Waupaca players headed to state tournament

The Waupaca Schools Chess Team had a big weekend at the Northeastern Wisconsin Chess Association Postseason Tournament at Neenah High School.

The varsity and junior varsity teams took first place at the event, which included teams from Green Bay Catholic Schools, Marion, Neenah, Nekoosa, Shawano and Westfield.

Caleb Roggenbauer and Brandon Krcmar each won varsity board championships, while William Johnson and Marvin Van Asten each took second. On the JV side, Jared Doro took second place in a field of more than 100 players and Sean McKibben placed third.

The team also collected hardware from the regular season. Waupaca and Nekoosa tied for first place in the conference with 13 wins apiece, but Nekoosa edged the Comets 431.25 to 414.50 on tie break points to claim the championship trophy.

Sixth-grader Logan Janssen won the fourth board championship for the regular season, while Johnson took second place at first board, Eugene Pliska finished second at fifth board and Krcmar placed third at fifth board.

This weekend, the Comets will head to the State Scholastic Chess Tournament at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where the team will enter three five-player teams in the high school varsity competition.

“We will probably end up with one team in each of the three varsity divisions,” coach Tim Hiddemen said. “Our goal is for each team to bring back a trophy.”

The Comets will also compete in the high school JV, middle school and elementary school divisions.

The team will take eight players to the High School National Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, March 31 to April 3.