Future College Athletes Prepare

By Lily Reynolds

Growing up in Potosi, WI with a class of 35 students, when four of them are going to be college athletes in the class of 2019, it is amazing.

Becoming a college athlete is a big commitment, being there for extra events, practice, and meets. When it comes to college, sports are taken seriously and the competition is taken to another level.

I have always had an interest in track and field, but we didn't get the sport at Potosi High School until my freshman year. Starting this sport was what I really needed, combining a passion for running with competition.

Thoughts of joy went through my mind. I never thought about continuing track until I received a message from the University of Dubuque track coach. I decided I should take the opportunity because otherwise, I would regret it in the future. After my college visit, I decided I need to try it out and see what a four-year college is like. I am worried about the level of schooling and how I will manage my time with a college sport and complex homework. Working on finding a good routine will be my goal.  I really enjoy track and field and can't wait to take it to the next level.

Jadyn Noonan, a senior at Potosi High school, is going to be playing softball at the college level at UW-Oshkosh. “I played club softball ball out of Oshkosh and decided to take a visit to the college after I met with the coach.” After talking to the coach, and before she committed, she took an overnight visit. “I really enjoyed the overnight visit and just the environment was something I knew I wanted to be a part of.”  

Everyone wonders where the passion for something starts. “Mine started when I was in tee-ball, and then in middle school, I tried every position out. The next level was high school and that when I knew being a pitcher was for me. I worked year round on softball, pitching and hitting inside with coaches that wanted to help me,” said Jadyn.

Amber Udelhoven, another senior at Potosi High School, will be playing college basketball at Madison Technical College. “I have always wanted to play a college level sport and I got the opportunity to play my favorite sport.” Amber mentions that she is excited to try out college, but is nervous because this is harder than college. “Next year I will be going to my classes and then going to practice; I will have to find more time to do homework and work-study.”

Taking on a college sport is something that is a hard decision; taking it to the next level might not be how it is in high school, but will be an experience worth the extra time we put in.

Trap Shooting at Potosi HS

By Elliot Haverland

When people think of sports, they usually jump straight to football or basketball. What people overlook is the sport of trap shooting. Trap shooting is not as exciting as an NFL game, but can be interesting if you enjoy hunting or if you just like to shoot firearms. For those who do not know, trap shooting involves shooting clay discs, or pigeons, with a shotgun. Most leagues shoot twenty-five pigeons per round sixteen yards away from where the pigeons are thrown. There are five stations to shoot at, and shooters rotate after everyone shoots five shots. Someone keeps track of how many were missed to tally up the shooter’s final score. The sport is very popular around the state of Wisconsin, with over twenty-six thousand athletes participating in the 2017-18 league year. Even with this incredible number of students participating, trap shooting is unknown to a large number of people. The students who participate at Potosi want that to change.

           Konner Schroeder, one of two Seniors on the team, will be entering his fourth year of trap shooting. Like many others, Konner did not know much about trap shooting until a friend recommended it to him. At the time, Konner was just starting to gain an interest in hunting and shooting. Now, he loves to shoot with his friends at the Sportsman’s Club in downtown Potosi. One of his favorite things about trap is being with his teammates, “You share experiences and create memories with them,” said Konner, “It makes competing with them fun.” Konner dedicates himself to trap shooting during the season, even preparing himself before each league year begins. “I try to go down to the club on weekends and shoot a few rounds,” said Konner, “I also go to a few of my friend’s houses and shoot with them, too.” Konner hopes that more people join the trap team in the coming years, “If you enjoy hunting, hanging out with your friends, and other outdoor activities this is the sport for you.”

           Junior class member Zach Stuart will be shooting another year on the trap team. Zach’s interest in guns is what drew him to join the team, “I always had an interest in guns, I just never had an opportunity to hunt or do anything with a gun.” Zach also did not consider himself to be a very athletic person, opting to go for trap instead of a more physical sport like track or baseball. He is very close with his fellow teammates, “I like to go down and shoot with them every week. It’s very enjoyable and I always have a great time.” Zach has only two more years left to shoot on the trap team, but he hopes that more people will start to go out for trap. “If you have any interest in guns at all, I would really recommend this sport.”

           Sophomore class member Hunter Yager is also returning to shoot trap with the team. Hunter was introduced to trap shooting by a friend, and he has enjoyed it ever since. “I like to shoot with my friends,” said Hunter, “It helps you learn how to shoot better when you shoot with friends.” Hunter is an avid hunter and is a good marksman, and one of his favorite things about trap is the fact that he can shoot. He recommends trap shooting to anyone who also enjoys hunting, stating, “It really helps you practice for hunting season, and every so often they have free food at the club for in between rounds.”

           Trap shooting is a rapidly growing sport in the U.S., attracting athletes from every state. It is a great way to perfect your aim if you are big into hunting, or even if you have never fired a gun and always wanted to try it. Once you shoot once, you can be hooked for years. Shooting with your friends helps to seal the deal, too. There is always a chance for competition with your friends to see who can shoot a perfect twenty-five, and every time you shoot provides you with a learning experience to see how you can get better. If you shoot very well, it is your duty to help the others who are struggling to get good scores. If you are the one struggling, rest assured that someone will be ready to help you at any time. It is a great sport and a great experience to anyone who is willing to try it, and everyone who has shot before will support it.

Injuries and Recovery

By Brady Curtis

Sports injuries are very prevalent, especially in high school. They are things that nobody can control, no matter how much they would like to. According to stopsportsinjuries.org, there are over 2 million sport-related injuries per year and rising. That is a very scary number, and it can truly happen to anybody. It is also important to remember that injuries not only keep students out of sports but also affect their life at school and at home. Although students cannot always avoid an injury, they can choose to deal with the injury in an effective way.

Gunnar Stappart recently had a shoulder injury that held him out of both basketball and baseball for his junior season. Gunnar was forced to have surgery which ended his sports year short. “It was hard at first to deal with because just like that, I was a senior in sports.” This injury has not only affected his sports career but also school. Gunnar’s surgery forced him to miss a few days, which put him behind in school work. On top of that, he had his arm in a sling for months. “Being right-handed, I was lucky that I hurt my left shoulder.” Gunnar explained that everything suddenly became harder after he was in a sling, whether it was getting to school, getting ready in the morning, or even taking a shower. “Everything I used to do easily suddenly became a challenge. I would say that was the worst part,” Gunnar expressed. Now, he is finally out of the sling and has been doing physical therapy for a few months. “Things are going good now as I recover. I will be ready for my senior year of football this fall and I am really looking forward to that.”

Ryan Kruser is another student who is all too familiar with how injuries can affect somebody’s high school life. This young man tore his ACL in his freshman year of football and was forced to begin the long road of recovery. Ryan, now a junior, reflects on his injury; “I didn’t want to believe it because I knew what it took to get back from that type of injury and that is something I really didn't want to do.”  An ACL tear also requires surgery, which forced Ryan to miss almost two weeks of school, and you can imagine how much that put him behind. After he was back to school, however, he had to walk on crutches for months. These crutches made everything harder. “I had to have somebody get my lunch for me and take my tray every day. I also needed help carrying my books from class to class.” The injury not only made him miss the rest of his freshman year of football but also his freshman year of basketball. After many, many months of recovery, he finally was able to get back to sports. Usually, after an ACL tear, the knee is not as strong as it used to be, but Ryan doesn’t think that is the case for him. “I don’t usually feel any weakness in that knee, I think I recovered pretty well.” Since then, he has been an exceptional athlete starting for both the football and basketball teams.

Each of these student-athletes has experienced an injury that set them back in more ways than one. They are prime examples of how injuries can affect everything in your life for a short time. Nobody should take health for granted because when you lose it, you're going to miss it for the short time it is absent. As the old saying goes, “You won’t miss it until you lose it.”

“Make Wise Choices” - Jerry Downs

By Jason Oyen

Each day, every hour, beginning and end, the wisest of men greets students with a firm handshake, a big smile, and encouraging words to start their day at Potosi School District. Those few things often act as a kickstart to most students days, especially when they’re not themselves. The well-known staff member has made an unforgettable impact on numerous alums and current students who’ve become very successful and is a vast reason to why they are who they are today.

Mr. Jerry Downs, the history teacher at Potosi Schools, and the son of Ray and Margaret (Wilke) Downs, was born on April 27th, 1951 in Lancaster, Wisconsin. Downs grew up in Tennyson, Wisconsin, specifically on Bunker Hill Street. He remembers being able to go as far as The Spot, which is the top of Bunker Hill, and his aunt Hazel and uncle Francis’ Fechts house which is near the top of Tennyson Street. Until he graduated, his life was mainly centered in a block's radius. St. Andrews Grade School, the school he attended, was right down the street not too far from where he used to reside. Downs recalls playing baseball with his siblings, cousins, and friends up at the ball diamond quite often, from when he was a kid all the way through high school.

One of his favorite memories as a child was when he and his brother were playing baseball in the yard when they weren’t supposed to. After a little while, he hit the ball and it hit broke one of the porch windows. As soon as it broke, his brother Tom went and told their mom. Margaret must’ve been a little frustrated that day so she said, “I don’t care if you break every single window in the house!” Tom came running out of the house and told Jerry, “Guess what mom said, she said we could break every single window in the house!” The two then went on to break just about every single window on their porch.

Another great memory of his was when he and his siblings weren’t invited to their cousin’s birthday party. Of course, being the children they were, they all decided to ‘crash’ the party by showing up naked. Back then, everybody watched you, and if you were misbehaving, without hesitation, they’d chew you out right away, unlike today where everyone minds their own business. Lolo Fine, the neighborhood lady who lived right across the street from Downs, called Margaret as soon as she saw Downs and his brothers walking down the street naked. She was definitely shocked once she heard what was going on.

During the winter, he and the neighborhood kids always looked for some fun as most children do, so when they went to the school, they turned the faucet on for a while, let the water run down the street, and let it freeze. The next day, the water would be ice and they would be sledding down the hill on pieces of cardboard.

Downs graduated from Potosi High School in 1969 and worked as a manager at K-Mart for about three years. After a while, he knew he didn’t want to do that anymore because of the excessive amount of nights and weekends he had to work. In 1975, Downs knew that he wanted to be a teacher so he went back to school to get all of his teaching classes done. He student taught and went on to get his first job at SS Andrew-Thomas School as an eighth grade teacher. After three years of working there, he found a bigger, better job right up the street and has stayed there ever since.

If there was anyone Jerry looked up to, it was his father. Ray worked so hard and had so many health issues, lived in pain most of his life, but still worked every day of his life to make his family happy. No matter how tired he was, how much pain he was in, he still had time for his kids, took them swimming, did all sorts of fun activities with them. He may have dropped out of high school, but that didn’t change the way the Downs kids looked at him. Of Ray and Margaret's children, five of the nine became teachers.

Throughout the thirty-nine years Jerry has taught, he will always remember three certain classes for specific and outstanding reasons. The class of 1993 gave Downs the privilege of speaking at their graduation, and before he could start talking, John Dennison, one of the graduates stopped him and gifted him something that was very unlike him. They gave him a Harley Davidson shirt, a shirt nobody could ever see him wearing. The next class was the class of 2013. “They gave me a baseball for my 60th birthday which was very special. Once they heard I was having open-heart surgery, they gave me a book of stories which reminded them of the stories I told them. Lastly, the class of 2019 has been very special to him. “I’ve always enjoyed teaching them, telling stories about life to them. I remember thinking back when they were sophomores, I think they might be a good class to go out with. They’re a well-rounded class, they have good athletes, good band and choir people, good forensics people. They’re overall one of the best well-rounded classes I’ve ever taught.” said Downs.

“The interactions I get to have with students every day, the smiles, the handshakes, the smiles, to be able to teach them life lessons, how to handle adversity, how to live life well is my favorite thing about teaching.” Downs plans to retire at the end of this year. “About three years ago when I retired from coaching baseball, it’d been thirty-nine years since I started coaching and I thought wow, it’ll be nice if I taught thirty-nine years and ended it there. That and I like odd numbers.” He is enjoying his last year of teaching, trying to suck the joy out of every day because there isn’t any pressure on him to do things other than teaching. He’s still trying to do a good job and wants to finish strong. “All I have to do is interact with the kids and make sure that I enjoy every last season of everything such as football, basketball, the musical and play,” said Downs.

Once he retires he plans on starting a bible study for men who work third shift mainly because they are usually held at night and they aren’t able to attend. “I do plan on subbing and teaching the character and leadership class. Other than that I’m just going to let it play out.” Downs wants to be remembered as someone who loved his students more than the subject he taught. “I want to be remembered as a person who taught kids, not history. I hope that kids knew that I cared about them”

Jaydon Pfab, a senior at Potosi High, transferred from SS Andrew-Thomas School in the 2015-16 school year, his freshman year. “I’ll always remember his emphasis on leadership and how cheerful he is. I consider him a role model because if everyone was Mr. Downs, life would be easier, man. He’s made me want to be more of a down to earth person and has taught me how to become more of a thankful person.” In the leadership class that Downs currently teaches, he prompts the students to take their phones out and jot down five things they’re thankful for. Each day it’d get more difficult, leading you to think of things you never knew you were thankful for. “Mr. Downs has formed me into a better person because I don’t feel like I take as many things for granted than I used to.”

“I think it’ll be nearly impossible to forget Mr. Downs with his stories, the handshakes, the life lessons, and much more,” said Steven Kliebenstein, a Junior at Potosi High. Downs has been one of his biggest role models. “His lessons about character and service to others will stick with me for as far as I can see into the future. I’d like to think that having a little Mr. Downs in your life would make anyone a better person.”

Martia Abing, a sophomore at Potosi High will always remember how he’d greet each and every student entering his room with a handshake and smile. “He always has this charisma to him that makes everyone he talks to want to become a better person. I consider him a role model because he is such an inspiration to not only me, but to many other students as well. He’s always smiling and it’s hard to not be a happy person when you’re around him. He brings so much energy and positivity to the students and staff at Potosi.” Downs has made quite the impact on Abing. He not only changed the way she views things in her life, he taught her to focus on things that she can control, rather than worry about the things she doesn’t have control over. “He always reminds his students that everyone goes through hard times in their lives, it’s all about how you handle those hard times which really shows your character. Everyday he inspires students to become more than just good students, but more importantly good people.” Downs always encourages his students to go out of their way to make someone else’s day. “Mr. Downs has not only taught me history, but also taught me how to become a better person.”

“Make wise choices and have a GREAT day!”