WSAW Hilight Zone Podcast

The Edgar Wildcats football team was one of the best teams in the state. On the AP all-state team, they received plenty of honors. Head coach Jerry Sinz was given coach of the year, while running back Kyle Brewster was named to the 2nd-team all-state and linebacker Austin Dahlke was named to the 1st-team all-state.

Noah Manderfeld talks with Kyle and Austin about the honors, while also looking back on the team's performance this season and the disappointment behind not having a state title game.

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. We'd love to hear from you.

The Merrill girls basketball team was forced into quarantine just one week into the season due to multiple positive tests within the team. Head Coach Adam Smith and senior guard Courtney Krueger joins Noah Manderfeld to talk about what quarantine has been like, what the season has been like under COVID-19 restrictions and how they anticipate it going moving forward.

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. We'd love to hear from you.

In our exploration into COVID-19 in winter sports, Reece Van Haaften talks with Wausau West Hockey player Lucas Langlois and head coach Brian Brandt. The Warriors are currently in quarantine and discuss what it's like to stay in shape from home. They also talk about playing hockey safely in a pandemic and what it's like playing with a mask. 

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. We'd love to hear from you.

The Central Wisconsin Storm is annually one of the best girls hockey programs in the state of Wisconsin. The co-op team with Mosinee, Wausau, D.C. Everest, Merrill and Marathon just saw it's head coach, Pete Susens, retire after last season. Susens is the winningest hockey coach in Wisconsin prep hockey history, and led the Storm to a state title in 2017. 

Now Jacques Du Vair takes over. In this episode, we talk with Coach Du Vair and senior Kayla Piskula about how they plan on turning the page to a new era. 

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. We'd love to hear from you.

In what was truly a season like no other, the WSAW sports team of Reece Van Haaften, Matt Infield and Noah Manderfeld recap just how chaotic this season was. You see the show on TV, but we take you into what goes in behind the scenes to make the Hilight Zone what it is.

We talk about the time crunch we work on, how we kept up with the many cancellations and scheduling seasons and how bittersweet the end of this season is.

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com.

 

Mosinee football had a special season, and it was powered by three key players, Drayton Lehman; Cyle Kowalski and Michal Dul. The trio put up some of the best offensive numbers in the state, and all are seniors.

Reece Van Haaften talks with them about their bond, and what makes that offense works. All three have unique names, but none of them have a name that's mispronounced more than Dul. They shared a laugh over that, among many other things.

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. 

It’s part two of our Hodag week after a historic week in Hodag athletics, and we talk with the Rhinelander state champion swimming team. Shortly after the football team completed their come back, the girls swimming team topped it by winning their first ever state title. Reece Van Haaften talks with three swimmers: Malia Francis, Abi Winnicki, and Makenna Winnicki. There were some special moments this team had Friday night, like when they returned to Rhinelander at 3 in the morning and decided to continue celebrating. The boys team surprised them in the pool and celebrated with them in the pool until four in the morning. It’s a moment they will remember forever.

 

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com.

 

It’s part one of our Hodag week after a historic week in Hodag athletics. In this episode, Noah Manderfeld sits down with Rhinelander football head coach Aaron Kraemer and their starting quarterback Quinn Lamers. It’s no secret, the Hodag football team is usually not good. But since Kraemer took over as head coach last year, they have made back-to-back playoff appearances and have completed a 180-degree turn on the perception of the program. We talk about that culture shift, that moment when Lamers crossed the goal line to score the winning touchdown against Lakeland, and what this season feels like looking back on it.

 

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com.

In this special signing day episode of the Hilight Zone Podcast, Reece Van Haaften talks to Wild Rose's Ashton Schwartzman, who signed with North Carolina to run track. Schwartzman discusses why he chose North Carolina, the difficult process it was to narrow it down to the Tar Heels, and how he fought with his mom through the process, only to receive a huge hug at the big day.

If you have any episode ideas, feel free to email sports@wsaw.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Stratford's own Derek Kraus has found just a little success on the track, finishing 11th in NASCAR's Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series in his rookie campaign. The 19 year old discusses his rookie year, what it’s like racing on tracks with absolutely no in-person experience on them before the race, and which tracks were his favorite to race at.

If you have any episode ideas, be sure to emails sports@wsaw.com. We’d love to hear from you.