 Stanton boys basketball player earned all-conference honors from the East Husker Conference. Parker Krusemark was named to the honorable mention team.
The full list of honorees is below. First Team All-Conference: Dylan Beutler- BRLD, Lucas Vogt- BRLD, Jason Sjuts- HLHF, Blake Sindelar- Howells-Dodge, Jaxon Wietfeld- North Bend Central, Gunnar Ray- Oakland-Craig Second Team All-Conference: Carter Hanel- Clarkson-Leigh, Jacob Sjuts- HLHF, RJ Bayer- Howells-Dodge, Jakwon Webb- Madison, Brodey Johnson- North Bend Central, Weston Graham- Twin River Third Team All-Conference: Toriano Bohannon, Jr.- BRLD, Ethan Keller- HLHF, Kyler Hellbusch- North Bend Central, Brock Rogers- Tekamah-Herman, Miguel Perez- West Point-Beemer, Regan Bellar- Wisner-Pilger Honorable Mention: Eli Hays- Clarkson-Leigh, Kyle Kasik- Clarkson-Leigh, Lance Brester- Howells-Dodge, Breckin Peters- North Bend Central, Coulter Thiele- Oakland-Craig, Jaxon Maise- Pender, Parker Krusemark- Stanton, Jed Hoover- Tekamah-Herman, Ross Hebda- Twin River, Jesus Barragan- West Point- Beemer, Keegan Doggett- West Point- Beemer, Beau Ruskamp- Wisner-Pilger  Stanton girls basketball players earned all-conference honors from the East Husker Conference. Sylvia Cunningham and Savannah Seibrandt were named to the honorable mention team.
The full list of honorees is below. First Team All-Conference: Caragan Tietz- BRLD, Addison Schneider- HLHF, Kaitlyn Emanuel- North Bend Central, Sydney Emanuel- North Bend Central, Ashley Ostrand- Pender, Sidney Swanson- West Point-Beemer Second Team All-Conference: Jordan Snyder- BRLD, Chloe Hanel- Clarkson-Leigh, Cierra Kluthe- North Bend Central, Chaney Nelson- Oakland-Craig, Sadie Nelson- Oakland-Craig, Reece Snodgrass- West Point-Beemer Third Team All-Conference: Alyssa Buchholz- BRLD, Cassidy Hoffman- Clarkson-Leigh, Kennedy Settje- Clarkson-Leigh, Paige Beller- HLHF Jaedyn Ratzlaff- Howells-Dodge, Zoey Lehmkuhl- Pender Honorable Mention: Isabel Freemont- BRLD, Alissa Kasik- Clarkson-Leigh, Kayden Schumacher- Clarkson-Leigh, Lexi Frauendorfer- HLHF, Whitney Zessin- Madison, Caitlyn Heise- Pender, Sylvia Cunningham- Stanton, Savannah Siebrandt- Stanton, Maggie Sheets- Tekamah-Herman, Katie Paczosa- Twin River, Rachel Groth- West Point-Beemer, Jadyn Meiergerd- West Point-Beemer, Brooklyn Weddle- West Point-Beemer, Lindsey Kneifl- Wisner-Pilger  The momentum flipped to Stanton as magically as Abe Larson’s pass flew through the arms of the defense and into Brayan Acuna’s hands for the 3-pointer in a heart-stopping 48-47 win Friday. Down 39-37 with 5:20 to play, the Mustang junior grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled around the right corner before spotting Acuna open on the other side of the baseline. Larson heaved the dangerous pass through a battlefield of defenders and let his sharpshooter sink the a trey to take a one-point lead. “It was a little bit of luck,” Larson said with a big smile when asked about his crazy pass. “I saw Brayan on the back side, and I just threw it up. I’m really proud of him. He’s really come a long way, especially for not having a varsity jersey at the beginning. He’s gotten a lot better.” While Larson and Acuna combined to win that battle, the Mustangs didn’t claim the war until several more minutes and several more battles. As the teams matched each other point for point, junior Parker Krusemark was on fire, hitting back-to-back jumpers to keep the Mustangs alive.
Stanton was down 47-46 with 27 seconds left when the Mustangs pulled ahead for good. They stole the ball under their own hoop and watched Kam Dusatko lay it from the left side to take the lead and send the Mustang faithful to their feet. The steal was textbook Mustang basketball as Krusemark picked off the pass and flicked it to Adam Arens, who then tossed it to Abe Larson. The assist hero of the night then passed the ball behind his head to Dusatko for the easy lay up. With 21 seconds still remaining, Tri County tried to force the ball inside on its next possession, but Mustang senior Brennan Wragge got a hand on the ball and forced it away from the Wolfpack. Dusatko pulled the ball inside and was fouled with 6.4 seconds to play. Dusatko missed the front end of the 1-and-1, giving the ball back to Tri County, who called a time out with 4.6 seconds left. The Wolfpack put up a hail Mary from half court and came up short to finally allow the Mustangs a chance to breath and celebrate their one-point victory. “We had some trouble waking up in the first quarter, and that’s how we warmed up,” Mustang coach Cole Beebe said. “We got our poop in a group and were able to show face on who we are as a basketball team.” Larson led the Mustangs with 13 points, but he was quick to credit the rest of his team, especially Krusemark for finding him when he was open. “It was Parker who got me most of my shots. He’s the main reason I scored,” Larson said. “I think this game is big for everyone, but especially Kam, who hit the game-winning layup, and Brayan, who scored a lot.” Beebe said his team played really smart situational basketball and executed the game plan to shut down the Wolfpack’s key scorers. That, he said, gave the team confidence heading into Tuesday night’s subdistrict against Howells-Dodge. “They know we can come back from a deficit and pull it off,” Beebe said. “They just have to be really focused and keep their head in the game.” Stanton Boys Stanton 9 10 15 14 — 48 Tri-County 10 17 6 14 — 47 Adam Arens 1p, 5p; Abe Larson 13p, 5r, 1s; Brennan Wragge 3p, 1r; Parker Krusemark 6p, 3r, 1s; Kam Dusatko 10p, 4r, 2s; Brayan Acuna 6p, 2r, 1s; Mason Bruggeman 6p, 3r; Owen Vogel 3p.  Stanton senior Sutton Pohlman signed a national letter of intent Monday morning to play football at Chadron State College. While leading the Mustangs to quarterfinals in the Class D1 playoffs, Pohlman rushed for 1,220 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. He had nearly 1,800 all purpose yards. Defensively, Pohlman led the Mustangs with 93 tackles, including 66 solo. The son of Shad and Amy Pohlman, the RHOP recipient plans to complete his undergraduate at Chadron State College and then move onto medical school at UNMC to become a doctor. “I want to be a doctor and live in rural Nebraska. I want to help out people just like me,” Pohlman said with a smile. “I like rural Nebraska and farming, so I definitely see that as part of my future, too. I like the medical field and want to learn more about it and see where that takes me.” Pohlman was also selected for the 63rd annual Nebraska Shrine Bowl football game scheduled for June 5 at Nebraska-Kearney's Cope Stadium/Foster Field.  This past week was a rollercoaster ride for the Mustang wrestlers. Both Damien Erickson and Sutton Pohlman competed at the 2021 Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament at the CHI Health Center in Omaha where both wrestlers came just one match shy of medaling in their respective weight classes. Erickson competed in the 138 weight where he picked up two wins. Erickson surprised the arena in the first round of the tournament by beating Colton Pouk from Garden County by pin in just the second period to send him to the quarterfinals. During his second round matchup, Erickson took on one of the top-ranked wrestlers in Class D with Garrett Latimer from Southwest where he fell in the first period to send him to the consolation bracket. In his first consolation bracket match, Erickson found himself in a tight match with Reece Jones from Sumner-Eddyville-Miller. Late in the third period Erickson held a one point lead over Jones and held onto it to take the match 3-2 to send him to the heartbreak round. In Erickson’s heartbreak he took on Clinch Kiger from Overton. In the tight match, Erickson came up just short of getting a medal, falling 4-2. “Damien came up two points short of getting a state medal and I couldn’t be happier with him,” head coach Randy Hansen said. “He has improved so much over the past year and you can tell that just by watching him wrestle. He has another year to try and get that state medal so we just have to keep working with him to try and get there.”  Pohlman competed in the 170 weight class where he also made the heartbreak round. In his first round matchup, Pohlman competed against Slate Micheel from Twin Loup where he was able to pick up the win with a decision and move on into the quarter finals where faced returning state champion Alizae Mejia from Plainview. During Pohlman’s matchup against Mejia, he was unable to grab the win and fell into the consolation bracket. In his first consolation match he took on familiar foe Sam Vortherms from Creighton. All tied up heading into the last 10 seconds of the third period, neither wrestler could gain an advantage and sent the match into overtime. After the first overtime and neither wrestler scored, Pohlman had to ride out Vortherms. He did just that, keeping him from gaining a point which sent it into a third overtime. Pohlman escaped from Vortherms with five second left and covered him for an extra two points to send him to the heartbreak round. In his heartbreak match, Pohlman was unable to grab the win over Christian Leonard from Bayard, falling 13-5 to end the senior’s season. “It was really heartbreaking to have Sutton end his career without a medal,” Hansen said. “He has been a tremendous leader on and off the mat this entire season and has really brought this team together as a family. He has been great to have in the wrestling room and we are really going to miss him next year and I want to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors at Chadron.” Erickson finished his season with a record of 30-15 while Pohlman ended his season with a record of 38-13. D138 - Damien Erickson (30-15), Champ. Round 1 - won by fall over Colton Pouk (Perkins County) 22-9 (Fall 3:08), Quarterfinal - Lost to Garrett Latimer (Southwest) Fall 0:28), Cons. Round 2 - won by decision over Reece Jones (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller) 30-23 (Dec 3-2), Cons. Round 3 - Lost to Cinch Kiger (Overton) (Dec 4-2) D170 - Sutton Pohlman (38-13), Champ. Round 1 - won by decision over Slate Micheel (Twin Loup) 42-13 (Dec 6-2), Quarterfinal - Lost to Alizae Mejia (Plainview) (Fall 3:35), Cons. Round 2 - won in tie breaker - 1 over Sam Vortherms (Creighton) 37-11 (TB-1 4-1), Cons. Round 3 - Lost to Christian Leonard (Bayard) (MD 13-5)  Stanton earned the fourth seed in the Class C2-6 girls basketball subdistrict.
The Mustangs (7-13) will take on No. 5 Madison (3-14) at 6 p.m. Monday in Clarkson. With a win, Stanton will move into the subdistrict semifinals to face top-seed Clarkson/Leigh (18-1) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.  Area students involved in fall extra-curricular activities have been recognized for their academic success.
The Nebraska School Activities Association announced student recipients of the Academic All-State awards on Thursday. Stanton recipients are: Boys Cross Country: Abraham Larson Football: Jordan Gartner, Sutton Pohlman Girls Golf: Shelby Jenkinson, Aryana Wurdinger Play Production: Devyn Farrier, Bridgett Jensen Volleyball: Sylvia Cunningham, Bridgett Jensen  Stanton has a deep bench and showed Friday that it isn’t afraid to keep fresh legs in the game. The Mustangs opened the season with a 71-29 loss on the road against Howells-Dodge. The Jaguars already had a game after falling to Class C1 Pierce 54-31 on Thursday. Mustang coach Cole Beebe, who is in his first year at the helm, said the depth will bode well for Stanton this year. “We were deeper on the bench than we have been in previous years, so we had more experience going in,” Beebe said. “I liked how the kids were working so well together.” View more photos from the game here.  Howells-Dodge jumped out to a 16-0 lead over Stanton before Owen Vogel dropped a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs on the board late in the first quarter. The Jaguars’ hot hand continued in the second half with a big 25-9 third quarter over Stanton.
Abe Larson and Parker Krusemark led the Mustangs with eight points each. Blake Sindelar put up a game-high 21 points for the Jaguars. Bebe said the Jaguars were more hungry for the win after their opening loss, but that means the Mustangs will have the same hunger Saturday as they look to bounce back. “I, as are the kids, am relieved to get the first game out of the way,” Bebbe said. “Now we can get back into the season and play Tekamah. We’re in the same position Howells was — we’re hungry for a win.” The Mustangs (0-1) will open at home on Saturday afternoon against Tekamah-Herman (1-0). Full stats and more comments will be in next week's Stanton Register. Purchase a subscription here. Stanton 3 9 9 7 — 28 Howells-Dodge 19 14 25 13 — 71 Stanton: Abe Larson 8, Parker Krusemark 8, Matt Reese 2, Joe Butterfield 5, Owen Vogel 5. Howells-Dodge: Lance Brester 5, Aiden Meyer 3, Jacob Tomack 14, Gavin Nelson 10, Brittin Sindelar 2, Colton Kloson 4. RJ Bayer 12, Blake Sindelar 21.  Just one game in and the Mustangs already are showing improvement on the court, according to Stanton coach Greg Wegner. After a tight first half, the Mustangs stumbled in the second half Thursday as they opened the girls basketball season on the road in Dodge. The Mustangs dropped a 64-32 decision to Howells-Dodge after hanging with the Jaguars 31-22 in the first half. “I thought we came out and played well in the first half,” Wegner said after the game. “We did a lot of good things in that first half, and I am impressed with how they played. I see a lot of improvement from last year.” View more photos from the game here.  Sylvia Cunningham hit double figures with 10 points to lead the Mustangs. Jaedyn Ratzlaff of Howells-Dodge dropped in 14 for the Jaguars. “We posted up better than we have in the past and had some good looks down low,” Wegner said. “Overall, I saw improvement. We just need to be more consistent in the second half. We can’t let halftime come out and bite us in the tail.” The Mustangs (0-1) will open at home on Saturday afternoon against Tekamah-Herman (1-0). Full stats and more comments will be in next week's Stanton Register. Purchase a subscription here. Stanton 12 10 2 8 — 32 Howells-Dodge 19 12 9 21 — 64 Stanton: Olivia Cunningham 3, Madison Wragge 3, Bridgett Jensen 5, Kinley Pohlman 4, Arynn Spence 1, Sylvia Cunningham 10. Howells-Dodge: Abbey Pieper 5, Morgan Gall 6, Cassie Pieper 3, Riley Pokorny 3, Janessa Schmidt 8, Brooklyn Macholan 6, Lilly Praest 4, Jaedyn Ratzlaff 14, Blair Fiala 8, Natalie Pieper 7.  After leading Stanton to an 8-2 record and the Class D1 quarterfinals, Stanton coach David Stoddard has been recognized with the Mike Behrens Coaching Award.
Huskerland Prep announced Stoddard as the Class D1 recipient of the award. The Mike Behrens Coaching Award was designated to recognize a coach’s ability to bring out the best in his team, creating a sense of overachievement. Coach Behrens was a coach at Omaha Roncalli in 2003 who despite having a roster of 20 in Class B reached the state finals with an undefeated record. We had a successful season in so many ways. We had so much support from families and the community of Stanton," Stoddard said. "Coaching awards are nice, but I'm more concerned about the kids. I'm proud of them." Read more from Stoddard on the award in this week's Stanton Register. |
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