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A WPMQ SPECIAL FEATURE: Brandon Broady Tackles Type 1 Diabetes

ARSS, Baseball, Boys Basketball, Boys Tennis, Broadcasting, Pirate Pride

 

A WPMQ SPECIAL FEATURE STORY

Brandon Broady Tackles Type 1 Diabetes

By Lizzie Hill and Sara Abell

Brandon Broady, a sophomore student athlete at Charlestown High School, manages school, three sports, and Type 1 diabetes (T1D). It isn’t every day that a student is dedicated to three sports and equally plays them well. It’s even more rare to find a student who does this and manages an autoimmune disease that could greatly impact his health.

Brandon was diagnosed with T1D in 2017. He first noticed his symptoms when his appetite changed and he began to drink excessive amounts of water. When he first learned of his diagnosis, he was curious because he didn’t really know anything about the disease. Type 1 diabetes is a genetic condition in which the pancreas creates little to no insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to allow sugar to enter cells in order to produce energy. This affects blood sugar levels and can cause hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, which are both an influx in blood sugar levels. Both of these effects can have a devastating impact on one’s body and if blood sugar levels aren’t controlled this can lead to other illnesses, including death. Blood sugar levels have a direct impact on strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility. It is important that athletes with diabetes keep a close eye on their health to reach optimal performance.

Brandon has had his hands on a baseball since the age of 3, picked up basketball in 3rd grade, and rounded out his sports with tennis in 6th grade. Playing sports is an important part of Brandon’s life and he won’t let any diagnosis stop him from accomplishing his goals. Type 1 diabetes can have a wide range of effects on one’s performance during various sports so Brandon makes sure to keep a close eye on managing his condition in order to continue physical activities. When active in sports, Brandon tries to balance his blood sugar levels as best as he can in order to reach peak performance with an app on his phone and by human nature. He can easily tell if his blood sugar levels are off because he begins to feel tired, which would be an obvious negative effect to a three-sport athlete like Brandon. His go-to snacks to help his blood sugar levels are peanut butter crackers and Gatorade. He says it’s not scary because he has gotten used to it and it’s just a normal part of his life that he has learned to manage. 

With the diabetes have come some opportunities for Brandon. He serves as a youth ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).  JDRF has led the search for a cure for T1D since its founding in 1970. And just this week he got to listen to a speech by the Big 10 Baseball Coach of the Year, Jeff Mercer, from Indiana University Bloomington talk about playing ball and it really made Brandon feel good to hear him say that he is willing to work with and help those with some type of disability or impairment.  

Brandon says, “ Type 1 diabetes has inspired me to be more healthy because of the consequences it can have on your body later in life.” Managing Type 1 diabetes and keeping up with sports can be hard, but Brandon has proved it’s achievable. He goes on to tell other athletes to,“Stay strong and keep ahead of the game.”

Pirate Wrestlers are the 2019-20 Mid Southern Conference Champions

ARSS, Wrestling

The Pirate wrestling team is on a hot streak having won the Southern Indiana Wrestling Championships (SIWC) last weekend at Southwestern then taking the Mid Southern Conference championship tournament by storm last night at Scottsburg.  With four wins, four second place finishes, two third place finishes, and a fourth place finish in the fourteen weight classes, the Pirates were able to secure a wholesome victory over the other six teams in the field. This is the wrestling program’s first Mid Southern Conference championship since 2012 and it’s the 11th overall since the tournament began in 2002. Team scores were:

 

Charlestown 200

Eastern (Pekin) 188

Corydon Central 184

Scottsburg 123

North Harrison 93.5

Silver Creek 72

Salem 69.5

 

Below are recaps for each of our Pirate wrestlers:

 

120–Collin Knox was the 2020 MSC Champion at 120 pounds with a pin in the finals.

126–Alex Sheehan was the only freshman that made it to the finals where he was winning until his opponent mounted a comeback.  He finished 2nd. Teammate Ben Phillips said, “I am super proud of Alex. He has really done well his freshman season and wrestled really well tonight.” 

132–Jakob Lewellen wrestled a close match against rival Mason Martin of Eastern in the finals and nearly scored a possible match winning takedown in the final minute before being taken down himself.  He finished 2nd. 

138–Declan Brading wrestled a close match in the finals but ended up losing by a pin fall. He finished 2nd. 

145–Brayden Moore pinned his opponent in the 3rd place match to help secure the team victory. 

152–Ben Phillips had a pin in the finals against Scottsburg to become the 152 pound champion. 

160–Chris Graham pinned his opponent in the final match to take 3rd place. 

170–Deke Brown may have had the biggest win of the night against a Corydon opponent who had previously beaten him three times.  He went the full match and won 9-7 to earn MSC Champion honors. 

182–Xuan Dong wrestled two tough matches and was winning before getting pinned. 

195–Manuel Ordorica secured a fall in finals to secure the team victory.  He is also a 2020 MSC Champion. 

220–Lucas Gagnon wrestled tough in the finals and came up just short of the win, still earning a 2nd place. 

HWT–Austyn Wilkerson placed 4th in the final match of the evening for the Pirates.

 

Coach Adam Doherty said, “It was a great win for us and a total team effort.  It was back and forth most of the night and our guys came up with win after win.  They have been working hard in practice all year, and I feel like we are putting it together and wrestling our best at the end of the year.  We gave up two forfeits so we had to make up for that with bonus points and beating kids we weren’t supposed to on paper. It’s great to see these kids who have stuck with it, not quit and put in the work, to improve enjoy the success we are having.  Ben Phillips, Colin Knox, Manuel Ordorica, and Deke Brown (each conference champs) have been great leaders and have helped build the confidence and work ethic in the team. Lucas Gagnon and Jacob Lewellen wrestled their best matches of the season, losing very close matches in the finals to two very good wrestlers.  Alex Sheehan 2nd, Declan Brading 2nd, Braden Moore 3rd, Chris Graham 3rd, and Austin Ramirez-Wilkerson 4th, all put in a great effort for the team as well.

 

Next up for the Pirates is the Jeffersonville sectional at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday, February 1st. 

Article contributed by WPMQ staff writers, assisted by Ben Phillips.

Pirates Win Nailbiter Against Borden on Homecoming

ARSS, Boys Basketball

Ty Crace goes in for the shot and one to tie the game with 16.8 seconds remaining. Photo courtesy of Melissa Stewart.

Saturday night the Charlestown Pirate basketball team hosted the Borden Braves in an epic matchup on homecoming. The Pirates came into the game 1-10 while Borden was 4-8. After the first quarter the Pirates were leading 12-9, but Borden came storming into the second quarter with hot outside shooting and had captured the halftime lead over the Pirates 30-20. With persistence to just keep chipping away at that ten point deficit, the Pirates outscored Borden 14-6 heading into the 4th quarter down just two, 34-36. With time at 16.8 seconds remaining in the contest and the Pirates trailing 52-50, junior Ty Crace drove into the paint and layed in a shot picking up the foul for the and-one to knot things up at 52-52.  Crace converted on the 3-point play to give the Pirates the first lead since the end of the 1st quarter with just ticks left on the clock. Borden called a timeout before losing the ball, and the officials put 2.0 seconds on the clock. Coming out of the full timeout, Sterling Mikel inbounded the ball, then got it right back as he got in-bounds in time to get a shot off, but he missed a long three and the Pirates held on to win. “We were so lucky to win,” said Coach Sean Smith of the Pirates. When asked what he contributed the win to he replied, “We gave ourselves an opportunity. That’s been the big step in this whole thing is coming out and competing for 32 minutes and giving ourselves a chance. Tonight we had a chance and we are just so thankful to get a win.”

 

Crace finished the night with 19 points and was WPMQ’s Player of the Game. Devron West finished with 10, Matthew Henning and Kyle Craig added 6 apiece, Clayton Rothbauer and Caleb Brown had 5, and Ashton Davis finished with 2. For Borden, Sterling Mikel ended with 16, Tommy Devine had 14, Roberts had 8, Eurton had 6, Carter had 5, and Franklin finished scoring for the Braves with 3. Charlestown will next travel to Eastern (2-9, 0-6 MSC) on Friday, January 24th in Mid Southern Conference play in hopes of picking up a much needed road win. 

 

Article contributed by WPMQ’s Matthew McCoy. 

WPMQ Provides Swim Season Update

ARSS, Swimming

Photo courtesy of Melissa Stewart

WPMQ’s Micah Kaelin and Trey Brison spoke with representatives from the Charlestown swim team and have updates to share on how the Pirates’ season is going.

2019-2020 Season

  • “So far this year we have done well, better than expected because of the two exchange students. It helps when you have some experienced swimmers come in,” said Coach Richard Sawyer. 
  • This season has been difficult for the Swim Team because they have to take a 20 minute bus ride to/from practice, due to their pool being shut down/broken. 
  • “As far as last to this year our girls team is better, but our boys team lost a lot of good boys,” says Coach Sawyer. 

Record:

The Girls Team has swam in 4 meets so far, with two 4th place finishes. One was 4th out of 9 teams; the other was 4th out of 6 teams. 

The Boys Team has swam in 3 meets so far, with a 3rd place finish out of 6 teams.

Boys 

  The Boys Team has only 4 swimmers but have been working really hard this season, giving 110% effort at practice. Also their team has been improving throughout the season!

The boys have had to work through a major setback at meets. Due to their small numbers, they don’t have enough boys to compete in every event. There are only enough boys for one relay team, compared to other school with two. “Despite their setback, they all continue to work hard, place well, improve their times, and keep good attitudes,” said swimmer Grace Adams. 

Girls

The Girls Team has been placing okay this season. Small numbers has been the only reason they haven’t won. “I’m really excited for conference. We’ve been working really hard and I have high hopes,” says swimmer Grace Adams. 

The Girls Team have gotten several new freshmen that have helped increase their numbers including Anika White, who has been a strong edition. Individually our points leaders, Grace Adams (11th grade), Tina Ylipaa (11th grade), and Kendra Grayson (10th) bring the most points for the team. These girls have placed high in their events all season. 

Swimmers:

There are no seniors. There are 4 juniors: 2 girls, 2 guys. Every other swimmer is underclassmen. 

Question: What swimmer has stood out to you the most? 

Coach Sawyer said, “As you know swimming is a team sport and all the kids stand out and do their part to help win a meet. So I can’t say that anyone stands out more than any other. They have all done what is best for the team to get the win. All of them are working hard to improve.

What’s Next?

  • Girls’ MSC Championship is on 1/30/20. 
  • Boys’ MSC Championship on 1/30/20.
  • Girls’ Sectionals will be on Thursday 2-6- 20 and Saturday 2-8-20.
  • Boys’ Sectionals will be on Thursday 2-20-20 and Saturday 2-22-20. 

The swimmers have been practicing and are ready to take on their opponents. Coach Sawyer says, “As far as sectionals we have been doing a lot of sprints and swimming about 2 miles a day”.

Student Council & WPMQ Release Homecoming Information for the Weekend

ARSS, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Uncategorized

 

The Charlestown High School student council will sponsor this weekend’s basketball homecoming ceremonies in the Charlestown Sports Arena. The king’s ceremony will be held Friday, January 17th between the junior varsity and varsity girls’ basketball contests against Providence. The queen’s ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 18th between the junior varsity and varsity boys’ basketball contests against Borden. JV tip-off is 6:00 both nights. 

Student council would like to congratulate all members of the court for being elected by peers and for maintaining GPA eligibility requirements and to wish good luck to all of the king and queen candidates.  The 2020 basketball homecoming court is as follows:

9th Grade—Abigail Salkeld & Luke Bach

10th Grade—Sunni Burke, Savannah Gaither, Chase Benner, & Brandon Broady

11th Grade—Kaelyn Halter, Hannah Pierson, Kaylee Zimmerman, Kyle Craig, Ashton Davis, & Clayton Rothbauer

12th Grade—Kylee Carl, Baylee Popp, Ashleigh Smith, Hailey Stricker, Karston Watson, Richard Coyle, Elyjah Joseph, Braiden Murphy, Blake Thompson, & Chase Wray

 

The CHS class of 2021 and Cheerleaders will be hosting a homecoming dance on right after the boys’ basketball game on Saturday, the 18th until 11:30PM.  Tickets are $10 or $5 with a homecoming basketball game ticket. All non-CHS guests pay $10 for tickets and MUST show their high school ID. This is a semi-formal dance.  Attendees are asked to dress as if they are attending a nice wedding. Ladies should have dresses/pantsuits. Boys should wear dress pants with a dress shirt, polo shirt, or sweater.  Sleeveless, strapless, halter, spaghetti straps, and one-shoulder styles ARE allowed. Hats are not allowed. Outfits should come to no more than 2” above the knee. There should be no holes, or gaps, in the midriff area.

In looking ahead at the basketball contests, WPMQ’s Chase Benner and Michael Casey have provided the following mid-season girls’ basketball report: After a rough 0-3 start to the season, the Lady Pirate basketball team has bounced back to a record of 9-8 with only five games remaining on the schedule. The Lady Pirates really turned their season around with the help of three critical seniors–Jackie Biscardi, Peyton Crace, and Karston Watson–who all help to jumpstart the pirate offense. Along with those three key seniors, the Lady Pirates get plenty of help from junior Skylar Cochran,and sophomore Demaria King at the center. Freshman Laney Hawkins has also added big minutes to the rotation since the PCL injury of senior Karston Watson. To round out the rotation, juniors Heidi Chester and Lanae Crowe, and senior Andrea McCoy come off the bench to add defense, rebounding, and occasional scoring.     

After Tuesday night’s overtime loss to the 2A Top 20 Eastern Musketeers, the Lady Pirates fell to just above .500. The Lady Pirates’ most impressive wins include victories over Southwestern and Switzerland County. Several of their losses have been very close games, including a 1 point loss to 11-5 North Harrison and another close loss by 2 points to 10-6 Scottsburg. The Lady Pirates are coming down to the final stretch of their season, with just five games remaining until sectionals. The Lady Pirates have several teams to look forward to while closing their season. Their final stretch of season consists of Providence, New Albany, Salem, Christian Academy, and Clarksville. The Lady Pirates look to stop their three game losing streak against Providence at home on Friday. 

WPMQ’s Drew Fifer, Matthew McCoy, and Blake Thompson have provided a boys’ season recap.  The Pirate basketball team has had a slow start at 1-10, facing some tough opponents. They last played Madison last Saturday and lost 94-69, but providing their biggest offensive night of the season. Kyle Craig  is leading the team in scoring with 8.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Newcoming Ty Crace is averaging 12 points per game, but has only played four games for the Pirates. Guards Ashton Davis and Clayton Rothbauer manage the perimeter, while Austin Phillips, Devron West, and Caleb Brown work inside for the Pirates. Junior Matthew Henning has been a spark for the Pirates the past few games. The Pirates will face a 3-8 Borden team and will hope to capture another victory. The Pirates and Braves have yet to both face a common opponent this season, so it’s difficult to predict what this matchup will bring other than knowing that both teams are in the hunt for wins. Coach Smith looks for his team to bring some passion and fire into this homecoming game.   

Article provided by WPMQ, The Pirate Network staff.

Bo Braunecker Signs to Continue Track Career with Eastern Illinois University

ARSS, Track & Field

Last night, Charlestown senior football and track star Bo Braunecker gathered with family and friends to sign his national letter of intent to continue his education and track career at Eastern Illinois University during the 2020-21 season.

Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher’s college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a broad curriculum, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, business, arts, sciences, and humanities.

Eastern Illinois University is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and competes at the NCAA Division I level, offering 20  varsity sports in men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s cross country; men’s and women’s golf; football; women’s soccer; softball; men’s and women’s tennis; men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field; and volleyball.

 When asked about his opportunity to play at the next level with the Panthers, Bo said, “After my first visit at Eastern Illinois I knew that was the place I wanted to go, not because it was division one, but for the reason that I felt that I fit in with the team and it would help shape be into being the man that I want to be. The team reminded me of the track family at CHS. Charlestown’s track team is not just a team, but we are a family as well and I saw this with Eastern Illinois Track team. Everyone made me feel welcome. It just felt like a home away from home. ”

The Charlestown High School athletic department and WPMQ, The Pirate Network congratulate Bo and wish him a healthy and prosperous future as an Eastern Illinois University Panther.

Article contributed by WPMQ, The Pirate Network; photo courtesy of Michelle Braunecker.

 

Skylar Roark Signs to Continue Softball Career with Shelton State

ARSS, Softball

Recently, Charlestown senior softball player Skylar Roark gathered with family, friends, Lady Pirate teammates and Team Kentucky teammates to sign her national letter of intent to play softball at Shelton State Community College during the 2020-21 season.

Shelton State Community College is a two-year community college located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is one of the largest two-year colleges in the state. Approximately 7,000 students are enrolled in some form of coursework, including around 3,000 full-time students.

 Shelton State  is a member of the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) and competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) at the Division I level.  They offer varsity teams in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball and fast-pitch softball. The Shelton State Community College Athletics Department has spent the past decade establishing a winning tradition and bringing home championship trophies. Since 2000, their teams have won 24 NJCAA Region XXII Division I titles in men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, eleven National Championships in competitive cheerleading, and five recognitions as an Academic Team of the Year for softball. The Buccaneers take pride in their victories on the playing fields and courts while continuing to strive for success in the classroom and to provide a positive image in our community.

When asked about her opportunity to play at the next level with the Buccaneers, Skylar said, “Finding that perfect college is a very hard process because there are so many schools that have interest in you, but none of them stand out to you. What led me to choose Shelton State was when I stepped on campus and it was different than anywhere else I had been. Shelton has so many amazing opportunities for me to really succeed with academics and athletics. I knew that Shelton was home.”

The Charlestown High School athletic department and WPMQ, The Pirate Network congratulate Skylar and wish her a healthy and prosperous future as a Shelton State Buccaneer.

Article and photo contributed by WPMQ, The Pirate Network.

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