Wednesday State Sports Briefs: UW women's hockey ranked No. 1, open season this weekend

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MADISON - Believe it or not, college hockey will be played in Madison this weekend – and the University of Wisconsin women are ranked first in the pre-season poll from U.S. College Hockey Online.

Mark Johnson’s Badgers won the national title a year ago with a record of 37-2-2. Wisconsin spent 13 straight weeks atop the national polls last year, on their way to their fourth NCAA crown. The Badger women will open their season on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, when they play Lindenwood at the Kohl Center.

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Taylor Edwards of UW-River Falls, Ryan McWethy of Platteville, and Ronnie Blaszkowski of Whitewater have been named the WIAC’s football players-of-the-week. Edwards, a senior running back, rushed for 240 yards and a touchdown in UW-River Falls’ 42-20 loss at No. 22 Trine of Indiana. McWethy, a junior defensive back, had a dozen tackles in a 23-14 loss to then-seventh-ranked Wheaton. He had two-and-a-half tackles for losses. Blaszkowski, a junior DB, blocked a punt which led to a touchdown in Whitewater’s 54-14 home romp of Campbellsville. The WIAC also recognized Tim Nelson of Stout and Ann Tank of Platteville in cross country – Brandon Chmiel of Platteville and Chris Kurth of Oshkosh in men’s soccer – Jessica Ruch of Stevens Point and Sarah Joost of La Crosse in women soccer – Emily Swift of Eau Claire in women’s golf – Rachel Brown of the Pointers in women’s singles tennis – and Sydney Divelbiss and Annie Smith of Whitewater in doubles’ tennis.

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Casey Casper of UW-Whitewater made the national small college Team-of-the-Week from D3Football.com. Casper, a senior defensive end, recovered a fumble which led to a touchdown in Whitewater’s 54-14 home rout of Campbellsville last Saturday. Casper also had a sack for a loss of seven yards.

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Jesse Muldrow of Wisconsin Lutheran has been named the offensive football player-of-the-week in the Northern Athletics Conference. Muldrow had nine carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns in Lutheran’s 42-to-20 win over Minnesota-Morris. One of his scores was on a 66-yard scamper. Ethan Rosen of Maranatha Baptist in Watertown received the weekly honors on defense. Rosen had a pass breakup, a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hurry, and 11 overall tackles against Macalester. Anthony Beres of Rockford was named the league’s top player on special teams. The NAC also gave weekly awards to Dane Zachman of the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Muriel McIntyre of Concordia-Mequon in golf, Jeremy Hardy of Lakeland and Lauren Straehler of Concordia-Mequon in soccer, Kaitlyn Strehlow of Wisconsin Lutheran in women’s tennis, and Torey DeLozier of Maranatha Baptist in volleyball.

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ike Dziewit of Carroll University in Waukesha is the Midwest Conference football defensive player-of-the-week. Dziewit, a senior linebacker, had an interception, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in Carroll’s 49-20 rout of Beloit College. Jacob Gahart of Ripon College was given the league honors for special teams. Gahart, a junior kicker, booted a 45-yard field goal and five extra points in Ripon’s 38-20 victory over Grinnell. Monmouth running back Trey Yocum is the honored player on offense. The Midwest Conference also recognized Brandi Peltier of Ripon in women’s soccer.

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A soccer league coach in Green Bay is due in court this afternoon for the alleged repeated sexual assaults of a 14-year-old girl. 26-year-old Ryan Wolff is an assistant coach for the Green Bay Lightning, an Under-14 team. Police said the girl’s family told officers about the sexual contact on Sunday – and it reportedly occurred over the last week. As of mid-morning, the state’s online court records did not list charges against Wolff. Police took him on suspicion of second-degree sexual assault, repeated sex assaults of the same child, and sex assault by a school staffer.

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The Madison Mallards have been named the Organization-of-the-Year in the Northwoods League. And Madison’s general manager, Conor Caloia, was named the league’s Executive-of-the-Year at the recent fall meetings in Mankato Minnesota. Caloia has been Madison’s GM for the last two years. The Mallards – normally the league’s attendance leader – broke its own records this season with 213,000 fans for an average of almost 63-hundred per game. Northwoods officials said Madison out-drew 85-percent of Minor League teams which are connected with Major League Baseball. Madison’s Warner Park, which is known as “The Duck Pond,” opened a one-point-eight million dollar renovation this year. The Northwoods League has six teams in Wisconsin and 14 throughout the Midwest. They feature some of the nation’s top college talent.

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