Ricardo ArguelloAppleton Post-Crescent
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APPLETON − There wasn't one overwhelming reason for Scott Clough to say goodbye as the head wrestling coach at Appleton North.
"It's a lot of little things put together," the 49-year-old Clough said. "And all those little things are good things. It wasn't bad things. I've really enjoyed coaching wrestling. I've participated or coached in wrestling the last 40 years."
Clough resigned as North's head coach last month after 23 seasons. He became the Lightning head coach in 2000 and helped North be competitive in the Fox Valley Association. North was the last FVA team to win the conference crown (2005) before Kaukauna's 19-year conference champion winning streak.
North crowned its first state champ in 2023 when Jake Stoffel won the 152-pound title. Stoffel won the 175-pound crown this season with heavyweight Brock Arndt finishing runner-up.
"These last few years with the wrestlers that we’ve had with Jake and Brock and others, it's been fabulous," Clough said. "It’s been a joy to coach them and, of course, the success has made it enjoyable. But really just the group of kids that we’ve coached the last few years, they’ve been awesome throughout all my years but this group we got close with. I’m definitely leaving on a high."
Clough added that the possibility of retiring from coaching entered his thoughts the past few seasons.
"The last few years I’ve been asking myself more often than not of how long I wanted to do it and I pretty much knew going into this season that it was going to be my final year," he said. "But I just wanted to kind of play it out. I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t even tell my wife. I wanted to wait until the season was over. I didn’t want to tell people and then go, 'Oh no, I was wrong,' and continue to do it.
"I know it's cliche, but it just feels right. It’s bittersweet of course, but it feels right and I feel very content with the decision to just step away."
Clough, who is a physical education teacher in the district, says he plans to stay active with the Appleton North Youth Wrestling Club.
"One of the things that I want to put a little more effort into is the youth programs," Clough said. "That's one of my goals, is to stay connected to the program. At Appleton North, I was obviously the head coach but I was also the director of the youth club. I never thought it should be that way, but it was always difficult to find people to step up into that role. So I would like to stay connected and continue in that role and focus solely on that role. I think that will potentially help our youth program. It's moving in a positive direction, but I think we can move it even further."
Neenah wins 11th girls powerlifting title
Bri Ankerson won her second consecutive national powerlifting title to lead the Neenah girls powerlifting team at the National High School Powerlifting Championships held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
It was Neenah's 11th national powerlifting title in school history, according to the school. The school's combined boys and girls raw and equipped teams were national runner-up with the boys raw team placing fifth.
Neenah had three individual national runners-up with Rylee Ehlke, Evan Cardoza and Ava Meyer. Carson Harwood was fourth, with Myah Wenzel fifth and Ethan Dietz and Gavin Downs placing sixth.
Kaukauna, Kimberly lead softball, baseball rankings
Here is the first edition of the softball, baseball and girls soccer rankings for the Appleton area. Records are from last season. Future rankings will include this season's records.
SOFTBALL
1, Kaukauna (30-0): Three-time WIAA Division 1 defending state champs riding 82-game winning streak and return the state's top player in junior pitcher/infielder Karly Meredith.
2, Freedom (28-2): Irish are two-time defending state champs in Division 2 and return ace pitcher Peyton VanDeLoo.
3, New London (19-7): Bulldogs reached the Division 2 state title game last season and have made the state tournament the past two seasons. Kenna Mix returns in the circle.
4, Hortonville (17-10): Polar Bears return a bevy of talent from last season's team, including pitcher Olivia Peters, catcher Isabella Dontje and shortstop Paige Lillie.
5, Chilton (19-4): Tigers return pair of first-team all-Eastern Wisconsin Conference performers in junior infielder Gwendolyn Sell and junior outfielder Maddie Tasch.
Also: Kimberly (19-9), Neenah (20-7), St. Mary Catholic (15-8), Menasha (17-9), Weyauwega-Fremont (13-8).
BASEBALL
1, Kimberly (23-5): Papermakers return pitcher Alex Vander Loop and outfielder Sawyer Deering along with infielders Brady Koester and Bryson Vieth from FVA championship team last season.
2, Hortonville (26-5): All-FVA catcher Turner Kuhnke leads team that reached state championship game last season in Division 1.
3, Xavier (16-9): Hawks return four seniors who made first-team all-Bay last season: Luke Krull (outfield), Anthony Weyers (infield), Parker Bleck (pitcher) and Reid Hietpas (utility).
4, Appleton North (17-9): Infielder Alex Ramus and catcher William ho*rner give Lightning nice 1-2 punch in lineup. Sophom*ore hurler Matt Hietpas set for big season.
5, Chilton (24-3): Tigers reached Division 2 sectional final last season, falling to eventual state champion Denmark.
Also: Menasha (17-7), Shiocton (16-7), Fox Valley Lutheran (16-10), Little Chute (16-8), St. Mary Catholic (14-6), Wrightstown (14-10), Clintonville (12-10), Freedom (12-11).
Vote for the top athlete: Three standout soccer players, an ace pitcher and top shot putter: Vote for Cellcom Post-Crescent high school athlete of the week
GIRLS SOCCER
1, Kimberly (19-1-1): Papermakers are loaded with talent, returning five first-team all-FVA players from last season, including two-time Post-Crescent player of the year Emily McCarthy.
2, Neenah (9-8-1): Talented junior forward Mia Wasco returns this season to lead an improving Rockets team.
3, Appleton East (9-6-3): The Patriots look to be in good hands with all-FVA second-team returnees Emma Bullock (defender) and Sarah Wolf (midfield).
4, Menasha (13-5-1): Seniors Violet Jeffers and Sari Rowe return for the Bluejays as Menasha looks to contend for the Bay Conference crown.
5, Appleton North (7-6-3): Senior midfielder Kalli Drexler paces a Lightning squad that also features sophom*ores Brinley Dunsirn and Madi Hacker.
Also: Freedom (9-5-1), Fox Valley Lutheran (8-7-4), Seymour (9-7-4)
