Manchester traveled to Wabash Wednesday, Jan. 6 with both schools winning a meet.

The Manchester girls team defeated Wabash 92-38 while the Wabash boys team edged Manchester 80-69. Northfield also has representatives with each team scoring six points.

In the girls meet, Wabash was two of the three relays.

The 200 free relay team of Becca Bruss, Abbie Boggs, Lacey Crist, and Madison Inman won with a time of 2:03.45, while the Manchester team of Evyn Fox, Gracie Dale, Miriam Struble-Hedstrom, and Halle Briner placed second with a time of 2:14.11. Finishing third was the Manchester team of Adia Selleck, Emma Ulrey, Ella Clifford, and Josie Briner in 2:22.33.

Addi Baker, Northfield High School Senior signed a letter of intent on Friday, Nov. 13 to play softball at Southern Illinois University.

Baker, who is undecided in a major told The Paper of Wabash that she decided on SIU because she liked the coaches and the school.

“I’m excited to have new teammates and make new friends and all of the experiences that are going to come with playing softball there,” she said.

Trailing 37-34 with three minutes remaining in their season opener against Warsaw, the Manchester Squires saw the Tigers finish the game with a 20-3 scoring run for a 57-37 Wednesday night, Nov. 11.

Warsaw led Manchester 21-15 after a high-scoring first quarter and took a 29-20 halftime lead.

The Lady Squires cut the lead to 33-25 after three quarters and was one possession away from tying the game with three minutes remaining in the fourth, trailing 37-34, before Warsaw closed it out.

Eva Bazzoni returned from missing nearly the entire 2019-20 season, the senior led Manchester with 15 points, three assists, and three steals.

Makenzy Meyer was strong under the basket with 10 points, eight rebounds, and one block.

Morgan Parrett had five points and six rebounds, followed by Beletu Stout  with five points, three rebounds, two steals, and two assists, Emma Garriott with two points and five rebounds, and Ainsley West with two assists and one rebound.

The JV team lost its opener to Warsaw 47-13.

Gracie Lauer led the Squire JV team with four points, two rebounds, one block and one steal, while Kaidyn Howard had four points and two rebounds.

Led by overall winner Josie Briner, the Manchester girls cross country team won the Northfield Invitational Saturday, Aug. 29.

The Squires won the meet with 30 points followed by Northfield with 42 points. Southwood also competed but didn’t field a complete team.

Briner won the race with a time of 22:00, 1:10 quicker that second-place finisher, Northfield’s Mara Zoleman who crossed the finish line in 23:10.

Manchester’s Anna Markham was third in 23:45, while Kambree Kashdollar was fifth in 24:16, followed by Evyn Fox in fifth in 26:12, Gracie Dale in 26:53 in 13th place, Kaesen Lester in 27:50 in 18th place, Ainsley West in 20th in 28:14, and Paulie Martin in 28:44. 

After Zoleman, Northfield’s Trinity Bever was seventh in 25:50, Anna Kissell in 10th in 26:38, Jenna Krom in 11th in 26:43, Emma Hoover in 12th in 26:44, Asia Miller in 15th in 27:37, Madaline Moore in 16th in 27:46, Jaycie Krom in 28:11, Natalie Keller in 32:42, and Natalie Keller in 32:42.

Southwood was led by Aleia Sweet in 25:26, Amelia Sweet in 25:49.5, and Monica Hobson in 26:28.

The Wabash Apaches football team picked up its first win of the season with a 14-0 shutout of Alexandria Friday, Aug. 29.
Isaiah Eis gave the Apaches a 6-0 lead with a three-yard touchdown with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.

Eis scored his second touchdown of the night in the third quarter from two yards out. Bryant Boggs hit Izaak Wright with a pass for a two-point conversion and a 14-0 final score.

Despite both scores coming on the ground, Wright passed for 144 yards on 13-22 attempts, while Andrew Dillon was 1-1 for eight yards.

Eis led the Apaches on the ground with 22 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns, followed by Boggs with 18 yards on two carries, and Cameron Green with 15 yards on 10 carries.

Boggs caught six passes for 82 yards, Mason Dillon pulled down three for 32 yards, Antonio Grant caught two for 16 yards, Trey Coon had two catches for 13 yards, and Green had one reception for nine yards.

Chatt Wyatt led the Apaches with six tackles and two sacks.

Wabash will host Manchester Friday, Sept. 4 as the Apaches debut their new field against the Squires with a 7 p.m. tipoff.

The Manchester Squires started its next chapter under head coach Alyx Brandewie with a bang after a 47-12 thumping of North Miami on Friday, Aug. 21 at Manchester.

The Squires started the game with a three-and-out defensive stand and quickly got on the board when quarterback Brock Casper hit Seth Gaerte in the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

North Miami tied things up at 6-6 but Casper found Blake Pohler from 26 yards out to give Manchester a 12-6 lead and the Squires were off to the races.

Braxton Ream scored in the second quarter on a one-yard plunge followed by Casper hitting Pohler from 43 yards out for a score and a 26-6 halftime lead.

Casper hit Gaerte for the second time in the third quarter followed by a five-yard rushing touchdown from Ream for a 40-6 lead. Ream added another score in the fourth quarter.

Casper, a sophomore, passed for 288 yards on 11-14 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

For the third time in four years the Southwood Knights are sectional champions.

After a close first quarter it was all Southwood with a dominating 78-25 win over Lakeland Christian Saturday night, March 7 to win the Southern Wells Sectional.

“It was a different sectional, and it was a little different, but it's still going on the banner,” Southwood head coach John Burrus said.

Southwood trailed 3-2 two minutes into the game before finding its offensive rhythm.

Connor Rich started an 8-0 run with a basket followed by a three-point play from Jackson Simons and a three-pointer from Carson Rich to lead 10-3 with 3:45 left in the first quarter.

Lakeland cut the lead to 11-8 with under a minute left in the quarter but back-to-back baskets from Connor Rich in 11 seconds gave the Knights a 15-8 lead.

What looked to be a barnburner turned into a bust for the Peru Tigers but a second straight outright Three Rivers Conference championship for the Wabash Apaches.

Wabash traveled to Peru with an 8-0 conference record and 17-4 overall while Peru entered the game at 7-1 in the TRC and 16-5 overall. The Apaches never trailed and ran away with an 80-45 win.

“This is a goal we set back in June,” Wabash head coach Paul Wright said. “They deserve it because I know how they worked since June and the fall. This is something the varsity players wanted to get done and it worked out great for us.”

With Peru missing two key players in Mathew Ross and Treyden Curtis, Wabash took advantage early and often.

“Half of our points and rebounds were gone tonight,” Peru head coach Eric Thompson said. “Mathew and Treyden average 20 to 30 [points] together. But the way Wabash was playing it may not have mattered. They played really well.”

Jasper Walters got the Apaches started with a three-pointer 15 seconds into the game. Peru's Pete Polk answered seconds later but Wabash's Trenton Daughtry hit from long range for a 6-2 Wabash lead that started an 11-1 run.