Jerry Sinz has been there and done that in his more than 50 seasons as Edgar High School’s football coach.

His list of accomplishments include nine WIAA state championships — including the Division 7 title last year — and plenty of close games. Those nailbiters include a 8-7 win over Bonduel on Nov. 7 in a Division 6 Level 3 playoff game on the Wildcats’ home field.

It wasn’t the start the Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy football team was looking for.

Four of the first five drives ended with a turnover on downs in the Titans’ 8-player playoff matchup with McDonell Central Catholic.

Those missed opportunities helped lead to a 44-8 halftime deficit, and the Macks went on to post a 64-29 win over the Titans on Nov. 7 in a state semifinal game at Stiehm Stadium in Weston.

A pair of Wittenberg-Birnamwood relay teams and three individual members of those teams will compete at the WIAA state swim meet Nov. 14-15 at the Waukesha South Natatorium.

The Chargers placed third among 14 teams at the Division 2 sectional at Rice Lake on Nov. 7-8.

Four members of Shawano’s soccer team earned Bay Conference first team all-conference honors, while a Wittenberg-Birnamwood girl was named swimmer of the year.

Bay Conference officials recently announced all-conference selections.

Named to the first team for soccer were: Grayson Swedberg, junior forward; Anderson Schmidt, senior midfield; Brayden Mead, junior midfield; and Kody Popelka, senior defense — a unanimous selection.

Gillett High School senior Bradyn Wendorff and junior Hope Soper were named the most outstanding runners in the M&O Conference for the 2025 cross country season.

Wendorff was named to the boys first team along with teammate and fellow senior Nash Stage.

Erik Kosch, a Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy senior, earned second team honors.

Harry Hirt, 87, of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, formerly of Tigerton, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, following a brief illness.

He was born in Tigerton on Feb. 21, 1938.

We rejoice in knowing he has been reunited in heaven with his wife, Donna, who passed away in December 2024.

Vaughn William Collicott, 101, passed away Aug. 29, 2025, at his home in Kimberly.

Vaughn was born Oct. 18, 1923, in Lincoln, Nebraska, son of the late John and Martha Collicott. He was a veteran, having served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. On Feb. 22, 1947, Vaughn married Doris Nitz, of Janesville.

Two men died as the result of a single-vehicle crash and a third was taken to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to a statement from the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the news release, at about 11:55 p.m. Nov. 8, authorities received a report of a crash on County Road BB near Nauman Road in the Town of Green Valley.

Shawano Community High School celebrated local veterans several days ahead of the designated day with music, honors and tales of what it means to be a veteran.

The Shawano Hometown Heroes program handed out the banners that had been hanging from lampposts along Main Street for almost six months while the SCHS concert band played patriotic music.