Area high school athletes are moving on By MIKE KEMMETER of The Gazette Nearly 50 athletes from Portage County high schools are taking their games to another level next year. Competitors are making the jump from the prep ranks to Division 1, 2, 3 and junior college levels. Some athletes haven't made up their minds yet, either. Here's a synopsis of who's going where, sorted by divisions. Division 1 Dylan Page: Page, who led the Amherst Falcons in scoring, rebounds and blocks, will join the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team. Page said he talked with schools at the Division 2 level and was courted by Division 3 programs in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference too, but when he received a full scholarship to join UW-Milwaukee, the decision was a no-brainer. "It's kind of like a dream," Page said. "It's a chance to play at a high level with a rising program close to home. "At the beginning of the year, I felt I could play at that level. I just needed a chance to get the exposure. We had a really good team and I put up some numbers. Fortunately, it just carried over." Page will play for longtime state coach Bo Ryan, who led Platteville to several national championships before taking over the UW-M program a year ago. Page, who played center at Amherst, said he will control how much he plays. "(Ryan) says it's up to me - how hard I work on the offseason, how hard I work in practice," Page said. "I hope to be a contributor and help the team. I'm not looking to be a star. I just want to help the team win." Page credits Amherst coach Gregg Jensen, who played collegiately at UW-Eau Claire, for helping him improve. "One of the things that really helped me was coach Jensen," Page said. "He pushed me to excel and taught me the things I needed to learn. "He knows what it takes to play at a high level and he helped mold me into the player that I am today." Josh Owens: The Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference baseball player of the year is headed to Indiana State University. Owens signed a letter of intent to play shortstop for the Division 1 school in April and will play shortstop. The former Pacelli High star chose baseball over basketball. Jesse Miech: The All-Wisconsin Valley Conference goaltender for Stevens Point Area Senior High is joining the Creighton University team as a walk-on. Miech said he is guaranteed a spot on the roster on the team after choosing the Omaha, Neb., school over Division 1 Tulsa (Okla.) and state schools UW-Oshkosh and Viterbo College. Miech's mother, Sheila, is the women's soccer coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. "Creighton recruited me the hardest and when it came down to it, it was between Creighton and Tulsa and I just liked Creighton better," said Miech, who had a 0.82 goals against average and 105 saves his senior year at SPASH. In fact, Miech said Creighton was the first school to respond to him. "After my high school season, I didn't know where I could go," he said. Miech said while returning starter Mike Gabb isn't guaranteed a starting spot, it would be tough to unseat him. "They have just one goalie coming back and they're bringing in four other freshman goalkeepers and none of them are on scholarship," Miech said. "One goalie will start and another will get scholarship money." April Burant: The Stevens Point Area Senior High swimmer received a scholarship to compete at UW-Green Bay. Burant joins the Fighting Phoenix after finishing 15th in the 100-yard butterfly and 21st in the 100-yard backstroke at the WIAA state meet last November. Tracy Knippel: The Stevens Point Area Senior High long and triple jumper will try to make the UW-Madison track and field team as a walk-on. "I've only been in track for a couple of years and I like it. I think I can only get better in a couple of years," Knippel said, who will study psychology and medicine at the school. Division 2 Robb Kolodziej: Kolodziej, who starred for the SPASH football team, will play for Mankato State (Minn.). Kolodziej, whose brother starts on the defensive line for the Wisconsin Badgers, is expected to play guard on Mankato's offensive line. Nate Swenson: Swenson, who was the runner-up in the high jump and triple jump at the WISAA state meet, will walk-on to the track and field team at Minnesota-Duluth. Swanson said he will probably compete in all three jumping events - the high, triple and long, but will focus on the high jump. He said he will "most likely" play for the university's club soccer team. Division 3 SPASH Ross Adamczak: The Panthers' starting quarterback is taking his arm to UW-SP. "There was a lot of schools from out of state that were interested in me. I visited them and looked at their colleges and really, Point had almost everything here, and better," Adamczak said. The quarterback, who threw 11 touchdown passes and was named the second-team All-WVC squad, said he could redshirt his first season. "(Coach John Miech) said coming in, I'll probably be third string. Depending on how I do and how the first two do, I may redshirt. If I move up to two or one, then I can't redshirt." Gabe Bauer: Bauer, one of Adamczak's targets last year, is joining the Pointers too, where he will play wide receiver. Bauer also plans to play outfield for the UW-SP baseball team. "I'll probably get redshirted the first year and see what happens from there," Bauer said of his expectations for football. As for baseball, Bauer said coach Brian Nelson told him the Pointers are looking for an outfielder and "that (Nelson) said I could fill that position." Nick Bennett: SPASH's leading scorer will play basketball for his father, Jack, at UW-SP. Nick's older brother, Jay, is entering his final year as a guard for the Pointers. "I looked at possibly walking on at different lower Division 1 basketball schools like Green Bay or Milwaukee," Nick said. "But it probably wouldn't have worked." Nikki Falkowski: One of SPASH's goalies that helped take the Panthers to the WIAA state tournament will try out for the women's soccer team at UW-Oshkosh. "There's three goalies trying out. They don't have any goalies at all," Falkowski said. She said Oshkosh's coach, Scott Hayward, stopped her in a hallway while she was on a campus visit. "I was planning on going there anyway and he told me try out." Kevin Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald, who played both linebacker and fullback at SPASH, is attending UW-La Crosse, where he will stay on the defensive side as a linebacker. Josh Garbe: SPASH's top distance runner during his junior and senior seasons will run both cross country and track at UW-SP. Justin Haley: Haley said he liked what he saw at UW-SP and will play football for Miech. "I wanted to go to a medium-sized school," Haley said. "My brother goes to Madison and it's too big. I like the size of Point. It's real close to home too." Haley will play wide receiver and could also factor in as a kick or punt returner. "I hope to maybe work into the rotation a little bit," Haley said of his expectations for his first season. "I don't expect to be starting right away. I want to get into the program and get familiar with it. In two or three years hopefully I'll work my way in there." Josh Hall: Hall, who started for SPASH's conference champion basketball team, will attend UW-La Crosse, where he is going to try out for the Eagles. Kjersten Johnson: Johnson, who ran cross country and track for the Panthers, will take her distance running ability to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., where she will also run cross country and track. Erin Legro: The 1998 state champion in the 100-meter hurdles will run for the UW-La Crosse track and field team. Emily Pliska: Pliska, who also ran cross country at SPASH and was the starting point guard on the school's basketball team, is going to join the track and field team at UW-La Crosse. Owen Schuh: Schuh ran cross country for the Panthers and will try out for the sport at Haverford College (Penn.), a Division 3 school. Casey Taggatz: SPASH's starting point guard is taking his game to UW-La Crosse's men's basketball team. "It pretty much came down to Stevens Point and La Crosse. I felt like I would gain more responsibility for myself if I went away," Taggatz said. "Academically, I think I want to go into sports management and La Crosse has one of the only programs in the state." Taggatz, who received all-conference honors after his junior and senior seasons, said he's "not going to go in there and expect to play to right away. I'm just going to work hard and see what happens." Steve Wiczek: The Wisconsin Valley Conference player of the year in baseball is attending UW-SP to play both baseball and football. Wiczek, who was the starting quarterback for Pacelli's football team last fall, received postseason honors from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as a punter. He said he plans to play both positions for the football team. Pacelli Lynsey Johnson: Johnson, who helped lead the Cardinals to the state tournament, will try out for the UW-La Crosse softball team. Matt Kruzicki: Pacelli's placekicker will try field goals and extra points for UW-Eau Claire. Kruzicki said he may punt as well, but "not right away. I believe they have one or two other kickers." Kristin Mitchell: Mitchell expects to play basketball and compete in at least the jumping events for the Carthage College track and field team. Mitchell said she will play guard for the women's basketball team. "I'm going to be playing, but I have to see how I did over the summer. My playing time depends on me," she said. For the track team, she said she will be in the long and triple jump events, but she's not sure if she will be in any running events. Laura McCorkell: McCorkell, who was an honorable mention to the All-CWCC volleyball team, will try out for the sport at UW-Eau Claire. Mark Schwarz: The All-CWCC outfielder will try out for the baseball team at UW-Platteville. "I talked to the baseball coach in the beginning of the year, but I haven't contacted him since I made my final decision on where I'm going to school," Schwartz said. Amherst Jenny Jastromski: Amherst's dominating pitcher will play softball at UW-SP. While with the Falcons, Jastromski led Amherst to the state championship game her junior and senior years, with the team winning the title in 1999. "I kind of wanted to be close to home and stay within the state," Jastromski said. "Point has such a good program." Almond-Bancroft Kent Dernbach: The point guard for A-B's boys basketball team is going to Carthage College. Dernbach was a three-year starter for the Eagles and made the All-Central Wisconsin Conference team last year, averaging 17 points game. "They have a good jayvee program that I can develop as a player and hopefully get some varsity minutes down the line," said Dernbach, who also looked at St. Norbert College and Viterbo. Stephanie Jenz: The leading scorer for A-B's girls basketball team will try out for the team at UW-La Crosse. Jenz, who was a three-year starter and was on the all-conference team as a junior and senior, hopes to play guard. She played for the state coach's association all-star game this summer. Nick Sanchez: A-B's leading rusher will carry the football at Augsburg College. "They've been recruiting me throughout the whole football season. I talked to the coaches a lot and they seem to be an up-and-coming team," said Sanchez, who gained 1,220 yards and scored 10 touchdowns as a senior. "I will be behind a couple of running backs. I should get playing time on junior varsity." Rosholt Jen Zdroik: Zdroik, who made the All-CWC cross country team four years for the Hornets, will run cross country and track and Carthage College. Junior and Technical College John Allee: Allee will try to fill one of four spots that are open on the men's basketball team Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. "I moved here 10 years ago from Phoenix and I always wanted to go back to Phoenix area," Allee said. Allee, who started for SPASH, said two of the spots are for sign-in, where the school helps players financially. The other two are for walk-ons. "I leave July 6 to try out for one of those spots, so I still have to make the team," he said. "Hopefully I'll get one of the two-sign spots, but if not, I'll try to walk-on." Lacey Groshek: Groshek, who helped the SPASH softball team to a runner-up finish during her senior season, will play softball at the junior college level, at Olney Central College in Olney, Ill. She is currently in Texas playing with a traveling softball team. SPASH softball coach Tom Drohner said Groshek has the opportunity to move up to the Division 1 or 2 level after playing at Olney. Drohner also attended junior college at the school, playing under current baseball coach Dennis Conley. Chad Kingston: The SPASH baseball team's starting shortstop last year will attend junior college on scholarship at Olney Central College. Brent Thauer: SPASH's top pitcher is also going to junior college on scholarship at Olney Central College. "There's a lot of opportunities coming out of junior college," Thauer said. "A lot of big-time schools look at those type of junior colleges. I want to get a lot better and hopefully have a Division 1 or Division 2 school see me. "I think the farther south I go, the better chance I have of someone seeing me," he said. Senica Omernik: The catcher for Rosholt's baseball team will play for the team at Waukesha Technical College. Ryan Zdroik: The three-sport start for Rosholt will play shortstop for the Waukesha Technical College baseball team. "They play a lot of games in spring and fall - about 70 total games. They needed a player in my position," Zdroik said. While at Rosholt, Zdroik rewrote the baseball record books with 30 career home runs and 151 career RBIs. He also led the basketball team to two straight conference titles and was the starting quarterback on the football team. "I just thought I was better at baseball and I thought I had a better chance to get at a higher level than this," said Zdroik, who hopes to use his time in Waukesha as a stepping stone to a bigger school, maybe at the Division 1 level. Junior Hockey Adam Kostichka: Kostichka, who helped SPASH to the state tournament, leaves August 10 to play for the Bismark Bobcats (North Dakota). Bismark is in the American West Junior A Hockey League. Hockey players often compete at the junior level and then join a college team. "Hopefully I'll only play juniors for a year," said Kostichka, who can play at the junior level until he's 21 years old. "I'd really like to play for Madison or (UW-SP). Madison would be my first choice." Undecided Eric Anderson: The former SPASH hockey player may try out for the UW-SP team, go to another state school or play junior hockey. "I'm still kind of undecided. I'm just going to see what happens," Anderson said. "It's not a guarantee, but it's a 90 percent chance I'm going (to UW-SP)." Kimberly Jo Barden: SPASH's first individual state gymnastics champion will decide in August where to go to school. She said her decision, to attend a state school or one in the south, depends on what happens at a national competition held in the first week of August. Neil Jurgella: Jurgella, who placed in the pole vault and was on several relays for Pacelli at the WISAA state meet, may join the track and field team at UW-Eau Claire. "We'll see how my studies are going and if I'm capable of it," Jurgella said. "Coach (Tim) Olson told the Eau Claire coaches that I should be a decathlete."