Sports

With Ainsworth hosting its first year of NSAA-sanctioned girls wrestling, the Bulldogs are ready for the fierce competition to begin. Under coaches Todd Pollock and Blaine Finney, the Ainsworth Bulldogs have two wrestlers competing for the 2021-2022 season in girls wrestling.

Three Ainsworth Bulldog Volleyball athletes were selected for the 2021 Southwest Conference Volleyball Teams. The Southwest Coach of the Year was Bryson Mahlberg of Gothenburg.

“We have a strong team of leaders that have played together for many years. They work hard and are determined to be successful,” Coach Julie Micheel remarked about the upcoming Bulldogs girls basketball team. With hard weeks of conditioning and practice, the team geared up for their first game, the Jamboree in West Holt on November 23rd.

The Southwest Conference voted unanimously on Wednesday, November 17th to accept Holdrege Public Schools as the ninth member of the conference. The addition will go into effect for the 2022-2023 school year.

Basket Ball was invented in Massachusetts in 1891. By 1896, the sport had made its way across the Midwest to the towns of Ainsworth, Long Pine, Johnstown, Bassett and Springview. Both the ladies and gentlemen of Ainsworth enjoyed playing the sport early on, and those in the crowd were entertained by the new sport as well.

Brothers Brady and Gage Delimont of Ainsworth were among the seven Chadron State College basketball players who scored in double figures on Sunday during the Eagles’ 118-64 victory over Haskell Indian Nations from Lawrence, KS in Chadron.

“This could be a real exciting season for Bulldog Basketball,” Coach Jake Nelson said in regards to the upcoming season for the 2021-2022 school year. “Our experience and athleticism will cause problems for other teams as long as we continue to improve in how we play as a team.”

The Nebraska Coaches Association (NCA) has recognized Katherine Kerrigan and Ty Schlueter for excellence in cross country. For her performance at last week’s state meet, Kerrigan was selected to the NCA Class D All-State team. Schlueter was named to the NCA Super-State team for cross country.

Though it was a crushing loss to Ord after winning the first two sets in the second round of Subdistricts, AHS volleyball finished the 2021 season as the winningest team in 18 years. The Dawgs complete their 2021 season with a 18-15 record, the best (and only over .500) record at AHS since the 2003 season, in addition to several individual records.

The Ainsworth Cross Country Teams competed at the 2021 NSAA State Cross Country Meet in Kearney on October 22nd. The Ainsworth girls brought home third place as a team along with individual medals by Katherine Kerrigan and Emma Kennedy. The Ainsworth boys placed fifth as a team and Ty Schlueter ran to an individual state champion title in Class D.