Morning State Sports Briefs: Arrowhead still tops large school football poll

• Football

Football

Talk about it

Hartland Arrowhead continues to lead the large school category in the new AP state high school football poll.

Waunakee remains second. Sun Prairie is in sole possession of third after being tied for that spot a week ago. Appleton North and Marshfield each moved up one place to fourth-and-fifth. West De Pere is still the leader in the medium schools. The Top-five are unchanged from last week. Walworth Big Foot is second followed by Wisconsin Lutheran, Plymouth, and Kewaskum. In the small school category, Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs is still No. 1 with Eau Claire Regis second, Lancaster third, Edgar fourth, and Potosi fifth. Those five are also unchanged from last week.

_________________________________________________________________

University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema is not sure whether running back Montee Ball can play on Saturday night, when the Badgers open their Big Ten schedule at Nebraska. Bielema says it’s possible that Ball will practice today, after he suffered a concussion in last Saturday’s home win over Texas-El Paso. It was Ball’s second concussion in two months. The first took place when he was attacked by five men on a street near the UW campus on Aug. 1. Bielema said the senior Ball was evaluated yesterday. He has 360 rushing yards on 93 carries so far this season. Wisconsin and Nebraska both completed their non-conference schedules at 3-1.

_________________________________________________________________

University of Wisconsin junior linebacker Chris Borland was named today as the Big Ten Conference defensive player-of-the-week. Borland had a career-high two sacks in the Badgers’ 11-point home win over Texas El-Paso last Saturday. He also tied a career-best with three-and-a-half tackles for losses for a total of 20 yards. He also tied a career-high with two pass break-ups. And Borland recorded a team-high 12 tackles in Wisconsin’s non-conference regular season finale. Borland is tied for sixth among Big Ten Conference teams with 34 tackles – and he’s tied for fourth with three sacks. The 3-1 Badgers open conference play at Nebraska on Saturday night.

___________________________________________________________________

Milwaukee Bucks’ coach Scott Skiles said his front-court was too small last season – and he hopes the Bucks’ off-season acquisitions will fix that. At the team’s annual golf outing yesterday, Skiles said the Bucks quote, “added some length around the rim. Now, it’s just a matter of trying to put it all together.” Milwaukee acquired veteran center Samuel Dalembert in a trade with Houston, and it signed free agent center and former Buck Joel Przybilla. The Bucks also went for height in the NBA Draft, with its pick of 6-11 power forward John Henson in the first round. Skiles said his team should be able to score well but quote, “We’ve got to get better on the defensive end.” He wants the Bucks to be in the NBA’s Top-10 in total defense this season. The Bucks ranked 22nd last season, giving up almost 99 points a game. Milwaukee also gave up the league’s 16th-highest field goal percentage to opponents, at 44-point-nine percent. The Bucks’ training camp begins a week from today, but most players are already at the training center in Saint Francis for informal workouts.

________________________________________________________________________

The Marquette University men's golf team finished 11th among 15 schools at the Windon Memorial Classic near Chicago. The Golden Eagles had their lowest score in the tournament’s three rounds yesterday with a 306. They finished with 921 for 54 holes – 40 strokes behind the winner, Ohio State. Ryan Prickette was Marquette’s top individual. He tied for 35th at 227.

________________________________________________________________________

The University of Wisconsin men’s golf team took fifth place out of 15 schools at D.A. Weibring Inter-college tournament in Normal, Illinois. The Badgers shot a 50-over-par 902 for 54 holes. Illinois won the event at 18-over. Wisconsin’s top individual was Chris Meyer, who tied for 10th at eight-over-221.

________________________________________________________________________

Anthony Parker of Saint Norbert College has been named the defensive football player-of-the-week in the Midwest Conference. Parker, a junior defensive back, had two interceptions and a half-sack in Saint Norbert’s 28-21 overtime win over Carroll. Monmouth running back Trey Yocum won the weekly league honors on offense, and Grinnell kicker-and-punter Graham Fisher won the special teams’ award.

_________________________________________________________________________

Edgewood College has clinched the Northern Athletics Conference women’s tennis crown. The Eagles easily defeated Aurora and Benedictine by identical 9-0 scores during the weekend to go 11-0 in conference play with one match left. Edgewood won its fifth straight league title, the second-longest of any of its teams.

_________________________________________________________________________

Five UW-La Crosse athletes will be inducted next month into the school’s “Wall of Fame.” They include Norris Thomas, who helped La Crosse win national Division-Three titles in football in 1992 and men’s track in ’93. Others are top women’s soccer scorer Jennifer Tischaefer Ignacio, swimming standout Julie Waterhouse Regan, men’s basketball player John Mielke, and former La Crosse football player-and-coach Larry Terry. All five will be honored at a brunch on October seventh.

_____________________________________________________________________

The University of Wisconsin volleyball team is now 13-2 overall, after losing at No. 24 Illinois Sunday three-sets-to-two. Sophomore Crystal Graff had a career-high 16 kills with nine digs. Senior Mary Ording had a team-high .417 hitting percentage with six blocked shots for the Badgers, who fell to 1-1 the conference. Illinois is also 1-1 in the Big Ten, and 7-5 overall.

______________________________________________________________________

The UW-Green Bay men’s soccer team lost to Gonzaga in double-overtime yesterday, 3-2. Andrew Owenson scored the game-winner in the 110th minute. Nikolai Littleton had two assists, as Gonzaga improved to 4-3. Sam Krenzien and Ahmad Bah scored for Green Bay, which fell to 2-6-1.

______________________________________________________________________

Marquette's women's soccer team improved to 3-0 in the Big East Conference with a 2-0 home shutout at Rutgers. The Golden Eagles out-shot Rutgers 19-to-9. Maegan Kelly and Taylor Madigan scored for Marquette, which improved to 7-2-1 overall.

_____________________________________________________________________

The University of Wisconsin women were shut out by Michigan Sunday, 3-0 in Madison. Nkem Ezurike had two goals for the Wolverines, as they improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten. It was the first time all season the Badgers gave up three scores. Wisconsin fell to 1-2 in the conference and 7-3 overall.

_____________________________________________________________________

Milwaukee Marquette still leads Division 1 in the latest boys’ state high school soccer poll from the coaches’ association. Marquette is the only unbeaten team among the Top-10 at 11-0-2. Middleton is second, followed by Green Bay Preble, Madison West, and Muskego. Waukesha Catholic Memorial remains atop Division 2, followed by Appleton Xavier and Mount Horeb. Racine Prairie continues to lead Division 3, with Sturgeon Bay in second and Green Bay Northeast Wisconsin Lutheran in third.

_______________________________________________________________

Steve Stricker of Madison fell out of the Top-10 in the World Golf Rankings with his 22nd place finish at The Tour Championship. Stricker dropped two places to 12th in the latest World Rankings released this morning. He finished at Number-20 in the Fed-Ex Cup season point standings, after making the final tournament in all six years the Fed-Ex Playoffs have taken place. Stricker is now getting ready for this weekend’s Ryder Cup. He’s one of 12 players on the U.S. squad that will take on a team of European-born pro golfers. The Ryder Cup starts Friday near Chicago.

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, prep, proam, badgers, bucks, marquette