Morning State Sports Briefs: Wauankee still holds top spot in AP prep football poll

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Waunakee is still Number-One among large schools in the new AP state high school football poll.

The top four are the same as a week ago, with Waukesha West second, Verona third, and Kenosha Bradford fourth. Hartland Arrowhead moved up two spots to Number-five. West De Pere is still the leader among the medium-sized schools. Walworth Big Foot and Kewaskum are still in the two-and-three spots. Platteville moved up one place to fourth, and Wrightstown rose two spots to fifth. Edgar is still at Number-One among the small schools, with Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs second. Lancaster and Colby are now tied for third, and Coleman has moved up two places to fifth.

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Green Bay Packers’ right tackle Bryan Bulaga has a sprained right knee – and coach Mike McCarthy is not sure if he can play against Denver on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Bulaga was feared to have a torn ACL, considering how he sprawled in pain during the first quarter last Sunday at Chicago. But after the game, McCarthy said it was only a bruise. Further tests revealed a sprain. If Bulaga cannot play, Marshall Newhouse is expected to get the start. He played a solid game against the Bears after replacing Bulaga. Meanwhile, McCarthy says he’s not sure about the status of running back Ryan Grant and linebacker Brad Jones. Grant went to a hospital after the Bear game – and it turned out that he bruised a kidney in the fourth quarter. Jones injured a hamstring. McCarthy said he would have more information on both players tomorrow. The Packers are 3-0. The players are off today, while the coaches work on the game plan for Sunday’s contest against the Broncos.

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University of Wisconsin assistant coach Charlie Partridge says he’s standing by kickoff specialist Alec Lerner. The sophomore had two kicks go out-of-bounds in the first half of Saturday’s Badger home rout of South Dakota. Lerner is trying to straighten out a deep hook to the right, in which three of his last nine kicks have gone out of bounds. He’ll need to be more consistent with the sixth-ranked Badgers host number-eight Nebraska on Saturday night. Cornhuskers’ freshman Ameer Abdullah leads the Big Ten with a 42-and-a-half-yard average on his kickoff returns. And he had a 100-yard return for a touchdown against Fresno State. All told, Nebraska leads the conference with a 35-yard kickoff return average. Partridge says the challenge will heighten Lerner’s awareness – and he’ll need to be at his best.

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University of Wisconsin starting safety Shelton Johnson is expected to return to practice tomorrow or Wednesday. That’s what coach Bret Bielema said today, after Johnson hurt one of his calves in Saturday’s home rout of South Dakota. Dezmen Southward had three tackles after replacing Johnson during the 59-10 Badger victory. Bielema said he would not have a problem starting Southward – but if Johnson shows that he can recover from his injury, he’ll start on Saturday night against Nebraska in the Badgers’ Big Ten opener.

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In soccer, a three-time MVP is returning to the Milwaukee Wave. Greg Howes signed a new contract yesterday. He was a player-coach for the Tacoma Stars for three years before he came back to Milwaukee late last season. He played nine previous years with the Wave – and he’s the team’s second all-time goal scorer with 314.

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In women’s soccer, Marquette University edged previously No. 1 ranked Notre Dame 3-2 in overtime on a rainy afternoon in Milwaukee. Taylor Madison scored the game-winner 18 seconds into the OT. The Golden Eagles improved to 10-2 overall, and 3-1 in the Big East.

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UW-Green Bay picked up a 2-1 home victory over Cleveland State. Maddie Drusch made five saves to become the Phoenix’s all-time career saves’ leader with 355. Laura Sandt previously held the record of 352 saves from 1994-through’-97. Corey Arno scored the eventual game-winner for Green Bay, which is now 1-1 in the Horizon League and 3-7-2 overall.

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The UW-Milwaukee women topped Detroit 2-1 at home. Sarah Hagen scored her fourth straight game-winning goal, as the Panthers improved to 2-0 in the Horizon League and 10-1 overall. Hagen leads the conference with 13 goals and 30 points in 11 contests.

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Wisconsin played Michigan to a scoreless tie at Ann Arbor. The Badgers out-shot the Wolverines 23-11. Wisconsin is now 7-3-1 overall, an 2-0-1 in the Big Ten.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team is unbeaten in its last three games, after a 2-1 home victory over Loyola Marymount yesterday. Freshman David Caban scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute, as the Badgers improved 4-3-1.

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The Marquette University women’s volleyball team is 1-0 in the Big East Conference for the first time since 2008. The Golden Eagles were victorious over South Florida 3-1. Ashley Beyer had 18 digs and 16 kills for Marquette, which improved to 10-4 overall.

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The University of Wisconsin lost at home Sunday to Illinois, 3-0. The Badgers had 22 hitting errors, and hit just .133 for the match. Alexis Mitchell had 11 kills, and Anne-Marie Hickey had 14 digs for Wisconsin. The wins puts Fighting Illini into the No. 1 ranking in the nation this week.

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Two Wisconsin anglers placed in the Top-Five at the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Bismarck, North Dakota. Dean Arnoldussen of Appleton took second, and David Andersen of Amery placed fourth. The competition had 40 of the world’s top professional walleye anglers. Dan Stier of Mina South Dakota won the event with a four-day catch of 18 walleye which totaled 69-pounds, four-ounces. His fish were four pounds heavier than Arnoldussen’s. Stier took home the first prize of just over $70,000

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam, prep