Sports Wrapups: Feb. 16

Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall gymnastics

Now is the time to shine for the defending Division 1 state champion Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall gymnastics team.

After a second-place finish in the Nordy Invitational at Mukwonago last Saturday, they will take part in the Southeast/Classic 8 Conference Meet Thursday at Mukwonago.

"We're looking to win this meet and then set ourselves up well (for WIAA sectional and state meets)," said coach Katie Moore. "We have some challenges ahead of ourselves, but it's fun to have challenges.

"We know the bar has been set very high for us (by the powerful Burlington co-op), but it'll still be fun to see if we can reach it."

FMOW scored 145.05 points in the nine-school Nordy Invite as that Burlington co-op turned in a spectacular score of 147.175 in winning the meet. A few weeks ago, Burlington set an unofficial state record with a 148-plus score in a dual meet.

Moore said several good things happened at the invite.

"It wasn't our best meet but it did give us something to work on and look forward to," she said.

Melanie Pearson had the best overall day for FMOW, taking second on floor exercise with a personal best of 9.425 while also earning fifth on balance beam with a 9.15. Shannon Hein was also third on floor with a 9.35.

Greendale/More wrestling

The combo team with St. Thomas More is sending eight wrestlers to a WIAA Division 1 sectional at 10 a.m. Saturday at Racine Horlick.

"Getting eight wrestlers through to sectionals is a great accomplishment, especially with such a young team," coach Robert LaPlante said. "They all did a great job of preparation leading to this tournament, and it showed in their performance."

Jared Rosen came in second at 106 pounds in a regional meet on Saturday at Greenfield. Rosen (14-6 on the season) beat Brett Finley of Horlick, 12-10, in the semifinal. He then lost the first-place match but took second place by rule, because he had already beaten Finley.

Earning third were Jake Rosen (170), Andy Rohde (195) and Bobby Hintz (220). Claiming fourth were Tommy Welch (113), Sam Walton (145), Dustin Donald (160) and Alex Rohde (heavyweight).

They will all compete in Saturday's sectional, with the top two in each weight class advancing to the state individual meet Feb. 23 to 25 in Madison.

Taking fifth and not qualifying were Eric Martinson (132) and Heath Cone (152). Henry Felerski was sixth at 120 pounds. The team finished fourth with 112½ points.

Whitnall wrestling

Anthony Senthavisouk and Mason Howard both finished second to lead five Falcons out of a WIAA Division 1 regional on Saturday into this weekend's sectional.

Senthavisouk (35-10) was the runner-up at 106 pounds, while Howard (44-4) came in second at 145 pounds.

Whitnall's other sectional qualifiers all finished fourth: Evan Olson at 138, John McGee at 160 and Ty Fischer at 170. Olson improved to 30-20, McGee 36-11 and Fischer 21-17.

They will take part in a sectional at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Waukesha West. The top two in each weight class advance to the state individual meet Feb. 23 to 25 at Madison.

Coming in sixth were Blake Leslie (120), Dylan Kellner (126), Zach Price (152), Sam Howard (182), Alex Sterling (195) and Ethan Harycki (heavyweight).

Whitnall tallied 86½ points for sixth place in the regional.

Oak Creek girls basketball

Keeping momentum firmly in hand, the Knights took more steps toward finishing in the top-half of the Southeast with a pair of fairly easy wins last week.

They routed Kenosha Bradford, 65-30, Feb. 7 and then defeated Kenosha Tremper, 43-30, on Friday. With the two victories, the Knights are now 8-4 in league play and 14-5 overall.

They will be at Racine Horlick (0-19) Friday and then visit West Allis Central Feb. 22. Coach Steve Hluchnik spent the first portion of his career leading the Bulldogs.

"We're playing solid defense now," he said. "The kids are working hard and are upbeat. This is an important week for us. Hopefully, it will get us ready for the stretch run."

Against Tremper, the Knights had a 20-12 halftime lead but didn't feel comfortable until a 15-5 third quarter outburst.

"It was one of those games where we were comfortable, but then we weren't," said Hluchnik. "We were never quite in control until the third quarter, then we were able to get up 15 or so." He was very pleased with the efforts of his team's 1-3-1 zone defense.

Tamya Sims led the way with 15 points while Morgan Kokta had 12.

It was an easier day against Bradford, as the Knights broke out to a 21-6 lead and never looked back.

A total of 12 players scored led by Rebecca Running with 12, while Sims had eight.

Greendale boys basketball

After another narrow miss against New Berlin Eisenhower on Feb. 7, the Panthers tipped a hot Greenfield squad, 49-47, on Friday.

The Hustlin' Hawks had come in with four victories in five games, but Greendale took control quickly with a 14-4 first quarter, then held off a Greenfield comeback to win.

Jacob Sisler and Alex Noggle each tallied 10 points, while Matt Habeck added nine points and Shawn Markham seven.

In the earlier contest, Greendale battled the Lions all the way before falling, 48-43. Habeck led with 11 points, including a trio of 3-point field goals, and Noggle put in 10 points.

The Panthers (7-8 in the Woodland Conference and 7-12 overall entering this week) travel to Wauwatosa West (2-13, 2-18) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, then visit South Milwaukee (8-7, 11-8) at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 to close out the regular season.

Greendale girls basketball

Olivia Surita scored 16 points and Taylor DeLong 12 as the Panthers routed Greenfield, 53-30, on Friday in a Woodland Conference contest.

Greendale rolled to a 31-11 halftime lead, then coasted from that point to improve to 7-7 in the Woodland and 7-12 overall.

On Feb. 7, the Panthers stayed with a talented Grafton team for a half but ultimately lost, 58-31. Greendale fell behind 17-7 after one quarter but then steadied in the second period.

Surita, Emily Perszyk and Sarah Kahl all netted 3-point field goals to highlight a 13-4 run that brought the Panthers within 25-20 at the half.

"Defensively, we just picked it up with pressure and got some steals and turnovers," head coach Andrew Schroeder said. "We made some shots and got ourselves back into the game."

Surita scored the first basket of the second half to cut it to 25-22, but Grafton then went on an 18-2 surge that made the deficit 43-24.

"Grafton is just a very good defensive team, and we couldn't hit a shot," Schroeder said. "We couldn't get anything going in the second half."

Surita put in 11 points and Perszyk added seven for the Panthers. Hannah Eichler had 18 points for Grafton, which later downed state-ranked Nicolet on Friday to move to 13-4.

Greendale welcomes Wauwatosa West (7-7, 8-9) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Oak Creek boys swim

The Knights saw their season come to a quiet end when no one qualified for the WIAA state meet from the sectional at Greenfield last Saturday.

Oak Creek scored 163 points for eighth place in the 11-school field.

Top six finishes for the Knights included a fourth from senior Travis Harrison in the 100 butterfly (58.32), a fifth from the 200 free relay team of Harrison and fellow seniors Zach Dlugi, Scott Vieu and Zack Kaestner (1:34.25); a sixth from senior Aaron Sova in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.81); and a fifth from the 400 free relay team of Harrison, Dlugi, Kaestner and senior Kyle Zawacki (3:31.26).

Other scoring finishes included the following: Diving - sophomore Danny Horner, 13th (251.2). 200 medley relay - sophomores Justin Sporleder and Jacob Wnuk, Sova and senior Kyle Hughes, seventh (1:52.7). 50 free - Kaestner, seventh (23.62); Harrison, eighth (23.66); and Dlugi, 16th (24.48). 100 butterfly - senior Jake Howell, 11th (1:04.17); and Wnuk, 12th (1:06.35). 100 free - Kaestner, 14th (53.82); and Zawacki, 16th (54.46). 100 backstroke - Sporleder, ninth (1:02.69).

Whitnall girls basketball

The Falcons opened last week with a 48-33 victory over St. Thomas More on Feb. 6 but then dropped a tough 50-48 decision to Wauwatosa West on Friday night.

Against More, Ann Marie Bay and Ashley Markowiak each tallied 12 points and Rachael Shulta, Elena Busalacchi and Lizzy Menden six apiece.

Markowiak totaled 15 points and Bay 12 on Friday, but it was not enough against Tosa West.

Whitnall, 7-7 in the Woodland Conference and 10-8 overall, visits unbeaten New Berlin Eisenhower (14-0, 17-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and travels to Waterford (9-8) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Oak Creek boys basketball

No style points, no problem, as the Knights found a kindred spirit in Kenosha Tremper Friday, as a 1930s-style game emerged in 2012 with a 28-25 Oak Creek victory.

"Honestly, it was a thing of beauty defensively," said Oak Creek coach Mike Jossie, "and honestly, they were more content to slow things down than we were. They had possessions that lasted 1-1/2 minutes. We just didn't allow them into the middle, despite the fact that they had 6-9, 6-8 kids."

Oak Creek, which dropped a 54-47 decision to Kenosha Bradford on Feb. 7, is now 7-11 overall and 3-9 in Southeast play. They will host Racine Horlick on Friday.

Against Tremper, the Knights took a slow-motion 12-10 lead at the half and were ahead 16-15 at the end of three quarters. Oak Creek had a 23-17 lead with two minutes to go, but the Trojans hit two shots to close the gap to 23-22.

The Knights finally got two free throws from Casey Magyar with 13 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game. The Knights harassed the Trojans just enough to make the last-second three-point attempt difficult.

Magyar had eight points to lead Oak Creek, while Alex Medenwaldt had seven.

Greendale co-op hockey

The team dropped a 4-3 decision to Beaver Dam on Saturday in its regular-season finale.

Jake Hardin scored two goals, one assisted by Philip Miron and Kyle Hoffmann and the second by Kahler Cox and Brian Kennedy. Hoffmann tallied the other goal, helped by Hardin and Kennedy.

Goaltender Jared Hoffmann totaled 25 saves for the squad, which won just two games this season.

Greendale opened WIAA regional action on Tuesday against Kenosha. The winner will take on second-seeded Marquette at 7 p.m. Friday at Eble Park in Brookfield.

- Compiled by Steven L. Tietz and John Rech