Power 25 Update: Week 1

April 11, 2016

By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor – Wisconsin/Illinois

The WIAA spring season is about two weeks in, but due to inclimate weather a lot of teams still have yet to play, so this is our first update to the Power 25 Rankings.

There were little changes in Week 1 but a few significant games were played to make some early adjustments in the Power 25.

The top five saw Kenosha Tremper drop a spot to No. 4 after an uncanny opening loss to Hartford Union. This misstep could hurt them as more teams start to get some wins under their belt, but for now the Trojans remain a top 5 talented team in the state. This also may have lit a fire under the Trojans as they demolished Racine Park 17-0 later in the week.

Sun Prairie moved up to No. 3 after a 4-0 start and Tremper’s loss. Although, the Cardinals dodged some early bullets with seventh inning rallies in two of those wins.

Defending champion No. 2 Janesville Craig opened their season with a win over crosstown rival Janesville Parker. Craig will face No. 10 Verona Area this week a game that is sure to get a ton of attention.

The No. 15 Eau Claire North bats got off to a hot start in the Woodside High School challenge beating Union Grove 20-8 and Stoughton 17-0 while junior LHP Tanner Halvorson tossed a no-hitter striking out 12.

Aquinas dropped to No. 16 after an early season loss to Stevens Point, while DeForest fell to No. 17, splitting a double header with Monona Grove.

The most notable loss of the week was charged to No. 16 Lake Country Lutheran. The Lightning lost to Brookfield Academy, ending a 32-game conference winning streak, spanning three seasons.

In the only matchup of Power 25 teams so far then No. 24 Burlington edged No. 18 Wilmot 1-0 in a great pitching matchup of two of the top junior arms in the state, RHP Jacob Lindemann and LHP Troy Hickey. Burling jumps to No. 18 this week just ahead of No. 19 Wilmot.

Week 1	Preseason	Team	Division	2016 Record
1	1	Arrowhead	1	1-0
2	2	Janesville Craig	1	1-0
3	4	Sun Prairie	1	4-0
4	3	Tremper	1	1-1
5	5	Indian Trail	1	0-0
6	6	Milwaukee Lutheran	2	1-0
7	7	Appleton North	1	0-0
8	8	Oconomowoc	1	1-0
9	9	Kimberly	1	0-0
10	10	Verona Area	1	1-0
11	12	Green Bay Preble	1	1-0
12	14	Bay Port	1	1-0
13	15	Eau Claire Memorial	1	2-0
14	16	Ashwaubenon	1	1-0
15	17	Eau Claire North	1	2-0
16	11	La Crosse Aquinas	3	1-1
17	13	DeForest	1	2-1
18	24	Burlington	1	1-0
19	18	Wilmot	1	0-1
20	20	Lodi	2	1-0
21	25	Columbus	2	3-0
22	19	Lake Country Lutheran	3	2-1
23	21	Bradford	1	0-0
24	22	Hortonville	1	1-0
25	23	Waterford	1	0-0

Looking at the week ahead there are a few influential matchups to keep an eye on this week. No. 20 Lodi has a tough week ahead of them as they host No. 17 DeForest on Monday and travel to the hot start No. 21 Columbus (3-0) on Friday.

No. 5 Kenosha Indian Trail and No. 21 Kenosha Bradford both kick off their season this week with conference contests against each other. The Southeast Conference host three Power 25 teams and will be a closely watched conference season.

Saturday April 16 looks to be a big day of baseball highlight by a three-way round robin at Kimberly between the No. 9 Papermakers, No. 1 Arrowhead and No. 19 Wilmot.