South Central Preview

I'll be the first to admit that I don't follow the South Central Conference very closely but, it is my former conference so I do pay some attention to it. The fact is the conference has been fairly weak that past few years and this year should be no different. Yes, Wisconsin Dells and Adams Friendship have had some very good teams and have each made runs to state in the past five years but, typically either one of these teams or both have completely dominate the conference outside of a hiccup here or there. Last year Wisconsin Dells had a so so team that really hinged on one player and they went undefeated in the conference with relative ease. The bottom four teams just haven't come to play as of recent.

Once again the Dells and Adams will battle for the conference title but, I think that Mauston will be more then just another team in the conference. As I mentioned earlier the Dells won the conference a year ago and went undefeated. They do return three of their top six players from a year ago but, that is really their only experienced players coming back. The three senior that are back are 6'9 Nate Gibson, 6'2 Justin Ward and 6'1 Bobby Blaschke. Gibson is a huge body out there and seemed quicker then a year ago when I saw him play football but, he still needs to get the ball in a good position to score. I expect a big year from Ward but, last year he was primarily a spot up shooter and didn't do much else. Blaschke is that glue guy everyone talks about, does the dirty work rebounding and on defense. The team success will hinge on their young, inexperienced players and they already have a pair of freshmen listed on their preseason roster in 5'8 MJ Delmore, who I've heard through rumors may be the starting point guard, and 6'1 Shane Wimann.

Adams Friendship will be right there with the Dells after having a disappointing season a year ago but, bring back three starters including the best player in the conference in 6'5 senior Bryce Wormet who I am expecting to have a break out year in his third year on varsity. Wormet along with this being coach Klass's last year should mean success for the Green Devils.

Mauston is another team that returns three starters and should finally challenge the big dogs at the top of the conference. The Golden Eagles bring back a pair of double digit scoring seniors in 5'10 Jeff Erickson and 6'3 Dustin Manthe. I'm also starting big things by 6'0 freshmen Joel Heesch who I am assuming is the coaches son as they have the exact same name.

Wautoma apparantly had a very good JV team a year ago and that will hopefully lead to an alright varsity squad this year, while Nekoosa brings back a pair of starters, and Westfield is Westfield.

Predicted Standings
Wisconsin Dells 8-2
Adams Friendship 8-2
Mauston 7-3
Nekoosa 4-6
Wautoma 3-7
Westfield 0-10

All Conference Predictions
1st Team
6'5 Senior Adams Bryce Wormet
6'9 Senior Dells Nate Gibson
6'3 Senior Mauston Dustin Manthe
6'2 Senior Dells Justin Ward
5'10 Senior Mauston Jeff Erickson

2nd Team
6'2 Senior Nekoosa Ben Tenpas
6'0 Senior Adams Cody Paepke
5'10 Junior Adams Kincaid Hodkiewicz
6'2 Junior Wautoma Derek Szcewski
6'0 Freshmen Mauston Joel Heesch

HM
5'9 Senior Mauston Brady Nelson
5'8 Freshmen Dells MJ Delmore
6'1 Senior Dells Bobby Blaschke

I know that I spent more time on Wisconsin Dells then the other teams but, they are my alma mater and the team that I've seen the most. Thinking about it more and more this should be a pretty solid year for the South Central with three fairly solid teams that are all evenly matched and be an interesting year.