Huskers' national title, other team, individual honors among highlights

Some of the top sports stories in the Sunland, state and nation during the final four months of 2006 included:

September

Roger Federer of Switzerland won the mens singles title at the U.S. Open, downing the United States' Andy Roddick. It was his third consecutive Open championship.

Adams Freeman own the A Division championship at the annual MUDECAS volleyball tournament in Beatrice over Exeter-Milligan, while Johnson-Brock claimed the B Division title over Bruning-Davenport.

Bruce Wasserman of Fairbury filled in for Beatrice driver Lyle Slama and won the Factory Stock championship at the 2006 Fall Nationals at the Beatrice Speedway, while Steve Swarthout of Fairbury won the IMCA Sport Compact main event. Features for the Limited Modifieds and Cruisers were canceled due to track and weather conditions.

Beatrice's Lady Orange softball team and Lady Orange golf team won River Cities Conference championship on the same day. The softball team claimed the RCC tournament title with a 6-5 win over Ralston, while the golfers finished 13 strokes better than runner-up Omaha Skutt, 352-365.

October

The Beatrice Lady Orange and DeWitt Tri County Lady Trojans qualified for the Class B and C state golf tournaments, respectively, by winning district championships. Beatrice ended up tying for state runner-up honors in play at Riverside Country Club in Grand Island. The Lady Orange were led by senior Taylor Lineweber, who finished fourth overall, and junior Chloe Emerson, who was ninth. Humboldt/Table Rock-Steinauer's Jordan Schaardt eared a Class C State golf medal, finishing eighth overall.

Beatrice IMCA Modified driver Johnny Saathoff won the division's A Feature during the annual Octoberfest at the Beatrice. Lance Borgman of Beatrice won the IMCA Stock Car main event, while Kent Husted of Sioux City, Iowa, claimed the Hobby Stock championship. Octoberfest was the final event of the 2006 season at the local race track.

Two area shooting sports teams earned state honors at the 2006 Nebraska State High School .22 Rifle Silhouette Championships, which were held at the Pressey Wildlife Management Area near Broken Bow. The Homestead Shooting Sports 4-H Club won the overall team championship with members Micaela Jochum, Alex Niedfeldt, Alyssa Wolken and Amber Staroscik, while the Southeast Nebraska Shooting Sports 4-H Club won the 4-H team championship with members Cole Bures, Sheena Mahloch, Clint Sejkora and Corey Ballue.

Beatrice and Firth Norris both qualified for the Class B State High School Softball Championships in Omaha by winning their respective district tournaments. Both teams won their opening round games at state, but were then eliminated as they dropped a pair of contests.

Beatrice's No. 1 doubles team of Dan Fossler and Matthew Lauritsen finished third overall at the Class B State High School Boys Tennis Championships. As a team, the Orangemen finished fifth.

The Beatrice Orangemen cross country team finished third overall in the Class B field at the Nebraska State High School Cross Country Championships. The team was led by state medal winners Ben Paben, who finished 10th, and Jordan Rector, who finished 13th. Wilber-Clatonia senior Stefannie Erdmann finished second in the Class D girls race, while the Adams Freeman Lady Falcons were third in the Class D girls final team standings.

Beatrice's Orangemen football team wrapped up their second consecutive district football title, finishing the 2006 district campaign with an undefeated record.

St. Louis downed Detroit in five games to win Major League Baseball's World Series crown. The title was the first in nearly a quarter-century for the Cardinals and their 10th overall. The Cardinals advanced with a National League Championship Series win over the New York Mets, while the Tigers advanced with a American League Championship Series win over the Oakland Athletics.

November

Main Street Beatrice sponsored the fourth annual Governor's Celebrity Pheasant Hunt with 11 teams taking to the fields in the Plymouth, Liberty and Odell areas. Two teams from First National Bank in Beatrice earned the top spots in the A Division, while Exmark finished first in the B Division.

Adams Freeman's Lady Falcons won the Class D1 title at the Nebraska State High School Volleyball Championships, downing Humphrey St. Francis in the finals. Freeman was the only Sunland team to advance to state play in 2006.

For the second-straight year, the Beatrice Orangemen football team advanced to the Class B State semifinals before falling. Beatrice lost to Elkhorn after earning playoff wins over Omaha Gross and defending state champions Omaha Skutt.

Former Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier resigned as head coach of the Doane College football team in Crete after a two-year run.

Beatrice graduate and Nebraska Wesleyan University junior Chris Dunker was named as the NCAA Division III Central Region Athlete of the Year in mens cross country. Dunker won the Central Region individual championship, helping Wesleyan qualify for the national meet. He later earned NCAA Division III All-America honors by placing 15th nationally.

The Star City Powerlifting Classic was held in Beatrice with 43 lifters competing. Beatrice's Christopher Lofing led area lifters by setting four American AAU records in the 16-17-year-old's 97 pound weight division.

Overall, most deer check-in stations in the Sunland area reported an increase in numbers for the annual rifle season.

Philadelphia Phillies' Ryan Howard earned the National League MVP Award, while the American League honor went to the Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau.

Nebraska's 18 senior football players finished their careers at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln by downing the Colorado Buffaloes and securing the Big 12 North Division championship.

Husker volleyball seniors Dani Busboom of Cortland and Dani Mancuso of Omaha ended their regular-season careers at Nebraska on the same night their team was presented with the Big 12 Conference championship trophy.

December

The Nebraska Huskers fell to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship football game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, 21-7. Following the loss, the Huskers accepted an invitation to play Auburn in the Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1, 2007.

Former Beatrice Bruin and Nebraska Husker Joba Chamberlain, an up-and-coming prospect in the New York Yankees minor league baseball organization, and former Yankee starting pitcher Ralph Terry, who pitched for New York from 1959-64, were the special guests at the annual Bruins baseball banquet in Beatrice.

Ohio State and Florida were matched up for the Bowl Championship Series national championship football game, which will be played Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson scored his 29th touchdown to break the NFL single-season record.

It was announced Husker assistant football coach John Blake would be leaving the Nebraska program to take a job at North Carolina. Nebraska later hired University of Alabama assistant Buddy Wyatt as its new defensive line coach.

The Nebraska volleyball team claimed the NCAA Division I National Championship, downing Stanford in four sets in the national final in Omaha. The Huskers defeated UCLA in the semifinals, after advancing to the national Final Four by winning the Florida Regional.

Beatrice graduate Xavier Omon led the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats to the NCAA Division II national football finals where they finished as the runners-up.