Host and #2 seed Tecumseh/ Johnson shutout #5 Adams 8-0 to open the tournament on Friday. Tecumseh/Johnson took a 1-0 lead after a bases-loaded walk and extended their lead with five runs in the fifth inning.

Elliott Brommer recorded two hits and four RBI to spur the team’s offense, while Tate Hawley kept Adams to just one hit and no runs in the first five innings, while striking out seven batters. Camden Dalinghaus struck out three batters and allowed one hit in the sixth inning, A Brommer single in the bottom of the sixth brought home two runs and ended the game with Tecumseh/Johnson winning 8-0.

Tecumseh/Johnson’s defense wasn’t as on point the next day as they gave up 14 runs in a loss to #3 Tri County/Meridian. The seniors were out-hit 10 to 8 and gave up eight more runs than they scored.

Hawley had a team-high two hits and two RBI but the offense couldn’t keep pace with Tri County/Meridian as they fell by a final score of 14-6.

Dropping into the loser’s bracket, Tecumseh advanced with a second win over Adams, this time by a score of 15-3.

Camden Dalinghaus and Gabe Burke each recorded two hits and three RBI, while Brommer had two RBI on three hits to lead the offense.

Casen Dalinghaus pitched all five innings in the win, striking out eight batters and allowing seven hits as Tecumseh/Johnson advanced with a 12-run victory.

After the weekend, only Lincoln Lutheran, Tecumseh/ Johnson, and Tri County/ Meridian remain in the tournament. Tecumseh/Johnson earned a rematch with Tri County/Meridian on Monday, July 27 with the winner advancing to face Lincoln Lutheran in the final on Tuesday.

This was part of a soil health field day held at Daryl Obermeyer’s farm near Brownville through the Nebraska Conservation Mentorship Network. Obermeyer is a mentor in the program.

Elizabeth Gray, assistant state soil scientist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Nebraska, led the demonstration, which compared soil samples from no-till fields against those from convention ally tilled ground.

“The more functional your soil is, with soil health, the more resilient it is to disturbance,” Gray said. “It’s more likely to infiltrate water and not run off, and it will maintain its ability to infiltrate water even in high rainfall events.” to simulate rainfall. The notill sample held together and let water pass through, while the tilled sample broke down quickly, its surface turning to a crust that shed water rather than absorbing it.

“You think all that light fluffiness means it’s good for things to grow through, but after tillage, that light fluffiness is that breaking up of the structure,” Gray said. “It’s great until the water hits it, and then it becomes that kind of goopy mud that dries into cracks and bricks.”

Four principles of soil health Gray outlined four core principles of soil health that guided the demonstration: minimizing soil disturbance, keeping the ground covered, maintaining living roots as much of the year as possible, and building diversity through crop rotation or cover crops. Some soil health experts count livestock integration as a fifth principle.

Undisturbed soil holds together in aggregates that Gray compared to a habitat, with pore space that allows water, air and microbes to move through the ground. Tilled soil, by contrast, loses that structure and becomes more like loose rock, she said.

Cover is equally important, Gray said, because a raindrop striking bare soil acts like “a bomb going off on the soil surface” at the scale of an individual soil particle, dislodging material and starting the erosion process that leads to runoff.

Gray compared building soil health to physical fitness: it isn’t a one-time fix.

“You don’t just attain soil health and then you’re done,” she said. “It’s an ongoing process where you continue to not disturb, you continue to keep it covered. Consistency is really the key here.”

Farmers weigh in on results Following the demonstration, host farmer Daryl Obermeyer and a panel of area producers shared their own experience with cover crops and rotational grazing.

Obermeyer, who said he has used cover crops for about 50 years, told the group his main goal starting out was building organic matter. Recent sampling has shown some fields near 5%, which is a higher value according Gray. Through a mix of livestock grazing, cover crops like rye, brassica, winter wheat, among others and practices like planting pollinators at the row turns, Obermeyer has been able to reduce his use of insecticides and herbicides and reduce erosion.

Johnson County Extension Agent Barry Weber, described integrating rye and brassica cover crop mixes with a fall calving cattle herd, saying calves nursing and eating green cover crop stands come off “pretty fat.” He said calving earlier in the year, rather than the traditional March-April window, lines up late term fetal growth with the nutritional boost from cover crop grazing, reducing the need for supplemental feed.

A local producer, Mark Caspers, also described planting different cover crop strips in a wheat field after harvest, including one of sunflowers that “did wonders for repairing the soil.”

The event was organized through the Nebraska Conservation Mentorship Network, a program led by the Center for Rural Affairs, a community development nonprofit based in Lyons, Nebraska.

Over the course of her service life, Norra accounted for more than 215 successful deployments. Because her nose was so adept at finding drugs, she was credited with numerous arrests and the seizure of anywhere from several pounds of packaged marijuana hidden inside vehicle door panels to ounces of methamphetamines, heroin, or cocaine to merely residues of the same. She is also responsible for the seizure of hundreds of pieces of drug paraphernalia due to the residual odors sticking to the apparatus.

It was often said by deputies serving as her handler that Norra’s nose was such that she would walk the deputy right to the spot where the drugs were hidden and she was always correct. Norra was also the gentle K9 ambassador for the Johnson County Sheriff’s office.

Norra has been adopted and will spend her retirement living with a private family. Johnson County was well-served by K9 Norra. She was one of the family since 2017 and will be missed by everyone.

The GFWC Jennie Award honors one clubwoman from each of the eight regions for outstanding commitment to club, community and family. They are chosen by their clubs to compete at state, region and national levels for the Federation’s highest honor.

Beilke represented the Mississippi River Valley region. She has been a member of the GFWC/National Federation of Women’s Club for 52 years following in the footsteps of her mother, Nadine. Beilke has been the president of the Stella Research Club for 25 years, is in her third term as the District 1 President in Nebraska and has chaired statewide club committees.

She has coordinated many service projects for both local and statewide events. She also leads the local American Legion Auxiliary; serves in several leadership positions in the Stella Community Church; has served on the local town board and committees; is an officer on the Stella Cemetery board and the Stella Garden Club; and assists with local Veterans Day and Memorial Day programs, local holiday youth events and the maintenance of the Stella Arboretum and Memorial Rose Garden.

In addition, Beilke has organized several public forums on current events such electoral college information and the U.S. Supreme Court. Under her leadership, the local GFWC regularly contributes to many charities through volunteer work, monetary contributions and donations of food, clothing and children’s supplies.

Beilke belongs to the Stella Garden Club and assists with the greenhouse projects.

She can be counted on to organize and lead community service projects. Beilke has been especially focused on supporting the Child Savings Institute in recent years through her club and church efforts as she was adopted from that organization at two months of age by Stanley and Nadine Hall of Stella.

Also, Beilke served on the church councils of both the Shubert Christian Church and the Stella Community Church. She has also led the church’s women’s group, oversees Christmas activities, and directs and hosts the church’s very successful annual fundraiser. Beilke served on the Stella Town Board for 10 years and is a member of the Stella Cemetery Association. And don’t let the kids know, but she has been the Easter bunny for many years. Finally, Beilke chairs the Southeast Nebraska Consolidated Schools alumni group.

She commented helping others has been a rewarding calling for her and she was deeply honored to receive this recognition.

The Jennie Award is named after Jane Cunningham Croly, the founder of GFWC who worked as a journalist using the pen name “Jennie June.” The women honored are a true reflection of the spirit of GFWC’s founder. Croly’s independence and courage led her to form GFWC in 1890. As the only award at the Federation level that recognizes individuals for their service, it is truly the highest honor a clubwoman can receive. Much like Jennie June, these women are committed to improving the lives of those around them. They live and breathe volunteer service, and are completely devoted to their clubs, communities and families.

Although GFWC has many awards for states and clubs, the GFWC Jennie Award is the only national honor that recognizes individual members for personal excellence.

Ever competed in the National High School Rodeo held in Lincoln, Nebraska July 17-19. Ever has competed in High School Rodeo in Alaska for the past three years.

“I enjoy literally everything about horses. Having that connection with an animal is one of the best things. As for entering competitions, I enjoy the adrenaline rush and being able to see how my horse and I perform after training for weeks,” said McMahan. Ever said she's met almost all of her friends through rodeos or other horse related activities.

Ever competes in barrels, poles, breakaway roping, goat tying, cutting and reined cow horse. “I enjoy different things about each event, but reined cow horse is my favorite,” Mc-Mahan added.

Even though McMahan has only competed for three years, she has been rodeoing for five years. She won reserve champion in both reined cow horse and cutting last year. She is a member of the Alaska High School Rodeo Association and the Alaska Reined Cow Horse Association. Though there is an Alaska Rodeo team, none of Ever’s events are team oriented.

Although she has two horses, Boone and Turner, Ever only rides Boone for her competition events,. Turner is retired. Ever rides least 6 times a week working on different events.

“The people we lease from are amazing, so all I have to bring is myself!” said McMahan.

Ever said that every national qualifying senior gets a scholarship from the National High School Rodeo Assocation (NHSRA). At this time, Mc-Mahan doesn't know what she plans to do after high school.

“I would have to say that the most rewarding experience was getting my new horse last year and training him in all of our events. He’s not great at them yet, but seeing him come from not knowing what we’re doing, to actually understanding has been amazing.

“The most challenging experience was when my now-retired horse got injured in the middle of our season two years ago, and I had to jump ride other people’s horses for the rest of the season. I am super grateful for my friends and family who have supported me in my rodeo journey. I wasn’t born into the horse world, and without my circle, I would have never been able to succeed,” Ever concluded.

Two Midwestern lifelong multidisciplinary artists have the next show at the Schoolhouse Art Gallery, 427 Main St. in Brownville.
Prairie Echoes by Kevin Callahan and Marti Dodge opens Friday, July 31. A reception is at 6 p.m.  It will feature artist talks, a question and answer session, and an opportunity for guests to mingle with Callahan and Dodge and hear directly about the inspiration behind their work.
The exhibit continues until Sunday, Aug. 30. The gallery is open Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please contact 402-414-2082 to see it at other times.
The display honors and reimagines the artists’ shared love for the natural world. Drawing from the prairie landscape that surrounds them, Callahan and Dodge transform what they have observed in nature--from fallen trees to birds on the wing--into work that brings those moments to life. The exhibition is primarily sculptural, with pieces that arise from the land itself before being presented to the viewer.
Both Callahan and Dodge are lifelong multidisciplinary artists who work across a range of media, including paint, wood and metal. Their distinct yet complementary visions give the show its name: an exhibition that lets the prairie speak, and echoes it back through art.
Callahan creates work under the name the Elegant Line Studio. He draws on natural forms and the landscapes of the prairie to shape sculptural and mixed-media pieces.  Callahan has a bachelor of fine arts degree from Drake University, post-graduate work at San Francisco Art Institute and the Ox-Bow School, Art Institute in Chicago. The latter is an affiliate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His award-winning artwork hangs in collections throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Israel.  Callahan is the author of two books published in 2019 and 2022, respectively. His art, stories and poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. 
Dodge works under the name 3Herons Art. She explores the natural world through paint, wood, metal and sculpture, reflecting a deep connection to the environment. Dodge is a Kansas City native who graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in the 1970s. She helped pioneer the photography program at the time. Since then, Dodge has traveled extensively, living throughout the world where she accumulated the knowledge and insights necessary to comprehend and sculpt visions--from a client or her own--into a vibrant and tangible work of art.

A total of 10 competitors competed in the 2026 Cook BBQ Cookoff which was held in the shade of the Cook City Park on Saturday, July 18. Winners in each category were:
Ribs: Gettin' Sauced BBQ, Justin and Mary Brown, first; Skips, second; Lincoln Lip Smackers, third.
Loin: Big Jon's BBQ, first; Cook Fire Department, second; 25th Hour, Matt and Vince Sherman, third.
Beans: Skips, first; Rugged BBQ, second; Lincoln Lip Smackers, third.
Mac and Cheese: Gettin' Sauced BBQ, first; Rugged BBQ, second; and 25th Hour, third.
It was just too hot to spend the whole morning and mid-afternoon at the Cook Car Show on Sunday, July 19, so the Car Show Committee awarded prizes a little earlier this year. Winners of the 2026 Cook Car Show are as follows:
Best Car: Joe Moller, 1969 Dodge Charger.
Best Truck: Justin Damme, 1970 C-10 Chevy.
Best Motorcycle: Bill Long, 2023 Harley Free Wheeler.
Best Tractor: Travis Effken, 1937 John Deere AR.
Chief's Choice: Mary and Virgil Meints, 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Cook Historical Society held a raffle to raise money for improvements to the Cook Historical Museum and the Cook community. Winners of the raffle include: Paddi Hughes, King-size Quilt; TJ Splies, Queen-size Quilt; Morgan Smith and Carolyn Pabst, packages of meat.

Lemonade Stand winners in the Auburn Chamber of Commerce’s Lemonade Stand Camp Competition were announced at the Friday, July17, Summer Sounds Concert featuring Honeytown.
The winners in each category are as follows:
Best Overall - Pearl and Lu Peck and Auggie Bohling
Most Unique Taste - Casey Falk
Best Customer Service - Lucy Perry and Karsyn True
Best Decorated Stand - John Luke and Sarah Flies

“We found a tank with about 60 gallons of oil inside,” said Construction Manager Jeff Pelz with K2. “We need a certified guy to pump the oil out and remove the tank.”

Since that initial discovery, two more tanks have been found. One is empty, and at this writing, the other has yet to be opened.

“Those are the only surprises,” said Pelz. “They’re in the driveways, so we’re not being slowed down on the street; but we want to pour the driveways as soon as we can. It’s out of our hands.”

On Monday, the crew was working on a retaining wall and electricians were putting in conduit for the street lights. The hope is to be pouring curbs by the weekend.

Carter Aue turned in the strongest showing of the meet, placing second in both the 800 meters and the 1500 meters in the 11-12 division. Aue clocked a season-best 2:28.20 in the 800 on July 12, then posted a personal-best 5:03.83 in the 1500 on July 9.

Jensyn Wehenkel placed seventh in the 400 meters in the 9-10 division, finishing with a personal-best time of 1:13.14 on July 11.

Brekyn Parker earned fourth place in the long jump in the 11-12 girls division, recording a personal-best mark of 13 feet, 2 inches on July 9.

Gavin Bauer and Westyn Amthor each recorded first inning RBI against Tecumseh/ Johnson on Friday to give Auburn a 3-0 lead entering the second inning. Tecumseh/ Johnson cut the lead down to just one run after a two-RBI double from AJ Rautenbach.

Bauer drove in a second run on the day with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth and Clayton Brown would score on an error to bring Auburn’s lead back up to three runs with one inning to play.

Auburn’s Christian Gage struck out four batters in the first six innings, holding Tecumseh/ Johnson to two runs on six hits in that time. Amthor earned the save, striking out two batters and keeping the bases empty in the seventh round to secure the 5-2 win.

Tecumseh/Johnson dropped to 13-7-1 after the loss to Auburn as they prepare for the area tournament.

The FNBJ Seniors earned two more wins last week, including a comeback win over Ralston on Wednesday. Auburn led 2-1 after three innings of play against Ralston, but fell into a 4-2 deficit after giving up three unanswered runs in the top of the fifth inning.

A balk in the bottom of the sixth cut the Ralston lead to one run before Ty Dunekacke drove home the tying run with an RBI single to center field. After a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Bauer singled to the left side, scoring the go-ahead run. Jackson Warner would make the score 6-4 in favor of Auburn with an RBI double shortly after.

Auburn made three consecutive plays in the field in the top of the seventh to close out the win over Ralston.

Auburn’s final game of the week wasn’t as tense as the first two, as Auburn took a 5-0 lead after the first inning and piled on 10 more runs in the fourth inning to beat Nehawka by 15 runs.

Dunekacke pitched all four innings of the shutout, striking out five and allowing four hits in the win.

Six Auburn batters recorded hits and RBI on Sunday, including

“We wouldn’t be here without our volunteers,” Schatz noted during commemoration of the museum’s golden anniversary. She stated in addition to numerous items catalogued, genealogy, school and family information are available.

Dan Holtz and Gary Zalud, emeritus college professors, performed original songs on various aspects of Nebraska in a Humanities Nebraska presentation All Original, All Nebraska.

Holtz related many look at the Cornhusker State as a flyover state, and associate the state with corn and being flat. He continued Nebraska is derived from an Otoe word meaning flat water. The professor emeritus recalled he and his wife, Alice, have pedaled many times on the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska, taking the road less traveled.

“There is so much important Native American history in Nebraska,” he said.

Homeward the Arrows Flight is a song saluting Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte, the first native American medical physician. Picotte is the subject of a 1980 book of that title by Marion Marsh Brown. Brown is a former Brownville and Peru resident; and graduate of Auburn High School and Peru State College.

The professor emeritus explained Ponca Chief Standing Bear won important human rights and changed the course of history for Native Americans. Chief Crazy Horse was murdered at Fort Robinson.

“Nebraska should be called the Homesteading State,” Holtz related.

The first homestead was filed Jan. 1, 1863 by Daniel Freeman at Brownville, a recreation of the location is on the village’s Main Street. The greatest percent of homesteading acreage, 45 percent, was taken up by Homestead Act filings in Nebraska, he noted.

The Sandhills are the largest grass-stabilized sand dune area in the Western Hemisphere, covering more than 19,000 square miles. The world’s largest migration of sandhill cranes happens along the Platte River. Adorning fence posts with old boots is a common tradition in the Sandhills but also occurs in other states, the professor emeritus stated.

He related in addition to starting Arbor Day, J. Sterling Morton was active in local and state politics, horticultural efforts and railroad development.

The Sky’s No Limit saluted pilot and aviator Evelyn Sharp, Ord native. Holtz called her “an amazing pilot and a fantastic person.” Sharp was one of the youngest women with a private pilot’s license, achieving it at age 16. A member of the Women’s Auxiliary Flying Squadron during World War II, the airfield at Ord is named Evelyn Sharp Field.

Coffee, Sandwiches and Love recognized North Platte Canteen volunteers during World War II.

“It was one of the greatest and the most amazing volunteer efforts I can think about. There are many stories of service men and women (who came through there). (Some volunteers) came from as far as 200 miles (from North Platte),” Holtz noted.

In June, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation initiated by U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the individuals who volunteered or contributed to the North Platte Canteen. It was cosponsored by 76 senators, including Sen. Pete Ricketts. U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith has introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it is cosponsored by Reps. Mike Flood and Don Bacon.

Volunteers offered hospitality and friendship to soldiers traveling through the area on their way to the front lines. It was the largest community- based canteen in the United States and one of the largest volunteer efforts during World War II.

The Julian Preservation Committee moved the small structure to a new foundation on 2nd Street, restored its exterior with period-accurate tin siding and outfitted the interior with vintage postal fixtures.

A donated building

“The effort began in 2021, when Brian DeVorss and Teresa Lloyd donated the building to the village,” Kernes Krause said. Volunteers raised money to pour a slab foundation and moved the structure from around the corner to its current site. This project followed the successful renovation of the building’s neighbor, the Julian Filling Station, which was dedicated in 2019.

The committee acquired a bank of old brass post office boxes and a clerk’s cage for the interior. For the exterior, members located a Missouri company that still stamps tin siding using original molds, allowing them to fill in missing sections with historically accurate material.

Committee members recognized at the dedication included Kevin and Janet Boos, Ken and Grace Burgett, Bryan DeVorss, Joe and Linda Epler, Dan and Sue Hodges, John and Renee Szenasi, Ralph Krause and Beth Kernes Krause.

Supporters

“We would like to thank the numerous supporters for all your generous financial and in-kind donations, as well as those who provided our artifacts, the stories, the displays and the energy to get our project to fruition,” Kernes Krause said.

Kernes Krause said.

Kernes Krause said the community has been blessed with lots of support but called a few out in particular.

“The Nemaha County Tourism Committee has been such an incredible partner for this and all projects in Julian. We want to offer them a big thank you!”

Leslie Fattig, executive director of the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation and resident of Nemaha County, also presented the foundation’s $1,000 grant at the ceremony and congratulated the volunteers who spent years on the project.

“Projects like this don’t come together overnight,” Fattig said. “They take vision, determination and countless hours in a community that believes its story is worth preserving.”

Fattig said the value of the work extends beyond the building itself.

“It’s about sharing the stories, people and events that shape a place,” she said. “Places like this remind us that Nebraska’s history is told one community at a time. Every town has a story, and that story deserves to be told.”

Kernes Krause noted later in an interview that the group continues to seek donations and welcomes support for upkeep and future projects.

U.S. Postal Service Connections

Among those on hand was Joe Epler, who served as Julian’s last postmaster for roughly two decades before retiring around Oct. 1, 1993. Epler counted about 32 years in the postal service overall, including time at nearby communities before Julian. Julian’s postal service was suspended on October 8, 1993, shortly after his retirement.

Epler also spent 35 years cutting meat at Epler Mercantile, the village grocery, a job he started at age 12. He described postmaster duties in Julian as quiet work built around customers coming in for stamps and the daily rhythm of a small town.

Gary Nerison, the postmaster in Talmage whose office now serves Julian, attended along with a local rural mail carrier.

Julian Preservation Committee Projects Over the Years

•Post Office Museum

•Filling station and garage

•“Welcome to Julian” Sign

•Flagpole and flag

•Historical marker

•Historical picture displays in Community Room (we have added new boards over the years, plus in Filling Station and Post Office Museum)

•Repair of Julian School District 82 marker at Village Park

•Nemaha County Leadership picnic table

•Cataloging public and private trees and building Village-wide Arboretum

•Private projects inspired by JPC projects include:

•Isabelle Park

•Our “Little Queen Bee” celebrating Louise Scholl Howe (part of the Honeybees in the Heartland project)

•Julian Walking Tour

A last-minute addition

Rowell’s spot on the trip came together almost by chance. He was competing at the state track meet when he overheard the Fairbury coach talking with Auburn Coach Mark Oliver about a gap in the roster for the Maine Exchange; the team needed a 215-pounder. “I was standing there, and Oliver was like, ‘Hey, we got one of those,’” Rowell said. The Fairbury coach agreed on the spot. Rowell took home a bronze medal at the 215-pound Class B state tournament that February, a result that made his last-minute recruitment look prophetic.

Rowell’s family drove to Maine while Logan and the rest of the team flew, giving them extra travel time along the way. His parents, Heather and Jeff Rowell, and grandparents Virginia and Mike Vinson came for the trip. Logan’s grandfather Mike was a longtime wrestling coach at Auburn.

More than a match

The exchange dates back to 1984, when wrestling coach and referee Wally LaFontaine met a group of Nebraska wrestling officials at a rules conference and started what organizers call a “friendship exchange.” Nebraska sends a team to Maine every other year; on off years, a Maine team travels to Nebraska.

“It’s almost more than wrestling,” Rowell said. “Half the time you’re competing, and the other half you’re just getting the experience of what it’s like being there.”

That experience included a lobster boat outing, swimming, side-by-side rides and beach trips, plus a first taste of lobster and whoopie pies, a Maine dessert Rowell described as a cross between an oatmeal cream pie and a chocolate cake sandwich.

The team’s route took them from Portland north to Friendship, then farther north to Lincoln, Maine, a first for the exchange, before heading south to Winslow and finishing in Sanford. In Winslow, Rowell stayed with LaFontaine’s daughter, one of the trip’s host families.

Host families and wrestlers exchange more than hospitality. Nebraska wrestlers bring goodie bags with regional staples like Dorothy Lynch dressing, Kool-Aid and popcorn balls, and wrestlers trade t-shirts with each opponent, leaving Rowell with a shirt from every stop on the trip.

The final match

Rowell competed in five matches over the exchange, winning four. His only loss came in his first match, to a state and New England champion who plans to become an Army combat medic.

His standout moment came in Sanford, in his last match of the trip. Maine’s usual 215-pound wrestler was injured, so a heavyweight state champion, who had also placed third at the multi-state New England tournament, wrestled up to fill the weight class. The Sanford heavyweight outweighed Rowell by 30 to 40 pounds.

The match, wrestled outdoors on a baseball field in record-breaking heat near 110 degrees, came after the team had spent hours at the beach. Rowell said he was exhausted, sunburned and frustrated to be facing the bigger wrestler, but the match turned into his best of the trip. He pinned his opponent early in the second period.

Looking ahead

Rowell said local sponsors covered the costs making the trip possible, while host families covered lodging and some meals during the stay. Sponsors for the exchange included: Brenda and Larry Draper, David and Megan Grant, Auburn State Bank, Hemmingsen Funeral Home, Mark and Kay Oliver, Chris and Kelli Hanley, Jennifer Hawley, SBS Insurance, Brent Meyer, Matt and Brittney Gulizia and Gallagher Insurance Services.

Whether Rowell wrestles in college remains undecided. He’ll attend Doane University on a track scholarship this fall, but he isn’t ruling out wrestling. Heather Rowell said wrestling has been a family thread for years, and she expects that to continue regardless of what Logan decides.

“I watched my dad coach forever and followed him around, and then all my boys did it,” she said. “Now I guess I’ll be the wrestling grandma.”

Rowell said he hopes to return to coaching wrestling and track himself someday. His advice for the next wrestler offered a spot on the exchange: “Do it. A hundred percent. It’s the most fun I’ve had competing in a sport.”