New this year at Wabash High School, they are introducing Student Athlete of the Month. Head coaches nominate one athlete from their team that exemplifies one of the following:

*Sportsmanship shown in competition

*Something that displays a positive image for Wabash athletics

*Something that displays good character

This award is sponsored by Harvey Hinklemeyer’s. All winners will be given a $10 gift card and will be honored at the end of the year and presented with a special t-shirt.

by Gary Andrews

The Manchester Squire doubles team of Noah Cain and Branden Scott put their 18-1 record up against Plymouth, the top doubles team in North Central Indiana, falling 1-6, 3-6.

The match started out with two close games in which Noah Cain and Branden Scott had opportunities but lost close games. Plymouth jumped out to a 3-0 lead but Manchester didn’t give in. Scott served many quality points and Cain volleyed well at the net as the duo won the fourth game to go 1-3. Plymouth, however, took the next three games.

Despite losing the set 6-1 and the first three games of set two, the Squire duo went toe to toe with Plymouth. Manchester broke through with 3 straight games to tie the set 3-3.

Eventually, Plymouth won the final 3 games of the set to take the match and advance in the tournament. Cain and Scott end their 1 doubles season with an 18-2 record.

by Gary Andrews

It was the tale of two halves Friday at Wabash as the Apaches out scored Manchester 23-7 in the first half before the Squires shut out Wabash in the second half 22-0 for a come from behind 29-23 win over the Apaches.

With 9:26 to go in the first quarter Chase Dirig would hook up with his brother Grant on a 38-yard scoring strike to take a 6-0 lead and later got a 35-yard field goal from Owen Yeadon to lead 9-0 after the first quarter.

The Squires would close the gap early in the second when Evan Milam scored from 4yds out with 10:27 to play, making it 9-7, but the Apaches responded with two more scores for their first half lead. Chase Dirig scored on a 10yd run, then connected with Trevor Vest on a 25-yard pass play to give the Apaches a 23-7 halftime lead.

Both defenses would dominate the third quarter with Manchester getting the lone score of the quarter when Jacob Casper scored from 23 yards out with 40 seconds left in the quarter and with a two point conversion Wabash still led 23-15 with one quarter to go.

With 9:23 left in the game Lucas Schilling would race 14yds to pay dirt, then hit Milam for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 23. A Wabash turn over kept the Squire momentum going as Lucas Schilling then found Bailey Ness form 20 yards out with a blocked extra point giving Manchester a 29-23 lead which would end up being the final score.

For Manchester Lucas Schilling was 17 of 32 for 215 yards, one touchdown. Jacob Casper rushed 10 times for 67 yards, one touchdown. Lucas Schilling added 9 for 54 yards, one touchdown, Evan Milam 7 for 26 yards, one touchdown. Evan Milam had 6 receptions for 70 yards. Bailey Ness added 4 for 62 yards, one touchdown, Daniel Griese 4 for 4 for 51 yards, Keelan Norwood 2 for 28 yards, Jacob Casper 1 for 4 yards.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Northfield junior high volleyball teams are excited to announce that they will be holding a bake sale as well as a silent auction on Friday, Oct. 17 at the last home varsity football game against North Manchester.

The teams will be set up around 6 p.m., just through the entrance to the game. Half of the funds raised will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, based in Indianapolis, and the other half will be donated to Hands of Hope, which gives safe shelter to victims of domestic violence in both Wabash and Grant counties. Pink and purple ribbons will be for sale at the table along with some other fun things.

“The teams are very excited to be doing this for both of these great causes. The 8th grade coach, Leslie Stauffer, and I know what it’s like to help raise funds/awareness for victims of domestic violence because we were both active members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and our philanthropy helped raise awareness for women and children of domestic violence situations. We, and a lot of the girls, have known someone who has also been a Breast Cancer victim. Since October is both Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Awareness month, we thought that this bake sale and silent auction would be a great way to contribute to each of these causes. Because we were able to get enough donations from local businesses in Wabash, we now have two silent auction baskets up for grabs! We hope to see many of you at the game. Don’t forget to stop by the bake sale table to grab some yummy treats,” said Brooke Griffey, 7th grade volleyball coach at Northfield High School.

by Gary Andrews

All four county schools will be represented in next Saturday’s cross-country regionals as several teams and individuals had a great day at the sectional. Northfield, Wabash and Southwood were at the Marion sectional while Manchester was at Culver.

In each race the top five teams advance to the regional plus the top ten runners who were not on a qualifying team.

At Marion the day got started with the girls race with Northfield’s Jenna Halderman winning the race in 18:38.5 to lead the Lady Norse to a third place team finish.  Brittany Sloan placed 7th,  Karla Singer 11th,  Jacklyn Peas 18th,  Natasha Leland 20th, Olivia Thompson 23rd, Attie Schuler 43rd.

Southwood was fourth behind a 10th place finish from Emily Lehner.  Ellie White was 24th,  Haley Heath 27th,  Kassidy Atwood  39th, Taylor Heath 47th,  Brooke Elliott 52nd,  Emma Peebles.

Wabash had an incomplete team with  Carli Henderson leading the way in 49th.  Chelsea Archer was 55th, Courtney Davis 60th,  Angela Davis 67th.

At Culver in the girls race if anyone ever wondered how important the sixth and seventh runners are they found out as Manchester tied Tippecanoe Valley for the fifth and final qualifying spot and winning the spot because Squire sixth runner Sophia Reifeltshammer beat Valley’s sixth runner by seven spots.

Leading Manchester was Clara Burdette in 22nd place. Kaitlyn Blum was 29th, Emily Lynn 30th, Natasha Niccum 32nd, Alexis Vernon 41st, Sophia Reifeltshammer 42nd, Alexis Wagoner 52nd.

by Gary Andrews

It was the annual metro bowl with Northfield visiting Southwood and each team sitting 1-0 in the county round robin. A win by either team would let them decide their own destiny next week as they chase the county title. Northfield dominated early and built a 20-point lead, only to have to hang on in the last few seconds for a thrilling 34-28 win over the Knights.

On their second possession of the game Northfield would strike. Carter Frieden would connect with Jarred Short on a quick hitter up the middle for a 64-yard scoring strike to give the Norse a 6-0 lead with 5:04 to go. The Northfield defense would then step up big, stopping Southwood on a 4th and 5 and taking advantage. On 3rd and 1 Frieden would find Shane Vigar, again on the quick hitter for a 51-yard strike and the Norse led 13-0 after the first quarter.

After botching a Norse kick off the Knights survived a missed field goal, but on the 4th play of their drove fumbled with Northfield recovering. Five plays later Carter Frieden would take it in from 11 yards out and the Norse were in control 20-0 with 8:10 left in the half. The potent Southwood offense needed to get something going before the half and did just that. With 5:23 on the clock Robbie Cole found Nathan Hollars from 9yds out to cut the lead to 20-7. The Norse would answer however when Jackson Beery broke loose from 55 yards out with 2:44 left to open a 27-7 lead. As long as there is time on the clock the Knights have a chance to score and did just that twice the last 2:00. After a long completion to Danny Goff, Nathan Hollars would score form 4 yards out with 1:41 left to cut the lead to 27-14. The Knight defense would then come up big, forcing a fumble and recovering to give Southwood one more shot. The Knights mounted a quick drive and with 1.8 on the clock Hollars would find the end zone and the halftime score was 27-21.

The third quarter would be the exact opposite of the first two as both teams mounted drives a couple times with the defenses stepping up as neither team could find the end zone.

by Gary Andrews

The Northfield Lady Norse volleyball team won the Norse Classic on Saturday. The Norse started out the day facing Eastside. The scores were 25-19 and 25-21. The second game was against South Adams with the scores 25-14 and 25-21. Third was Fremont with scores of 25-5 and 25-19.

For the championship game, Northfield faced Woodlan and went three games with the scores 21-25, 25-17, and 16-14.

”The championship game we really never gave up the entire time. We lost the first game but realized that we were fully capable of winning so we fixed the little things that went wrong in the first game and came back and won in three. The girls played so hard all day and everyone was having a great day. We just keep making the right steps forward and just improve every single game,” said Coach Mast.

The Lady Norse are now 20-5 and are traveling to Oak Hill on Monday.

by Gary Andrews
The sectional football season gets underway Friday, Oct. 24 with the tournament draw being held this past Sunday. Northfield and Southwood will play in the 1A tournament while Manchester and Wabash play in 2A.

Football Sectional Draw
Class 1A
Southwood @ Fremont.
Northfield draws a bye and will play the winner of the South Adams/Adams Central game

Class 2A
Wabash @ Manchester

Volleyball Sectional Draw
Sectional 37 at Southwood
Match 1: Oak Hill vs. Cass
Match 2: North Miami vs. Wabash
Match 3: Northfield vs. Southwood
Match 4: Manchester vs. Winner of Match 1
Match 5: Winner of Match 2 vs. Winner of Match 3

Championship: Winner of Match 4 vs. Winner of Match 5