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Pushing hard

1 / 4 Provo players pose for a photo after the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025. Juan Diego Camarena, Provo High 2 / 4 Provo’s Fred Mendez Ortega (10) stands for the introductions prior to the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025. […]

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Pushing hard

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Provo players pose for a photo after the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Juan Diego Camarena, Provo High

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Provo’s Fred Mendez Ortega (10) stands for the introductions prior to the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Juan Diego Camarena, Provo High

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Provo players celebrate after scoring a goal during the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Juan Diego Camarena, Provo High

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Provo’s Diego Reyes celebrates by pointing toward the crowd during the Region 8 game against Orem in Provo on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Juan Diego Camarena, Provo High


Fred Mendez Ortega was physically and probably even emotionally spent, and who could blame him?

The Provo High forward had just completed a full-out sprint spanning more than half of the entire field during the Bulldog’s inspiring 5-1 win over Orem on Friday. He managed to find himself just ahead of the nearest defender with an open shot looming ahead. The senior pulled the trigger, but unfortunately just missed outside of the near post.

Ortega found himself lying face first on the ground for several minutes before rising to finish off the final minute of the game, as a result.

“Trying to score at full speed isn’t that easy, that’s for sure,” Ortega said with a chuckle. “I had an amazing run, but it just killed me. I was totally drained.”

Drained for all the right reasons.

Ortega, as he has all season long, was involved with just about everything that went right for Provo in its big win. Whether it be forcing action on the offensive end, disrupting a midfield charge or putting the ball on goal on more than several occasions, Ortega did it all.

“Fred is such a dynamic player that he demands the attention of the entire defense,” Provo head coach Jayson Mansanarez said. “So a lot of the times we go the way Fred goes and tonight he was big. But the great thing was that it wasn’t just him.”

No, it wasn’t just Ortega for Provo on Friday.

Goals were added by Dieter Lang in the game’s third minute and followed up with scores from Diego Reyes, Tony Haro and Saxon Gutzman to give Provo a resounding 5-1 win.

But in the middle of almost all of it was Ortega, lending more than just his typical dominant play.

“Fred adds an energy that only some players can do. Not everyone has that ability,” Mansanarez explained. “He’s the one. He’s got it. He’s the heart and soul of the team, brings the energy and everyone follows him. It’s inspiring. It’s fun to watch.”

Mansanarez reserved praise for everyone who took the pitch for Provo, along with Ortega, but made certain to point out the play of Matt Hodges.

“Matt Hodges is an example of guys that really helped us tonight,” Mansanarez said. “It was the best game of his career. He was outstanding holding the center mid position. It all starts right there.”

“This group of boys are all brothers. This isn’t a team. It’s a family,” added Ortega. “We’re so united and so together and I embrace being an emotional leader. I’ll do anything for my boys.”

Although Provo started things out as well as could be imagined, leading 2-0 at the half, Orem came back strong in the second, with Weston Warnick scoring a goal with just over 30 minutes remaining to cut the lead to 2-1.

But Provo regrouped and answered right back with Reyes’ aforementioned goal, which came off a great free kick from midfield off of the leg of goalie Spencer Shuman just five minutes later.

Again it was Ortega forcing the action in the game’s 65th minute which ended up with Haro finding the back of the net before Gutzman topped the scoring off, heading the ball in off of a corner kick.

As for Ortega, the senior striker probably should have had at least a couple of more goals on the night, as several of his attempts just missed the target or encountered brilliant saves.

“It honestly felt like he should have had ten goals to be honest,” Mansanarez said. “He was just everywhere tonight, and when he’s like that we’re extremely tough to beat.”

For Provo, Friday’s win snapped a tough stretch where it lost three of four matches and offered some revenge after taking a 3-0 defeat to Orem exactly two weeks prior.

“That Orem team is incredible,” said Mansanarez. “We knew we’d have to be at our best today and our guys brought it. We did a good job and we were highly motivated. We knew that we had something that we needed to prove.”

And the proof was there throughout the entire 80 minutes, leaving Mansanarez grinning widely after.

“Actually this is who I thought we would be this season,” Mansanarez said of his team’s complete game performance on Friday. “It’s just taken a while to get there. We’ve had a few injuries and other things that have hindered us.”

With the win Provo improves to 7-6 on the season and has three matches remaining before the state playoffs. It’s a playoff Manasanarez and his team seem primed for, after playing in a very tough Region 7 and then apparently peaking at the right time.

“Orem is the best team in the state. That’s an incredible team right there,” Mansanarez said. “But we proved tonight that we can compete with the best. So yeah, we’re confident. I’m just so proud of the boys and how they got it done tonight. This was big for us.”

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College Sports

WWE Money In The Bank 2025 Review, Results & Analysis

John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Money In The Bank featuring this year’s MITB ladder match winners, John Cena & Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso, and a surprise return to close the show. Plus, John gives his thoughts on WWE-AAA Worlds Collide featuring El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable. Jordan […]

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WWE Money In The Bank 2025 Review, Results & Analysis
WWE Money In The Bank 2025 Review

John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Money In The Bank featuring this year’s MITB ladder match winners, John Cena & Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso, and a surprise return to close the show.

Plus, John gives his thoughts on WWE-AAA Worlds Collide featuring El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable.

Jordan Breen Scholarship Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jordan-breen-scholarship-fund

Ad-free, timestamped version available for patrons at POSTwrestlingCafe.com

WWE Money In The Bank
June 7, 2025
Intuit Dome
Inglewood, CA

  • John Cena & Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso
  • Men’s MITB Ladder Match: Seth Rollins vs. Andrade vs. Penta vs. Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight vs. El Grande Americano
  • Women’s MITB Ladder Match: Naomi vs. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia
  • Women’s Intercontinental Title: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Becky Lynch

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Freedom's Helmila and Merrick lead strong area track showing at state meet

AI-assisted summaryKimberly’s Hunter Sprangers won the D1 boys discus and shot put, while Neenah’s Celia Gentile won the D1 girls long jump and triple jump.Freedom’s Claire Helmila won the D2 girls 800-meter run and Lydia Merrick won the D2 girls high jump, helping Freedom win the D2 girls team title.Shiocton’s Paxton Kuehn won the D3 […]

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Freedom's Helmila and Merrick lead strong area track showing at state meet


AI-assisted summaryKimberly’s Hunter Sprangers won the D1 boys discus and shot put, while Neenah’s Celia Gentile won the D1 girls long jump and triple jump.Freedom’s Claire Helmila won the D2 girls 800-meter run and Lydia Merrick won the D2 girls high jump, helping Freedom win the D2 girls team title.Shiocton’s Paxton Kuehn won the D3 boys 100 dash and Lydia Hofacker won the D3 girls 300 low hurdles.LA CROSSE − The Post-Crescent coverage area had no shortage of champions at the WIAA state track and field championships this year.

Eight titles overall were earned by area athletes, including six June 7 at Veterans Memorial Stadium Sports Complex.

Mix in a championship relay team and a second consecutive state title for the Freedom girls track team, and it adds up to a banner day for the area.

Earning individual championships June 7 were Kimberly’s Hunter Sprangers in the Division 1 boys discus, Neenah’s Celia Gentile in the D1 girls long jump, Freedom’s Claire Helmila in the D2 girls 800-meter run, Freedom’s Lydia Merrick in the girls high jump, Shiocton’s Paxton Kuehn in the D3 boys 100 dash and Shiocton’s Lydia Hofacker in the D3 girls 300 low hurdles.

Winneconne’s D2 boys 1,600 relay team also captured gold to help the Wolves secure a second-place finish in the team competition. The Wolves finished with 42.5 points, just behind state champ Notre Dame (44).

The Neenah girls also finished as D1 state runner-up with 46 points. Arrowhead won the D1 girls title with 51.

Neenah's Celia Gentile won the Division 1 long jump state title June 7 at the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse.

Sprangers, Gentile headline area individual champs

Sprangers and Gentile also won titles on the first day, with Sprangers winning the shot put and Gentile the triple jump.

They were at it again on the second day, with Gentile recording a leap of 19 feet, 6.5 inches in winning the long jump and Sprangers capturing the discus title with a throw of 196-2.

Gentile, a sophomore, placed second last season in the long jump and this season was determined to do better. She recorded her winning jump on her fifth attempt, which put her far ahead of second-place finisher Makena McGarry of Onalaska (18-11).

“It’s a lot more rewarding to get first place this year,” she said. “That’s what I was coming here to do, so getting the gold is great.”

Gentile was on point in both of her championships, as she didn’t scratch on any of her 12 jumps.

“My coaches always like pounding on consistency,” she said. “So knowing that this is the biggest meet of the year, I want to get all my jumps in and all the possibilities to win.”

Sprangers trailed De Pere’s Connor Fontaine from the start in the D1 discus, with Fontaine recording a 193-0 throw on his first attempt with Sprangers following with a 192-11.

The Kimberly senior then found the right mix on his fifth attempt, recording a heave of 196-2 that netted the title.

“Going in to it I felt real good,” he said. “Mental clarity, it was unbelievable. I felt amazing. I never felt that good. I just knew it was going to take one good throw and it was going to take a throw that was just gonna click.

“After the throw I just knew. Mid-air, ‘Oh yeah.’ And it came down 196 and I lost my mind. It was awesome.”

Sprangers, who will compete at Penn State next season, said he and Fontaine may look like rivals during competition, but the two are actually good friends.

“It might look like we hate each other, but at the end of the day we’re best friends,” Sprangers said. “We’re just competing and at the end, we’re congratulating each other and it’s just a good time all around.”

Freedom's Claire Helmila reacts after winning the Division 2 girls 800-meter run June 7 in La Crosse.

Merrick, Helmila spark Freedom girls

Helmila’s state title in the D2 800 run was something she has dreamt of for quite some time.

The Freedom senior won the event with a time of 2:12.76 and led for nearly the entire race. She finished a little over two seconds ahead of Lancaster’s Maddie Driscoll (2:14.98).

“It’s been my dream to be a state champion individually and it just means the world to me,” she said. “It shows the work that I put in, but also the work that the people put into myself. And to be able to reward those people with something like this, it means the world to me.

“The coaches, my parents and my teammates that have all brought me to this moment and most importantly, to show how God has worked in my life through all the highs and lows and to be able to overcome those and get a state championship.”

Helmila’s title, along with Merrick’s championship in the high jump, was a big reason why Freedom was in contention for the state team title. The Irish would repeat as D2 state champs by finishing with 40 points, just getting past second-place University School of Milwaukee (37).

Freedom's Lydia Merrick won the Division 2 girls high jump state title June 7 in La Crosse.

Merrick secured the high jump title — an event she also won as a sophomore — with a leap of 5-6. It was a big moment for the Freedom senior, who placed sixth in the event last year.

“It was just so fulfilling,” Merrick said. “Winning my sophomore year and taking sixth last year, getting back to the podium is a dream and I did it. I’m so proud of myself.”

Merrick fended off Hayward’s Helen Thompson, who took second with a 5-6 but lost out to Merrick, who accomplished the feat in fewer attempts.

“I’ve been jumping with her since sophomore year,” Merrick said. “We’re friends. All of the girls over there are friends. It was amazing competition and amazing sportsmanship.”

Hofacker, Kuehn lead Shiocton in Division 3

Lydia Hofacker let her hard work do the talking in winning the D3 girls 300 hurdles.

The senior had the top time heading into the state meet and put together a fine showing in the finals, finishing with a time of :44.35. That allowed her to eke out the championship over McDonell Central’s Elyse Bushman (:44.56).

“I was really, really nervous but worked really hard to get here,” Hofacker said. “And I walked into finals ranked No. 1 and knew that I couldn’t give up that ranking. I went into that race with running as hard as I could.

Shiocton's Lydia Hofacker crosses the finish line first to win the 300-meter hurdles state title in Division 3 on June 7.

“(Bushman) is super sweet and we push each other. It was really awesome. We talked after the race and we both really helped to push each other. Awesome to have such supportive people around you and everyone just runs their hardest.”

Hofacker, who will be competing at UW-Oshkosh in college, left it all out on the track.

“This was my last time running the 300 hurdles,” she said. “It was awesome, a really rewarding feeling that all the hard work I put into during the season really paid off.”

For Kuehn, winning the D3 boys 100 dash could be seen as a dose of redemption. The junior qualified for the 100 final last June, but said a pulled hamstring kept him from competing.

“That was not good,” he said. “But I kept working and getting in the weight room and followed the directions of the coach and staying positive and praying and getting strength from the Lord.”

Kuehn won the title with a time of :10.99 seconds. His personal-best time is :10.89. He was able to fend off Unity’s Payton Merrida (:11.12), who finished second.

Shiocton's Paxton Kuehn reacts to his first-place time of :10.99 seconds in winning the Division 3 100-meter dash June 7 in La Crosse.
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Wall Regional High School Rodeo Saturday Results

WALL S.D. – More than 100 cowboys and cowgirls are competing in Wall this weekend for trips to the State High School Rodeo Finals in Ft. Pierre. Some of the top performers Saturday at the Wall Regional High School Rodeo included Madilyn Waln from Bennett County, who got the top time in Breakaway Roping at […]

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Wall Regional High School Rodeo Saturday Results

WALL S.D. – More than 100 cowboys and cowgirls are competing in Wall this weekend for trips to the State High School Rodeo Finals in Ft. Pierre.

Some of the top performers Saturday at the Wall Regional High School Rodeo included Madilyn Waln from Bennett County, who got the top time in Breakaway Roping at 3.28 seconds.

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Custer’s Addie Sander was the quickest in Barrel Racing, clocking in at 17.24 seconds.

It was another Sander taking the top spot in Bareback Riding. Leighton Sander put up a score of 66.

You can find complete results from Saturday’s rodeo on the

Southwest Region Facebook page.

The rodeo continues Sunday with the Grand Entry starting at 10:30 a.m.

The State Finals begin June 17th.

Brian Mueller

Brian Mueller has been the weekend sports anchor at NewsCenter1 since January 2025.

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Highlights

Former Devil Draws Into Panthers Lineup For First Stanley Cup Final Game of His CareerAfter 314 career NHL games, including 189 with the<a href=”https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/players/how-jesper-bratt-s-family-shaped-him-into-the-player-he-is-today”> New Jersey Devils</a>, Jesper Boqvist will play his first Stanley Cup Final game.  Now PlayingPausedAd Playing 1

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Former Devil Draws Into Panthers Lineup For First Stanley Cup Final Game of His Career

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Walker Horn returns to Kentucky following House Settlement approval

Walker Horn is back with the Kentucky Wildcats after initially entering the transfer portal earlier this offseason. The 6-foot-3 senior guard returns as part of Kentucky’s now 15-man scholarship roster following a judge’s approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows teams to exceed the traditional scholarship limit through a grandfathering clause. Horn, the […]

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Walker Horn returns to Kentucky following House Settlement approval

Walker Horn is back with the Kentucky Wildcats after initially entering the transfer portal earlier this offseason.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard returns as part of Kentucky’s now 15-man scholarship roster following a judge’s approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows teams to exceed the traditional scholarship limit through a grandfathering clause.

Horn, the son of Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn, appeared in 13 games across three seasons in Lexington. He saw action in four games during the 2022–23 campaign, four more in 2023–24, and played in five contests this past season. Though he didn’t score in his limited minutes, he contributed two assists and a rebound in 16 total minutes.

Originally choosing Kentucky over offers from Marquette and Michigan State, Horn began his prep career at Covington Catholic (Ky.) before finishing at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.

The House settlement’s approval not only secures Horn’s return but also could bring back former walk-ons Grant Darbyshire and Zach Tow under the same grandfathering policy. Both were part of last year’s team and may now be eligible to return despite the roster expansion.

Horn’s return adds leadership and continuity to a Kentucky team entering its first full offseason under head coach Mark Pope, as the Wildcats prepare for a new era in college athletics.

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