Valley to see former teammates vs. Wawasee; Caston draws N. White for home sectional while Pioneer gets DeMotte Christian; Argos gets O-D while Culver gets N. Judson; Winamac to face Knox; NM draws Southern Wells BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Rochester was the only RTC area team to receive a bye in the boys basketball draw released Sunday. In addition, the Zebras would not have to face No. 2 Oak Hill until the sectional final. Also, Tippecanoe Valley will not have to

Winamac’s Wolford ousted, but NM’s McIntire, Moore, Hoover still alive BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Brant Beck Layne Horn INDIANAPOLIS — Layne Horn and Brant Beck, the two winningest wrestlers in Rochester history, remain in contention for a state championship after Day 1 of the IHSAA state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Friday. However, the season for two of their teammates ended as did

Junior is latest 215-pounder from Winamac to make state BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Tearson Wolford Last year, it was Talen Garner. This year, it is Tearson Wolford. Once again, a 215-pound wrestler from Winamac has made the IHSAA state finals.Wolford finished fourth at last week’s East Chicago semistate to make his first state finals appearance. “It’s a great feeling,” Wolford said. “All the work that I put in since I was younger, going all over the state, going to

Winamac’s Wolford advances to state for first time BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Rochester’s Layne Horn won his second consecutive semistate title at 132 pounds at East Chicago Saturday. Ranked No. 3 in the state per IndianaMat.com , Horn will face Southridge’s Owen Blessinger at the IHSAA state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Friday. Horn will be participating in his fourth state finals. EAST CHICAGO — Three Rochester wrestlers added to their already

M. Keller, Popejoy score 8 each for Lady Warriors BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Bremen 58, Winamac 39 (Saturday): Eliana Grubbs hit three 3-pointers and scored 22 points, and Emma Lawmaster added four treys and 16 points for No. 7 Bremen in a win over Winamac in the Class 2A, Sectional 34 final at LaVille Saturday. Maggie Keller and Sadie Popejoy led a balanced Winamac attack with eight points each. Marissa Iverson had seven, Corinne Ulerick had six,

L. Horn wins 4th regional, joins Beck, Gard, Robbins, Holloway, Winamac’s Wolford as champs BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Layne Brant Declan Grant Jackson Horn Beck Gard Holloway Robbins MISHAWAKA — Led by four-time regional champion Layne Horn and three-time champion Brant Beck, the Rochester boys wrestling tea

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Sadie Popejoy Marissa Iverson Girls basketball Winamac 48, LaVille 34 (Friday): Sadie Popejoy scored 14 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, and Marissa Iverson added 13, including 11 in the second half, as the Winamac girls basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat host LaVille in a Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinal Friday. Kandace Kroft added

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS (TUESDAY) Rochester 56, Manchester 55 Wabash 44, Eastern (Greentown) 41 SEMIFINALS (FRIDAY) Rochester 38, Lewis Cass 36 (2 OT) Oak Hill 70, Wabash 43 FINAL: Rochester vs. Oak Hill, 7:30 p.m. today Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Tippecanoe Valley QUARTERFINALS (TUESDAY) Columbia City 58, West Noble 26 Fairfield 46, Wawasee 38 SEMIFINALS (FRIDAY) Valley 54, Columbia City 41 Fairfield 43, NorthWood 20 FINAL: Valley vs. Fairfield, 7:30 p.

Popejoy, Iverson add 19 each, Ulerick has 10 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Marissa Iverson Sadie Popejoy Kandace Kroft Girls basketball Winamac 77, South Bend Career Academy 25 (Tuesday): Kandace Kroft hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points, Sadie Popejoy and Marissa Iverson added 19 each, and Corinne Ulerick had 10 as the Winamac girls basketball team routed South Bend Career Academy in a Class

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Wabash QUARTERFINALS (TUESDAY) Rochester vs. Manchester, 6 p.m. Eastern (Greentown) vs. Wabash, 7:30 p.m. SEMIFINALS (FRIDAY) Lewis Cass vs. Rochester-Manchester winner, 6 p.m. Oak Hill vs. Eastern (Greentown)-Wabash winner, 7:30 p.m. FINAL, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Class 3A, Sectional 20 at Tippecanoe Valley QUARTERFINALS (TUESDAY) Columbia City vs. West Noble, 6 p.m. Wawasee vs. Fairfield, 7:30 p.m. SEMIFINALS (FRIDAY) Valley vs. Columbia City-West Noble

Warriors beat Trojans for 18th consecutive meeting BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys basketball Justin Potthoff Winamac 64, West Central 61 (OT, Friday): Ethan Burgess and Justin Potthoff scored 19 points each as the visiting Warriors handed Class 1A, No. 4 West Central their first loss Friday. Parker Zeider hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 10. Jaybin Hines and Will Malchow added eight each. Malchow had Winamac’s only field goal in the

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Kandace Kroft Girls basketball Winamac 59, Twin Lakes 39 (Thursday): Kandace Kroft hit seven 3-pointers, including five in the first quarter, and scored a game-high 30 points for the Winamac girls basketball team in a road win over Twin Lakes in their regular season finale Thursday. Sadie Popejoy added 13 points, and Marissa Iverson and Corinne Ulerick had eight apiece. Taylor Oliver led the Lady Indians with four 3-pointers and 22 points

Iverson scores career-high 32 in win over Oregon-Davis BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Kancace Kroft Marissa Iverson Sadie Popejoy Kylie Fisher Jordan Compton Girls basketball Winamac 55, Pioneer 51 (Wednesday): Kandace Kroft hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, and Marissa Iverson added 12 for the host Lady Warriors as they knocked off conference rival Pioneer on senior night Wednesday. Sadie Popejoy knocked down three treys and had nine.

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

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The following sporting events have been postponed due to inclement weather: Boys basketball The Winamac-Delphi game postponed Saturday has been rescheduled for Feb. 17. Start time is 7:30 p.m. at Delphi. Swimming The Manchester-Pioneer meet scheduled for Monday was canceled.

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

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

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Kandace Kroft Winamac 51, Triton 37 (Tuesday): Kandace Kroft hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points to lead three players in double figures as Winamac claimed a Hoosier North road win Tuesday. Sadie Popejoy added 14 points, including nine in the second half. Marissa Iverson had nine of her 13 in the fourth quarter, and she added 13 rebounds for a double-double. Already leading 26-19 at halftime, Winamac held Triton to o

Malchow scores game-high 18 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys basketball Winamac 40, Boone Grove 16 (Tuesday): Will Malchow scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, and Ethan Burgess added eight for Winamac in a home win over Boone Grove Tuesday. Justin Potthoff scored all six of his points in the second half. Winamac led 14-9 at halftime and bumped the lead to 26-11 after three quarters. Salvador Montes led the Wolves with seven points. Winamac impro

Hunter leads Lady Zs with 11, J. Field grabs 14 rebounds BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Sadie Popejoy Lyla Bowers Like Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens, Tony Stesiak is a 300-game winner, and he would appear to have retained his best fastball. Sadie Popejoy scored 15 points, including two crucial free throws with 15.3 seconds left, to lead the Winamac girls basketball team to a 45-41 win over Roche

Potthoff, Hines also score in double figures BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Will Malchow Justin Potthoff WINAMAC — Will Malchow’s ankle is healthier, and with his help, the Winamac boys basketball team was able to bounce back from their first loss to beat visiting North Newton Tuesday. Positioned often near the baseline and in the short corner against North Newton’s zone defense, Malchow scored

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 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

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC RTC4 Girls Golfer of the Year Olivia Bailey The girls golf season in the RTC area could not be summed up in a sight so much as a sound. The sound was the ball making an unusual thawack into the 17th hole on Olivia Bailey’s slam-dunk hole-in-one at Sandy Pines Golf Club in DeMotte during the regional. It was a historic shot during a historic round of 67 in which Bailey earned regional medalist for the third straight year. For that and many

Hines leads 3 in double figures with 23; Kiser scores 15 to lead Zebras BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Jaybin Hines Jonas Kiser The Rochester boys basketball team plays a switching man-to-man defense. Winamac third-year coach Mike Springer noticed this in preparing for Friday’s game at the RHS gym, and he told his team that could lead to driving lanes to the basket and back door cuts. In other

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Boys basketball Winamac 62, Twin Lakes 30 (Nov. 25): Jaybin Hines scored a game-high 16 points, and Parker Zeider added 15 for the host Warriors in a season-opening win over Twin Lakes Nov. 25. Winamac also had 18 points, including eight from Sean Stark. Winamac also made 9 of 10 free throws. Winamac led 32-15 at halftime and extended the margin to 47-24 after three quarters. This marked the fourth straight year that the home team won the

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Kandace Kroft Winamac 34, West Central 27 (Tuesday) Kandace Kroft hit two 3-pointers and scored a game-high 13 points, and Marissa Iverson added 11 for the Winamac girls basketball team in a win over visiting West Central Tuesday. Iverson scored all of her points in the second half. She outscored the entire West Central team 8-4 in the fourth quarter. West Central led 19-18 at halftime. The game was tied 23-23 after three quarters. Winama

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The Winamac boys basketball team won nine games in the 2022-23 season, which was the year before Mike Springer arrived as coach. In Springer’s first year, they won 12 games. Last year, in Springer’s second season, they won 15 games and went 7-1 in the Hoosier North. They scored three-and-a-half more points per game as a team and allowed five-and-a-half fewer. Their ascent as a program not only coincided with Springer’s arrival as a coach

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

Craig, Douglass score 12 each for Caston in loss BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Kandace Kroft Marissa Iverson Allison Craig WINAMAC — Kandace Kroft hit five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, and the Winamac girls basketball team survived being “punched in the mouth,” according to coach Tony Stesiak, to record a 61-50 win over visiting Caston Saturday. Sadie Popejoy added three 3-pointers and scored 17 points,

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Girls basketball Kandace Kroft Winamac 69, North Newton 24 (Tuesday): Kandace Kroft broke the Winamac single-game record for 3-pointers with eight and scored a game-high 31 points, and Sadie Popejoy hit five treys and added 20 points in a rout of host North Newton Tuesday. Marissa Iverson added nine points. Winamac hit 14 3-pointers as a team. Winamac (3-0) has made 28 3-pointers in three games while their opponents have made one. Kroft’s

Big 3 combine for 51 as Lady Warriors improve to 2-0 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Winamac senior guard Kandace Kroft holds up a poster that team managers gave her after she broke the school record for career 3-pointers in a 58-32 win over South Central (Union Mills) Saturday. Kroft hit four 3-pointers for the game and scored a game-high 22 points. She now has 133 3-pointers for her career, one more than 2010 grad Jordan Brandt WINAMAC — Kandace Kroft broke the Winama

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 Girls basketball Winamac 60, Frontier 21 (Tuesday): Kandace Kroft hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points for Winamac in a road win over Frontier in their opener Tuesday. Marissa Iverson added 12 points, all in the first half. Corrine Ulerick and Sadie Popejoy tallied 11 points each. Maya Kremer led Frontier with seven. Winamac held Frontier to two points in the second quarter in jumping out to a 33-8 lead at halftime.  Winam

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC The Winamac girls basketball team will feature familiar faces from the teams that posted back-to-back 14-10 seasons in 2024 and 2025. Point guard Kandace Kroft, shooting guard Sadie Popejoy and forward Marissa Iverson are back, and they combined for 35.8 points per game last year. That was 82 percent of Winamac’s scoring. The season ended with a 36-34 loss to Knox on a late 3-pointer from Portland Minix in the sectional quarterfinals. Win

Wegner leads Winamac girls with 21:58 BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS  Sports Editor, RTC Logan Fredel Avery Wegner Cross-country None of the three Winamac girls, and none of the three Winamac boys advanced to state from the New Prairie cross-country regional Saturday. In the boys race, Logan Fredel ended his prep career by finishing in 68th place in a field of 246 runners in 17:20. Other Winamac runners included s

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 Volleyball Bremen def. Winamac, 25-16, 25-15, 25-20 (Saturday): Brooke Rausch had four kills and 14 serves received, and Ava Malchow added three kills for Winamac in a loss to host Bremen in a Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinal Saturday. Grace Roth and Kylie Fisher had two aces each. Roth and Rausch had one block each. Maggie Keller had nine digs, Rausch had eight, Fisher had six, and Abby Keller had five. Abby Keller also had a team-high e

Girls: Lady Warriors Wegner, Kroft, Goodman advance to New Prairie BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS Sports Editor, RTC Logan Fredel Nathan Pierzchalski Despite top six finishes from Logan Fredel and Nathan Pierzchalski, the Winamac boys cross-country team was not able to advance to regional from the Rensselaer sectional Saturday. Fredel, Pierzchalski and Paxton Moon advanced as individuals, but Winamac finished sixth amon

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