Cullen Jacobus and North Crawford will welcome in Hurley this weekend
8-PLAYER | BRACKET
(All games Friday at 7 pm unless noted; Times, dates, & locations subject to change)
#4 Frederic at #1 Flambeau
#3 Clayton at #2 McDonell Central
#4 Athens at #1 Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas
#3 Valley Christian at #2 Wabeno/Laona
#4 Owen-Withee at #1 Gilman
#6 Hurley at #2 North Crawford, 5:30 pm
#4 Belmont at #1 Oakfield (at North Fond du Lac HS)
#3 Sevastopol at #2 Marion/Tigerton
To see the Level 1 Bracket Breakdown, click here.
Level 1 Surprise
Hurley is the only lower-seeded road team to win last week, as the Northstars made the lengthy trip to Tri-Count and shutout the Penguins 22-0. Tri-County entered as the top rushing offense in the state, but Hurley kept them in check, while putting up 291 rushing yards of their own. Junior Charlie Haanen led the way with 187 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
Best Rematch
Top-seeded Gilman opened the season with a dominating 43-0 win over Owen-Withee way back in the first game of the year, but the defending state champion Blackhawks were breaking in a large number of new players coming off last year’s title run. They’ve rebounded nicely and have five straight wins heading into this game, and should provide a much tougher challenge for Gilman this time around.
#1 seed with toughest match-up
Belmont went 7-1 this year, with the only loss a competitive one against unbeaten North Crawford. The Braves played a relatively weak schedule otherwise, however, and it resulted in them dipping to a four-seed in the playoffs. They’ll be a very tough matchup for top-seeded Oakfield, who shows as unbeaten on the WIAA brackets but dropped a replacement game against Algoma. The Oaks were not challenged much this year outside of that defeat.
Level 2 Most Important Player
Few teams rely on one player offensively as much as Marion/Tigerton turns to junior running back Braylon Mielke. He’s carried the ball 196 times this year, that’s an average of 22 times per game, but has put up big numbers with a division-high 1,967 yards on the ground to go with 25 touchdowns. He’s also a key player on defense and has two kick return scores.
My Picks
(6-2 last week; 75% in 8-Player overall)
Flambeau over Frederic
McDonell Central over Clayton
Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas over Athens
Wabeno/Laona over Valley Christian
Gilman over Owen-Withee
North Crawford over Hurley
Oakfield over Belmont
Marion/Tigerton over Sevastopol
Travis Wilson serves as the Bound Wisconsin Manager. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisBound or reach him at [email protected].