McCune scores 13, Andrzejewski adds 11 for Culver in loss BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The North Miami girls basketball team recalled the era of Ruth Riley when it beat Culver to win the Hoosier North title Wednesday. Grace Sailors scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kayden Donaldson added 11 as the Lady Warriors prevailed 52-41. Ava McCune scored 13 to lead Culver. Eliana Andrzejewski added 11. The 11-point final margin represented North Miami’

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The following sporting events scheduled for Tuesday were postponed due to inclement weather: Girls basketball The Western-Rochester game has not been rescheduled. The Wawasee-Tippecanoe Valley game has not been rescheduled. The Carroll (Flora)-Caston game has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Caston. The Caston-DeMotte Christian game scheduled for Thursday has been postponed to Saturday. Start time is 2:30 p.m. at DeMotte Christi

Buschman, Carrington win individual titles, lead Culver to 3rd BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys wrestling Led by 106-pound champion Justin Housinger, the Winamac boys wrestling team was the highest finishing RTC area team at the Hoosier North boys wrestling tournament at Triton Jan. 17. Winamac was second with 196.5 points, Culver was third with 142.5, Pioneer was fourth with 121.5, and Caston was seventh with 94.5. North Miami, wrestling one week after winning thei

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys basketball Braylon Jackson Bremen 58, Culver 26 (Saturday): Braylon Jackson scored 11 points, but the Cavaliers lost to Bremen in the Bi-County Tournament final at LaVille’s Dale E. Cox Gymnasium Saturday. Caleb McCuen, Jonas McCuen and Jordan Green added four points each for the Cavaliers. John Carr added two, and Drake Zorich had one. Chase Devine led the Class 2A, No. 7 Lions with 21 points. Bryce Miller added 14 points, and Riley

Valley gets bye; Caston, Pioneer could meet in semis; Culver gets S. Central, Argos draws Trinity Greenlawn; Winamac to play Career Academy BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The Rochester girls basketball team beat Manchester on Saturday. They found out that they will play them again in the sectional on Sunday. That was among the revelations of the IHSAA draw. In addition: Tippecanoe Valley will not only have the home court advantage in their sectional, but they received

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The following sites will hosts post season tournaments for the spring sports season: Softball Class 2A, Sectional 38 at ROCHESTER: Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Manchester, Oak Hill, ROCHESTER, Wabash Class 3A, Sectional 20 at NorthWood: Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wawasee, West Noble Class 1A, Sectional 50 at North White: CASTON, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, PIONEER, South Newton, Tri-Count

GIRLS Tippecanoe Valley 44, North Miami 26 Caston 53, Bethany Christian 25 Oregon-Davis 55, Argos 32 Culver 39, Triton 30 BOYS Lewis Cass 49, Rochester 45 Jimtown 51, Tippecanoe Valley 43 Argos 53, Oregon-Davis 40 Triton 39, Culver 30 DeMotte Christian 50, Pioneer 33 Winamac 56, North Judson 19 Three Rivers Conference girls (none) Three Rivers Conference boys Lewis Cass 49, Rochester 45 Peru 78, Maconaquah 71 Southwood 65, Whitko 27 Manchester 49, Wabash 41 Tipton 50, Northwe

Douglass leads Lady Comets with 11, Craig adds 8 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Brooke Davis Brianna Schlemmer CULVER — Culver girls basketball coach A.J. Neace called timeout with 3:52 left after Brianna Schlemmer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give his team an 18-point lead over Caston Thursday. Why did he call timeout? He said he just wanted to celebrate how well his players were playing. The iron

Culver’s Lute signs with Albion for swimming BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Culver senior Hayden Lute signs with Albion College to continue her swimming and academic careers. From left – Julie Lute, Hayden’s mother; Hayden; Isabel Lute, Hayden’s sister; Alex Lute, Hayden’s father. CULVER — Culver senior Hayden Lute has always had to travel to pursue her passion for swimming. For club, she always made the 20-minute drive each way to swim with the Rochester Royals. At Cu

T. Horn, L. Horn, Beck, Shotts win individual titles BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The Rochester boys wrestling team poses with the trophy after winning the Rochester John McKee Memorial Invitational Saturday. Rochester scored 258 points. Runner-up North Miami had 247.5. The Rochester boys wrestling team held off North Miami at the Rochester John McKee Memorial Invitational at the RHS gym Saturday. Will there be a rematch at Team State Duals? Rochester won their annua

GIRLS Culver Academy 48, Culver 34 BOYS Rochester 65, North Judson 55 Brownsburg 66, Tippecanoe Valley 39 Caston 63, Carroll (Flora) 52 Winamac 57, Argos 23 Triton 68, Pioneer 35 Three Rivers Conference girls Northfield 57, Southwood 45 Whitko 73, Manchester 45 Three Rivers Conference boys Rochester 65, North Judson 55 (nonconference) Taylor 57, Northwestern 13 (nonconference) Wabash 45, Maconaquah 41 Southwood 70, Peru 63 Hoosier North girls Culver Academy 48, Culver 34 (non

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Culver will travel to John Glenn, and Argos will travel to Oregon-Davis for the first round of the Bi-County Tournament. The draw was held at LaVille High School Wednesday. The 61st annual tournament will begin with girls-boys doubleheaders Jan. 20. Girls semifinals and consolation games will be played at LaVille Jan. 22. Boys semifinals and consolation games will be played at LaVille Jan. 23. The girls championship game will be played at

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Football Player of the Year Brant Beck No one was more omnipresent on a football field than Rochester’s Brant Beck, and as a result, he is our RTC4 Football Player of the Year for the second straight year. Offensively, Beck ran for 1,283 yards on the season while crossing the 4,000-yard barrier for his career. He also made a position change on defense, and he led the defense with 66 tackles. Most notably, he leaves Rochester with a c

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Volleyball Player of the Year Betty Shepherd Tippecanoe Valley had never had the RTC4 Volleyball Player of the Year. Until now. The high-flying, powerful Betty Shepherd deserves the honor by leading her team in kills and being the go-to hitter for her team against its extremely tough schedule. More than any player on Valley’s team, she was the one opponents had to game-plan for. And sometimes, she got so high off the ground that oppo

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Boys Soccer Player of the Year Sean Stark Sean Stark had shown great promise through his first two years on the Winamac boys soccer team. Still, we did not see this coming. But what we did was so impressive that he is the clear choice as the RTC4 Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Stark scored nine nine goals as a freshman and then tallied 17 goals as a sophomore. But this season, he scored 38 times. He broke the Winamac single-season s

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Girls Soccer Player of the Year Ava McCune Her season had a heartbreaking ending when Culver lost in penalty kicks to LaVille in the sectional final, but once again, Culver’s Ava McCune is our RTC4 Girls Soccer Player of the Year. McCune was not as productive as a sophomore in 2025 as she was last year, though we would argue that was because she faced the full brunt of her opponents’ defensive focus. Still, she had 25 goals and is we

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Boys Cross Country Runner of the year Logan Fredel We saw it at the Caston Invitational back in September. There were some runners who could hang with Winamac senior Logan Fredel for the first mile. There were still a couple who could keep pace with Fredel for the second mile. But by the third mile, he was on his own. Strong, competitive and the frontrunner on a conference championship team, Fredel is our RTC4 Runner of the Year and

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC Runner of the Year Allyson Calloway It was not that Rochester senior Allyson Calloway ran alone, but she was a runner who had accomplished outstanding things in search of a pack to lead. She finally had one this year, and Rochester was better off for it, going from incomplete team to second place in the Three Rivers Conference in one year. From lone wolf to leader of the pack, Calloway, a Purdue Northwest signee, is our RTC Runner of

Carr leads Cavaliers with 9 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Carson Paulik John Carr CULVER — Brady Coleman scored 11 points off the bench, and Jonas Kiser scored all nine of his points in the second half as the Rochester boys basketball team won Luke Smith’s coaching debut with a 48-30 triumph over Culver at John R. Nelson Gymnasium Nov. 26. Carson Paulik scored five of his seven points in the fou

Field sisters combine for 25 in loss BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Ava McCune Ali Field CULVER — Playing Rochester is a meaningful game for Culver sophomore shooting guard Ashlynn Berndt. Her mother Andrea was a star player at Rochester who graduated in 2000 and later played collegiately at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer. Her parents got married in Rochester. And Culver struggled in a

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Once again, Kyle Evans is the boys basketball coach at Culver. Evans coached Culver from 2020-24, but he stepped down to take an assistant coaching position on Aaron Butcher’s staff at Marian University Ancilla. Evans remained on the faculty at Culver all along as a physical education teacher, driving to campus after the school day at Culver. Administration turnover at Marian Ancilla led to coaching turnover there, and Evans applied for h

Kroft has double-double for Lady Warriors in loss BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Brianna Schlemmer Marissa Iverson Culver 38, Winamac 37 (Tuesday): Brianna Schlemmer hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points, and Ashlynn Berndt added 11 for Culver as they earned a Hoosier North road win over Winamac Tuesday. Ava McCune added six points, five rebounds and five assists. Marissa Ivers

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Ashlynn Berndt Westville 42, Culver 40 (Saturday): Ava McCune and Ashlynn Berndt scored 16 points each, but the Lady Cavaliers suffered their first loss to visiting Westville Saturday. Eliana Andrzejewski and Brooke Davis had seven rebounds each, and McCune and Berndt had five rebounds each. Berndt also had a team-high four assists. McCune and Berndt had three steals each. Culver made seven 3-pointers while Westville made

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Ava McCune CULVER — A.J. Neace coaches two different sports at Culver, and he does not lose regular season games in either of them. Ava McCune scored 18 points, and Brooke Davis added 13, and the Culver girls basketball team forced 26 turnovers in knocking off visiting Tri-Township 43-34 at John R. Nelson Gymnasium Tuesday. The Lady Cavaliers improved to 3-0 for Neace, in his first season after replacing his brother Adam as head coach aft

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls wrestling The Culver girls wrestling team finished 11th in the 27-team field at the Whitko Invitational Saturday. Madison Beach went 4-0 on the day to win her bracket at 155 pounds. She was the only Culver wrestler to place. Beach is a returning regional qualifier. Other Culver wrestlers included sophomore Maci Reinhold (115), freshman Mailani Beach (120), freshman Violet Hinderlider (125 B), junior Lilly Kuykendoll (125 A), sophomo

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Ashlynn Berndt Culver 37, Trinity Greenlawn 17 (Saturday): Ashlynn Berndt scored eight of her game-high 11 points in the first half, and Brianna Schlemmer and Brooke Davis added eight apiece for Culver in a road win over sectional rival Trinity Greenlawn Saturday. Culver built a 20-10 halftime lead and then held the Lady Titans to two field goals in the second half. Trinity Greenlawn did not make a 3-pointer and made just

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Culver 38, South Central (Union Mills) 34 (Thursday): Brianna Schlemmer hit four 3-pointers and scored all 13 of her points in the second half as Culver hung on in the fourth quarter to beat sectional rival South Central at John R. Nelson Gymnasium Thursday. Ava McCune added nine points, and Eliana Andrzejewski added seven. Culver hit seven 3-pointers and won despite making just 3 of 14 free throws. Culver led 15-10 at ha

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball The Culver-North Miami girls basketball game scheduled for Friday has been postponed to Dec. 13 due to the success of North Miami’s football team. Start time is 6 p.m. (varsity only) at North Miami. Culver’s next game is a home game against Tri-Township at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Caston’s Warner, Culver’s Lute, Berndt also make first team BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Volleyball Aspen Moolenaar, Madyson Shaffer and Laylah Demond of Hoosier North volleyball champions Pioneer have been selected first-team All-Hoosier North in voting done by the conference’s coaches and released to the media. In addition, Caston’s Natalie Warner and Culver’s Hayden Lute and Ashlynn Berndt also made the first team. Pioneer’s Averi Layer and Lois Layer, Winamac’s G

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC New coach, same last name for the Culver girls basketball team. A.J. Neace is the new girls basketball coach at Culver. Hired at a school board meeting in August, he replaces his brother Adam, who left to take the coaching job at LaPorte in June. Adam Neace lives in Walkerton, and A.J. lives just outside of Bass Lake. So Adam pursued the LaPorte job since it will be a shorter commute, and A.J. stayed behind. The brothers were co-head coac

VanMeter stars as Pioneer blanks Caston; despite Rugg’s 2 TD catches, Winamac falls to Carroll; LaVille blanks Culver BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Grady Moriarty Wes Parker Football Angola 21, Tippecanoe Valley 6 (Friday): Hawk Hasselman accounted for 211 yards of total offense and scored all 21 points for Angola in a surprise win over visiting Valley in a Class 3A, Sectional 26 quarterfinal Fr

Rochester 44, Elwood 0 Angola 21, Tippecanoe Valley 6 Pioneer 35, Caston 0 Carroll 27, Winamac 14 LaVille 35, Culver 0 Three Rivers Conference Rochester 44, Elwood 0 (2A, 36) Tipton 48, Wabash 13 (2A, 36) Lewis Cass 55, North Montgomery 20 (2A, 34) Manchester 42, Prairie Heights 0 (2A, 35) Eastside 48, Whitko 0 (2A, 35) Peru 41, Northwestern 14 (3A, 27) Twin Lakes 36, Maconaquah 20 (3A, 27) North Miami 47, Northfield 6 (1A, 43) Hoosier North Pioneer 35, Caston 0 (1A, 42) Carr

Streaking Valley hopes to ‘hawk’ top Angola RB; Caston’s defense looks to contain Pioneer in rematch; both Winamac, Carroll reeling on offense going into sectional; LaVille hopes to flip ‘Schwitz’ vs. Culver BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Rochester (8-1) at Elwood (3-6), 7 p.m. (winner plays Eastbrook-Alexandria winner in the Class 2A, Sectional 36 semifinals) The Rochester football team rose to the challenge of previously undefeated Class 3A, No. 5 Maconaquah last wee

4 Winamac players make first team; 3 Caston players, Culver’s Buschman make honorable mention BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys soccer Led by conference MVP Kenyan Beldon, five players from conference champion Argos and four players from runner-up Winamac made first-team All-Hoosier North in boys soccer in voting done by the conference’s coaches and released to the media Monday. Corbin Rex, Kyle Penn, Ioan Petz and Yahir Fajardo joined Beldon on the first team. Winam

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC UNION MILLS — The Culver volleyball team trailed Triton 19-18 in the second set of their Class 1A, Sectional 51 quarterfinal at South Central Oct. 14. They had lost the first set, but here was their chance to get back into the match. They were in the midst of a 9-3 run, and Triton coach Derek Eveland had just called timeout. But Hosannah Chupp followed with a tip to get a sideout, and Avery Viers followed with five more points on her serv

Pioneer relies on strong first half to beat Judson for Hoosier North title; Winamac’s Rugg returns 2 kicks for TDs, but Caston pulls away; Culver rolls over S. Central BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Owen Omondi Wes Parker Football Tippecanoe Valley 31, Bremen 7 (Friday): Wes Parker ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns, and Hunter Paxton intercepted Bremen quarterback Jack Wildauer twice as the C

4 Caston boys, 2 girls make all-conference; Pioneer’s Bowditch, Hines, Argos’ Stackhouse also make all-conference BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Logan Fredel Avery Wegner Cross-country Teammates Logan Fredel and Nathan Pierzchalski went 1-2 and led the Winamac boys cross-country team to the Hoosier North title at Winamac Town Park Oct. 4. Caston was second and Pioneer was third. Argos had an inco

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS Southwood def. Manchester, 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 (Tuesday) Oak Hill def. Lewis Cass, 25-14, 25-16, 25-15 (Thursday) Wabash def. Rochester, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 (Thursday) SEMIFINALS (SATURDAY) Southwood def. Eastern (Greentown), 25-7, 25-11, 25-16 Oak Hill def. Wabash, 25-15, 15-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12 FINAL (SATURDAY): Southwood def. Oak Hill, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Wawasee QUARTERFINALS (THURSDAY) NorthWood

Rochester 48, Maconaquah 6 Tippecanoe Valley 31, Bremen 7 Caston 35, Winamac 13 Pioneer 36, North Judson 18 Culver 44, South Central 7 Three Rivers Conference Rochester 48, Maconaquah 6 Manchester 35, Peru 21 Northfield 62, Northwestern 55 (3 OTs) Lewis Cass 21, Southwood 13 Wabash 36, Whitko 35 Hoosier North Caston 35, Winamac 13 Pioneer 36, North Judson 18 Culver 44, South Central 7 Triton 27, North Miami 24 Indiana Northern State Conference Tippecanoe Valley 31, Bremen 7 J

Valley seeks 2nd place in INSC vs. Bremen; Caston hopes to break 3-game skid at Winamac; Is Pioneer the upstart in Hoosier North title showdown vs. Judson?; Culver seeks offensive solutions vs. winless S. Central BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Rochester’s Jabez Yarber Maconaquah (8-0, 7-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Rochester (7-1, 7-0), 7 p.m. The Class 2A, No. 11 Rochester offensive line shoved around Northwestern last week, averaging 15.9 yards per carry and rushing

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS Southwood def. Manchester, 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 (Tuesday) Oak Hill def. Lewis Cass, 25-14, 25-16, 25-15 (Thursday) Wabash def. Rochester, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 (Thursday) SEMIFINALS (SATURDAY) Eastern (Greentown) vs. Southwood, 11 a.m. Oak Hill vs. Wabash, 12:30 p.m. FINAL, 6 p.m. Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Wawasee QUARTERFINALS (THURSDAY) NorthWood def. Columbia City, 25-18, 25-10, 25-14 West Noble def. Fairfield, 25-15, 22-25, 25-1

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Alexis Gasanovas Eliana Andrzejewski ARGOS — “This might be the biggest win in Culver girls soccer history – up to this point,” Culver girls soccer coach A.J. Neace said after his team’s 3-2 overtime win over Manchester in a Class 1A, Sectional 36 semifinal at Eugene Snyder Field Oct. 9. In a scintillating finish, Neace typically does not like it when his players take shots from to

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS Southwood def. Manchester, 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 (Tuesday) Lewis Cass vs. Oak Hill, 6 p.m. Thursday Wabash vs. Rochester, 7:30 p.m. Thursday SEMIFINALS (SATURDAY) Eastern (Greentown) vs. Southwood, 11 a.m. Lewis Cass-Oak Hill winner vs. Wabash-Rochester winner, 12:30 p.m. FINAL, 6 p.m. Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Wawasee QUARTERFINALS (THURSDAY) Columbia City vs. NorthWood, 6 p.m.  West Noble vs. Fairfield, 7:30 p.m. SEMIFINALS (SATU

Judson shuts out Caston; Pioneer records 4th shutout vs. Triton; Culver blanked at NM; Wolford, Adriano go over 100 yards rushing as Winamac handles S. Central BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Grady Moriarty Owen Omondi Football Tippecanoe Valley 42, John Glenn 7 (Friday): Grady Moriarty threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown in the first quarter, and Owen Omondi had a 62-yard touchdown run i

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS Manchester vs. Southwood, 6 p.m. Tuesday Lewis Cass vs. Oak Hill, 6 p.m. Thursday Wabash vs. Rochester, 7:30 p.m. Thursday SEMIFINALS (SATURDAY) Eastern (Greentown) vs. Manchester-Southwood winner, 11 a.m. Lewis Cass-Oak Hill winner vs. Wabash-Rochester winner, 12:30 p.m. FINAL, 6 p.m. Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Wawasee QUARTERFINALS (THURSDAY) Columbia City vs. NorthWood, 6 p.m.  West Noble vs. Fairfield, 7:30 p.m. SEMIFINALS (SA

BOYS Class 1A Westview regional SEMIFINALS (WEDNESDAY) Argos at Fort Wayne Blackhawk, 6 p.m. Trinity Greenlawn at Andrean, 7 p.m. FINAL, 2 p.m. Saturday at Westview RTC area soccer sectionals schedule – Oct. 6-11 GIRLS Class 1A, Sectional 36 at Argos QUARTERFINAL (TUESDAY) Argos 6, Rochester 0 SEMIFINALS (THURSDAY) Culver 3, Manchester 2 (OT) LaVille 1, Argos 0 FINAL: LaVille 1, Culver 0 (PKs) (SATURDAY) Class 2A, Sectional 21 at Plymouth QUARTERFINAL (TUESDAY) NorthWood 12,

Pioneer draws Caston again; Culver to face former conference rival LaVille; Winamac to host familiar faces from Carroll BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley football teams will both make long drives for their sectional quarterfinal games, and rivals Pioneer and Caston will meet in the sectional for the second straight year, according to the IHSAA draw released Sunday. In addition, Culver will meet a former conference rival, and Winamac wil

Rochester 49, Northwestern 7 Tippecanoe Valley 42, John Glenn 7 North Judson 35, Caston 0 Pioneer 42, Triton 0 North Miami 37, Culver 0...

Valley hopes defense won’t show ‘Rust’ vs. Falcons; Caston hosts No. 3 N. Judson; Pioneer to try to contain Overmyer, Trojans; Culver to...

GIRLS Class 1A, Sectional 36 at Argos QUARTERFINAL (TUESDAY) Argos 6, Rochester 0 SEMIFINALS (THURSDAY) Culver 3, Manchester 2 (OT)...