Morning State Spors Briefs: State wrestling tournament starts this afternoon

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MADISON - The state individual high school wrestling tournament begins this afternoon at the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Over 200 grapplers will square off in Division-One, and 168 in each of two other divisions. Burlington, Bay Port, and Kaukauna have the most competitors in Division 1 with eight each. Ellsworth and Sparta each have seven qualifiers in Division 2. And Random Lake leads Division 3 with nine. There are four wrestlers who are going for the third state titles – seniors Riley Knops and Austin Moe, both of Glenwood City – senior Jake Morrissey of Oconto Falls, and junior Jens Lantz of Ellsworth. Preliminary matches and quarter-finals will take place today starting at 3 p.m. and tonight. Semifinals take place Friday night and the finals in all three divisions take place on Saturday starting at 6 p.m.

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The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team closed out its home schedule with a 64-53 victory over Illinois-Chicago last night. It’s been a rough year for the Panthers and their coach Rob Jeter, as the victory put them at just 3-12 in Horizon League play. But they held the Flames to 35-percent shooting, and Jeter says his players have shown pride-and-passion in spite of all their troubles. UWM led by double-digits in the second half, and Illinois-Chicago got to within five with two minutes left. But the Panthers responded by making 9-of-10 free throws in the final 63 seconds to put the game away. Senior guard Paris Gulley scored 17 points for a Milwaukee team that shot 45-percent both overall and from three-point range. Gary Talton had 13 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for Illinois-Chicago, which fell to 6-8 in the Horizon League and 15-12 overall. UW Milwaukee is now 7-22 overall. They’ll play at Indianapolis on Saturday in a Bracket Buster game.

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The Marquette University women’s basketball team lost at Saint John’s, 67-61 in Queens, N.Y. It was a tight game until the Red Storm pulled away with an 8-0 run midway through the second half. Marquette’s final lead came with 11:05 left, when Arlesia Morse made a lay-up. Shenneika Smith scored four points during Saint John’s decisive run, and she led the Red Storm with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Morse led the Golden Eagles with 18 points. Sarina Simmons had 16, and she became the 22nd player in Marquette history to score a-thousand points for her career. Saint John’s improved to 8-4 in the Big East and 14-10 overall. Marquette fell to 4-9 in the conference and 12-14 overall. They’ll play at Providence next Tuesday night. Tonight, the UW-Milwaukee women are at Valparaiso. And the UW-Parkside women-and-men both host Saint Joseph’s.

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There was only minor upset last night among nine makeup games in the state boys’ high school basketball regionals. Ninth-seeded Kiel eliminated Number-eight North Fond du Lac 47-43 in a Division 3 match-up. In Division 5, top-seeded Elmwood had no trouble defeating No. 16 Granton 83-36. That means all eight No. 1 seeds in D-5 are advancing to the second round. There are now 64 teams left in each of the five divisions. The regionals resume tomorrow night.

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The top four seeds will square off tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the WIAC women’s basketball tournament. Third-seeded UW-Stevens Point and No. 4 Superior advanced last night with victories in their first-round games. The Pointers eliminated Eau Claire 67-57 at home. Liz Althoff had 15 points and seven rebounds for Stevens Point, while Sarah Bingea had 25 for Eau Claire. Superior advanced with a 63-46 home win over River Falls. Connie Urmanski scored 16 for Superior, which will now play at top-seeded Whitewater in tomorrow’s semis. Stevens Point heads to No. 2 Oshkosh. Both top seeds had byes in the opening round.

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Milwaukee Brewers’ left-hander Chris Narveson is one step closer to getting back in the starting rotation. Narveson threw his first full batting practice yesterday, after coming off rotator cuff surgery less than 10 months ago. Narveson said he felt great, and he appeared to have full command of his pitches with no signs of hesitation on the mound. Narveson said he tried to keep the ball near the bottom of the strike zone, because it’s easier to make adjustments there. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz also said he liked what he saw. Narveson is one of four pitchers competing for three spots at the end of the Milwaukee rotation. He only made two starts a year ago before having his operation, which put him out for the season. Meanwhile, veteran right-hander Kelvim Escobar will throw his first bullpen session today. The Brewers have been easing in the 36-year-old Escobar. He has only pitched in one game since 2007, after having a number of shoulder injuries.

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SCORES

WIAA boys' high school basketball regionals

Makeup games postponed from Tuesday night

--Division 3

Ashwaubenon Sectional

Chilton 60, New Holstein 45

Denmark 68, Kewaunee 53

Luxemburg-Casco 69, Southern Door 35

Sturgeon Bay 49, Valders 38

Hartland Arrowhead Sectional

Kiel 47, North Fond du Lac 43

--Division 4

Appleton North Sectional

Bonduel 44, Random Lake 36

Wisconsin Dells Sectional

Bangor 67, Boscobel 50

--Division 5

Menasha Sectional

Hilbert 57, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah 31

La Crosse Logan Sectional

Elmwood 83, Granton 36

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Wisconsin girls' high school regular season basketball

Cudahy 50, Brown Deer 26

Milwaukee Heritage Christian 62, Beaver Dam Wayland Academy 40

Milwaukee Marshall/Juneau 51, Milwaukee Reagan 7

Milwaukee Pius XI 63, Pewaukee 35

Milwaukee Pulaski/Arts 53, Milwaukee North 29

Milwaukee Riverside 77, Milwaukee Rufus King 67

Milwaukee South 52, Milwaukee Bay View/Lifelong Learning 18

Milwaukee Washington 55, Milwaukee Vincent 32

Shorewood 47, Greenfield 33

South Milwaukee 49, Greendale 40

Waukesha North 47, Waukesha West 40

Whitnall 79, St. Francis 55

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, prep, proam, brewers