Wetumpka’s Eldridge dominates Indians Invitational

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Wetumpka eighth grader Juliana Eldridge cruised through the 2022 Wetumpka Indians Girls Invitational this week. Eldridge, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state of Alabama voted on by coaches, is the sister of Wetumpka’s first state champion Jade Eldridge.

Eldridge started her tournament off with the toughest matchup of the day, Arab’s

Herald Fans’ Choice Player of the Week: Julie Nekolna

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

The votes are in, and this week’s Herald Fans’ Choice Player of the week is Holtville basketball player Julie Nekolna.

Nekolna, a foreign-exchange student at Holtville his season, earned 438 of the 782 total votes. There were only two nominees this week, and she beat Stanhope Elmore wrestler Connor Russo (344 votes) to claim her first Player of the Week honor.

Nekolna is the first Holtville basketball player to be named Player of the Week this season. She had a stellar week last week as she turned in two impressive performances on the hardwood.

She had arguably the best week of any player in the state of Alabama as she turned in two triple-double performances in wins for the Bulldogs. She recorded her first one with 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a win against Thorsby.

Two games later, she did it with an in-county win. In a blowout win over Stanhope Elmore, Nekolna recorded 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 blocks.

The Holtville star senior has been a huge addition for the Bulldogs this year. Holtville has already claimed the single-season school record for wins in a season (13) and currently has a 13-2 record going into Christmas.

Nekolna is averaging 20.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.1 blocks, and 2.5 steals per game this year.

DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Cats? How about the Bulldogs instead?

There’s been a bunch of talk about cats in Elmore County lately.

I’m not going to comment on that whole mess of a situation. It’s a very sensitive subject right now. Instead, I’m going to stick to cringe jokes and sports and I’m going to talk about one of our area basketball teams.

So here goes my re-do of my lede. 3… 2… 1…

Cats? How about the Bulldogs instead?

The Holtville girls basketball team is currently in the midst of its best season in program history, and they deserve some recognition and to be talked about.

Holtville is in the middle of Christmas Break, and they have a 13-2 overall record so far this season. They started the year 12-0, and then lost two of three games down in a tournament at the beginning of the break.

To put into words how special their season already is, Holtville has already broken its single-season win record. The record, which they

Madilyn Rodgers. Rodgers is the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state and is a senior this year. Eldridge was able to secure a takedown in the first period and led, 2-0, for most of the match.

After no points were scored in the second period, Eldridge held on to her two-point lead in third third. Rodgers was able to tally an escape early to cut the lead to 2-1, but