Afternoon State Sports Briefs: St. Anthony's to play in first-ever state title game

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MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Saint Anthony will play Winnebago Lutheran tomorrow for the Division 3 championship at the state boys’ high school soccer tournament, the first-ever in school history.

Saint Anthony eliminated Oostburg 1-0 in a D-3 semifinal this afternoon in Milwaukee. That was after Winnebago Lutheran of Fond du Lac needed double overtime to get by La Crosse Aquinas 1-0. Aaron Markgraf scored an unassisted goal in the 97th minute, as Winnebago Lutheran improved to 19-5-3 on the season. Bernabe Barba scored on a free kick in the 36th minute, as Saint Anthony improved to 26-3. The Saint Anthony squad is only in its third year of existence. This afternoon, the Division 2 semifinals are being played. Appleton Xavier was up first against Green Bay Notre Dame. And defending champion Mount Horeb was planning to square off against Pewaukee. The Division 1 semis are set for tonight. Kenosha Bradford plays Kettle Moraine. And Brookfield East takes on defending titlist Milwaukee Marquette. Championship games are set for tomorrow in all three divisions.

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The 100th state high school cross country meet will be run tomorrow in Wisconsin Rapids. All six boys-and-girls teams that won state titles a year ago are back to defend their crowns. For the boys, Hartland Arrowhead is going for its third straight Division 1 championship. And Chandler Diffee of Madison La Follette will try to get his second straight individual gold medal. Wisconsin Lutheran goes for back-to-back championships in Division 2, and Ryan McCoy of New Glarus-Monticello goes for his second straight D-2 gold. In Division 3, Darlington goes for its second consecutive team title. And Darlington’s Tyson Miehe goes for a repeat of his 2011 individual crown. On the girls’ side, Hartland Arrowhead will run for its second consecutive team title in Division-1. Dodgeville/Mineral Point goes for its third straight D-2 championship. And Oshkosh Lourdes runs for back-to-back-to-back crowns in Division 3. None of last year’s individual girls’ champions are returning. Molly Seidel of Hartland's University Lake School graduated this past spring, after she became the second runner in state history to win four state titles. Now, her sister Isabel will try to follow in Molly’s footsteps. Isabel Seidel took fifth a year ago, and eighth in the 2010 state meet.

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Green Bay Packers’ receiver Jordy Nelson is listed as questionable for Sunday – which means there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll play against Jacksonville at Lambeau Field. Nelson injured a hamstring at practice on Wednesday. He did not practice today, and coach Mike McCarthy said he plans to have Nelson’s leg tested on Sunday to see if he can go against the Jaguars. Also, nose tackle B.J. Raji did not practice today but he’s still listed as probable for Sunday’s contest. McCarthy said the plan was to have Raji recover today, as he comes off an ankle injury suffered October seventh at Indianapolis. John Kuhn has been ruled out with his hamstring injury from last Sunday. Also, corner Sam Shields remains out with shin-and-ankle injuries, and linebacker Nick Perry is out with a knee injury. Also listed as probable besides Raji are receiver Donald Driver, tight end Jermichael Finley, guard T.J. Lang, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, center Jeff Saturday, and running back James Starks. The Packers will try for their third straight win. Jacksonville hopes to pick itself up off the mat after a 1-5 start.

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Packers’ long snapper Brett Goode has signed a three-year, two-point-seven million dollar contract extension that runs through 2015. His agent, Kevin Gold, tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette that Goode is staying where he belongs. Goode has been a steady performer in his five seasons as the Pack’s long snapper for punts, field goals, and extra points. He was in the final season of a two-year extension before the new deal came along. The contract includes a $325,000 signing bonus.

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The Packers are the best in the NFL in scoring touchdowns in the red zone. In its first seven games, Green Bay found the end zone 16 times in 21 trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard-line. That’s a rate of 76-point-two percent, the highest in the league. Guard T.J. Lang says the Packer offense feels a sense of urgency when it gets down to the red zone. He says it’s not a good feeling to drive 70 yards and come away with three points. Lang says quarterback Aaron Rodgers wants to get the ball in the end zone every time he touches it. Rodgers has completed 72-percent of his passes within the 20 – also the NFL’s best. He has not thrown an interception in the red zone, and all but six of his 19 total touchdown passes have come there. Quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo says Rodgers makes good decisions – and the players on offense constantly remind themselves that it’s much better to score six points than three from within the 20. Fullback John Kuhn says when they settle for a field goal quote, “You feel like you’ve given the other team a chance.”

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The Green Bay Packers can move into a tie for second place in the NFC North Division with a home victory over Jacksonville on Sunday. That would put the Packers at 5-3, the same record as Minnesota after the Vikings lost to Tampa Bay 36-17 in Minneapolis last night. Chicago is 5-1 – and the Bears will hang onto first place in the division, even if they lose on Sunday to Carolina at home. That’s because the Bears have already had their bye week, while the Packers and Vikings have not. Detroit will remain in last place in the North, even if they beat Seattle at home on Sunday. The Lions are 2-4. In the Vikings’ loss, Josh Freeman had three touchdown passes for Tampa Bay – and Doug Martin had over 200 total yards and a pair of scores. The Buccaneers ended a nine-game road losing streak, while the Vikes lost for the sixth straight time to Tampa Bay, dating back to 2001. Adrian Peterson ran for 123 yards and a touchdown in his 30th career 100-yard game for Minnesota – a team record.

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The University of Wisconsin football defense expects to be at 100-percent tomorrow, when the Badgers host Michigan State in their Homecoming game at Camp Randall Stadium. Defensive end Tyler Dippel has recovered from a shoulder injury against Illinois three weeks ago. He has played sparingly since then, but coach Bret Bielema says Dippel can play a full game against the Spartans if he has to. On offense, left tackle Ricky Wagner is questionable with a knee injury which kept him out of last week’s victory over Minnesota. Bielema said Wagner did work out Wednesday and yesterday, but he would take today off. And if he’s not 100-percent when the knee is tested tomorrow, he won’t play. If Wagner can’t go, Ryan Groy is expected to take the left tackle spot – and Robert Burge is expected to be at Groy’s normal left guard post. The Badgers are going for their fourth straight Big Ten Conference victory.

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In Midwest Conference football, Lake Forest will try to stay unbeaten in league play when it hosts Ripon College. Lake Forest is 7-0 with a one-and-a-half-game lead over both Saint Norbert and Illinois College. Saint Norbert is at Beloit tomorrow. Illinois College plays at Monmouth. Carroll travels to Cornell. And Lawrence is at Grinnell. In the Northern Athletics Conference, Concordia-Chicago is 4-0 with a one-game lead over Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia-Mequon. Wisconsin Lutheran plays at Maranatha Baptist tomorrow. Concordia-Mequon hosts Rockford, while Chicago is at Benedictine. In the CCIW, 1-3 Carthage plays at Augustana.

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UW-Oshkosh will try to keep its new-found place at the top of the WIAC football world, when it plays at La Crosse tomorrow. Oshkosh moved into sole possession of first place at 4-0, after upsetting UW-Whitewater last weekend. The three-time defending national champion Warhawks dropped into a second-place tie with Eau Claire at 3-1 – and they fell to 13th in the national D3football.com poll with a 5-2 overall mark. Oshkosh, at 7-0, moved up to sixth in the national Division-Three rankings. Whitewater plays at Stevens Point tomorrow. Eau Claire hosts Platteville. And River Falls travels to Menomonie to play UW-Stout.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team will start the season at No. 23 in the Associated Press media poll. Marquette is nine spots away from the Top-25, after losing high-performing guards Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom last spring. The Badgers lost star guard Jordan Taylor, but a solid front-court appears to have caught at least some interest around the country. The Badgers went 26-10 a year ago – and both Wisconsin and Marquette made the NCAA Sweet 16. Indiana, led by former Marquette coach Tom Crean, is Number-One in the AP pre-season poll. Louisville is second followed by Kentucky, Ohio State, and Michigan.

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Three-time defending champion Aurora has the top seed in the Northern Athletics Conference women’s soccer tournament that begins tomorrow. Aurora and No. 2 Edgewood both have first-round byes – and they won’t play until the semi-finals on Tuesday. Third-seeded Concordia-Mequon will host Dominican in a first-round contest tomorrow. And fourth-seeded Marian will play No. 5 Milwaukee School of Engineering. Those two winners will advance to Tuesday’s semis. The women’s title will be played either next Friday or Saturday. The NAC men’s soccer tournament begins on Sunday. Third-seeded Concordia-Mequon will host Number-six Wisconsin Lutheran. And fourth-seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering entertains No. 5 Edgewood. Those winners will advance to the semi-finals on Wednesday, and will play top-seeded Dominican and Number-two Aurora. The NAC title contest is set for next Saturday. Dominican has won all six conference tournaments since the league was formed in 2006.

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UW-Oshkosh runs for its second straight men’s title, and Eau Claire goes for its sixth consecutive women’s crown, when the WIAC cross country meet is held tomorrow. Platteville is hosting the competition at the Cole Acres Golf Course in Cuba City. Tim Nelson of UW-Stout will try to win his second straight men’s individual title. Christy Cazzola of Oshkosh will try to become the first woman in WIAC history to win three conference titles in a row. Tiffany Speckman of Oshkosh also won three gold medals in the 1990’s, but they were not back-to-back-to-back.

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The Midwest Conference cross country meet will take place tomorrow in Green Bay. Lawrence of Appleton won the men’s title a year ago after 16 straight years of dominance by Grinnell. The Grinnell women still have a title to defend, winning six-of-their-last-eight league meets. Both individual champs from 2011 are back – Same Stevens of Lawrence and Megan O’Grady of Carroll. Concordia-Mequon will host the Northern Athletics Conference meet tomorrow. The Mequon Falcons have won the last two men’s titles, and the last three women’s crowns.

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