Champions, record-breakers and all-Americans: An A-to-Z look at highlights from the 2022-23 high school sports year

The 2022-23 high school sports season had a number of record-breaking performances, top athletes and interesting storylines. Here is a look back at the highlights from the sports year:

A is for Allie Ziebell, the Neenah junior girls basketball standout who was named the Gatorade state player of the year and the Post-Crescent's athlete of the year in girls basketball. The University of Connecticut recruit averaged 25.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks. She's also a member of the USA Basketball U19 National team that won the gold medal Sunday at the FIBA tournament.

B is for the Brillion boys basketball team. The Lions captured the WIAA Division 3 state title in March with a 61-55 victory over West Salem, led by senior standout Jeremy Lorenz. Lorenz had a banner year and averaged 21.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 blocks.

C is for Camden Kuhnke, the Hortonville senior baseball standout who helped lead the Polar Bears to the Division 1 state championship game in June. Kuhnke was named the Post-Crescent's athlete of the year in baseball.

D is for the Denmark baseball team, the first team since 1948 to win three consecutive WIAA state baseball titles. The Vikings beat St. Thomas More 3-2 in 11 innings to capture their third straight D2 title in June at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

E is for Eliza Aitken, West De Pere's senior track and field standout. Aitken won the Division 1 title in the pole vault with a 12-foot leap. She ran the anchor leg of the Phantoms' champion 800-meter (1:39.53) and 1,600 relay teams (3:52.53) and was also fourth in the 200 (:24.99).

F is for football champions. Kimberly secured the Division 1 state title with a 34-30 victory over Mukwonago last November at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. It was the Papermakers' eighth state title overall and first since 2017.

G is for Greyson Clark, the Kaukauna senior wrestling standout who became the 26th wrestler in state history to win four consecutive individual state titles. He defeated Germantown's Riese Thornberry by major decision, 13-3, to win the 138-pound title in February and finished 51-0 overall. He also won the 120 title his freshman season, the 126 crown his sophomore year and the 138 title his junior season.

H is for hockey and the Bay Area Ice Bears girls team, which won the state title in March with a 3-0 victory over Superior/Northwestern. The Ice Bears, with a roster featuring 13 freshmen and sophomores, were led by senior goaltender Anna Byczek.

I is for the Freedom Irish softball team, which won the Division 2 state title for the second consecutive season with its 8-0 victory over New London at Goodman Diamond in June.

J is for Winneconne standout Joey Perry, who excelled in cross-country, basketball and track and field. Perry was named the Post-Crescent's athlete of the year in girls track earlier this month.

K is for Kaukauna and the Ghosts' spectacular softball team, which won its third consecutive Division 1 state championship in June with a 4-0 victory over Superior. The Ghosts have the state's longest active win streak at 81 games.

L is for Laconia girls basketball, which secured its first state title in program history with a 64-51 victory over La Crosse Aquinas in the Division 4 state championship game in March.

M is for Mr. Basketball in boys basketball, which was awarded to two players this season: John Kinziger of De Pere and Pewaukee's Milan Momcilovic. Kinziger finished with more than 2,000 points for his career and averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals in sparking the Redbirds to the Division 1 state title.

N is for new football fields, specifically at the new Neenah High School as well as a new turf field at Fond du Lac.

O is for Oshkosh West junior standout softball player Braelee Jodarski, who hit .398 and had 36 RBI in leading the Wildcats to the Division 1 state tournament for the second consecutive season.

P is for platinum wrestling programs, which perfectly describes the Kaukauna and Luxemburg-Casco teams. Kaukauna won its third consecutive state championship in Division 1 in March with a 41-26 victory over Marshfield. It was the seventh title overall for the Ghosts. Luxemburg-Casco beat Prairie du Chien 37-20 to win the D2 state title after finishing as the state runner-up last season. It was the 13th state title for Luxemburg-Casco, second all time behind Wisconsin Rapids (21).

Q is for quick thinking, which describes Denmark track athlete Simon Alexander. Alexander asked Denmark baseball players Jaycob Dittmer, Nolan Perry and Ethan Ovsak to join the track team and, more specifically, the 400-meter relay team ahead of regionals. A few weeks later, the quartet won the Division 2 state title in the event with a time of 42.11 seconds.

R is for running back and Mayville star Blake Schraufnagel, who repeated as an Associated Press all-state first-team pick after leading the Cardinals back to the Division 5 state championship game. He finished third in the state in rushing with 2,610 yards (10.8 yards per carry) and also had 40 touchdowns.

S is for Shiocton standout athlete Cade Stingle, who repeated as the Division 3 state hurdles champ in the 110-meter and 300-meter competitions at the state meet in La Crosse in June. He was also fourth in the 200 and helped lead the Chiefs to the state team title.

T is for the Notre Dame Tritons, who had a successful championship season for several of their programs, including girls basketball, boys cross-country and boys hockey. The girls hoops team won its third consecutive championship with a 64-49 victory over Pewaukee in March. The boys cross-country team finished with 81 points to win the D2 title. The boys hockey team finished undefeated at 28-0 and won the D1 title with an 8-2 victory over Verona.

U is for the undefeated De Pere boys basketball team. The Redbirds beat Arrowhead 69-49 to capture the Division 1 state title and claim their first hoops title since 1934.

V is for volleyball talent. The Fox Valley continues to produce top-level, collegiate-bound players including this year's group led by Kimberly's Kyla Dunaway (Alabama), Luxemburg-Casco's Autumn Flynn (Memphis), Appleton North's KC Fortune (Drake), Freedom's Rachel Koss (Texas Abilene Christian), Kimberly's Katie Schulz (UW-Green Bay) and Fox Valley Lutheran's Kennedy Schmitz (UW-Green Bay).

W is for Winneconne’s Winston Knobloch, who won his second consecutive Division 2 state individual golf title in June. Knobloch shot a 3-over-par 147 in two days of competition at Blackwolf Run in Kohler.

X is for Xavier fall championship teams. The girls volleyball team beat Sauk Prairie 25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 25-16 to win the D2 state title. The girls cross-country team, led by junior Lilie Fouts, also won the D2 title with 81 points.

Y is for young phenom, which describes Kaukauna softball standout Karly Meredith. The sophomore was named the Gatorade softball player of the year in Wisconsin after leading the Ghosts to their third consecutive state championship. She finished with a 26-0 record and a 0.23 ERA. She was a second-team MaxPreps all-American.

Z is for Zephyrs and St. Mary Catholic girls track athlete Nolie Anderson. The sophomore won the Division 3 discus title with a throw of 128 feet, 11 inches.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: An A-to-Z look back at the 2022-23 high school sports season