Chippewa Falls/Menomonie players help win the USA Hockey title

Addisyn Buesgen, Rhylee Buesgen and Ashley Slupe were players for head coach Emily Bauer when the Selects won a Tier II 2A USA Hockey National Championship on April 7 in East Lansing, Michigan.

The 19U champions were crowned with a 3-0 victory over the East Coast Wizards, which included Addisyn Buesgen, a junior at Chi-Hi, who scored the team's second goal in the championship victory. Ashley Slupe is a junior at Menomonie and Rhylee Buesgen is a sophomore at Chi-Hi on a team with a significant Big Rivers influence, including Eau Claire Area's Addison Gruhlke, a junior from Fall Creek.

Addisyn Buesgen scored 22 goals with 16 assists, Rhylee Buesgen had one goal and 10 assists and Ashley Slupe had three goals and five assists for the Sabers this past season as Chippewa Falls/Menomonie posted an overall record of 13-12-1 and advanced to the section semi-finals. Bauer served as an assistant coach under first-year Sabers head coach Katelyn Dougherty for the team.

Derek and Becky Nette of the Chi-Hi Strength and Conditioning Program have been honored for their work by the National High School Strength Coaches Association.

The couple and the program were recognized as a Program of Excellence for the period 2024-2027, an honor that honors a program that operates at the highest level of professionalism.

To receive the honor, the program demonstrates excellence in safety, quality, efficacy, reach and accentuation. Additionally, the program was recognized for its excellence in demonstrating continued strength and educational and technology use.

Chippewa Falls native and McDonell graduate Thomas Longbella will compete in the PGA Tour's Corales Puntacana Championship this week after winning a qualifying tournament earlier this month.

Longbella shot a 9-under 62 at the Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club in Plantation, Florida to win the tournament and qualify for the tournament, which kicks off Thursday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Longbella, 26, made his PGA Tour debut at the same tournament last season and missed the cut. Longbella graduated from McDonell in 2016 before playing collegiately at the University of Minnesota. This year, Longbella will compete on the Korn Ferry Tour, a developmental competition for the PGA Tour. Longbella missed the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour events in Argentina and Chile this season. In recent years, Longbella has played in PGA Tour Canada, another developmental league that has now merged with PGA Tour Latinoamerica to form PGA Tour Americas. Longbella finished 23rd and 33rd in the season standings in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Gabe and Mason Madsen will be reunited for their final season of men's basketball, while Mason has committed to play for coach Craig Smith this weekend at the University of Utah.

Both brothers began their college careers together at Cincinnati in 2020 before Gabe transferred to Utah following the completion of the 2020-2021 season. Mason played two seasons at Cincinnati before transferring to Boston College starting in the 2022-2023 season, where he spent the last two seasons. Last year, Mason averaged 8.1 points per game in 36 games, including 15 starts, while shooting 37.7% from long range for the Eagles.

Both Gabe and Mason's teams recently played in the National Invitational Tournament. Boston College reached the second round before falling to UNLV 79-70 and the Utes reached the semifinals before falling to Indiana State 100-90.

Gabe and Mason started their high school careers at Bloomer, playing for their father Luke. The family moved to Rochester (Minn.) after the season and the brothers completed their high school careers at Rochester Mayo (Minn.) with their father as coach.

The Chippewa River Baseball League season doesn't start until the end of this month, but several teams will be in action this weekend during the preseason Spring Showcase at Casper Park.

The Chippewa Falls LumberJacks will host the event for the second straight season, with seven of the league's 10 teams competing with games on Saturday and Sunday. The Bloomer Woodticks, Eau Claire Rivermen, LumberJacks, Beef River Bullfrogs, Augusta Athletics, Jim Falls Sturgeons and Eau Claire Bears will play two games Saturday or early Sunday morning.

The top four seeds after these matches will be re-seeded for two semi-finals on Sunday afternoon, with the two winners playing for the tournament championship on Sunday at 5pm. Sunday's action begins at 8 a.m. with a home run derby.

The LumberJacks will offer full concessions and other activities for fans and players all weekend long. The regular season of the league starts on April 28 with four games.