Sugar River Euchre

A train robbery gone bad. That’s what the Norsk Cowboys stumbled through last Thursday night when their attempt to rob the Hooterville Express failed. Charlie and Dave Steinhauer, losing just their first game to Cowboys’ Marvin Thompson and Tom Nicewander, steamed into the Hooterville station with 118 lbs. of coal. They were followed closely into the station by fellow stokers Dale Herfel and Tracy Haag, who rolled in with a 110 lbs. giving Hooterville an 18-point win. No Cowboy hit the Express with more than 98 balls of lead, missing out on a big payday.
With 120 bales neatly stacked, Barb Judd and Al Zimmerman (Kleeman’s Hay Shakers) had a perfect night and, with the shakeup of Rick Skindrud and Jeff Goebler’s 113 points, pulled out a 57-point win over the Norsk Pranksters. Only Dean Sutter and Dave Losenegger, with 108 points, scored more than 100 points for the Pranksters. At the other end of the spectrum, Jerry Retrum and Rodney Latham (Pranksters) were extremely relieved to discover their 78 points wasn’t the low score for the week. That honor went to Jeff and Bryan, the Buesser Brothers, or in this case the Blues Brothers, from S’wisco Taphaus in New Glarus. With what most likely will be the low score for the season, Jeff and Bryan managed just 56 points in the 79-point feast the Eagles enjoyed in Cheese Eater territory. Giff Hoesly and John Blum served up 110 points for the Cheese Eaters to help keep the slaughter under a hundred points. All four Eagle couples soared above the clouds: Clarence Bierman and Paul Hodgson 115 points, Dean Disch and Stan Novotny 110 points, Pat Dann and Terry Zahler 109 points, and Randy Schmid and Ken Stamn 101 points.
The Pipe Benders were pumped going into Thursday night’s match against 5th Quarter after fitting in their first win of the half the previous week. However, finding themselves down by 30 after the first round, Jones’ Plumbing realized they had to cover those plumber cracks if they wanted to get that second win. At the end of the fifth round they had their shirts tucked neatly in and were leading by 4. By the sixth round they discovered their shirts were too small and the cracks began to appear once again. The 5th Quarter Shufflers overran John Ott and Mark Losenegger’s 114 points to fully expose the plumbers by 17.
In the other match held in Verona, two It’s Time couples, Leo and Mary Humphrey, and Curt Herfel and Bruce Milestone, scored 114 points locking up a Mounties win, the first of the half for the Mounties, as they surrounded the J&M River Rats by 21 points.
Standings: 5th Quarter 3-1; Hooterville Express 3-1; Kleeman’s 3-1; Norsk Cowboys 3-1; Eagle Heights 2-2; J&M Bar 2-2; Norsk Pranksters 2-2; Jones’ Plumbing 1-3; It’s Time 1-3; S’wisco Taphaus 0-4.
Schedule for February 1: Norsk Pranksters @ J&M Bar (8:00); Hooterville @ Eagle Heights (7:30); 5th Quarter @ It’s Time (7:00); S’wisco Taphaus @ Norsk Cowboys (8:00); Kleeman’s @ Jones’ Plumbing (8:00).
February 6th First Half Championship Match: Eagle Heights @ Hooterville Express (7:30).