By Eric Christiansen
echristiansen@nmpaper.com

The Northfield girls track and field team finished runner-up and Manchester was fourth at Three Rivers Conference Championships Tuesday, May 8.

Maconaquah won the team title with 142 points, followed by Northfield with 86.5, Rochester with 78, and Manchester with 62. Wabash was sixth with 50 points and Southwood was seventh with 40.
 

Nick Wagner signs a letter of intent to attend Trine University while his father Cory (left), and mother Malary look on. Photo by Eric Christiansen. 

By Eric Christiansen
echristiansen@nmpaper.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- Manchester senior football player Nick Wagner will continue his education and football career at Trine University next fall.

Wagner was a first-team All Three Rivers Conference player at linebacker in 2017 and hopes to continue his strong play at Trine.

“I felt like if I was going to sign for football, I wanted Trine,” Wagner said. “I liked the atmosphere there. They cared about the team. They [also] care about your grades. I wasn't just about football.”
 

Peyton Trexler (22), seen here in game action against Manchester, has opted to continue his education and football career with Marian University in Indianapolis. The Paper file photo

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Southwood senior Peyton Trexler remembers the fun he had playing backyard football with his friends as a young child.

“I just found a bond for the sport at an early age,” Trexler said. “I played multiple sports, but I feel football is my favorite. Peyton Manning was my favorite player, and that celebrity status has always been my dream. College football is my favorite.”
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Northfield boys basketball coach Patrick Hopkins tendered his resignation, which was approved by the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County board at its April 10 meeting.

Hopkins discussed his decision to step down recently with The Paper of Wabash County.

“Northfield was my first head coaching job, and I loved it,” Hopkins said. “I gained a lot of experience, and I feel like I helped the program, I helped the community and I helped the kids. But, I don’t think it’s the right fit for me.

“I’m trying to be a coach that really grows a program. I put a lot of time and effort into it. Northfield just isn’t the right program for me.”
 

Joe Halderman signs a letter of intent to continue his football career at Taylor University. Looking on are his parent Kari and Howard Halderman. 

By Joseph Slacian

jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

As a freshman at Northfield High School, Joe Halderman approached coach Brandon Baker and asked what he needed to do to play for the Norse.

“I just want to play varsity,” Baker said Monday, April 16, recalling the conversation. “I told him, ‘We’re going to be short lineman in a couple of years. He said, ‘I’ll do it.’ And that’s how he became a lineman. He just wanted to be on the field.”

The hard work and effort paid off for Halderman, who on Monday signed a letter of intent to continue his football career at Taylor University.
 

By Bill Barrows

I have spent an enormous amount of time researching and analyzing the game of baseball -- the game that I love. I have picked up different pieces of philosophy down through the years from a number of coaches and players, some that I have met, but most I have not met. Baseball is a game of discrete episodes rather than of flow, unlike basketball or soccer or hockey, baseball allows contemplation and conversation and a general awareness of where you are.

Why do we care so much about high level sports? We are more tribal, than we, in our modern vanity, like to acknowledge. We are creatures built----hard wired for primal allegiances. Baseball, as is sport, is junk food for the spirit, a narcotic, opium for the masses who understand it and indulge in it.
 

By Eric Christiansen
echristiansen@nmpaper.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- Manchester proved to be too tough for Wabash as the Squire girls tennis team swept the Apaches for a 5-0 Three Rivers Conference win.

The Squires dropped just six games in singles play with Kelsey Eichenauer leading the way with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles over Lexi Hartley.

At No. 2 singles, Halle Briner also won 6-2, 6-1 over Brooke Irgang, and Lydia Little blanked Bella Carrillo 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
 

Coach Aaron Butcher has a new home, as he announced last week he was leaving his alma mater Ancilla College to take the head coaching job at Northern Oklahoma College -- Enid. Photo provided by Ancilla College. 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

He’s spent the past six seasons building his alma mater’s men’s basketball program into a perennial contender. Now, he’s ready for a new challenge.

Aaron Butcher accepted the head men’s coaching job at Northern Oklahoma College – Enid, a National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Division I school in between Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kan. He leaves Ancilla with a 113-65 record in six seasons.