Prescott winter sports previewed

• Johnson

Wrestling Coach Paul Johnson talked to Prescott Kiwanis about the upcoming season for his matmen Thursday. -- Photo by Jason Schulte

Talk about it

PRESCOTT--Prescott winter sports coaches gave a preview of their seasons to Kiwanis Thursday afternoon.

Boys Basketball Voach Nick Johnson is returning two starters off a team that lost to Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau in the sectional semifinals. He said this year’s team will consist of four sophomores, two juniors and four seniors.

Johnson has high hopes for this year’s team and so do others, as the Cardinal boys were picked to win the Middle Border Conference.

“It doesn’t get us anywhere or we win anything for it, but for a kid to get honored before the season starts is pretty neat.”

Like Johnson, Girls Basketball Coach Luke Kjelland is in his second year at the helm and said the second year is a lot easier than the first. Unlike Johnson, Kjelland’s club will have no sophomores on the varsity line-up this year, as it will be a junior- and senior-dominated roster.

He did talk about a promising future, as 10 freshmen signed up, the most he’s seen during his time with the girls basketball program. Kjelland said he likes Prescott’s chances for a top-four spot in the conference, with Baldwin-Woodville as the favorite. The girls fell to B-W as well in their only game so far.

The wrestling team returns eight letter winners, with half winning 20 matches last year. The problem, third-year Coach Paul Johnson said, is replacing three seniors, who combined for 70 wins.

“I don’t know how that first few matches will turn out,” he said. “But, I know I’m not going to measure our season by it.”

Twelve wrestlers are out this year, one more than last year’s group.

Before the coaches spoke, Lauren Bieter was honored as the student of the week. She is a member of the volleyball team, forensics and marching band.

Next week’s speaker is Prescott Police Chief and Kiwanis President Mike Bondarenko. Bondarenko will talk about three things: how one can be drunk after only one beer; how scammers can get your credit card numbers; and homeowners’ right to protect themselves from suspects.

Tags: prescott, prep, wrestling, communities