MONROE - The Monroe football team's reward for winning its first Badger South Conference championship in 18 years and posting its first unbeaten regular season since 1995 is a No. 1 seed in the WIAA playoffs.
The WIAA released the first-round pairings and brackets for the playoffs on Saturday after seeding meetings and the road map for seven area teams to make a run to Camp Randall Stadium for the state championship game is clearer now. Monroe (9-0), ranked seventh in the Associated Press medium school state poll, earned the top seed in its Division 3 eight-team quadrant and will host Reedsburg at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I don't think any of the other seven teams that were at the seeding meeting were there to dispute that someone other than the unbeaten Badger South Conference champion (Monroe) should be the No. 1 seed," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "Now we just have to live up to it."
As the No. 1 seed, if the Cheesemakers can keep winning, they will play their first three playoff games in Monroe. If the Cheesemakers beat Reedsburg, they would face the winner of Fort Atkinson and Evansville-Albany in the Level 2 playoffs.
"I don't think home-field advantage makes you block or tackle any better," Golembiewski said. "It does make it a little easier. It gives you the opportunity to showcase your program to the community. Your booster club can make a lot more money. It gives the grandmas and grandpas a chance to come to the game because they probably wouldn't travel."
Coaches who met to seed Monroe's eight-team quadrant did Evansville-Albany no favors. The Blue Devils (8-1), the Rock Valley Conference co-champions, received a No. 5 seed and will open the first-round of the playoffs at Fort Atkinson on Friday. Due to the playoff tiebreaker, the Blue Devils' win over Clinton 21-12 in the season opener gave them the conference title for playoff seeding. Despite being just 5-4 and 3-3 Badger South, the Blackhawks drew the home game as the No. 4 seed.
"I think the whole point is if you are a conference champion you deserve a home game," Evansville-Albany coach Ron Grovesteen said. "The coaches vote and we can't do anything about it."
The one game that Evansville-Albany lost was to Jefferson, 20-17, which is also in the same eight-team playoff grouping as Monroe and the Blue Devils. However, Clinton, the team Evansville-Albany defeated, received a No. 1 seed in the Division 4 playoffs.
Grovesteen said he didn't think the loss to Jefferson swayed the opinion of the coaches in voting for seeds.
"It's how coaches felt at the meeting," he said. "It will be a big challenge. They (Fort Atkinson) are a very good team and they are in a tough conference. All of the records are out now."
Another tough break is the WIAA placed No. 2-ranked Darlington (9-0), the Division 6 state runner-up the past three years, on the same side of the bracket as No. 1-ranked Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs, which has won two straight state titles over the Redbirds. If the Redbirds make it to the state championship game for the fourth straight year this season, Darlington will likely have to find a way to beat St. Mary's Springs.
"Nothing the WIAA does surprises me," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said. "They don't worry about the rankings. I would have liked to play St. Mary's Springs later. You just have to play who they put in front of you. We have to focus on the first game because there are a lot of teams out there who would like to beat us."
Zywicki is embracing being the top seed and a team everyone targets.
"I think our kids have deserved that seed because of the season they have had," Zywicki said. "Pec-Argyle has a good ballclub and they are also undefeated. It could have gone to either one of us."
Other first-round playoff games slated for 7 p.m. Friday include the following matchups:
Division 4
No. 5 Brodhead-Juda (5-4) at No. 4 Lodi (7-2)
Division 5
No. 5 New Glarus-Monticello (6-3) at No. 4 Arcadia (6-3)
Division 6
No. 8 Brookwood (4-5) at No. 1 Darlington (9-0)
No. 7 Waterloo (4-5) at No. 2 Pecatonica-Argyle (9-0) at Argyle
Division 7
No. 6 Wauzeka-Steuben/Seneca (6-3) at No. 3 Black Hawk (7-2)
The WIAA released the first-round pairings and brackets for the playoffs on Saturday after seeding meetings and the road map for seven area teams to make a run to Camp Randall Stadium for the state championship game is clearer now. Monroe (9-0), ranked seventh in the Associated Press medium school state poll, earned the top seed in its Division 3 eight-team quadrant and will host Reedsburg at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I don't think any of the other seven teams that were at the seeding meeting were there to dispute that someone other than the unbeaten Badger South Conference champion (Monroe) should be the No. 1 seed," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "Now we just have to live up to it."
As the No. 1 seed, if the Cheesemakers can keep winning, they will play their first three playoff games in Monroe. If the Cheesemakers beat Reedsburg, they would face the winner of Fort Atkinson and Evansville-Albany in the Level 2 playoffs.
"I don't think home-field advantage makes you block or tackle any better," Golembiewski said. "It does make it a little easier. It gives you the opportunity to showcase your program to the community. Your booster club can make a lot more money. It gives the grandmas and grandpas a chance to come to the game because they probably wouldn't travel."
Coaches who met to seed Monroe's eight-team quadrant did Evansville-Albany no favors. The Blue Devils (8-1), the Rock Valley Conference co-champions, received a No. 5 seed and will open the first-round of the playoffs at Fort Atkinson on Friday. Due to the playoff tiebreaker, the Blue Devils' win over Clinton 21-12 in the season opener gave them the conference title for playoff seeding. Despite being just 5-4 and 3-3 Badger South, the Blackhawks drew the home game as the No. 4 seed.
"I think the whole point is if you are a conference champion you deserve a home game," Evansville-Albany coach Ron Grovesteen said. "The coaches vote and we can't do anything about it."
The one game that Evansville-Albany lost was to Jefferson, 20-17, which is also in the same eight-team playoff grouping as Monroe and the Blue Devils. However, Clinton, the team Evansville-Albany defeated, received a No. 1 seed in the Division 4 playoffs.
Grovesteen said he didn't think the loss to Jefferson swayed the opinion of the coaches in voting for seeds.
"It's how coaches felt at the meeting," he said. "It will be a big challenge. They (Fort Atkinson) are a very good team and they are in a tough conference. All of the records are out now."
Another tough break is the WIAA placed No. 2-ranked Darlington (9-0), the Division 6 state runner-up the past three years, on the same side of the bracket as No. 1-ranked Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs, which has won two straight state titles over the Redbirds. If the Redbirds make it to the state championship game for the fourth straight year this season, Darlington will likely have to find a way to beat St. Mary's Springs.
"Nothing the WIAA does surprises me," Darlington coach Scott Zywicki said. "They don't worry about the rankings. I would have liked to play St. Mary's Springs later. You just have to play who they put in front of you. We have to focus on the first game because there are a lot of teams out there who would like to beat us."
Zywicki is embracing being the top seed and a team everyone targets.
"I think our kids have deserved that seed because of the season they have had," Zywicki said. "Pec-Argyle has a good ballclub and they are also undefeated. It could have gone to either one of us."
Other first-round playoff games slated for 7 p.m. Friday include the following matchups:
Division 4
No. 5 Brodhead-Juda (5-4) at No. 4 Lodi (7-2)
Division 5
No. 5 New Glarus-Monticello (6-3) at No. 4 Arcadia (6-3)
Division 6
No. 8 Brookwood (4-5) at No. 1 Darlington (9-0)
No. 7 Waterloo (4-5) at No. 2 Pecatonica-Argyle (9-0) at Argyle
Division 7
No. 6 Wauzeka-Steuben/Seneca (6-3) at No. 3 Black Hawk (7-2)
