Chael Rozbeda certainly knows how to say goodbye.

The graduating senior from Hamiota Collegiate Institute capped off his high school sports career as the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s A male athlete of the year after a terrific Grade 12 year at Hamiota Collegiate Institute in four sports.

“It was a perfect sendoff, that’s for sure,” said the 17-year-old Rozbeda, who shared the honour with his classmate, girls’ winner Ky Solomon.

“You don’t see it very often, two people from a small-town school being named as the male and female athletes of the year,” Rozbeda said. “That’s pretty exciting.”

It’s just the second time Hamiota has swept the A awards, with Jacquelyn Hawkins and Edgardo (Jun Jun) Taborlupa also winning in 2015.

The other Hamiota winners since 1989 are Ashley Jay (2016), Shayna Mathison (2014), Cole Waddell (2013), Karen Rawlings (2001) and Karen Bray (1993).

He was also a winner at Hamiota’s year-end athletic banquet, for outstanding leadership in varsity volleyball, top forward in hockey and the coach’s choice award in baseball.

Rozdeba said Hamiota Collegiate Institute’s long history of producing great athletes and teams certainly doesn’t hurt anyone’s development.

“It’s really good,” Rozbeda said. “Our sports teams are good and we all push each other to be better. It’s competitive all the time.”

Growing up, Rozdeba concentrated on baseball and hockey but added the high school sports when he got older, including volleyball and badminton.

“Hockey and baseball were definitely my two favourites,” Rozbeda said, adding that if he had to choose, hockey is likely on top.

Rozdeba’s family lives north of Hamiota but they farm near Strathclair. Like all farm kids, he’s dependent on his parents — Darren Rozdeba and Carrie Ramsey — to get him into town for his games and practices.

But they also gave him a great deal more.

“My parents helped me out a lot,” Rozbeda said. “They gave me rides everywhere and coached me for lots of my sports and taught me everything I know.”

Rozdeba made a point not to specialize in one sport, opting instead to play many. He said while the individual skills might be different, there are definite ways each sport makes him a better overall competitor.

“I think it just helps overall athleticism,” Rozbeda said. “Playing volleyball can help you with your hockey and getting more explosive or playing hockey can help with your conditioning for all the other sports. They all reflect against each other.”

Not surprisingly, Rozdeba entered his final high school season with some lofty expectations, then he simply went out and did his best to make them happen.

In volleyball, Hamiota earned a spot at the A provincials by going unbeaten in a qualifying tournament at home.

They went 4-0 during the round-robin at the provincial tournament in late November, and beat the Ste. Rose Celtics and host Glenboro Panthers to book a spot in the final, where they ultimately fell 2-0 (29-27, 25-17) to the Elm Creek Cobras.

“We had a very good offence and we never quit,” Rozbeda of his team.

The five-foot-10, 175-pound setter was named a tournament all-star alongside teammate Jaxen Dziver, an honour he was understandably pleased to have. He was also a Volleyball Manitoba graduating all-star.

“It’s very exciting to get recognized as one of the all-stars in all of Manitoba,” Rozbeda said.

The team had eight Grade 12 players on its 11-man roster, which was one of its keys as a group. It was a talented cohort of players who had grown up together on the volleyball court and on the ice.

“We got to know each other really well and got close,” Rozbeda said. “We built chemistry in all the sports we played. We knew each other’s tendencies and habits.”

On the ice, the right-shooting Rozdeba played centre for the Hamiota-Rivers-Elton-Strathclair Huskies, finishing in a tie for seventh in league scoring in the regular season and leading his team with 32 goals and 57 assists in just 38 games.

“I was very happy,” the alternate captain said of his season personally.“I was surprised actually.”

Rozdeba played with the under-15 AAA Yellowhead Chiefs in 2021-22, but ultimately figured high school hockey was a better place for him. It was a decision that involved a lot more than just pucks and sticks.

“I decided to play high school because then I could play my volleyball and my badminton and have time for all the other stuff I like to do,” Rozbeda said. “I could still be on competitive teams and with good coaches too.”

The Huskies (26-12-0) finished fourth in the regular season, and eliminated the Boissevain-Deloraine-Waskada-Pierson Broncos and Killarney-Wawanesa Raiders in the playoffs before getting swept by the unbeaten Vincent Massey Vikings in the best-of-three semifinals in mid-March.

Meanwhile, badminton was a sport he picked up in high school, and after he and partner Sev Antonio captured the Zone 10 championship in boys doubles, they were able to get to provincials at École Régionale Notre-Dame in Notre Dame de Lourdes in early May.

It was an eye-opening experience.

“It’s a whole new world compared to out here,” Rozbeda said. “You’re really never prepared. I think we won two games and lost five. We didn’t make it to the playoffs.”

On the baseball diamond, Rozdeba hits and throws right while playing the middle infield and occasionally pitching. He suited up with Hamiota in minor baseball and with Midwest AAA teams.

His high-school team, a co-op club involving schools from Birtle, Hamiota, Rossburn and Shoal Lake, won its two round-robin games at the provincial championship in Stonewall in late May and then beat Boissevain/Wawanesa 9-3 in the quarterfinals.

Unfortunately for them, that vaulted them into the semifinals against a perennial powerhouse, Winnipeg’s Garden City Gophers, who beat them 11-8.

Garden City went on to edge Steinbach in the final to earn its fourth provincial championship in the last five years.

Rozdeba made enough of an impression that he was named to the provincial high school baseball all-star team along with teammates Aiden Lewis and Nolan Drake.

“I felt really accomplished and really good,” Rozbeda said of the award. “All the hard work paid off.”

This summer, while he works on the family farm, he’s playing 18-and-under with Midwest again and also in the South West Baseball League with his hometown Hamiota Red Sox.

In the fall, he heads to a two-year school, Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D., where his sister Whitney just completed her second year playing for the Royals volleyball and softball teams. Devils Lake is located 190 kilometres southwest of Boissevain, just off busy U.S. Highway 2.

“I reached out to Lake Region at the start of the year and they asked me to come down for a skate,” Rozbeda said. “I went down for a skate and they offered me a spot and I thought about it and accepted it.”

“I think it will be a big jump,” Rozbeda added. “There are lots of older guys who are 20 or older on our team.”

Unlike his sister — who is continuing her career at Mayville State in the fall — he’s concentrating on one sport, and he will have the advantage of playing hockey with his cousin Griffin Anderson of Glenboro, who headed to Lake Region a year ago.

His cousin Kaden Rozdeba is also in school in North Dakota, playing baseball for Valley City State University.

With all that accrued family wisdom, Rozdeba is looking forward to his next step.

“I’m very excited,” Rozbeda said. “I’m going to get a good education and get to play good hockey and travel a little bit and experience different things.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com

Saquon Barkley stood back on his own goal line waiting to receive the opening kickoff against No. 6 Ohio State on a chilly Oct. 28 afternoon. No. 2 Penn State was about to face its toughest task of the year.

Barkley appeared more than ready for the test. He caught the kickoff back at the 3-yard line and found a lane to reach the far sideline for a 97-yard touchdown.

Furthermore, quarterback Trace McSorley led two more touchdown drives while the defense held the Buckeyes to just three points to start the game. With a 21-3 advantage early in the second quarter, the Nittany Lions laid the foundation for a possible statement victory.

However, the tides began to turn with Ohio State, led by quarterback J.T. Barrett’s 328 passing yards with four touchdowns, slowly taking control of the game. After trading scores, the Buckeyes came back to win, 39-38, throwing a potential special season for the blue and white off the tracks.

So, let’s rewind to the start of the fourth quarter when Penn State was leading, 35-20. What if the Nittany Lions never lost this lead?

Penn State makes the 2017 College Football Playoff

Penn State finished the 2017 regular season 10-2, with its other loss coming to Michigan State.

Flipping the Nittany Lions’ loss to Ohio State into a win would place it at the top of the Big Ten East division standings at 8-1 in conference play.

Thus, James Franklin and company would’ve met undefeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship. The East went 10-0 against the West during that format of the conference championship, so it’s reasonable to believe Penn State wins this hypothetical game.

The 2017 College Football Playoff featured Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama, respectively. If the Nittany Lions were a 12-1 Big Ten champion, they likely take the 11-1 Crimson Tide’s spot, earning their first-ever bid to the four-team playoff.

There’s also a scenario in which Penn State grabs the top ranking in the playoff.

Had the Nittany Lions defeat Michigan State on top of Ohio State and Wisconsin, they’d be 13-0, likely slotting in ahead of 12-1 Clemson.

It’s realistic to think that the Nittany Lions could’ve won against the Spartans had they defeated Ohio State the week prior. The loss to the Buckeyes led to a flat start versus Michigan State.

While other variables make exact seeding up to debate, it’s practically a constant that the Nittany Lions make the playoff if they won against Ohio State.

Potentially eliminates negative big game narrative

During Franklin’s tenure at Penn State, one of the main narratives floated is that he can’t win big games. This wasn’t as hot of a topic back in 2017, but it has increased partly because of

the Nittany Lions losing eight-straight games to Ohio State, among other losses to highly ranked foes.

However, had Penn State defeated Ohio State in 2017, the team could’ve built momentum into potentially seeing more positive outcomes in high-stake games. It would’ve been the second-straight year it took down the Buckeyes, and it didn’t need a miracle like its “block six” a year before to take a lead.

Additionally, eliminating the narrative could’ve helped with recruiting.

For instance, quarterback Justin Fields, who was a former Penn State commit before pledging to Georgia in the 2018 class, transferred to Ohio State ahead of the 2019 season. If the Nittany Lions came out victorious in 2017, coming to Happy Valley instead might’ve been more enticing for Fields.

Franklin is 4-20 against Associated Press top-10 opponents during his time in Happy Valley. While changing this one game makes the record 5-19 in retrospect, the chain reaction a win could’ve created at the time would’ve been program altering.

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Watertown forward Camden Markham makes a move with the puck along the boards during a game this season at Prairie Lakes Ice Arena in Watertown, South Dakota. Markham is heading to Wisconsin-Stevens Point to play hockey. (Photo provided)

HOUGHTON — Former Michigan Mr. Hockey Camden Markham has decided where he is going to go to college. The 2023 Houghton High School graduate is heading to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to join the Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers.

For Markham, the decision was pretty straightforward.

“The type of game they play,” he said when asked the reason why the Pointers were the right place for him. “They’re super, super offensive, which fits me. They are a winning program in the past. They continue to compete for national championships. So, that’s something I want to be a part of.

“I want to be a part of a winning program, and getting the chance to win a national championship ultimately is a big part of it.”

Markham scored 31 goals and 60 points as a junior in high school with the Gremlins in 21-22, then 36 goals and 78 points as a senior. In his second full season of junior play, he was top goal scorer for the Watertown Shamrocks of the North American Hockey League with 22, and he finished second in points with 45.

When asked what it is about the game the Pointers play that excited him most, Markham was quick to point out that it starts with how they work their offense the entire 200 feet of the rink.

“I think a big thing is the way they recruit,” he said. “They recruit a little bit smaller, offensively-skilled defenseman that are able to make plays breaking out of zones. That’ll make it much easier on wingers and the forwards when you have offensive defensemen like that.”

After struggling to find his footing in his first year of juniors in a season that saw him bounce between the NAHL’s Wisconsin Windigo and the Austin Bruins, where he scored two goals and seven points in 33 games combined between the two teams, Markham was energized by the chance to help lay the foundation for a new NAHL team in the Shamrocks last season.

“It was absolutely amazing,” he said. “The fans (were awesome). We sold out almost every single home game, over 1500 people. We started slow, but in the second half of the season, we were a lot better.”

As good as the season was for him, Markham admits that the changes in the rules for NCAA teams to recruit players from the Canadian Hockey League’s teams made it a challenge for him to find a place to play college hockey.

“Personally, I had a pretty big season where normally I feel like I would have gotten a shot at Division I,” he said, “but just with the new Canadian rules and everything, it changes everything.

“It was definitely a big topic of discussion throughout the season. Then I remember we were in a hotel room when we found out, and kind of that set in, that it’s going to make it a lot tougher, and kind of realizing that, I mean, (you’re) still trying as hard as you can to get that opportunity, but realizing that it’s going to be a lot harder.”

At the same time, Markham had to focus on being a part of the Shamrocks and what they were trying to accomplish in their first season. He also served as an alternate captain for the year.

“It was super good to be able to kind of set the foundation of that franchise, be a guy that was a captain there as well, and get it to really grow the program just in one year,” he said. “The growth that that organization has had, has been unreal. So, to get to be a part of that all season long, and be a big part of that, was super awesome and it helped me a lot.”

He was honored to be a part of the leadership group.

“A lot of the guys there looked up to me, and thought that I was going to be a guy that could lead them,” he said. “It truly meant a lot. So, right from the jump, that just helped me. That helps you with confidence. So truly, all season long, I felt confident in myself, because I was able to lead and be someone that guys on that team were looking up to, being an older guy.”

For Markham, and really the Shamrocks, the season turned a corner in January.

“Pretty much after like January, February, March was really when it was my best,” he said. “I was on a 13-game point streak, and like a six-game goal streak, so that was probably my best.”

Being able to chip in offensively more like he had in high school was exciting for Markham.

“It makes the season a lot more fun for sure,” he said. “It was a blast. Getting the score in front of the fans in Watertown made it even more fun.”

In November, the Shamrocks traded for Carter Sproule, who found nearly instant chemistry with Markham, and the pair exploded offensively from there. Sproule, who led the Shamrocks with 48 points in 56 games, put up 12 goals and 40 points in 39 games after arriving in Watertown.

“So around, I think it was maybe December, November, we traded for a guy named Carter Sproule from Oklahoma, and he played with me the whole year,” said Markham. “He and I clicked right away. So, that trade really helped our team, and helped him and I as well.”

The chemistry between the two reminded Markham of playing alongside his best friend, Gaborik Carlson, growing up.

“It was huge,” Markham said. “Being able to know that there’s another guy out there that knows where you are at all times, and gets what you are trying to do with the puck every time you get it, it makes the game so much easier. Being on the same page with somebody truly helps yourself play as well.”

Markham knew he was capable of scoring in the NAHL, but getting the chance to prove that in Watertown did wonders for him.

“It was huge, because I believed in myself, and I knew I was capable of scoring goals at that level, and just putting in the work,” he said. “Last year, I didn’t get a bunch of opportunities, so being in Watertown, I got a good amount of opportunities, and I just made good on my opportunities.”

Markham plans to major in finance at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He admits that it took a little time to settle on the Pointers, but he is excited to see how things go.

“Around probably February or March, they started talking to me,” he said. “It took time, definitely. I was debating pretty heavily with a couple different options, so it took a little bit, but once I decided, I felt very confident in my decision.”

The Pointers are coming off a season where they went 19-6-2 overall and 10-3-2 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, losing out to Wisconsin-Eau Claire in three games in the WIAC semifinals.

Watertown forward Camden Markham prepares to shoot the puck during a game this season at Prairie Lakes Ice Arena in Watertown, South Dakota. (Photo provided)