Friday's State Sports Briefs: Toon says he'll be ready for UW's opener

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MADISON - The University of Wisconsin football team opens its season next Thursday night against Nevada-Las Vegas at Camp Randall Stadium. And senior Nick Toon – the Badgers’ Number-One receiver – vows to be ready.

Toon missed four games last year due to a couple of foot injuries. This month, he missed a week of practice after his surgically-repaired left foot got hit. But coach Bret Bielema says Toon has performed well since returning to practice on August 18th. He’s made some great catches, and he’s got fresh legs going into the season. Toon’s numbers dropped off a year ago due to his injury.

In his three seasons at Madison, Toon has 107 catches for 1,521 yards and eight touchdowns.

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The Milwaukee Brewers’ division lead dropped to nine-and-a-half games last night. The Brewers were idle, while second-place Saint Louis out-slugged Pittsburgh at home, 8-4. Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer to seal the victory for the Cardinals. And it kept the Brewers’ magic number at 22 for clinching the National League Central. Tonight, Milwaukee will open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. Last time the Cubs played in Milwaukee, the Brewers were third place in the Central, a half-game out. Since then, the Brewers went on the biggest one-month tear in their history, winning 24-of-29 games. Manager Ron Roenicke credits the starting pitching – especially right-handers Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, both of whom came to Milwaukee last winter. Also, the Brewer offense has had more timely hits. Meanwhile, the Cubs continue to struggle. They lost three-of-four to Atlanta this week at Wrigley Field, including an 8-3 defeat yesterday. Chicago committed four errors in that game. And the Cubs are now 20-and-a-half games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central, 17 games below .500. Left-hander Randy Wolf will start for the Brewers tonight against Cubs’ right-hander Rodrigo Lopez.

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University of Wisconsin women’s hockey star Hilary Knight had one goal and one assist for Team USA in a 13-0 rout of Japan at the Twelve Nations’ tournament in Finland. The Americans are 2-0 in the competition, with a combined score of 25-0. Former Badger Meghan Duggan also had one goal and one assist. And Verona native Amanda Kessel, who plays for the University of Minnesota, had two assists for Team USA. Their next game is against Switzerland tomorrow.

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SCORES

In the Midwest League…

Wisconsin 5, Kane County 2

Burlington 4, Beloit 0

Quad Cities 6, Peoria 1

Clinton 5, Cedar Rapids 2

Dayton 9, Great Lakes 0

West Michigan 1, Lake County 0 in 12 innings

Lansing 5, Bowling Green 2

Fort Wayne 7, South Bend 1

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In Wisconsin high school football…

Almond-Bancroft 43, Menominee Indian 7

Elk Mound 28, Eleva-Strum 0

Royall 37, Alma Center Lincoln 8

Sussex-Hamilton 35, Mukwonago 14

Tags: wisconsin sports, proam, sports