Sugar River Euchre

The Riley Shufflers didn’t help their chances of repeating as champions in their make-up match on February 19th, against the first place Norsk Pranksters. The Shufflers fell behind 8 points after the first round and were 79 down when all was said and done. Dave Losenegger and Laurel Grindle ended the night with 119 points, receiving their only loss in the first round from Stan Hook and Randy Skogen. Rodney Latham and Jerry Retrum added another 113 points for the Pranksters.
Now for the scores from the February 21st matches. With a Pranksters bye this week, the River Rats of J&M Bar had a chance to pick up a half a game for a first place tie with the Pranksters. All they needed to do was to shut down the Shufflers. Jack Gehin and Mark Raders’ 114 points put them in a perfect position to do just that. However, Harry Gehin and Gordie Miller were not on the same page, producing just 78 points for the River Rats. It was pretty much over for the Rats when Dan (Honker) Palmer and Kurt Beutel were skunked by Derek Skogen and Stan Hook. The Shufflers won this one by 54.
Would the rough second half for the Mounties end in their match with Blue Harley? With all four Express couples reaching triple digits and only one Mounty couple breaking 100, the answer is no. The Express screamed past the Mounties by 63 to secure a tie for second place. Engineers Tracy Haag and John Scheidegger greased the rails with 117 lbs. of grease, this week’s high. Steve Thoni and Steve Hoffmaster, along with Shawn Farrell and Dale Herfel, were right behind them with 113 lbs. and 110 lbs., respectively.
The Norsk Cowboys, battling to keep their chances of becoming the outright 2019 champions alive, held the line with their 23-point win over the Pipe Benders. The only highlight for Jones’ Plumbing was the 112 points put up by Chris Booth and Ross Neshiem.
In the match between the New Glarus teams, Don Williams and Al Zimmerman led the way for the Hay Shakers with 111 points. The rest of the clan kept pace, with no Hay Shaker scoring less than 101 points. This was not the case for the Cheese Eaters. Sixteen points less than the 111 points collected by Don and Al was the best any one Cheese Eater could do. Kleeman’s easily took the New Glarus bragging rights with a 50-point win over the S’Wisco Taphaus.
Standings: Norsk Pranksters 5-1; Harley Blue Express 4-2; J&M Bar 4-2; Kleeman’s 4-3; Norsk Cowboys 4-3; Riley 3-3; Jones’ Plumbing 2-4; S’Wisco Taphaus 2-4; It’s Time 0-6.
Schedule for February 28: J&M Bar @ Kleeman’s (8:00); It’s Time @ Norsk Pranksters (8:00); Jones’ Plumbing @ S’Wisco Taphaus – (7:00); Riley Shufflers @ Harley Blue (7:00); Norsk Cowboys – Bye.