Waupun gave it its best shot and came close to ending one of the more impressive streaks in WIAA boys basketball history.
But ultimately, Seymour held off the Warriors for a 58-55 victory in a sectional final on Saturday to advance to its eighth straight state tournament. A brutal third-quarter stretch hurt Waupun in the long run.
Here's a few things I think we learned about Waupun over the last few weeks:
*Ryan Rasmussen is a legit D1 player. He has the size, speed and shooting ability to play at that level. What he did against Berlin was Travis Diener-like. However, expect more teams next year to defend Rasmussen the way which Seymour did, and that's to use a quick, physical guard to stay in his chest the entire game. Against less talented players, Rasmussen will be able to post them up or shoot over them. That's not going to be the case in college. I'd imagine another summer playing AAU ball will give Rasmussen plenty of time to work on this.
*Around the basket, Aris Wurtz is the craftiest player in the area. How he got some of those shots down low to fall is beyond me. He just finds a crease and hits it. It may not look all that pretty at times, but he finds a way to get the job done.
*Waupun will miss its seniors, not just from a leadership sense, but also because they could play. Tom Bresser really elevated his game this season, and Seth Hopp provided sparks at times when the offense was going nowhere. And Dan Tenpas made one of the guttier plays of Thursday's victory over Berlin when he drew a charge despite a sore ankle.
*Aside from Rasmussen, the one player that impressed me the most this weekend was Tyler DeBoer. The kid just seemed to be everywhere all over the floor, and was able to give the team some much-needed rebounding. According to the stat sheet, Seymour only had one offensive rebound which is amazing considering the number of 3-pointers it takes, which normally lead to long rebounds. That means DeBoer was hustling at all times.
*What can we expect next year? I think the bar has definitely been raised at Waupun. A school-record for victories in a single season, the first conference championship since 1975 and a spot in a sectional final will do that. The seniors will be tough to replace, but freshman Austin Armga gave Waupun some good minutes in tournament play and I heard the freshman and JV teams did real well. Coach Lucky Wurtz said that the goal he has is to become the next Seymour. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. But this wasn't a bad start.
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I was at the game Saturday. Waupun played well and the boys should hold their heads high. The future looks bright for the program. The only thing that I did not like was how the Seymour student section "BOOED" the Waupun girls pom-poms. That was not classy.
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