Sports

During a banquet Friday, June 9, in Grand Island, Harvard’s Terry Owens was inducted into the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (NSWCA) Hall of Fame.

“It was nothing I’d ever considered to be inducted into this,” Owens said during his acceptance speech. “What a great honor and privilege it is.”

A life-long Harvard resident, Owens attributed his success to several people, including Harvard coach Dave Carlson, who came to Harvard School Owens’ senior year.

“He instilled in me hard work, dedication, and a love for whatever you do.”

Owens also thanked coaches Doug Nielsen, Dennis O., and Cliff Gallant, Chris and Kale Fishler, Jake Smith, and Nate Schumm, as well as the HPS faculty for their support.

He also gave thanks to the many men and women he’s worked with in wrestling throughout his time as a coach.

Following their 67-14 scoring run in three midweek games, the Post 61 Junior Legion baseball team poured it on in a weekend game against the Wisner-Pilger/Howells- Dodge Juniors with an 11-1 four-inning win on the road, Friday, June 9.

The game stood at a 3-1 Sutton lead after two innings of play, before Sutton scored five runs in the third and three more in the fourth, to post the 11-1 win to improve to 8-4 on the young season.

Eli Nething held the opposition at bay at the plate to gain the win on the mound. Nething struck out seven, walked two and allowed just one hit and one run, as Sutton outhit W-P/H-D 4-1 in the win.

Nething helped his own cause on the mound by going 2-3 at the plate, while driving in two runs. Wyatt Pollet was 1-1 with two runs driven in, while Weston Ohrt was 1-2 in the win.

Vance Smith, a recent graduate of Sutton High School, has been selected to play in the 2023 Sertoma 8-Man All-Star football game, Saturday, June 17, at Hastings College’s Lloyd Wilson Field Game; time is set for 6 p.m.

Smith, a 6’ 1” 250-pound lineman for the Mustangs will be joined by 22 other players, statewide, to play on the East squad during the 46th annual event. An additional 23 players will also make up the West squad.

Other players selected that played against Sutton during the 2022 season includes: Merrick Maltsberger of Heartland, Trevor Bolton of Cross County, and Gunner Mumford of Thayer Central, will all play on the East squad with Smith. Additionally, Isaiah Bullis of Hi-Line will play on the West squad.

In the early going during action in tournament play in Pender, it looked as if the Sutton Junior Legion baseball team was going to run away with the tournament title.

Sutton outscored the host Pender Post 55 Juniors 7-0 and rolled past Tri County- Orchard 13-1 on Saturday, June 3, but when the championship tilt came about Sunday, June 4, the Post 61 Juniors fell for the second time in four days to Twin River, again by a one-run score.

Twin River gained an 8-7 win to even Sutton’s record after week two of the season at 4-4.

In the opening bout with Pender, Sutton outhit the host team 5-0 to chart the 7-0 win.

Thomas Bonde led Sutton with a pair of doubles in three trips to the plate, while driving in three runs. Eli Nething was 2-3 at the plate as well, with a pair of singles in the win.

Aidan Jones added the fifth hit to the winning cause, as Jones was 1-3.

The Sutton Junior Legion baseball team fell to 2-3 on the year with a pair of tough one-run losses, with the Cornerstone Juniors of Geneva claiming a 15-14 win over the Post 61 crew, May 30, while on May 31, a trip to Genoa to take on Twin River resulted in the hosts claiming a 7-6 win over Sutton.

Six errors in the loss to Geneva and another five fielding errors against Twin River didn’t help Sutton’s cause in the two games.

Geneva would double up Sutton in the hit category, holding a 14-7 hitting edge.

Both teams were tied 3-3 after two innings, before Geneva stepped on the gas pedal in the third, outscoring Sutton 7-4 to take a 10-7 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth frame, a 3-1 Geneva run stretched their lead to 13-8, before Sutton tried to make a comeback in the fifth and final inning, outscoring Geneva 6-2, only to fall short in the end, 15-14.

The power of hitting the ball proved to be a big way to help the Sutton Senior Legion baseball team to a pair of dominant wins early last week. The Post 61 boys blanked the Geneva Cornerstone Bank Seniors 8-0, May 30, before hitting the road to blow past Twin River in a clash at Genoa, outscoring Twin River 16-3 to set Sutton’s record at 4-2.

In the eight-run blanking of Geneva, Dawson Ohrt and Thomas Bonde powered the 15-hit barrage with three hits each. Ohrt drove in three runs with a double and two singles, while Bonde also doubled and added a pair of singles in the win.

Carson Mau, Merrick Maltsburger, and Eli Nething were all 2-3 at the plate, while Drew Goracke powered two singles in four trips to the plate.

Sutton did the majority of their scoring damage in a five-run second inning, while scoring single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth innings.

For the first time in school history, the Sandy Creek boys golf team advanced to a state golf tournament as a team, and for one Cougar golfer Jake Dane, he took advantage of the trip to the state meet, at the Lake Maloney Golf Course, south of North Platte, Tuesday, May 23 and Wednesday, May 24.

Dane paced the five Sandy Creek players that made up the 2023 varsity squad, placing 10th overall individually in the tournament.

His final standing was fueled by a huge day two of action on the 18-hole course.

Dane opened up play on day one with an 18-hole 85, shooting scores of 41 and 44.

Day two action would see the Sandy Creek junior shave nine strokes off of his day one score, shooting a 76 to sneak into the top 10 of the Class D field.

Dane fired scores of 39 and 37, bringing his two-day total to 161.

Sutton sophomore, Harrison Herndon, after earning his first-ever trip to the Class C state golf championships, after placing ninth overall in the C-4 District meet in Grand Island, made his way to the state meet, played on the Elks Country Club, north of Columbus Tuesday, May 23 and Wednesday, May 24.

During his two-day round of golf, Herndon wrapped up play with a 172, after scores of 85 on May 23, and 87 on May 24.

To open his first day, Herndon shot a 41 on the front nine of the Elks course, before wrapping up the opening day with a 44 to card his score of 85.

On the final day of play, Herndon had his best nine-hole round of the tournament, shooting a 40 on the front nine, before finishing the day with a 47 to shoot an 87 and finish the tournament with 172, tying him with Kyle Kelly of Grand Island Central Catholic.

Members of the 2023 Sutton Junior Legion and Senior Legion Post 61 baseball teams include, In front, from the left: Lane Farrell, Cash Parrish, Thomas Bonde, Drew Goracke, Merrick Maltsberger, Myles Jones, D.J. Hajny, and Kaleb Ostrander. In the back, from the left: Eli Nething, Landon Mireau, Aidan Jones, Myles Ferguson, Payton Reed, Declan Peterson, Weston Ohrt, Wyatt Pollet, and Carson Mau. Not Pictured is Dawson Ohrt.