Sports

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor FARGO, N.D.—Winning a championship is hard.Repeating as champion might be even harder.Yet that’s exactly what Plainwell High School wrestling standout Madison Nieuwenhuis had the opportunity to do at the Junior & 16U Nationals last weekend.One year…

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 300 pounds, Allegan junior Sully Garvin makes quite the impression when he walks in a room.He’s also made quite an impression on college football evaluators and coaches.Listed as a three-star…

By John RaffelCorrespondent PAW PAW – Paw Paw football coach Dennis Strey and his Red Wolves have less than a month to go before the practice season officially kicks off on Aug. 12. But there’s still work to be done.“We’ve…

By John RaffelCorrespondent MARION – Michigan Expos 18U team from Marion triumphed over Midwest Pride 18U in Kentucky on Wednesday in the USSSA Great Lakes Nationals tournament.
Michigan Expos 18U, coached by Ryan Raymond of Marion, took the lead late in…

By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Clare’s softball team came off a Division 3 state semifinal finish last month but many players are on summer teams to get ready for next year.Only two seniors graduated and standouts such as Madison Jones,…

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor EUGENE, Oreg.—Be bold. Be strong. For the Lord your God is with you.Those lyrics are from the the worship song “Be Bold, Be Strong.” And those are the words that were playing in Hannah Antkoviak’s mind…

By John RaffelCorrespondent MATTAWAN – Matt Novak enjoyed his senior golf season for Mattawan High School.“It went great,” he said. “It was a good season, a fun golf season. Fortunately the team didn’t qualify for state but it was fun.…

By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Clare’s softball team had a memorable season which led the Pioneers to the state Division 3 semifinals where they lost 1-0 to Ottawa Lake Whiteford.Among the key reasons for the Pioneers’ success was the play…

By John RaffelCorrespondent MARION – Georgia Meyer was an extremely successful athlete at Marion in sports such as softball, volleyball and basketball before graduating in 2023. But this most recent season she had a unique and successful career on the…

By John RaffelCorrespondent Finn Carlin was among the four Gobles freshmen who placed at their sports respective state championships.The others were Libby Smith, Daisy Estrada, and Lauren Shaffer.Carlin placed a school best third place at the MHSAA Wrestling State Finals.1-…

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor OTSEGO—Honesty. Trust. Accountability.Those are Damien Ross’s three core values. And those are the values he hopes to instill in the football players at Otsego.Ross was recently named head coach of the Otsego varsity football team after…

By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Junior infielder Ryan Louch from Clare earned all-state honors from the Michigan High School Coaches Baseball Association and for good reason.Louch played a huge role in the Pioneers drive to district and regional baseball championships…

By John RaffelCorespondent MARION – Marion softball coach Ryan Raymond is coaching a Michigan Expos summer team which was in action last weekend in a Traverse City tournament.Raymond’s team includes his daughter Malley Raymond and seven girls from Evart plus…

By John RaffelCorrespondent PAW PAW – It’s the middle of summer and typically high school sport teams stay active with open gyms, camps and many other activities.Paw Paw baseball coach Derek Vanderburg is coming off a very successful spring season…

THREE RIVERS — A key contributor to the Three Rivers softball team’s success received a glowing honor yesterday.Senior first baseman Ava Forman was named First-Team All-State in Division 2 by the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Tuesday. She was…

By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Ivy Russell had a solid year for a Clare soccer team which finished as runners-up this season in the Divison 3 district tournament.“The key is communication and talking to each other,” Russell said, adding after…

By John Raffel MARION – Coach Ryan Raymond’s Eagles finishes the season recently at 14-15.“We had a lot of good players on the team,” he said. “We didn’t have that dominant pitching that we’re used to. We had some girls…

By Jason WesseldykSports EditorDuring his tenure as head coach of the Fennville varsity boys basketball team, Ty Rock had a front-row seat for the rivalry between the Blackhawks and Saugatuck.Now, he’ll experience that rivalry from the other side.Rock is the…

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Have you ever dreamed of donning the red, white and blue and representing the United States in the Olympics?Allegan native Hannah Antkoviak has. And later this month, she’ll head to Eugene, Ore., for the opportunity to…