Sports

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor This year’s version of the annual Allegan Lions Club City Championship tennis tournament—which took place from Monday, July 22, through Friday, July 26—featured a lot of fresh faces.Of the 58 players who participated in at least…

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Competing at the prestigious U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, N.D., last month, incoming Plainwell High School freshman Dylan Nieuwenhuis finished one win shy of being an All-American in the freestyle division.That…

By John RaffelCorrespondent LAWTON – Alyssa McNally is a senior volleyball player at Lawton who has had a productive summerIn the Division 3 state finals, McNally was 28th in pole vault at 7-feet-9 inches.Right now, McNally has been going to…

By John RaffelCorrespondent CLARE – Ava Long enjoyed a strong outdoor track and field season for Clare.Long participated for Clare in the 4×100 relay at the state Division 3 track and field meet.During the season, she participated in the relay…

By John RaffelCorrespondent MCBAIN – McBain Northern Michigan boys soccer coach Taylor Mulder reports he’s had drop-ins three times a week for his players.Drop-ins “are when kids show up and we play, scrimmage depending on how many show up.” Mulder…

By John RaffelCorrespondent LAWTON –Kal Motter was a talented three-sport athlete in track, basketball and football at Lawton.Football was his best sport and Motter will be going to Hope College as a running back.His strengths as a running back, Motter…

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…