West Bend family reflects on ‘special year’

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 9, 2015

West Bend family reflects on ‘special year’

Starts with record-breaking turkey

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

A state-record turkey and a boat catching fire made for an interesting and memorable year for the Ott family.

It started in the spring when Rory Ott of West Bend shot a turkey with a crossbow May 21 in Washington County that broke three state records. He set the record for longest spur (1.5 inches), weight (22.48 pounds) and beard length (10.0625 inches), and was second in grand score (59.625), according to the National Wild Turkey Federation for the Eastern Typical breed.

The spur length is tied for second longest in the nation, behind Abigail Baldwin of Gallia County in Ohio (1.625 inches).

The weight is sixth in the nation, the beard length is 11th and total score is 15th. The longest beard on record, according to NWTF, is 13.5 inches — shot in April. The national record for weight is 27.3 pounds and for total score it’s 84.

“The first time I saw it, I think I saw it on Facebook, I almost didn’t believe it right away,” said Cody Ott, Rory’s oldest son. “I was pretty amazed by it.

“After that, I kind of wanted to jump on the turkey-hunting bandwagon.”

That wasn’t the only surprise the Otts learned from the trophy turkey.

“There’s like 15 different types of turkeys,” said Heather Ott, Rory’s wife. “I didn’t even know that existed.”

Registering the turkey was another adventure. Rory knew the turkey was bigger than normal — certainly something he hadn’t seen before.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Rory said.

After several phone calls, Rory went to Cabela’s in Richfield to get the turkey confirmed for records. According to NWTF rules, two members have to sign off on a hunter’s bird in order for it to be official and be entered into a database. He also signed up for NWTF membership so he declared to fellow hunters he’d be glad to sign off on a turkey when needed.

“It was way more of a process than we thought it would be,” Heather said.

Rory joked the turkey “probably lost weight because we’d been driving around for so long.”

That turkey was the start of what he called a “special year” for the family in the woods and on the water.

About three months later, Hunter Ott, Rory’s youngest son, caught two king salmon on Lake Michigan — both were heavier than 17 pounds — on the same day near Port Washington.

Then in September, Cody caught a 30-inch walleye near Saxon Harbor in Iron County. Plus, Cody’s girlfriend, Janelle Byrum, had a musky bite off the lure from the pole. That was within the first hour of the family on the water.

Rory said 15-20 inches is about average for a walleye in that area.

“It was crazy,” Rory said.

“With the little time we have, it’s tough to do,” he added about the family’s success in the woods and on the water this year. “We don’t get to see each other much. We’ve been lucky.”

Cody quickly chimed in “it always hasn’t been this way.”

There was a curve ball that was thrown in the middle of all this: The family boat caught fire.

“My boat was down the whole summer,” Rory said. “The only time we took it out was when they both caught their fish.”

Rory and Cody were fishing in late April and caught a whiff of something that smelled like burning. They were fishing off the shore near a power plant, so that’s what they assumed it was and didn’t think anything of it.

As they were heading in, the motor died. Rory said he was grateful the wind was blowing the way it was or “we would’ve sailed to Michigan.”

When they got to shore, the voltage regulator had overheated and smoke poured out from the motor.

The boat was fixed by early August and the first time out, Hunter caught the king salmon. Two weeks later, Cody caught the above-average walleye.

Hunter said he was nervous about going out on the boat, but Rory had it covered.

“We had two fire extinguishers and life jackets,” Rory said with a laugh.

The family agreed it’s hard or almost impossible to replace memories like that.

Cody, 22, said he likes to hunt, especially with his dad, because “you never really know what the plan is going to be.”

He added, “We’re always trying something new and it never gets old.”

Rory hunts for several reasons, but the important ones to him are the opportunity to spend time alone with his sons, see what they can get and teach them conservation.

“You can hunt by yourself, but doing it with someone else is almost better and with your dad, it’s a little more special,” Cody said. “Everything I know about hunting I learned from him and I think that really creates a bond between us.”

Cody is a full-time student at Concordia University in Mequon and has a full-time job. He is studying nursing and working at a hospital. Spending time with dad hasn’t lost spice.

“Hunting is one of those things we do every year,” Cody said. “No matter what, I try to make time for hunting. It’s a constant in our lives.”

Cody described time in the woods with Dad as therapeutic.

“You can sit in your tree stand for hours and not see a thing, but it helps clear your mind,” Cody said.

Hunter, 11, is picking up the hunting bug as well, taking hunter education safety classes.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen how much fun they’ve had.”

Dogs will be allowed at Ridge Run Park

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 9, 2015
A1 - West Bend Common Council

Dogs will be allowed at Ridge Run Park

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Dog owners in West Bend got “barking” good news at Monday’s Common Council meeting at City Hall.

When the city acquires Ridge Run Park ownership from Washington County on Jan. 4, dogs will continue to be allowed in the park, despite a city ordinance forbidding animals such as dogs in city parks.

The Common Council approved a change in the city’s ordinance to continue to allow dogs in Ridge Run Park after the city’s acquisition of the park.

Also approved relating to the change in ordinance is the mandate to have dogs on a 6-foot leash in the park. The change also brings the Ice Age Trail in Glacial Hills Recreation Area in line with Ridge Run Park and most of the Ice Age Trail.

A review of the ordinance at Ridge Run Park will be done in one year.

When asked if the city will consider a change to allow dogs in other city parks, excluding the West Bend Dog Park, City Administrator TJ Justice said Tuesday “the system we have works well.”

Also on Monday, the Common Council approved the 2016 Shared Ride Taxi Service agreement and the 2016 Shared Ride Taxi Vehicle lease agreement, both with FDS Enterprise Inc.

“It’s unquestionably a valuable service to our residents, especially the elderly and the handicapped,” Justice said. “It’s a service we want to keep costs under control and the impact general fund on our budget needs to be kept in check.”

However, Justice added because of declining federal funding of the service, the Common Council will look at potential rate increases in 2016.

Justice said increases are “possible.”

Rate increases will be used to help offset operating costs and vehicle purchases.

In addition to FDS Enterprise Inc., Johnson Bus also put in a bid. But Justice said the FDS proposal was more “cost effective by more than $100,000.”

The contract is good through 2020.

In other proceedings:

■ A claim against the city by Carol Hottenstein saying poor road conditions damaged a vehicle was denied. Justice said there was not enough evidence to support the claim.

■ A 1991 Toyota forklift was declared surplus property from the Public Works Department.

■ Verizon Wireless proposed to enter into a lease agreement with the City of West Bend Water Utility for the purpose of installing facilities and equipment at the Summit Drive water tower site. It was approved. It is a five-year deal with automatic extensions and a rental fee of $26,400, which will increase 2 percent each year.

■ The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will receive a $33,084.78 reimbursement for the site assessment grant on behalf of Associated Bank on Paradise Drive.

■ Carrie Winklbauer was appointed city comptroller and will take over the job Jan. 1.

Reach sports editor Nicholas Dettmann at ndettmann@conleynet.com.

Former Suns coach Riehl passes away

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 1, 2015

Former Suns coach Riehl passes away

Led East to its lone state title in 1984

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Former West Bend East girls basketball coach and Hall of Famer Rick Riehl died Sunday night. He was 67.

In October, Riehl was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare degenerative brain disorder that can resemble dementia and Alzheimers, but progresses more rapidly.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is an estimated one diagnosed case per 1 million people each year, most often in older adults.

“The man never lost his passion for East High School, our students, our staff and the community,” said Ted Neitzke, West Bend School District superintendent. “He’ll be missed.”

Riehl led the Suns girls basketball team from 1978-88, compiling a 154-65 record in that span. He led the team to the 1984 state championship and was the state’s coach of the year.

He coached for more than 30 years and 60 sports seasons at East, compiling a 334-169 record, including 95 victories in eight seasons as the Suns’ junior varsity baseball coach.

Riehl also taught in the West Bend School District for more than 30 years and was later an athletic department administrator at Concordia University in Mequon for more than a decade.

“He was very passionate and helpful to me a number of times,” Neitzke said. “He left a legacy.”

Arguably, his greatest legacy was the Wisconsin Coaches Scouting Service, which he started in 1983. The WCSS is a basketball camp for boys and girls from second grade through high school, teaching the fundamentals of the game.

A 1984 West Bend News article detailed why Riehl started the scouting service.

“It turned out that only seven girls in Wisconsin had received Division I scholarships in 1982, another 12 were given ‘full rides’ in 1983,” Riehl said in the article. “That number seemed woefully low when considering the fact that Wisconsin has so many schools. The odds of a girl receiving a scholarship for basketball figured out to be about one in 200.”

To find out the statistics, Riehl mailed more than 400 letters to coaches of high school girls basketball in Wisconsin.

Riehl said in the article he was “immensely frustrated at (girls’) inability to get any scholarship funds.”

Since then, Riehl’s service has given girls basketball players in Wisconsin a chance to get to the collegiate level.

“This project has afforded me the opportunity and incentive to find those players, get the information to the universities and upgrade the opinion of this state’s basketball program,” Riehl said in the article.

He added, “Integrity, creditability and validity are the goals we seek in providing this service.”

More than 500 former and current Division I girls basketball players participated in WCSS sessions. One of the most notable was Sonja Henning.

Henning graduated from Racine Horlick in 1987 as the state’s all-time leading scorer (2,236). She was the Wisconsin Player of the Year in 1987, then the National High School Player of the Year, before becoming the NCAA Player of the Year while leading Stanford to the National Championship in 1989.

Another one was Sandy Botham, a Madison West graduate, who went on to play on a scholarship at Notre Dame. Later, Botham went into coaching and led the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee women’s program from 1996-2012 where she was a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year and the second-winningest coach in school history.

In the weeks that followed his diagnosis, Riehl was inducted onto the West Bend Athletics Wall of Fame.

Riehl will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame at a later date. The hope was to do the presentation at an East girls basketball game this season.

It is unclear when the ceremony will take place.

WBCA Executive Director Jerry Petitgoue said Riehl’s induction is “long overdue.”

On Nov. 7, Riehl was recognized by Concordia when the school renamed the press box at the football stadium in his honor.

“The Concordia University- Wisconsin community mourns together with Rick’s wife, Donna, his wonderful family and many friends,” said Patrick Ferry, Concordia’s president. “Truly, Rick’s was a life that mattered. He made a difference and had an impact on so many people as a teacher, coach and mentor. He lived out our university’s mission of ‘helping students develop on mind, body and spirit for service to Christ in the church and world.’ Now he is in the nearer presence of Jesus celebrating the ultimate victory. We do not grieve without hope. Rick will truly be missed.”

Riehl is survived by his wife, Donna, and three children, Tara, Troy and Tyler.

Senior stood out early for Suns

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Nov. 28, 2015

Senior stood out early for Suns

STORY BY NICHOLAS DETTMANN ■ DAILY NEWS

Most freshmen studentathletes would get lost on a roster full of juniors and seniors, especially if they’re All-Conference or All-State performers.

Not West Bend East’s Lexie Uselding.

She found a way to stand out, even as a freshman.

“She had a hard hit,” said Natalie Geidel, one of 10 juniors on the 2012 Suns. “It opened up our front row. It was hard for the other team to figure out who was hitting.

“She was also a pretty good passer, an all-around consistent player.”

As those seniors and juniors moved on, Uselding’s role increased, but more teams took notice. She also filled the stat sheet on a nightly basis.

“We looked at her stats,” East coach Colleen Hasse said. “She got kills, she got blocks, she got aces, she got points for the team. Defensively, she was phenomenal.

“She was a consistent, allaround player.” Uselding went on to be one of the most decorated players in East volleyball history.

She was named All-Wisconsin Little Ten Conference four times, including the Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. She was twice named All-State by the coaches association (2014 and 2015).

Uselding finished her fouryear varsity career with 1,642 kills with a .297 hitting percentage, 1,161 digs, 101 blocks and 170 service aces.

Of the 1,161 digs, 913 were in the last two seasons.

Let’s add 2015 Daily News All-County Girls Volleyball Player of the Year to the list, the third time she was named to the All-County team (201315).

“I could not have asked for a better four years,” Uselding said. “The last four years will be something I’ll never forget.”

The same will go for her coach, Colleen Hasse.

“With Lexie, I thought she played well all the time,” she said. “If she wasn’t doing well offensively, she’d put that energy into her defense. That was something I really noticed about her this year. She doesn’t play bad in our eyes.

“She always found a way for the struggle to be the energy to bring out a strength.”

This season, in addition to her 423 kills — an average of 4.8 per set — Uselding had 53 aces, 15 blocks and 323 digs in 402 chances.

“It’s going to be difficult because she was a force to be reckoned with,” Hasse said when asked how she and the Suns will try to overcome her graduation in the spring.

Geidel, the 2013 WLT Player of the Year and Daily News Player of the Year, knew Uselding had a good chance at being special, and she saw it early.

At 10 years old, Uselding played up a level with Geidel on her U12 club team — the West Bend Power.

“She opened the court up for everybody,” Geidel said.

Hasse said Uselding was first blessed with volleyball talent from the moment she saw Uselding played as a 12- year-old.

“I remember watching her in Orlando (Florida), they were at the AAU championship,” Hasse said. “I remember watching her play and she played all around, the way she moved, the way she could read the ball. I could see that she got it, picked up the game really quickly.”

But Uselding was nervous when she walked into the first day of practice with the Suns.

“They were super intimidating,” Uselding said.

That quickly changed and one reason for that was the 11 upperclassmen on the 2012 roster saw a unique talent, regardless of her age or grade.

“I feel like it was tough for her at the beginning, but I thought she adjusted quickly,” Geidel said. “She played a big role for our team.”

In the 2012 sectional final against Neenah, Uselding led the Suns in kills.

The other stat leaders in that match for the Suns were Delaney McCreary, Baylee Gross, Megan Kiefert and Geidel, all of whom later earned college volleyball scholarships.

Geidel was recently named the North Star Athletic Association’s Player of the Year.

Uselding was the Suns’ leader in kills in the 2013 sectional final as well on a team with nine seniors, including McCreary and Geidel, four-year varsity starters.

“She came in with a great group of kids,” Hasse said. “She was coming into a pretty developed team. I had some good seniors and some good juniors.

“She also needed to learn about me, the kids and the level of play. She did a really nice job.”

Uselding was glued to volleyball after watching the Lynn LaPorte Sprawl, one of the state’s marquee high school tournaments hosted by West Bend, as a fourth-grader.

“I knew I wanted to play volleyball,” Uselding said. “I liked how excited the girls would get after a point.”

Seemingly every chance she had, Uselding focused on volleyball.

Four years ago, she wanted to “try my best.”

“I knew that I had to work super hard,” Uselding added. “They were so talented. I had to work so hard and play the best I could. I thought I did the best I could as a freshman. I thought I helped out.”

Uselding tried basketball in middle school, but “nothing compared to volleyball.”

Next year, Uselding will walk on at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after offers from Viterbo University and Lewis University didn’t come through.

She said yes, going to a NCAA Division I school is exciting, but she is more excited for the campus and being part of a successful program.

“The coaches made it a very easy decision,” Uselding said.

She plans to study nursing.

“Milwaukee was where I pictured myself,” Uselding said.

One call changes it all

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Nov. 25, 2015

One call changes it all

2 Showalters reunite at college level

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Steve Showalter was ready to get back to work toward reclaiming the top prize in WIAA boys basketball.

Then he got the call.

On the other end of the line was Lindenwood University men’s basketball coach Lance Randall, a longtime friend of Showalter’s.

“He was a high school student in Platteville when I was in college (at UWPlatteville) so he would come over to the university and play pick-up basketball with us,” Showalter said.

They remained friends long after that and kept in touch, aided by their involvement in coaching high school basketball.

Showalter built one of the power programs in the state at Germantown, while Randall went on to coach at Oshkosh West and Cedarburg, before moving onto the college ranks.

Randall recruited former Germantown standout Ben Averkamp when Randall was at Loyola University in Chicago. Averkamp went to Loyola.

“We’ve always talked,” Showalter said.

But they never talked about this: college coaching. That’s what this particular phone call was about from Randall to Showalter in mid-May.

“I hadn’t thought about doing anything else,” Showalter said.

Randall offered Showalter a spot on his coaching staff at Lindenwood, an NCAA Division II school in Saint Charles, Missouri.

“As far as coaching at Germantown, I was 100 percent ready to go,” Showalter said.

It was too good of an opportunity to say no and his kids reminded him of it.

“I was extremely excited,” said Zak Showalter, Steve’s oldest son who is on the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team. “I told him he couldn’t pass it up.”

Steve didn’t. He took the job.

“Leaving the basketball world at Germantown that blew up in the last few years, it was really special,” Steve said. “To leave that situation to come down to (Lindenwood), it was a big step, a leap of faith.

“But it’s basketball. It’s something I love to do.”

Steve led Germantown for 15 seasons, finishing with a 286-81 record and three straight state titles (2012-14). The Warhawks also won a state-record 69 games in a row.

The Warhawks lost in last season’s WIAA Division 1 state final to Stevens Point. Up until he got the call from Randall, Steve was prepared to try and take the team back to state and win the state title for the fourth time in five years.

Instead, he got a call he never expected, but he held onto hope it might come someday.

“I wasn’t really looking for this,” Steve said. “But I always kept my eyes open, always looked around to see what was around. But I never applied for a job outside of a couple. This came as a total shock and surprise.”

It was also a no-brainer.

“To coach at a high level of basketball for a coach that I have the utmost respect for that’s going to teach me a lot of things,” Steve said when asked why he took the job.

The timing was also right.

When he took the job with Lindenwood, Steve also had to resign from the Germantown Police Department.

About a year ago, while chasing a suspect, Steve hurt his knee and needed surgery, which he had in January.

“I didn’t recover all that well with my knee,” Steve said. “The knee wasn’t responding like I needed to.”

It bothered him for several weeks.

“I had second thoughts if I was ready to go back on the street,” he said.

That’s about the time when Randall called.

“The call came out of the blue,” Steve said.

The switch has given him new life.

“It makes me think twice now,” he said. “I’m turning 50 this year. I kind of thought, Germantown was the center of the basketball universe. I’m realizing it’s not and there’s a lot of other stuff out there. I hadn’t thought about doing anything else.”

Then he thought back to something his college basketball coach told him — Bo Ryan.

“I’ve always been told by coach Ryan and others you do what you’re doing at 100 percent.”

Zak knew this was the perfect opportunity for his dad.

“I knew he wanted to coach at the next level,” Zak said. “I know when the opportunity came calling, it was hard to turn down. I’m excited for him.”

If this is Steve’s last coaching stop, he’ll be OK with that.

“I don’t view it as a stepping stone,” he said. “I want to help this team achieve success.

“There may be something out there but I have no plans do anything different.”

As he could attest, things can change, but for now he’s going to enjoy the moment.

❑

Steve’s not alone

Steve Showalter has always looked at the opportunity to coach his sons, Zak and Jake, at Germantown.

But after they each graduated, things were quiet in the Showalter house. They’ve picked back up.

After a year with North Dakota State men’s basketball program, Jake Showalter transferred to join his dad at Lindenwood.

“It’s awesome,” Jake said. “I couldn’t dream of anything more than play with my dad again.”

Together at Germantown, they won three state titles.

“When I was at North Dakota State, I always looked back on my time with Germantown,” Jake said.

It didn’t stray far from dad’s memory, too.

“I was the luckiest dad and coach around for a few years,” Steve said. “I consider myself that as I got to coach both of my boys.”

While grateful for the opportunity to get a scholarship for a NCAA Division I school, Jake struggled at NDSU and his older brother knew it.

“He was a little homesick,” Zak said. Jake played in 13 games for the Bison. He averaged 1.4 points in 2.9 minutes per game. The most extensive action he got was in his collegiate debut against Texas when he played seven minutes and scored five points.

During the spring, Jake and Steve visited some schools to find a new home. None of them seemed to fit. Then when Steve got the job with Lindenwood, it was like a light turned on.

“All the stars kind of aligned,” Jake said.

Steve said, “When I got this job, it was like God put this here for both of us. It was a blessing.”

Lindenwood is 3-1 so far this season. Jake has played in all four games and is averaging 4.3 points in 12.5 minutes per game.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys down here,” Jake said. “It’s going to take some time for us to get into the swing of things. We’re expecting big things this season.”