Coach Benitz Retires, Royals Win Title, Riverkings End Season

Rapids Wrestling coach retires

Wisconsin Rapids Wrestling coach, Scott Benitz, announced his retirement from the position on Wednesday, March 19.

Benitz was the co-coach from 2022-2006, taking over the job solely since 2007.

He has a record of 461-69, and has a total of 471 wins in his career. Benitz has 14 Wisconsin Valley Conference titles, 16 Regional titles, 11 Sectional titles, and nine Team State titles, including 21 Individual State Champions.

Assumption Girls Basketball wins gold

The defense was the key for the Assumption Girls Basketball team as it competed in the WIAA Division 5 State Tournament over March 14 and 15 at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

The Royals won both games they played as they earned their first state title since 2021 when they defeated Barneveld 34-30 at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

The Royals also defeated Owen-Withee in the semifinals, 61-36.

Against Barneveld, the Royals hit free throws in the final minutes by seniors Addi Vollert and Sarah Shaw. This put the Royals on top for good.

Shaw tied a tournament record with 12 steals against O-W, and set a new individual record for Division 5 with 16.

Assumption set a new team mark for steals in a game with 33 against O-W. They set the record in the tournament with steals as they had 46 between the two contests.

They also have the lowest-winning score in a Division 5 title game and it was the lowest combined score in any Division title game.

Riverkings swept in North Division championship series

The season came to an end for the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings. They were handed a pair of losses over March 14 and 15 when they took on the Minnesota Squatch in the USPHL Premiere, North Division Championship Series.

Rapids lost the opener 2-1 in overtime and then the second game at 5-2.

Overall the Riverkings finished the season with a record of 39-8-3, and were 4-1-2 in the playoffs.

Links

You can find more local sports reporting on Michael Kommer’s website. You’ll also be able to tune in to broadcasting of high school sports on WFHR and WIRI. The call-in sports talk show Playmakers airs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5 to 6 PM on 97.5FM / 1320AM.