By Staff
Winter break has become a tough time for Dowagiac athletes this season.
The Chieftains have a very limited schedule during the holiday season because of the number of contests they have to play in the Wolverine Conference.
Dowagiac's wrestlers and volleyball teams both had a tournament last week, and the Chieftain wrestling team will compete in the Chad Reeves Tournament on Saturday.
Even though they have competed a couple of times, the Christmas break is just too long to go without much competition.
Things are even worse for the Chieftain basketball team.
Dowagiac headed into the Christmas break red-hot and playing as well as a team can play.
Now, Dowagiac will not return to the court until Jan. 12 when it resumes Wolverine Conference play at Vicksburg.
The Chieftains are 4-1 on the season, having lost to just Lakeshore in their season opener.
That loss doesn't look too bad now as the Lancers are proving to be one of the better teams in southwest lower Michigan.
In speaking with Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren, he said that he was looking forward to some time off.
He said that his team had played so hard and expended so much energy in its first five games that the break would help re-charge the Chieftains.
I have got to believe, though, that Blomgren and his players will be getting pretty restless by the end of this week.
I am looking forward to good things from the three sports teams in 2007.
Dowagiac's volleyball team has struggled through the 2006 portion of its schedule, but with increased court time I think the Chieftains will steadily get better.
Dowagiac's wrestling program doesn't have the record it is accustomed to, but once the Chieftains get everyone at the right weights and gets a few of its injured wrestlers into the line up I think you are going to see a different team.
It's still a long way to the post season.
The Chieftains will have plenty of Wolverine Conference games to play and the league tournaments in volleyball and wrestling.
The Dowagiac basketball team appears to be ready to play a major role in the championship chase.
I can't wait to see how the rest of the regular season plays out for these three teams. I know there will be some highs and some lows, but it should be a fun ride.
If you haven't gotten out to see the Chieftains play this winter, there will be plenty of opportunities in January and February to do so.
Come on out and cheer on the Chieftains. There is no better way to spend an evening than to catch a high school sporting event.
I know I can't wait to get back in the gym and start covering our sports teams again.