The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/919610
B-2 Sports Wednesday, December 27, 2017 The Press-Dispatch The big diesel truck lum- bers to a stop along the edge of a woodlot coated in fresh snow. Inside the truck cab, the three of us are plunged into silence as my father-in- law, Mark, kills the clamber- ing engine We men-folk have spent the morning cooped up in my in-laws' house, eating ham and watching kids open Christmas presents. But once the ham was reduced to one lonely bone and the living room was so packed with wrapping paper you needed a snow shovel to es- cape, we cut loose and head- ed for the nearest wood lot. Mark breaks the silence by explaining how we should execute the hunt. He me- thodically plots our route of travel and explains where we should sit with a slow, faint southern draw he picked up by spending too much time in Kentucky. The plan ac- counts for all possible coy- ote approach paths, the most viable shooting lanes and, most importantly, wind di- rection. Silence again reigns in- side the truck cab. Seconds morph into minutes before my brother-in-law, Jake, breaks the silence with his own tactical plan. A debate takes place, but Mark's plan eventually emerges as cham- pion. I nod my head in agree- ment, refusing to assert my own plan, all too aware of the reserved criticism that lies in wait for the guy who mar- ries your daughter or your sister. As we begin to exit the truck cab, I look at my watch and note that 15 minutes have passed since the truck rolled to a stop. When I first began hunting with Mark and Jake, these frequent pe- riods of inactivity frustrated me to no end (I have a hard time sitting still, just ask Rena). A fter many years, though, I've come to antic- ipate the slow pace of our hunts, often bringing along a magazine or newspaper to keep myself occupied until the reckoning, discussing and mulling over are do- ne with and we finally get started. Outside the cab, the brightness of the snow stands in stark contrast with the gloominess of the thick cloud cover above us. I take note of a slight but cutting wind and pull my hunting coat snuggly over my shoul- ders. Rifles are loaded and checked. Electronic coyote call, shooting sticks, snow camouflage, binoculars and ammunition are all readied and stowed for the walk in. I watch as Jake helps Mark sling his rifle and glance at my watch, which reads 30 minutes longer since when we arrived. We begin to move, Mark taking lead while I bring up the rear, a somber display of my prominence in the hi- erarchy of my wife's fami- ly. Our path leads through dense woods to the edge of a shallow but swift moving riv- er. The icy waters are crys- tal clear and flow over large gray rocks. Its banks are covered with snow and dot- ted with twisted tree roots and large chunks of drift- wood. The trees on either bank hang their branches as far out as gravity will al- low overlapping in the mid- dle like the arched ceiling of some gothic cathedral. I look upriver and notice a group of drake mallards resting on the water's sur- face. Their green necks and white rumps bring dramatic color to the otherwise brown and white river. They spot me and explode into flight with rapid wing beat and raspy quaking. Mark, who has hunted this spot many times before, pauses, clear- ing his throat to say, "I love hunting these woods." Our route meanders along the river for what seems like at least a good mile and a half. Our pace is slow but steady. Eventually, we veer away from the river and are soon standing along the edge of an expansive corn field. I lean against a tree as Mark and Jake carefully place the electronic caller in the field and discuss where we all should sit. Jacob as- signs me my position, which I take up without a word spo- ken. As I settle into the snow next to a big tree, I look at my watch and note that it has taken us nearly two hours to arrive at the pinna- cle of our hunt. Shortly af- ter Jake leaves my position, the sound of a rabbit in dis- tress begins erupting from the caller. I scan the woods with my eyes only, shotgun at the ready, in the hopes that a coyote will appear from the woods tempted by the prospect of an easy meal. But seconds turn to min- utes and nothing happens. I sit quietly in the quiet woods for several long minutes be- fore letting my gun down and leaning back heavily against the tree. The warmth from my jacket, the trickle of run- ning water from the distant but still audible river and the pale gray light of the day all work methodically against my consciousness. I fall vic- tim to these sirens of the woods and pass into a light but peaceful sleep. I'm soon wakened by the sound of crunching snow as Jake approaches my po- sition. I quickly realize our hunt, which consisted of sev- eral hours of prep time and about 15 minutes of actual hunt time, is over. "See any- thing? " Jake asks. "No," I re- ply as we both walk to the edge of the field where Mark is gathering and stowing our gear for the walk out. On our walk back to the truck, the three of us are quiet. On one hand, we have failed in our efforts to out- smart a coyote. On the oth- er hand, we have succeed- ed by just getting out of the house and making it to the woods for a hunt. We pause in the woods one last time before we reach the truck. "I love hunting these woods," Mark says. PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather Snowy River Bank WITH OUR THANKS FOR YOUR PATRONAGE Please accept our very best wishes for a joyous celebration and a happy and healthy new year. Joe Mama's Pizza 812-354-2606 350 W. Main, Petersburg AT DOUBLE HOURS: THURSDAY - SATURDAY, 5PM - 9PM MAC'S HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING 812-789-3065 104 E Center St, Winslow • macshtgac@hotmail.com T H I S F E A T U R E I S S P O N S O R E D B Y : PIKE CENTRAL OF THE WEEK Mac's Heating and Air Conditioning recognizes the Pike Central seniors who are involved in athletics. NATALIE BURKHART has played Basket- ball four years at Pike Central, and also participated in Golf. In Golf, she was named All-PAC four years, was a Regional qualifier twice, received Most Valu- able Golfer and Academic Awards three times, re- ceived the Putting Award, Leadership Award and Mental Attitude award. In Basketball, she twice received the Defensive, Mental Attitude and Aca- demic awards. Natalie has also been in the Top 10% of her class. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, Student Government and Graduation Commit- tee and has served as Class Secretary. Her favorite class is Math. Natalie is the daughter of Joe and Dalene Burkhart, of Petersburg. TY CASSITTY has been on the Swimming team four years at Pike Central. He has been named Most Valuable Diver twice. He broke the 30-year old diving record while in Middle School. Ty's favorite classes are History, Government and Nutrition & Wellness. He also participates in The- ater and Choir and enjoys modeling. Ty is the son of Jeff and Joy Cassitty, of Winslow. UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27 High School Boys' Basketball: Graber Post Build- ings Tournament at North Daviess: Pike Central vs. Fort Wayne Blackhawk, 4:30 p.m. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central in Graber Post Buildings Tournament at North Daviess, TBD. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central in Graber Post Buildings Tournament at North Daviess, TBD. TUESDAY, JANUARY 2 High School Girls' and Boys' Swimming: Pike Central and Southridge at Castle, 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3 Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Bas- ketball: Vincennes Clark vs. Pike Central at Old Pe- tersburg Gym, 6 p.m. Middle School 7th Grade Girls' Basketball: Boonville at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Middle School 8th Grade Girls' Basketball: Boonville vs. Pike Central at Pike Central High School, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 High School Girls' Basketball: Washington at Pike Central – Junior Varsity, 6 p.m.; Varsity, 7:30 p.m. High School Wrestling: Pike Central at Jasper, 6 p.m. High School Freshmen Boys' Basketball: Loo- gootee vs. Pike Central at Old Petersburg Gym, 6 p.m. Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Boys' Basket- ball: North Knox at Pike Central, 6 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at Boonville, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5 High School Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Wood Memorial – Junior Varsity, 6:30 p.m.; Varsity, 8 p.m. Elementary School 5th Grade Girls' and Boys' Basketball: Petersburg at Winslow, 9 a.m. SATURDAY, JANUARY 6 High School Wrestling: Pike Central at Forest Park Invitational, 9 a.m. High School Girls' Basketball: Pike Central at Forest Park – Junior Varsity, 1 p.m.; Varsity, 2:30 p.m. Middle School 6th Grade Boys' Basketball: Pike Central at Southridge, 9:30 a.m. Middle School 6th Grade Girls' Basketball: Loo- gootee at Pike Central, 9:30 p.m. PCHS wrestling team takes first place in Wolfpack 8 Super Duals The Pike Central High School wrestling team went 4-0 to claim first place hon- ors in the Wolfpack Super 8 Duals hosted by Crawford County on Friday, Dec. 22. In pool competition, the Chargers defeated Paoli 60 -14, Mitchell 60 -13 and North Harrison 66 -12, then topped Crawford County 48 -33 in the championship match. As a team, Pike Central won 39 out of 54 individual bouts – including 28 wins by pin and 11 wins by forfeit. Five Chargers were un- defeated on the day – soph- omore Dalton Williams, who had two wins by pin and two wins by forfeit at 113 pounds; senior Dylan Jones, who had two wins by pin and two wins by for- feit at 126 pounds; senior Christian Alvey, who had two wins by pin and two wins by forfeit; senior Jake Sisk, who had three wins by pin and one win by forfeit at 220 pounds; and senior Silas Goff, who had three wins by pin and one win by forfeit at 285 pounds. Going 3-1 on the day were freshman Lane Potts (two wins by pin and one win by forfeit at 106 pounds); fresh- man Lane Miller (two wins by pin and one win by forfeit at 120 pounds); sophomore Blake Henson (one win by pin and one win by forfeit at 132 pounds and one win by pin at 138 pounds); and sophomore Ian Allen (three wins by pin at 160 pounds). Going 2-2 on the day were sophomore Brandon Goep- pner (two wins by pin at 138 pounds); sophomore Jagar Gladish (two wins by pin at 152 pounds) and senior Gavin Boyd (two wins by pin at 172 pounds). Going 1-3 on the day was senior Jerry Greer (one win by pin at 132 pounds). "Dalton Williams, Dylan Jones, Chris Alvey, Jake Sisk and Silas Goff were absolutely dominating all day," Pike Central head coach Billy Hewig said. "With Randy Powell and Tyler Kirby out with inju- ry, Blake Henson and Jagar Gladish filled in really well, picking up good wins for the team." In the championship match against the host Wolfpack, the Chargers fell behind 18 -6 before winning five straight bouts by pin to take a 36 -18 lead. "Gavin Boyd was domi- nating a match, then lost be- cause of an illegal slam call against Crawford County that hurt us as a team, but our team rallied and got a big pin at 106 by Lane Potts that strung five big wins together that changed the direction of the match," Hewig said. "It was a tour- nament that really was fun to be in." Pike Central, which im- proved to 14-3, will travel to Jasper on Thursday, Jan. 4, before participating in the Forest Park Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 6. The Pike Central High School wrestling team poses with their medals and trophy after placing first in the Wolfpack Super 8 Duals hosted by Crawford County on Friday, Dec. 22. The Chargers won 39 out of 54 individual bouts – including 28 wins by pin and 11 wins by forfeit – while going 4-0 on the day. Submitted Photo