The WEM/JWP wrestling team opened up a 48-0 lead on their way to a 57-15 win over Medford Thursday, January 22 in Waterville.

Medford forfeited six of their first seven matches allowing the Grizzlies to open up an insurmountable lead.

Seventh grader Otto Root improved to 16-7 this season with a pin of eighth grader Kyle Witter in 3:54 at 114 pounds.

Junior Parker James improved to 11-13 with a 36 second pin of sophomore Grayson Burr at 152 pounds.

Junior Trenton Huber decisioned junior Chase Baler, 10-3, to improve to 17-9 at 189 pounds.

William C. Hoehn, age 93, longtime resident of Good Thunder, died Wednesday, January 21, 2026.

Funeral Mass will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, January 29, 2026, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Good Thunder with visitation starting at 11 a.m. Military honors will follow at church. Complete obituary and livestreaming: www.mankatomortuary.com

Roger Dean Howland, age 87, of Forest City, IA, passed away peacefully on January 21, 2026, at his home with his wife by his side under the care of hospice.

Five of the seven WEM/ JWP girls wrestlers made their way onto the podium at the Saturday, Jan. 17 St. Croix Lutheran Invitational.

The Grizzlies placed fourth in the 17-team invitational. scoring 96 points. Apple Valley won the event with 187.5 points. Roseville Area placed second with 128 points, Placing third was St. Paul Como Park with 96 points.

Junior Bre’Ana Masso led the team with a...

To see more on this story pick up the January 22, 2026 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.

Last season, the WEM/ JWP wrestling team squeezed out a 1.5 point advantage over Ogilivie to win the St. Croix Lutheran Invitational.

The Grizzlies repeated as team champions, winning the title Saturday, Jan. 17 by more than 40 points over runner-up Cannon Falls. WEM/ JWP scored 215 team points in finishing ahead of Cannon Falls (172.5), Ogilvie (135), Chisago Lakes (126), and Robbinsdale Armstrong (106.5).

The 7th Annual Fishing Derby sponsored by the Southern Lakes Angling and Spearing Organization, which was established eight years ago, was held Saturday, Jan. 17 on area lakes.

The weigh-in for the fish caught was held at the Waterville Event Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. that evening.

Anglers and spearers, who were required to be members of the organization in order to fish, had a chance to win prizes for their catch which featured three different categories.

WEM sophomore Miley Anderson had her design selected for the 2026 Waterville Bullhead Days celebration button.

Anderson received the most votes in a Facebook contest which featured the four best designs from WEM High School students among more than two dozen entered. She designed her button during Foundations Class.

The other three finalists included:...

To see more on this story pick up the January 22, 2026 print edition of the LifeEnterprise paper. 

The WEM One Act Play will have a chance to perform in front of the masses Saturday, January 24 at the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School Auditorium.

The Sub-Section 5 competition for WEM will begin at 2:50 p.m. The event itself starts at 10 a.m. with the first show, which features teams from throughout the area. There is an admission fee for the event.

WEM will perform the play Nellie by Robbie Steltz.

William “Bill” Allen Warner, age 81, of Mankato, passed away on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Hillcrest Senior Living in Mankato.

Kimberly Schwenke-Cram, 59, Madison, SD, passed away at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD, on Saturday, January 10, 2026 after battling pneumonia, blood clots, and Valley Fever. 

A Celebration of Life for Kim will be from 5 - 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at Victory Life Church, (701 E 60th St North, Sioux Falls, SD) with a short time of sharing at 6:30 p.m.

The WEM boys basketball team split a pair of Gopher Conference games last week.

They defeated Medford, 86-67, Tuesday, January 6 and were defeated by United South Central, 67-64, Thursday, January 8.

The squad is now 2-3 in the Gopher Conference West Division and 4-7 overall. They will host Randolph Friday, January 16, play at JWP Tuesday, January 13, and at Faribault BA Thursday, January 22.

In the win over the tigers, senior Talen Taylor scored 30+ points for the third straight game. He finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists.

Ron and Laura Romnes decided to take a chance on starting an archery business.

So far, the customers have flocked in as quickly as the arrows have flown throughout their building in Elysian.

“It’s been awesome seeing people in here shooting their bows and arrows and socializing with each other,” Laura mentioned. “We’re building a community here.”

With how many have welcomed the Romneses and Elysian Archery, you would have thought they had been here for a while. Although they haven’t lived in Elysian for many years, they’ve been in the area.

The unexpected death of a WEM seventh grader has the WEM communities shocked and grieving.

Twelve year old Brady Kessler, son of Cierra and Tyler Pumper and David Kessler, had a stroke Saturday, Jan. 10. He subsequently passed away on the evening of January 11 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester due to complications from the stroke.

More than 100 classmates, teammates, family, and friends were able to say their last goodbyes to Brady at the hospital before he passed.

Late last week an emergency meeting was called for Monday, Jan. 12, of the city council for the City of Kilkenny. No large emergency was present other than information that Nicole LeBrun, the current city clerk, had found a new position elsewhere and a replacement would need to be figured out.

Kilkenny Mayor Tammy Holicky seemed happy for LeBrun, saying that she found an “amazing position somewhere else,” which LeBrun wanted to keep private.

Linda Marie Weaver, age 77, of Kilkenny, passed away on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at Regions Hospital in St. Paul after a brief illness.

Minnesota DNR recognizes nine conservation officers

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Enforcement Division recently recognized nine conservation officers for their lifesaving efforts in the past few months.