Saturday, October 5, 2024
The Bay Port wrestling coaches are a happy bunch after the Pirates won the FRCC title in dramatic fashion Feb. 1 (Melinda Palzewic photo).
BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT
SUAMICO – This is the second part in a three-part series, focusing on the winter sports season at Bay Port High School.
Pirates dump Panthers: For the second year in a row, the Bay Port boys’ basketball team upended No. 1 ranked Stevens Point.
The Pirates posted a 76-66 non-conference with over the Panthers in a battle of two of the top teams in the state at Bay Port High School on Dec. 1.
Tinch commits to Minnesota: Cordell Tinch, a 6-foot-3 senior, announced that he will be continuing his career at the University of Minnesota.
Tinch, a two-time track and field individual state champ, will be joining the Gophers’ track and field and football teams this upcoming year.
Four honored in signing-day ceremony: Four Bay Port seniors were honored by the school for signing their national letters of intent in a ceremony Dec. 20.
Jack Plumb (University of Iowa, football), Sydney LaPoint (St. Cloud State University, softball), Calvin Schilz (UW-Milwaukee, swimming) and Jed Baranczyk (North Dakota State University, golf) all will move on to the college ranks next season.
Rotter commits: Bay Port football player Matt Rotter announced that he will continue his career at Division II St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Rotter, was an honorable-mention pick in the Fox River Classic Conference this past season as an offensive lineman for the 11-1 Pirates, who made it to state quarterfinals for the second season in a row.
Conference streak snapped: In a Jan. 16, 47-46 overtime loss to Pulaski, the Bay Port boys’ basketball team saw its FRCC winning streak end at 25 games.
It was the first time the Pirates had lost a conference game since Feb. 25, 2016.
Schroeder commits: Carson Schroeder announced that he will continue his football career at Northern State University, a Division II college in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Schroeder was a safety for the Pirates.
Boys’ swim: The boys’ swim team won its third FRCC title in a row at Feb. 3.
Bay Port’s 593 points easily outdistanced Green Bay United’s 412 for second place.
The Pirates wound up winning all 13 of their duals/invites on the season, which included their second straight sectional title. They took 16th as a team at the state meet in Madison Feb. 16-17.
Drake to the rescue: In perhaps the most exciting moment of the winter season, the Bay Port wrestling team clinched the FRCC title on Feb. 1 at Pulaski High School in dramatic fashion.
Tied at 24 entering the last match of the night, freshman Drake Anderson (182) pinned Lucas Gracyalny in the second period to help the Pirates leave town with a 30-24 come-from-behind win. It was Bay Port’s seventh FRCC title in the last eight years.
Trailing 6-2 after one period, Anderson executed a throw of the junior - and state ranked - Gracyalny, sending him to the mat and setting up the pin.
Van Egeren scores an emotional bucket: Bay Port girls’ basketball player Grace Van Egeren scored the biggest field goal of her senior season in the Pirates’ 76-34 victory over Manitowoc Lincoln Jan. 30.
Out since July 23, 2017, with a torn ACL in her left knee, Van Egeren, along with the other four seniors on the team, were given the starting nod in the senior-night victory over the Ships.
After the Pirates “won” the opening tip, Van Egeren was assisted on a layup by team manager Amber Dreier for the first two points of the game.
LaMue gets it done: Bay Port boys’ basketball reserve guard Lucas LaMue saved his best overall performance of the year for when the Pirates needed it most.
LaMue’s two three-pointers and big steal in the second half helped Bay Port pull out a 30-28 victory over Pulaski Feb. 16. The victory secured the conference championship for the Pirates.
After winning the regional title, Bay Port lost a 59-49 game to Hamilton in the sectional semis March 8.
The Pirates shot just 28 percent from the field overall and just 3-of-23 (13 percent) from beyond the arc in finishing 20-5 on the year.
Defying the odds: The Bay Port girls’ basketball team won their first conference title since 2004 after they defeated the Ashwaubenon Jaguars on Feb. 15, 67-61.
The Pirates were picked to finish seventh in the preseason conference polls.
Bay Port won their first regional title since 2008 with a 64-38 victory over Kettle Moraine nine days later.
The Pirates would fall one game short of a trip to the state tournament with a 49-34 loss to Arrowhead on March 3 to finish 20-6.
Plumb hits milestone: Needing just one point to crack the 1,000-point barrier in his high-school career, Jack Plumb took care of it early in Bay Port’s 79-44 win over Green Bay Notre Dame Feb. 22.
Plumb scored the first two points of the game just seconds into the contest.
