didn’t ever settle for being in the back of the pack. He liked to get out front and stay there.  “He gained some very valuable experience to help him the next time he competes at the state meet or any other big meet for that matter. Jack is already motivated to get better and stronger for his upcoming seasons, but I kept reminding him that he needed to enjoy the experience and take it all in. Athletes sometimes forget that since they worked so hard to get to state that they still need to appreciate the opportunity and enjoy it.”