Soon, Real Soon: Random Thoughts Regarding the Boys State Tournament

We're not about to pretend that we know all there is to know about the boys state tournament that starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. But we do know that it's all gonna get real interesting really soon. And we will make this humble attempt to share a few things we found intriguing about tomorrow's matchups. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.     

Middleton v. Wauwatosa East (Friday at 5 p.m.)

• Middleton has five hitters with triple digit kills for the season (seniors Joe Dean, Alex Harbour and Dane Maier, and juniors Will Kraus and Michael Owen)
• Wauwatosa East is the only team to have taken a set from Marquette in a dual match this season (Middleton beat Marquette in the Racine Invitational)
• Everyone in this match will be seeing red: Middleton's colors are cardinal and white, and Wauwatosa East's are scarlet and white
• Wauwatosa East will be playing approximately 1.7 miles from home 

Kaukauna v. Marquette (Friday at 5 p.m.)

• Kaukauna is making its 16th tournament appearance, but first since 2004
• Domenic Judkins of Kaukauna is averaging 3.50 kills per game
• Marquette's Alex Becherer is the 2008 player of the year, hitting better than 40 percent on the season
• As a team, Marquette is hitting nearly 40 percent (.396) 

Kettle Moraine v. New Berlin United (Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

• Tom Gulak, the head coach of Kettle Moraine, will be coaching approximately 781 miles from where he went to college (University of Manitoba)
  
• Kettle Moraine's Ean Reid is hitting nearly 60 percent on the season (.596)
• New Berlin's Jeremy Dejno has 69 service aces this season and is the only non-seniorto be named first-team all-state
• New Berlin freshmen and sophomores have recorded 202 of their team's 709 kills (freshmen Matt Neiberle and Nick Olson, and sophomores Mike Beeler and Mark Ropella)

Nicolet v. Racine Horlick (Friday at 7:30 p.m.)

• Matt Klingspohn leads Nicolet in kills with 227
• Nicolet has three players with triple-digit digs for the season (juniors Rob Mayer and Anatoli Berezovsky, and sophomore Patrick Bieser)
• Racine Horlick's Jamil Wilson has 300 kills for the season and is one of the state's top basketball prospects
• Racine Horlick's Kurt Larsen has 705 assists this season