FRCC Hockey Tournament Schedule Set – Plus other notes.

Wednesday, January 17. 2024

FRCC Conference Boys Hockey Tourney Set

The Fox River Classic Conference Hockey Tournament and seeds are set.  Five schools in the FRCC sponsor boys hockey.  The teams play a single round robin schedule that determines  seeding for the conference tournament.  Bay Port earned the number one seed and will play the winner of Ashwaubenon (4-seed) and Sheboygan (5-seed) in one semi-final.  The other semifinal will pit Notre Dame Academy (2-seed) against De Pere (3-seed).  All contests will be held at Cornerstone Community Center with the Championship being held on Saturday, January 20.

Notre Dame Academy has won the last five FRCC Championships dating back to the 2016-17 season.  In addition, the Tritons are also the defending WIAA Division 1 State Champions finishing the season undefeated at 23-0.  Bay Port, as the one seed, is in search of its third overall FRCC Championship and its first since the 2015-16 season.  

Bay Port is currently ranked No. 3 in the State in Division 1.  The Pirates sport an overall record of 14-2-1 including a win over fourth ranked Brookfield last Thursday.  Bay Port’s two losses on the season are to No. 1 ranked Stevens Point.  The Pirates are led by Ryan Hilbert (11), Nick Voss (13), William Lyons (13) and Mason Spejcher (15) who have all reached double digits in goals scored in all games played thus far this season.  Goalie Devin Rustlie has a .936 save percentage stopping 349 of 373 shots on goal.

Following the FRCC Tournament the teams will continue with non-conference play leading into the start of the WIAA State Hockey Tournament Series which gets underway starting Tuesday, February 13.

FRCC Hockey Tournament Schedule:  All games at Cornerstone Community Center

Note:  All-Conference teams will be introduced between games on Saturday.

Thursday, January 18

• 7:30pm Sheboygan Co-op (5-seed) vs. Ashwaubenon Co-op (4 seed) Rink 1

Friday, January 19 Semi-finals

• 5:30pm Notre Dame Academy (2-seed) vs. De Pere Co-op (3-seed) Rink 3
• 8:00pm Bay Port (1-seed) vs. Winner of Sheboygan/Ashwaubenon Rink 3

Saturday, January 20 Consolation and Championship games

• 5:30pm Loser of 2 vs. 3 seed match-up vs. loser of 4 vs. 5 seed match-up Rink 1
• 8:00pm Winner of 2 vs. 3 seed Match-up vs. Winner of 1 vs. 4/5 seed match-up Rink 1

Girls Basketball Players Reach Scoring Milestones

Addison Pytleski of Green Bay Southwest and Claire Bjorge of De Pere each recently joined the 1000 point club for their careers.  Pytlesk, a senior,reached that milestone on December 15 in a win over Pulaski.  Senior Claire Bjorge of De Pere surpassed 1000 points for her career in a game over the winter break.  Bjorge is the 8th girls basketball player in De Pere history to surpass the 1000 point plateau.  Both Addison and Claire will add to their totals as the season, plus the tournament plays out.

Senior Gracie Grzesk of Notre Dame Academy became the school’s all time leading scorer this past week.  Grzesk surpassed previous leader Allie LeClaires 1536 points.  Grzesk will certainly add to that total with a little less than half the season to be played plus the tournament where the Tritons will be “shooting” for their fourth consecutive Division 2 WIAA State Championship.  Grzesk will continue her career at the University of Wisconsin next year.

. .

Pictures courtesy of @GBSWGirlsBball, @DPGirlsBB and @ndagirlsbball

De Pere Win Streak Snapped

The De Pere boys basketball team had its 42 game win streak snapped last weekend in a loss to Wisconsin Lutheran 70-68.  Despite the loss, De Pere is still the top ranked team in the state in Division 1.  Wisconsin Lutheran at 13-0 is the top ranked team in the state in Division 2.  The game Saturday, hosted by De Pere, was a sell-out and featured three players who will continue their careers at the Division 1 level.  Wisconsin Lutheran senior Kon Knueppel will continue his career at Duke University.  De Pere senior Will Hornseth will continue his career at Northern Iowa and De Pere junior Zach Kinziger has accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Wisconsin.  If you were able to get into the game or watched it online you saw an extremely entertaining high school basketball game.

Pulaski Names New Volleyball Coach

Kaitlin Skarban has been named the new Head Volleyball Coach at Pulaski High School.  Skarban takes over for Bethani Thibodeau who led the Raiders for the past six seasons.  Skarban began her Volleyball journey playing at Denmark High School and then continuing her career at UW-Whitewater where she played for one season.  Skarban’s volleyball coaching resume includes stints as a coach at McFarland HS for three years where she also taught Math. During that time she also coached club volleyball for the Capital Volleyball Academy.  The past two years Skarban has coached the JV2 team at Pulaski HS, so she is familiar with the players.  Kaitlin also joined the Coaching Staff at One Wisconsin Volleyball Club in 2021.  Skarban is also a teacher in the Pulaski District, joining the District in 2020.  What Skarban has to say about the position:  “I am very excited to step into the role as varsity head coach; leading a volleyball program within the school district I teach has been a career goal of mine.”  “Pulaski has some of the best student-athletes in the area – together we can establish a program that serves as a symbol of accomplishment, character and camaraderie.  Volleyball is the fastest growing sport in the country and I look forward to supporting the growth of the Pulaski program across all levels for the years to come.”

Information and quotes provided by an article in the December 28 edition of the Pulaski News.

De Pere Names New Boys Tennis Coach (De Pere Athletic Dept. Media Release)

De Pere High School is pleased to announce the hiring of Rob LeBuhn as its Varsity boys tennis head coach.

He replaces Jerry Gillespie, who resigned after leading the Redbirds for the past 13 seasons.

LeBuhn’s extensive experience includes serving as the interim head coach of the UW-Oshkosh women’s team in 2020-21 and director of racquet sports at Green Bay Country Club since 2016. 

In the past 20 years, he’s also led high school programs in New Jersey and California and provided private lessons at multiple facilities. 

“I’m incredibly lucky to be in this position and feel blessed for having the opportunity to lead a group of young men on and off the court,” LeBuhn said. “My goal is to help our student-athletes develop into the best players they can be and guide them to be outstanding people. 

“To be a part of De Pere High School Athletics is an honor, and I will work tirelessly to make the most of this opportunity.”

 “We’re excited to bring Rob on board. He’s already been working with the former coaching staff to get up to speed with the outstanding program that Coach Gillespie, our players, parents and booster club has developed over the years. I look forward to helping Coach LeBuhn build on that foundation as we move ahead,” said Jeff Byczek, De Pere Athletics Director.