Less than a month ago, the JWP boys basketball team handed the WEM squad an 81-55 loss.
Fast forward to Friday, Feb. 14 and the Buccaneers nearly knocked off the Gopher Conference West Division Champions, losing 50- 46.
WEM held the high-scoring Bulldogs to a season low in points, with their previous low of 59 earlier in the season. JWP has scored more than 70 points in half of their games.
The Bucs offense was led by Talen Taylor, who scored 17 points. He also had nine deflections, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals.

The best season in the history of WEM/JWP Grizzly wrestling came to an end Saturday, Feb. 15 with a Section 2A Runner-Up finish.
The Grizzlies finished their dual meet season with a 17-8 record after advancing to the Section finals. They were defeated by Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 40-25, in their first-ever Section Championship since the two schools combined in 2008-2009.

For nearly two thirds of their game against Gopher Conference leading JWP, the WEM girls basketball team played right with the Bulldogs.
The Bucs led 30-29 at halftime and five minutes into the second half trailed by only one against the Bulldogs, who are undefeated in the conference and 16-2 overall.
It was at the 13 minute mark of the second half JWP's defense took over the game and they limited the Bucs to only 14 second half points, and just nine the final 13 minutes of their 60-44 win.

Two wins in the Gopher Conference last week has moved the WEM/JWP wrestling team into second place.
The Grizzlies edged previously undefeated Maple River/United South Central, 32-31, Friday, Jan. 17 in Janesville. They traveled to Medford Thursday, Jan. 23 and returned with a 42-29 win over the Tigers.
WEM/JWP is now 3-1 in the Gopher Conference and 10-6 overall. They trail Kenyon-Wanamingo in the conference and have two duals left against NRHEG and Triton.

The WEM/JWP wrestling team improved to 4-2 this season with two wins in three duals at the Byron Invitational Saturday, Dec. 14.
The Grizzlies defeated Dover-Eyota (53-17) and Byron (52-20) and lost to Rochester Mayo (43-21).
Five wrestlers finished the day undefeated and three others won two of their three matches.
Winning three straight matches included Jacksten Knish (107), Carsen Petry (133), Brady Murphy (139), Lucas Morsching (160), and Keegan Kuball (285).
Knish pinned Derek Bye of Dover-Eyota in 1:07 and also received a pair of forfeits.

A combination of disappointment and joy were mixed together following the Section 2AA Championship football game Friday, Nov. 1 at JWP High School.
The disappointment was the Buccaneers losing 52-20 to Triton. WEM scored on their opening drive but the Cobras scored on all eight of their drives in advancing to the Class AA State Tournament. They will play undefeated Chatfield, a team which Triton lost to 33-6 Sept. 27.

The WEM volleyball team was among eight Section 2AA teams who advanced in the Section tournament Monday, Oct. 21.
The Bucs, the No. 4 seed, defeated Le Sueur-Henderson (25-18, 25-21, 17-25, 25- 16) in Waterville to improve to 18-12 this season. More on this match in the Oct. 31 edition of the LifeEnterprise.
The win advances the Bucs into the Section 2AA quarterfinals Thursday, Oct. 24 when they will play No. 4 seed Glencoe-Silver Lake, 19-9 overall, in Glencoe.
All eight teams who were higher seeds won their matches Monday.

After finishing second the last two years, the WEM/JWP girls cross country team claimed the Gopher Conference Girls Championship Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Prairie Ridge Golf Course in Janesville.
Freshman McKenzie Westphal won her second individual championship and all five Grizzly runners placed in the top 15 overall.
The Grizzlies scored 39 team points in winning. Blooming Prairie scored 50, Randolph 62, United South Central/Alden-Conger 100, and Medford 107. Hayfield, NRHEG, and Triton each had runners but did not field a complete team of five runners.

For the third straight game the WEM football offense piled up more than 300 rushing yards.
This week’s opponent, Medford, allowed 332 first half yards and 47 points in a 54-8 win for the Bucs Thursday, Oct. 10.
WEM improved to 6-1 this season, winning their fourth straight game, while gaining a season-high 451 total yards, 424 on the ground.
Gavin Atherton gained 140 yards on nine carries and scored twice.
Talen Taylor gained 77 yards on five carries and completed 3-of-7 passes for 27 yards and a score.

All 11 WEM volleyball players had at least one dig and eight of them had at least one kill in a sweep of United South Central Thursday, Sept. 26 in Waterville.
WEM improved to 4-2 in the Gopher Conference and 12-7 overall with a 25-19, 25-11, and 25-18 win over the Rebels.
The Bucs also had one more match last week. They were edged by Cannon Falls Tuesday, Sept. 24 24-26, 25- 22, 25-21, 19-25, and 15-2 in a nonconference match.
In the win over USC, Ashlyn Pelant and McKenna Schuster each had four ace serves and Liza Baker added two.

The WEM/JWP girls cross country team showed Thursday, Sept. 26 they have a great chance to improve on their finish in the Gopher Conference after defeating four conference teams in the Grizzly Pie Invitational held at Prairie Ridge Golf Course in Janesville.
The Grizzlies not only defeated the conference teams but they also defeated Blue Earth Area to win the nine-team event.

Solid pitching and some small ball helped the Waterville Indians defeat Morris, 8-1, Saturday, Aug. 17 at Green Isle in the first round of the Class C State Baseball Tournament.
Dallas McBroom pitched six innings, allowing one unearned run. Evan Furst, a draftee from St. Clair, pitched three scoreless innings in relief of McBroom.
Dalton Grose hit a solo home run and the Indians bunched together four straight bunts to score four runs and turn a close game into an easy victory.

The Waterville Indians amateur baseball team won a pair of games in the 13-60 League Playoffs which propelled them into their sixth straight Region Tournament.
The Indians defeated Waseca, 9-4 Saturday, July 20 and Minnesota Lake 10-3 Sunday, July 21 to advance to the 13-60 League Championship game Saturday, July 27 at 2 p.m. in Waterville. Their opponent will be Blue Earth, who defeated Wells, 11-10, and Eagle Lake, 12-7.
These two teams met for the 13-60 League Championship in 2023 and the Pirates edged the Indians, 7-6.

The 2024 WEM Clay Target season just wrapped up and it was a huge success! There were 66 members on this year's team of which 50 of them elected to shoot competitively with Clay Target USA which requires additional fees.
For WEM, the clay target season consists of both trap and skeet shooting events. There are other events such as five stand and sporting clays but currently there are no facilities nearby that can support them.

WEM freshman Gavin Atherton placed in two events, winning one, at the Class A Section 2 Track and Field Championship held Saturday, June 1 at Mankato West.
Atherton ran in two races and was within four hundreths of a second of advancing to State in both events.
He ended up winning the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.71, which is a personal best. He edged Madelia-Truman senior Ryan Koberoski by one hundreths of a second for the title. GFW junior Justin Messner finished with a time of 50.98 and he along with the other two runners, will also advance to State.

After struggling with their offense through six innings, the Waterville Indians amateur baseball team exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning and five in the eighth in their 12-4 win over Minnesota Lake Sunday, June 2 in Waterville.
The Indians only had two hits through six innings before collecting six hits in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth inning of this 13-60 League game.