Post Messenger Recorder -

Thirty-two players congregated at Norsk Golf Club in Mount Horeb for the Sugar River Euchre League Mid-Winter Tournament last Thursday night. With the outside temperature dipping to 9 degrees, it was still warmer outside than the cards held by Leo Humphrey and Harold Grabandt's first game because they received a skunk right out of the gate at the hands of Janice Magnuson and Barb Judd. However, their 88 points for the evening did not survive as the low score; with just 83 points, that honor went to Mary Humphrey and Larry Losenegger.

At the other end of the thermometer, tournament winners Opie Taylor and Jerry Judd put 119 points on the board, losing only their seventh game by just 1-point to Tom Magnuson and Jeff Judd. Second place went to Randy Skogen and Al Zimmerman, with an impressive 113 points. Marvin Thompson and Dale Herfel took third with 106 points while Donnie Granberg and Giff Hoesly racked up 101 points for a fourth place finish. Rounding out the upper tier, with 100 points Keith Wagner and Stan Hook, plus Tom Magnuson and Jeff Judd tied for fifth place while Dan Meinholz and Mike Doyle took seventh place with a 97.

Once all the scores were recorded, League President Jerome Krantz announced the tournament winners and awarded trophies for the 2016/2017 season. The traveling League Championship trophy went to the Norsk Cowboys, with each team member also receiving an individual trophy. The team consisted of: Captain Harold Schlimgen, Tom Schlimgen, Roger Olstad, Ferdie Schmitz, Mike Pickett, Dave Wilborn, Marvin Thompson, Jerry Rotar, Denny Cleary, Tom Sies, Tracy Thronson and Don Cleary. Perfect score trophies were presented to: Tom Schlimgen, Mike Pickett, Jeff Judd, Rick Skindrud, Shawn Farrell, Jeff Goebler, John Scheidegger, Randy Skogen, Harold Schlimgen, and Duane Haag. Tom Schlimgen took home the high average trophy with an average of 105.4 points per match. The 2017/2018 season's first half averages, weekly high and low scores, skunks and perfect scores were also posted for players to examine. The evening was capped off with a fantastic homemade pizza buffet prepared by Norsk Golf Club, which was enjoyed by all.

Schedule for December 21: A first half playoff match between Kleeman's Hay-Shakers and the Norsk Cowboys will be held at Kleeman's in New Glarus at 7:30 p.m. The winner of this match will play the Hooterville Express on December 28th to determine the first half winners.