SECTION C • AUGUST 22, 2013SPORTSPREVIEW

Photo by Marie ZimmermanSeniors on the Jackson County Central football team are (front, from left): Jordan Biehn, Zach Paulson, Wyatt Livingston, Ryan Brighton, Shadrach Wacker and Mitchell Macek. Back: Brady Place, Christopher Baker, Christian Akers, Nolan Hohenstein, Matt Schmit, Darnell Taylor-Breck and Austin Bell-Pixler.

The Jackson County Central football team got a taste of the state tourna-ment last season and now

Huskies hoping to peak late, make run at MetrodomeJCC football team to rely on veteran linemen early

by DAN CONDONSports Editor

Teresa VanEpps has a problem on her hands.

But it’s one she’s more than willing to handle.

The Jackson County Central volleyball coach simply has too many talent-ed players and not enough

Huskies feature roster loaded with depth, talentJCC volleyball team will run 6-2 offense to maximize depth

by DAN CONDONSports Editor

positions on the court.“There’s a spot being

challenged all the time,” she said. “My 13 ladies, I’m so impressed with them.”

Because the Huskies have a plethora of talent, the team will run a 6-2 of-fense, which allows more players to get onto the court.

“I’ve got hitters and blockers that need to be in the game,” VanEpps said. “It’s a must to run a 6-2.”

The formation will help JCC’s front-row players shine.

“The 6-2 offense allows you to have three hitters up front all the time,” VanEpps said.

Among those hitters is junior Kaylee Burmeister, who led the team with 288 kills last season. Burmeis-ter also had 32 ace serves, 33 blocks and 257 digs last season.

Senior Kenna Bannister and sophomore Sydney Nyborg are also outside hitters for the Huskies.

Middle blockers are ju-niors Sydney Eddy, Sarah Brandt and Alison Benson and freshman Abby Ben-son.

Nyborg was second on the team with 107 blocks last season and Brandt had 25.

Getting the ball to those hitters is the key, VanEpps said.

“If we can’t pass, it doesn’t matter how great our hitters are,” she said. “They’ll never get to shine. The girls realize the ur-gency of passing; that’s the beginning of the game right there.”

Junior Kathryn Nasby returns as the team’s li-bero and the Huskies have junior Megan Edlin and sophomore Abby Brink-man as defensive special-ists.

Their job is to get the ball to the setters, which are senior Shelby Benson, junior Rachel Johnson and freshman Lacey Wacker.

“We’ve got five girls who can play middle blocker, we’ve got three setters that are all good, we’ve got three defensive special-ists that are challenging each other all the time,” VanEpps said. “It’s a good problem to have. It’s really

fun in the gym. They’re really stepping up their game.”

VanEpps likes the idea of the 6-2 offense utilizing more of her players, but said she’ll make a switch if the offense sputters.

“If you have two set-ters that are about the same ability, you don’t have much inconsistency,” she said. “But it’s very difficult to hit off two different set-ters if the setters’ styles are too different. If I feel the need to go to a 5-1, we’ll go to a 5-1.”

But she wants to reward the hard work some of the players have put in during

the offseason.“We’ve got the hitters,”

VanEpps said. “Alison Ben-son, Abby Benson, Syd-ney Nyborg — they’ve all worked so hard and it shows. You’ve got to have them on the court.”

The strong offense has helped JCC’s defense so far, VanEpps said.

“Our blocking: wow,” she said. “We get more touches now than I’ve ever seen. When you’re going up against Kaylee, Kenna and Sydney Nyborg everyday and blocking them often, that’s huge. Our defense is quick too.”

VanEpps said Marshall is

not only the favorite to win the Southwest Conference, but the section and state titles as well.

But that doesn’t mean the Huskies aren’t gunning for the Tigers.

“It’s always a goal to get to state,” VanEpps said. “But if you put too much pressure on that state goal, you can have a 29-1 season and feel like you’ve failed. State is always a goal and we always push for that, but I don’t know how much emphasis we want to put on that. It’s more important to do what we can to get bet-ter every day.”

Photo by Dan CondonReturning letter winners for the Jackson County Central volleyball team are (front, from left): Sarah Brandt and Rachel Johnson. Middle: Shelby Benson, Sydney Eddy, Kenna Bannister and Sydney Nyborg. Back: Kaylee Burmeister and Kathryn Nasby.

See JCC VB on C4

JCC volleyball scheduleHead coach: Teresa VanEpps

8-29 vs. Southwestern United9-3 vs. St. James9-5 vs. Redwood Valley9-7 at Shakopee Tournament9-10 vs. Mankato East9-12 at Luverne9-14 at JCC Tournament9-16 at Spirit Lake9-19 vs. Marshall9-23 vs. Fairmont9-30 at Blue Earth Area10-3 at Windom10-4 & 10-4 at Lakeville North Tournament10-7 at New Ulm10-8 vs. Worthington10-14 at Martin County West10-15 at Pipestone10-25 – 11-2 Section 3AA Tournament11-7 – 11-9 State Tournament

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wants more.The Huskies went 10-3

last fall and got to the state semifinals in the Metro-dome before having their season end.

This season, JCC wants to make it back.

“Your goal is always to win the whole thing,” head coach Tom Schuller said. “That’s our goal again to-day.”

See JCC FB on C4

To do that, Schuller said the team needs to continue to improve all season and be playing its best when it matters most.

“We want to hit our peak when we hit the playoffs,” he said. “We want to make a run again.”

The Huskies will rely on an experienced left side of the offensive line to put points on the board. Senior Matt Schmit returns at left tackle and senior Nolan Hohenstein is back at right guard.

“That’s our bread and butter, the left side,” Schul-ler said. “We’ve got two ex-perienced guys; both have started in some way since their sophomore year. But those guys on the other side can play too.”

The right side of the of-fensive line hadn’t been solidified as of Tuesday because of injuries.

Senior Chris Baker will play center as soon as he returns from an injury,

which Schuller hopes is in time for tomorrow (Friday) night’s opener at St. Louis Park. If Baker can’t go, senior Zach Paulson will play center.

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Senior Ryan Brighton will play tight end and has impressed Schuller

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Photo by Dan CondonMembers of the Jackson County Central cheerleading team are (front, from left): Annie Gee, Bailey Schneekloth, Madison Cregeen, Kassidy Timmer and Kortney Porter. Back: Makenna Donnelli, Josie Horn, Clair Smith, Michaela Vancura, Jayde Price and Aubry Salberg. Missing: Kiana Nyborg.

The Jackson County Central cheer team brings back half its roster from a year ago and has seven cheerleaders who were on the competition cheer team that finished second at state last season.

Returning to the cheer team — which will be on the sideline for all of JCC’s football games this sea-son — are juniors Bailey Schneekloth, Madison Cre-geen, Kassidy Timmer and Kortney Porter and sopho-mores Kiana Nyborg and Annie Gee.

Newcomers to the team are senior Jayde Price, junior Michaela Vancura, sophomores Makenna Don-nelli and Aubry Salberg and freshmen Josie Horn and Clair Smith.

The team went to a camp in Iowa this summer and earned first place for best cheer and second place in extreme routine dance.

Cheer squad brings back six returnersThe Huskies were also named a superior team.

At the camp, Cregeen and Schneekloth were both named all-Americans, an honor given to the top 10 percent of the cheerleaders at camp.

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Gee, Cregeen, Porter, Horn, Price, Timmer and Nyborg were all on the competition cheer team last school year, which came in second place at the MCCA state tournament.

Along with cheering on

the Huskies, the cheer squad is helping coach a clinic for elementary stu-dents that wraps up with a performance during half-time of the Huskies’ first home football game Aug. 30 against Foley.

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The Jackson County Central girls’ cross country team thought it would field a complete team for the first time in two years to-ward the end of last season, but that plan fell through.

This year, the Huskies will not only have a com-plete team all season, but first-year head coach Rafe York thinks the team can do quite well.

The same goes for the JCC boys’ team, which has all but one runner back from a year ago.

Full girls’ squad“It’s exciting to know

we’ll have a team,” York said of the JCC girls. “I’m excited for the girls.”

Freshmen Annika Lille-berg and Jayni Anderson bumped up to varsity the final four races last sea-

Cross country teams looking to move up in the packby DAN CONDON

Sports Editorson and joined sophomore Jadin Bezdicek.

The trio did well before Bezdicek had to miss the final two meets with an illness.

All three are back this fall and are joined by se-nior Samantha Swift, se-nior Oda Kristensen and junior Jade Holthe to form what York thinks will be a solid group of six runners.

Bezdicek is the school’s record holder, having post-ed a time of 15:06 in 2011. Last year, her best time was 16:22.

Lilleberg was the fast-est JCC finisher in all four varsity meets in which she ran, with a personal best of 16:38 in her varsity debut. Anderson ran 16:55 in the conference meet for her best time.

“Annika and Jayni had great years last year,” York said.

Swift ran well in the

3,200-meter run during track last spring and Hol-the pushed Bezdicek dur-ing the 2010 season before giving up cross country the last two seasons.

Considering JCC has six capable runners and just five runners count toward team scoring, the Huskies should be in pretty good shape.

“Our top six looks pret-ty solid,” York said. “We should do OK with the girls. I’ll be happy with finishing in the top half.”

Also competing for the Huskies will be sopho-mores Elyse Johnson and Kaylee Rosenkranz and freshmen Karli Cavness and Rhilynn Luhmann-Reyes.

Nasby leads JCC boysSenior Peter Nasby

emerged as the leader for the JCC boys last season and has nearly his whole supporting cast back. The only graduate is Jordan Snyder, but the Huskies have a good group of run-ners to try to fill that spot.

Nasby had a personal best of 17:54 last season and was below 18:30 four times.

“Peter has been our lead-er so far,” York said.

Senior Jordan Cushman, junior Jack Ringkoband senior Jordan Ringgenberg also return, giving the Hus-kies four veterans to lead the team.

Junior Andrew Torg-erson and sophomores Brenner Scheepstra, Jer-emiah Manwarren and

Matthew Ringkob all ran varsity last year and fresh-man Wyatt Weier ran ju-nior high races. They are joined by seniors Bradley Gustafson, Jack Ziemer and Jeremiah Flatgard and junior Warren Darling.

York said Flatgard has impressed so far, running up front with Nasby during practice.

“It’s a close-knit group,” York said. “They feed off each other and run in a clump.”

York said his goal for the boys is similar to that of the girls: finish in the middle of the pack as a team.

“Realisitically, the mid-dle of the pack is a good place to start,” he said.

Season starts tomorrowThe Huskies open the

season tomorrow (Friday) with a meet in Fairmont. JCC then runs at Mt. Lake next Wednesday and has its lone home meet of the season Sept. 19 at the Loon Lake Golf Course.

The Southwest Confer-

JCC cross country scheduleHead coach: Rafe York

8-23 at Fairmont8-28 at Mt. Lake9-5 at Tri City United9-12 at Worthington9-19 Home (at Loon Lake Golf Course)9-24 at Slayton10-3 at Fairmont10-8 at Adrian10-15 SWC Meet (at Worthington)10-24 Section Meet (at Adrian)11-2 State Meet (at Northfield)

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Photo by Dan CondonReturning letter winners for the Jackson County Central cross country team are (front, from left): Jeremiah Manwarren, Jadin Bezdicek, Annika Lilleberg, Jayni Anderson and Brenner Scheepstra. Back: Peter Nasby, Jordan Ringgenberg, Jack Ringkob, Andrew Torgerson, Matthew Ringkob and Jordan Cushman.

ence meet is Oct. 15 in Worthington and the sec-

tion meet is Oct. 24 in Adrian.

C3 Thursday, August 22, 2013Sports Preview

Photo by Dan CondonReturning letter winners for the Southwestern United volleyball team are (front, from left): Kailey Wendland, Alisa Carlson, Autumn Hinkeldey and Marque Loeschen. Back: Andrea Hinkeldey, Courtney Place, Sarah Schmid, Rachel Mathias, Hailey Schumacher and Kristin Liepold.

Wildcats looking to build off 24-win seasonSWU volleyball team returns 10 players from team that nearly made it to state tournament

by DAN CONDONSports Editor

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SWU volleyball scheduleHead coach: Christine Malm

8-29 at Jackson County Central9-3 vs. Worthington9-5 at Edgerton9-6 & 9-7 at SMSU Tournament9-10 vs. Pipestone9-12 vs. Southwest MN Christian9-17 at Hills-Beaver Creek9-24 vs. Mt. Lake Area9-26 at Fulda9-28 at Blue Earth Tournament10-1 vs. Adrian10-3 vs. Murray County Central10-7 at Harris-Lake Park10-8 at Red Rock Central10-10 at Westbrook-Walnut Grove10-11 & 10-12 at SMSU Tournament10-14 vs. Ellsworth10-25 – 11-2 Section 3AA Tournament11-7 – 11-9 State Tournament

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The Southwestern Unit-ed Wildcats were within shouting distance of the state tournament last sea-son and hope to do even better this fall.

SWU won 24 matches last season and lost 3-2 to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the sub-section finals.

Making it at least that far is one of the goals as

the Wildcats begin a new season.

“We want to build off last year,” head coach Chris-tine Malm said. “We have a team goal of making it to the section finals and being conference champions.”

To do so, the Wildcats will rely on an experienced squad that includes 10 re-turning letter winners.

“As a whole, we have a lot of returners, so they know what to expect,” Malm said.

That’s because Malm enters her second season as head coach of the Wild-cats, which she said should help SWU get off to a better start than their 4-4 mark a year ago.

“The first week last year we had a lot of adjusting,” she said. “This year, we both know where to set the bar.”

Malm said her squad should be successful offen-sively, led by junior middle hitter Courtney Place.

“Offensively the peo-ple who swing at the ball swing hard,” Malm said. “They’re not afraid to put the ball away.”

Place led the Wildcats with 421 kills last year and junior Rachel Mathias had 157 kills. Junior Andrea Hinkeldey hammered 99 kills and junior Kailey Wendland had 61.

Also playing in the front row will be junior Sarah Schmid, senior Kristin Liepold and junior Katy Henkels.

S o p h o m o r e H a i l e y Schumacher will play set-

ter for the Wildcats, with seniors Alisa Carlson, Au-tumn Hinkeldey, Sonja Pe-ters and Marque Loeschen in the back row.

Along with her team-high 421 kills last season, Place added 51 ace serves, 89 blocks and 294 digs.

Andrea Hinkeldey had 32 ace serves, 76 blocks and 137 digs last year and Autumn Hinkeldey had 20 aces and 127 digs a year ago. Carlson had 91 digs and Liepold had 28 last season.

While Malm expects her team to be strong offen-sively, she said it still needs to work on setting up the

offense.“Serve receive, serve

receive, serve receive,” she tabbed as the area that needs to improve the most for the Wildcats.

But Malm likes what she’s seen so far in the practice room, where the Wildcats have already im-proved in that department.

That will help as the Wildcats face a tough non-conference schedule be-fore opening Red Rock Conference play.

SWU opens the season Aug. 29 at Jackson County Central and has its home opener Sept. 3 against Worthington. Both teams

are ranked in preseason polls, but Malm said that should help prepare the Wildcats for a tough con-ference schedule.

The team to beat in the conference, Malm said, is again Southwest Minne-sota Christian, which has to come to Okabena this fall. The Wildcats host the Eagles Sept. 12 as part of “Meet the Wildcats” night.

SWU’s first conference match is Sept. 5 at Edg-erton.

Malm is assisted by Lyn-sey Fast, who is also the C-squad coach. Brittany Hassing is the junior high coach for the Wildcats.

Photo by Dan CondonReturning letter winners for the Southwestern United football team are (front, from left): Marcelo Esqueda, Hunter Timko, Skyler Sievert, Christian Mariscal, Levi Taylor and Angel Esqueda. Back: Jake Getzel, Dakotah Schmid, Jon Hussong, Jordan Hall, Austin Milbrath and Branden O’Connor.

The Southwestern Unit-ed football team will rely on returning linemen in an attempt to improve on the two wins it posted in nine-man football a year ago.

SWU has just 24 players on its roster and only four of those are seniors.

Despite a lack of num-bers, co-head coaches Jeff Drent and Jason Fisher have some experience back on the offensive and defen-sive lines.

“We’ve got some good kids coming back with experience on the line,” Drent said. “We have a lot of kids that lettered, so that

Returning letter winners to lead Wildcat football teamSWU short on depth, but has experience on lines

by DAN CONDONSports Editor

know what it’s all about.”Returning letter winners

for the Wildcats are seniors Levi Taylor, Skyler Sievert and Christian Mariscal; ju-niors Hunter Timko, Jake Getzel, Dakotah Schmid, Jon Hussong, Jordon Hall, Austin Milbrath and Bran-den O’Connor; and sopho-mores Marcelo Esqueda and Angel Esqueda.

Mariscal, Milbrath, Hus-song, Marcelo Esqueda, Angel Esqueda, senior Derek Durst, sophomore Matthew Poppe and fresh-man Caydon Loeschen are all competing for time on the offensive line.

They’ll block for run-ning backs Taylor, Getzel, Hall and freshmen Gage Dronen and Kurt Ober-moller.

Taylor, Timko, junior Josh Radke, junior Garrett Schumacher, sophomore Nick Altman, freshman See SWU FB on C4

Braden Sipe and fresh-man Hunter Zins will all play tight end and Sievert, O’Connor, sophomore Brady Haberman and freshman Diego Torres all play wide receiver.

Schmid will likely play quarterback, but could also see time at receiver and running back.

Drent and Fisher said the Wildcats will be a run-first team, particularly after their original quarter-back quit during the first week of practice.

“We were going to any-way,” Drent said of running frequently.

The Wildcats will rely on a powerful running attack with hopes of picking up a few yards at a time.

“We have a lot of north and south runners,” Drent said. “Hopefully they’ll get us 3 yards every time.” On defense, the Wildcats

will have Durst, Mariscal, Milbrath, Hussong, Rad-ke, Schumacher, Altman, Poppe, Loeschen and Zins all competing for time on the line.

Linebackers are Taylor,

Sievert, Timko, O’Connor, Getzel, Hall , Schmid, H a b e r m a n , M a r c e l o Esqueda, Angel Esqueda, Sipe, Dronen and Ober-moller.

Torres and Haberman

will see time in the defen-sive backfield.

“We’ve got to iron out some positions,” Fisher said. “A lot of things are up in the air right now.”

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SWU football scheduleHead coaches: Jeff Drent and Jason Fisher

8-30 at Nicollet9-6 at Granada-Huntley-East Chain9-13 vs. Fulda9-20 vs. Mt. Lake Area9-27 vs. Edgerton/Ellsworth10-4 at Hills-Beaver Creek10-11 vs. Westbrook-Walnut Grove10-16 at Renville County West10-22 – 11-1 Nine-man Section Tournament11-9 – 11-29 State Tournament

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SWU cross country scheduleHead coach: Les Knutson

8-23 at Fairmont9-5 at Tracy9-9 at Marshall9-12 at Worthington9-16 at Windom9-19 at Jackson (Loon Lake Golf Course)9-24 at St. James10-3 at Fairmont10-8 at Adrian10-14 Red Rock Conference meet (Slayton)10-24 Section Meet (at Adrian)11-2 State Meet (at Northfield)

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Part of that is for the team to come up with its “orange,” a list of three things the team can do as a whole to get better every day.

“I went to a mental toughness seminar and one of the things talked about is ‘What is your orange?’ ,” VanEpps said. “ Those three things have to be done by everybody on a daily basis and are going to help you in the future.”

VanEpps said the team hadn’t come up with its list as of press time, but examples might be as simple as giving up pop during the season to boost energy

throughout practice and matches.

Whatever those three things might be, VanEpps and the Huskies hope it can help the team reach its goal of conference and section titles.

The trek toward those goals starts next Thursday when the Huskies open at home against Southwest-ern United. The big Mar-shall match is on tap for Sept. 19 in Jackson.

VanEpps is assisted at the varsity level by Deidre Wierson, who is also the B-squad coach. Mallory Rudolph is coaching the C squad, with Mindy Rowe and Nathan Boller at the middle school level.

JCC VB: JCC has depthContinued from C1

already.“He’s had a great off-

season,” Schuller said of Brighton. “He’s made a great transition to tight end.”

While the line has some veteran players back — which Schuller said is a “good place to start” when putting a team together — the skill positions will fea-ture some new faces.

Senior Shadrach Wacker will take over under center, with junior Joe Brinkman the backup.

Junior Paden Moore, sophomore Keegan Moore,

JCC football scheduleHead coach: Tom Schuller

8-23 at St. Louis Park8-30 vs. Foley9-6 vs. Redwood Valley9-13 at Pipestone9-20 vs. Luverne9-27 at Marshall10-11 vs. Windom10-16 at Worthington10-22 – 11-1 Section 3AA Tournament11-8 – 11-29 State Tournament

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junior Luke Norland and senior Mitchell Macek will all see time at running back.

Playing receiver will be senior Darnell Taylor-Breck, junior Scott Christo-pher, junior Andrew Hesse and sophomore Ryan Salz-wedel. Junior Zach Holm will see time as a running back and receiver.

Paden Moore is the most experienced running back returning, having gained 318 yards last season while scoring nine touchdowns. Holm rushed for 170 yards and two scores a year ago.

JCC FB: Offensive line is team’s strength earlyContinued from C1

Both coaches like the way their team has prac-ticed so far this season.

“They’re very coach-able,” Fisher said. “They work hard.”

The two coaches said the goals for the season are to “be competitive” and “have fun.”

The Wildcats open the season Aug. 30 at Nicollet.

SWU FB: Line strengthContinued from C3

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Numbers are up for the Southwestern United cross country team and head coach Les Knutson hopes the trend continues.

SWU has 18 runners, with nearly all freshmen or younger. That gives Knutson hope for a bright future, because the current runners have talent.

The girls return eighth-graders Rachel Salentiny and Makayla Edwards, who both finished well at the section meet last fall. Eighth-grader Brianna Preston also ran well last season, as did eighth-grad-er Cheyenne Schaffer.

Joining those four are eighth-graders Lynnette Coronado and Vanessa Juarez-Perez and seventh-grader Jaylyn Lubben.

Knutson hopes Salentiny and Edwards can lead the Wildcats to some strong finishes this fall.

“With two good lead run-ners like that, that helps,” he said. “Our ultimate goal would be to make the top six in the section meet.”

The SWU boys could field a full varsity and ju-nior varsity team this year.

Numbers up for WildcatsSenior Walker Crocker

is the lone senior and is joined by freshmen Logan Knutson, Mic Ostegaard, Derek Rossow and Jacob Rossow; eighth-graders Tyler Brunk, Brett Mueller and Ben Sheldahl; seventh-graders Carlos Juarez-Per-ez and Christian Juarez-Perez; and sixth-grader Nathan Sheldahl.

Logan Knutson did well in junior high races last year, finishing in the top four seven times. His dad and coach said the tough part will be making the jump from one-mile races to a 5K run.

Coach Knutson said with Logan Knutson and Brett Mueller leading the way, the boys can have a decent varsity team this year and going forward.

“I hope we can keep these kids interested,” he said. “In two years we could be pretty good. We’ll continue to take a step in the right direction.” The Wildcats will compete in varsity and junior high races throughout the year, starting with a meet tomor-row (Friday) in Fairmont.

Schuller said the Hus-kies will be a running team, with the option playing a big part of their offense.

“It always starts with the veer,” he said. “But we’ll play some power football and we’ve got some stuff out of the shotgun you haven’t seen.”

On defense, the Huskies will run their traditional 4-3 formation and bring pressure when needed.

Matt Schmit and junior Nate Jones will play defen-sive end, with Bell-Pixler also in the mix.

Hohenstein and Brighton will start at defensive tack-le and Horn, senior Wyatt Livingston and junior Free-man Scott will also see time at one of the tackle spots.

The Moore brothers will play outside linebacker for the Huskies, with Paden on the right side and Keegan on the left. Junior Kyle Kapplinger and sophomore Caleb Will are competing for the middle linebacker spot and Schuller said both will see quite a bit of play-ing time.

Hesse, Christopher, Sal-zwedel and senior Jordan Biehn are cornerbacks and Taylor-Breck and Macek will play safety. Backing up the two seniors at safety are senior Brady Place and junior Triston Peterson.

The Huskies face Class 5A St. Louis Park in the opener during Zero Week and play their home opener next Friday against Foley.

Opening against the big-school Orioles and then

playing a tough Foley team the next week will be a challenge, Schul-ler said, but if his team comes out healthy, he’ll be satisfied.

“It helps if you can get through it physically,” Schuller said of opening against two good teams. “If you start losing play-ers to injury, it’s not so great. But we’re looking at it as a positive.”

Because the Huskies open a week earlier than normal — they play just one of 11 games in the state during Zero Week — they have a bye week late in the season.

That comes after playing at Marshall on Sept. 27, giving the Hus-kies some time to rest up and get healthy as the playoffs near.

Along with a hard-working group of play-ers — “The kids have put in an awful lot of work,” he said — Schul-ler is thankful for his hard-working staff of coaches.

Assisting at the var-sity level are Wade Wacker and Chris Nau-mann. Trent Sukalski is coaching the B squad, as is the combination of Charlie Clarksean, Jay Moore and Nolan Schuller. Blaise Jacob-sen and Nate Hanson are C-squad coaches.

“I’m fortunate to have that much help,” Schul-ler said.