Tuesday Afternoon Sports – Husker Men Host Michigan State, Bearcat Wrestling Names Schlender for KHS Girls Wrestling, Shelley Leads Huskers on All-Big Ten Team, More Awards for Husker Softball, Local Sports Schedules

HUSKER MEN HOST MICHIGAN STATE FOR SENIOR NIGHT:

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks for its fifth straight win on Tuesday night as the Huskers play host to Michigan State.  

The Huskers have much to play for in the regular-season home finale. NU is 5-1 in the month of February and a win on Tuesday night would give NU six wins in February for the first time since the 1997-98 season. It would also get the Huskers closer to a potential first-round bye in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. 

Senior Night ceremonies will begin shortly after 7:30 p.m. with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. 

Michigan State (17-11, 9-8) looks to rebound from a 112-106 overtime loss to Iowa Saturday afternoon.

KGFW’s pregame begins after a shortened Sports Nightly at 7 PM.

BEARCAT WRESTLING NAMES SCHLENDER FIRST GIRLS WRESTLING COACH:

Kearney High School has hired its first-ever Girls’ Wrestling coach.  

Trey Schlender grew up in Kearney, wrestled for Kearney High School, and began his coaching career at KHS.  He is now the head coach for the new KHS Girls’ Wrestling Team.

This past year, Schlender has been the assistant wrestling coach at Bellevue East High School (2022-2023).  Prior to that he was the head wrestling coach at Kenesaw High School and brought home a few state medals including one state runner-up (2020-2022).  Schlender started his coaching career by volunteering and assistant coaching at Kearney High School and Horizon Middle School (2015-2017).

Schlender was a 2013 KHS graduate and wrestled all four years in high school and was a state medalist in his senior year. After high school, he continued his education and athletic career at UNK where he earned a degree in K-12 Health and Physical Education. As an athlete, Schlender was a three-year starter for the Lopers at 197 lbs and placed 5th at Regionals.

SHELLEY LEADS HUSKERS ON ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS:

Jaz Shelley claimed first-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches to headline a group of four Huskers who earned all-conference accolades when the league announced its women’s basketball regular-season awards.

Shelley, a 5-9 guard from Moe, Australia, led Nebraska with 14.3 points, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals while adding 4.8 rebounds per game in her second season with the Big Red. She also led the Huskers and ranked among Big Ten leaders with 67 three-pointers on the season.

In Big Ten play, Shelley was even better, ranking 10th in the league in scoring (15.2 ppg), 25th in rebounding (5.5 rpg), fourth in assists (5.9 apg), 16th in steals (1.7 spg), third in three-pointers made per game (2.6) and fourth in free throw percentage (.881).

Alexis Markowski added second-team All-Big Ten honors from league coaches and media for the second straight year.

Isabelle Bourne added honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition from league coaches and media for the third consecutive season.

Finally, Sam Haiby joined Bourne as a three-time All-Big Ten award winner by claiming honorable-mention recognition from the conference media for the second straight season.

KEARNEY BOYS FALL TO MILLARD NORTH IN DISTRICT FINAL:

The Bearcat Boys Basketball team could not continue their late rally to overcome an early deficit as their season concluded as A-2 District Runner-Up to Millard North, dropping the deciding game 75-66 on the road Monday night. 

A full game recap is available at KGFW.com. 

The Bearcats wrapped their season at 17-8 overall while claiming their first postseason and district win since 2020 last Saturday over Lincoln Pius. 

NEBRASKA’S SHELLEY NAMED TO BIG TEN HONOR ROLL:

Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley claimed her third spot of the season and fifth of her two-year career on the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll.

Shelley closed the regular season with her fourth double-double of the year by putting up 19 points and pulling down a career-high 13 rebounds in Nebraska’s 80-64 victory over Northwestern at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday. Shelley added six assists and three steals in an outstanding all-around effort.

For the week, Shelley averaged 22.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals.

Shelley leads the Huskers to the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis this week. No. 8 seed Nebraska will take on No. 9 seed Michigan State at the Target Center on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

BIG RED SOFTBALL PITCHER EARNS CONFERENCE AWARD:

Junior right-hander Sarah Harness was named the Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week the conference announced Monday afternoon. This marks Harness’ first career Big Ten pitcher-of-the-week honor. 

Harness was honored after posting a 2-0 record last weekend, starting two games and holding opponents scoreless through 11.0 innings. She gave up only one hit while striking out 12 over the weekend. 

Harness opened the weekend with a win at New Mexico State. Against the Aggies, Harness fired the 40th no-hitter in school history and the first since 2016.

Harness is the second Husker to be named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week this season as Courtney Wallace received the honors after the first week of competition. 

STORM FORWARD EARNS USHL WEEKLY HONOR:

Tri-City Storm forward Dane Dowiak has been named the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Forward of the Week for the first time in his career following last weekend’s home games at the Viaero Center. 

Dowiak scored one goal, recorded four assists, for six total points in the Storm’s two-game weekend sweep over the Sioux City Musketeers.

Dane Dowiak, 20, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, has netted seven goals and recorded fourteen assists in thirty-nine games played for the Storm this season.

HUSKER WRESTLING CLAIMS FOUR TOP TWO PRELIM SEEDS:
Seven Nebraska wrestlers received top 10 seeds in the preliminary seeding for this weekend’s 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, the Big Ten Conference announced Monday afternoon. The two-day championship event is set to begin Saturday, March 4 in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will be carried on the Big Ten Network.

After wrapping up an undefeated regular season, Peyton Robb grabs the top spot at 157. Mikey Labriola (174) who is also undefeated on the year, along with Liam Cronin (125) and Silas Allred (197) join Robb at No. 2. Making their Big Ten Championship debuts, Brock Hardy (141) is third in the seeding, while Lenny Pinto (184) is seventh. Rounding out the top-seeded group is Bubba Wilson (165) in 10th.

The Big Ten Network will offer live linear and streaming coverage of the championships. Session I begins Saturday, March 4 at 9 a.m.

HOUSTON, ‘BAMA BACK ATOP AP CBB TOP 25:

The top five spots in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll remained the same. The rest of the AP Top 25 was a big jumble.

Houston was No. 1 for the second straight week in the poll released Monday, receiving 49 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel. No. 2 Alabama had five first-place votes and No. 3 Kansas received eight.

UCLA and Purdue rounded out the top five. The Boilermakers held at No. 5 despite losing to No. 15 Indiana.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Boys Basketball: A-2 DISTRICT FINAL @ Millard North
    • #2 Kearney @ #1 Millard North – 6 PM
      • MN 75-66 KHS

TUESDAY:

• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 7 PM)
  • Nebraska Men’s Basketball v. Michigan State (7 PM – 10:45 PM)

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • Men’s Tennis: v. Sterling – 11 AM
  • Women’s Tennis: v. Sterling – 11 AM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Women’s Basketball: MIAA TOURNAMENT @ Kansas City, MO
    • UNK v. Northwest Missouri State/Newman – 6 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • Women’s T&F: @ NAIA Indoor Championships @ Brookings, SD – 1 PM
  • Women’s Tennis: v. Fort Hays State – 2 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Women’s Basketball v. BIG TEN TOURNEY – TBD (11:15 AM – 2:15 PM)
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Softball: v. Minnesota-Crookston @ Springfield, MO – 10 AM
  • Softball: @ Drury @ Springfield, MO – 12:15 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • Women’s T&F: @ NAIA Indoor Championships @ Brookings, SD – 1 PM
  • Softball: @ Hosea Bell Red Dirt Classic @ USA Softball HOF
    • v. Mid-America Christian
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • TBD

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Softball: v. Evangel, MO @ Springfield, MO – 10 AM
  • Softball: v. Augustana @ Springfield, MO – 12 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE: 
  • Women’s T&F: @ NAIA Indoor Championships @ Brookings, SD – 1 PM
  • Softball: @ Hosea Bell Red Dirt Classic @ USA Softball HOF
  • Baseball: v. Mayville State – 12 PM
  • Baseball: v. Mayville State – 3 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • TBD

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • Baseball: v. Mayville State – 1 PM
  • Baseball: v. Mayville State – 4 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Men’s Basketball @ Iowa (12 PM – 3:45 PM)