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UWSP lands local hockey recruit
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Submitted: 09/04/2008 |
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STEVENS POINT - Christmas has come early for UW-Stevens Point men’s hockey coach Wil Nichol.
Travis Erstad, a 2007 fourth-round draft choice of the St. Louis Blues and UW-Madison recruit has announced his intentions to enroll at UWSP and play for his former coach.
Erstad, a standout forward at SPASH and the USHL’s Lincoln Stars has made the decision to play for his hometown Pointers this season. Erstad played for Coach Nichol at SPASH before joining the Stars in 2006-07 season.
He played in eight games his first year and became a staple for the Stars in 2007-08.
“Travis stopped by my office, out of the blue, and said ‘I want to be a Pointer,’” said second-year head coach Wil Nichol. “ I just can’t believe it. It’s not every day a fourth round NHL draft pick says they want to be a Pointer.”
Nichol has good reason to be excited. The 6-4 200 pound Erstad played in 52 games last season for the Lincoln Stars at forward, notching nine goals and 10 assists.
“He can do it all,” said Nichol. “He has worked on the physical part of his game in juniors, which makes him a huge addition to a team that has a lot of components from last year coming back. From a hockey standpoint, this is huge.”
The Pointers open the 2008-09 season on Saturday, October 25 when they host Northland College at Willett Arena at 7:30 p.m.
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WJFW TV-12 Sports Team
Matt Thompson
Sports Director
mthompson@wjfw.com
Sports Director Matt Thompson joined Newswatch 12 in July, 2003.
He came to the Northwoods from WGBA-TV in Green Bay where he was the sports reporter/fill-in anchor since 1998. "I had been vacationing in the Northwoods for the last 13 years so I figured I might as well live the good life all the time."
Matt is from Madison and can't think of a better sports state than Wisconsin. "The passion Wisconsinites have for sports is unmatched. Especially the Packers. The Brewers, Bucks and Badgers all have rabid fans as well."
His true passion is breaking stories. "It doesn't take much to find a great story, if you keep your eyes and ears open. Sometimes the best story isn't the person who comes in first."
Matt spends most of his time away from work watching SpongeBob, Barney and the Wiggles with his wife and three kids. "I took my kids to see the Wiggles in concert and found myself singing all of the songs. I knew then I was in trouble."
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George Savaricas
Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
gsavaricas@wjfw.com
George Savaricas joined Newswatch 12 in November 2007 as the Weekend Sports Anchor.
He comes to the Northwoods from Columbia, Missouri where he attended college. While attending the University of Missouri, George worked as a sports producer, reporter and weekend anchor at KOMU-TV.
George also interned at WMAQ-TV in Chicago the summer before his senior year and was able to cover the 2006 PGA Championship.
George is from Wilmette, IL a suburb just north of Chicago and his family now resides in nearby Evanston, IL. He roots for all Chicago sports teams, except the White Sox. As a sports nut, George loves playing them as much as he does covering them. If you can't find him at the station you'll probably see George out on links or hitting the open waters up in the Northwoods. "Local sports stories are what drive our coverage", so if you have any story ideas please e-mail him.
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Antigo volleyball coach fired
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Submitted: 09/03/2008 |
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ANTIGO - The Antigo school district fired head volleyball coach Tiffany Wolfe Tuesday night.
This news comes as the Red Robins varsity team gets set to open the season Thursday at home against Tomahawk.
Tiffany tells Newswatch 12 she was shocked by the decision and the timing of the firing but didn't want to get into specifics about the dismissal.
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Park Falls Pigskin Preview
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Submitted: 08/25/2008 |
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PARK FALLS, WI - The Park Falls Cardinals are another school on the move as they go from being an independent to apart of the Marawood Conference.
Walter Gaulke, Park Falls Asst. Head Coach & Defensive Coordinator - "Its gonna be great competition for us, there's come quality programs a lot of history with those schools and its something we're looking forward to."
Chais Wakefield, Park Falls Senior QB/K - "Its a very respectable conference, its an honor to join the Marawood. There's a lot of great programs in the Marawood and we're hopefully gonna join that tradition."
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Prentice/Rib Lake Pigskin Preview
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Submitted: 08/24/2008 |
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RIB LAKE, WI - The Prentice/Rib Lake Hawks went 8-2 last season, the best record in Hawks history but a first round loss in the playoffs has them hungry for 2008.
Jerry Shoup, Hawks Co-Head Coach - "We'd like to think that hopefully we can build, 8-1 was obviously a great season for us last year and we're looking to do good things this year, we have some high hopes."
The Hawks return a veteran backfield with senior Michael Mann at quarterback along with senior running backs gary Isaacson and Ethan Bidimlija.
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Florence Pigskin Preview
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Submitted: 08/22/2008 |
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FLORENCE, WI - Optimism surrounds the Florence Bobcats football team in 2008.
Coming off a 2-win season the Cats feel they're poised to turn things around.
Joe Ferris, Florence Head Coach - "Last year we were very young we only had five seniors total, and even though we had a lot of guys we hadn't had a lot of experience, but this year we think we should be much improved in that area."
Two big reasons for the buzz surrounding the Bobcats are senior running backs Nate Steber and Jake Church who figure to carry the load on offense.
Nate Steber, Florence Senior RB/LB - "I think the offense is going to be a big part of our season, Church who is coming off a pretty good year last year got all conference at running back and linebacker, so I think we're going to have a pretty good year."
The Steber/Church duo aren't the only seniors in the backfield, they're joined by senior quarterback Jake Jones.
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Northern Elite Pigskin Preview
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Submitted: 08/21/2008 |
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PEMBINE - Northern Elite head coach Dan St. Arnauld is back for his 29th and final season of coaching high school football.
His retirement from the game did not catch any of his players off guard.
"We knew he was going to be done a long time ago back when we were in the eighth grade so we've always looked forward to this senior season and to be able to make him come out on a good note." says senior quarterback Daniel Parent.
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