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Mad City Badgers Wheelchair Basketball on April 23
Two teammates have local connection
Mad City Badgers
The Mad City Badgers Wheelchair team will have a demo and pickup game at Fennimore High School on Sunday, April 23. Two members have ties to Fennimore. Traeson Klais (left) is a fourth grader at Fennimore Elementary School and Abby Lendosky (right) is the granddaughter of Dennis and Sarah Lendosky of Fennimore.
Published: Apr 17, 2023, 1:00 PM

The Mad City Badgers Wheelchair Basketball Team will be hosting a Demonstration Day and Showcase Game at Fennimore High School on Sunday, April 23 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. (doors open at 1 p.m.). This is a free event, and all are welcome to attend and learn more about the Mad City Wheelchair Sports Program.

According to the team’s website, “The Mad City Badgers is an organized Youth Wheelchair Basketball team, serving families and players from many parts of South-East Wisconsin.”

“The team has evolved from its humble beginnings in the 1950’s, when disabled veterans returning from World War II formed the team as a form of recreation. Today, the Mad City Badgers serves school-aged boys and girls, ages eight to 18, with many different levels of disabilities and skill level.”

Two members of the wheelchair team have ties to Fennimore. Traeson Klais, son of Natasha and Brett Klais, attends Fennimore Elementary School, and Abby Lendosky is the daughter of John and Melaine Lendosky of Viroqua, and granddaughter of Dennis and Sarah Lendosky of Fennimore.

Traeson Klais, a 10-yearold fourth grader at Fennimore Elementary School, is the youngest player on the Mad City team. His family is from the Fennimore area. Both his parents, Natasha and Brett Klais, were raised in Fennimore. Traeson has two siblings, Trinity (age 15) and Titus (age 13). Traeson was born with Spina Bifida. He was introduced to the Mad City team after watching a demo they held in Cuba City about four years ago. He joined the team in spring 2019, and after a few seasons of being on the prep team, the 2022-2023 season marked his first as a full time player, participating in all the team’s tournaments.

Although he doesn’t enjoy the traveling part, he does like seeing the places where the team’s tournaments are held and being with his teammates. When asked why he enjoys being part of the Mad City Badgers Team, he said “being with and playing against people where everyone is like me.”

Besides his Badger teammates, Traeson said he’s made friends on the many other traveling wheelchair teams.

Like a typical fourth grader, when not playing basketball, he enjoys reading, playing video games, watching movies and “hanging out with his family.”

His mother, Natasha, said that he’s complimented frequently on being a “good teammate and showing good sportsmanship,” and “always making people laugh.”

Like Traeson, Abby Lendosky, was born with Spina Bifida. Abby is the second youngest player on the team. She is the daughter of John and Melaine Lendosky of Viroqua, and granddaughter of Dennis and Sarah Lendosky of Fennimore. She has two brothers Braeden and Kevin. Abby, a 13-year-old eighth grader, who attends Cornerstone Christian Academy, in Viroqua, was introduced to Wheelchair Basketball in the fourth grade, when through her physical therapist, saw the UW-Whitewater Wheelchair Basketball team play.

She enjoyed watching them and thought that maybe this was something she could do. The same physical therapist suggested Mad City and she tried it and as she put it, “I liked it a lot!”

Abby said she likes traveling around the country with the team and getting to spend time with her teammates outside of practice. She also likes that she gets to meet new people from all over the country from participating in tournaments.

The main thing Abby said she gets out of playing with the team is that she “doesn’t feel left out and always feels included since everyone has a disability like her.”

Traeson and Abby have practice every Friday during the season, with tournaments that run September through March. They just completed the 2022-2023 season, qualifying for nationals in Kansas, where the top 30 teams in their league competed.

Overall the Mad City Badgers finished the 20222023 season ranked 14th after nationals.

Traeson, Abby and their families hope for a large turnout on April 23. There will be a wheelchair team demonstration, followed by a wheelchair basketball game with the Mad City Badgers taking on the Fennimore High School boys and girls basketball teams.

In addition to the basketball related events, there will also be a basket raffle, a 50/50 drawing and concessions stand, with the proceeds going to support Mad City Badgers.

Supporting wheelchair athletics involves expenses paid by the Mad City Wheelchair Sports organization and individual families; these expenses include tournament fees, equipment, facility fees, and transportation fees.
It was quite an election
On April 1
Election Results_April 1, 2025 Crawford County
GILLIAN POMPLUN
Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout
Published: Apr 2, 2025, 5:05 PM

Politics-weary Wisconsin citizens mustered the verve to once again go to the polls in Wisconsin’s April 1 spring election. With record spending, a barrage of campaign literature in mailboxes, chaos on the federal level, and an endless stream of divisive TV advertising, voters on both sides turned out in record numbers to support the candidates of their choice.

Happy or sad, it’s likely the vast majority is just glad it’s over. While most spring elections draw much lower turnout than a presidential election, voter turnout in this year’s race was on par with last November’s contentious election in which Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris for the office of President of the United States.

Of course, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election took top billing, garnering record amounts of spending. Conservative versus liberal control of the court was on the line with the retirement of liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Contending for the 10-year term were Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The race was called for Crawford around 10 p.m. after Schimel called her to concede. The unofficial results show Crawford winning with 55% of the statewide vote to Schimel’s 45%.

Crawford County voters bucked recent electoral trends, carrying for the liberal candidate. In the county, Crawford took 51% of the vote, defeating Schimel with 49%. Crawford’s candidacy also prevailed in Vernon County with 54% of the vote, Richland County with 52% of the vote, La Crosse County with 63% of the vote, Sauk County with 57% of the vote, Iowa County with 62% of the vote, and Green County with 58% of the vote. Crawford’s victory was propelled by massive turnout and majorities in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, Eau Claire and Bayfield counties. Voters in Dane County cast 82% of their votes for Crawford, in Milwaukee County 75%, in Rock County 61%, in Eau Claire 63%, and in Bayfield 61%.

Schimel’s campaign prevailed locally in Grant, Lafayette and Monroe counties, earning 52%, 51%, and 55% of votes cast respectively.

Incumbents prevail

It was also a night for incumbent candidates to prevail in races pertaining to public education in the state. Incumbent Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her race against charter school advocate Brittany Kinser, taking 53% of the statewide vote to Kinser’s 47%.

Locally, Underly outperformed Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, winning her contest in counties that carried for Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel. Those counties include Grant and Lafayette counties, where Underly took 52% of votes cast. Kinser held on to votes cast for Schimel in Monroe County, taking 56% of votes cast.

Underly’s candidacy prevailed in Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Iowa, Sauk, and La Crosse counties. In those counties, Underly took 53%, 54%, 56%, 61%, 57%, and 61% respectively.

Mirroring the results in the statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction race, incumbent candidates Jerry Coleman and Charissa Richter prevailed against challengers Jesse Swenson and Melany Jelinek winning two three-year terms on the North Crawford School Board.

Coleman was the top vote-getter, with 660 votes, followed by Richter with 532 votes. Richter and challenger Melany Jelinek ran neck-in-neck for much of the night until results came in for the villages of Gays Mills and Bell Center, which pushed Richter over the finish line ahead. Jelinek finished with 502 votes, and Swenson with 412 votes.

Coleman took the most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, Utica, and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, and Soldiers Grove. Richter took the second most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica, and in the villages of Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. Jelinek took more votes than Richter in the town of Freeman, and in the villages of Bell Center and Mt. Sterling.

Voter ID

Voters across the state voted to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require photo identification to vote. The measure failed only in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Wisconsin had already required voters to show identification, but passage of the Republican-backed ballot question will make it harder for that requirement to be removed by the courts or the state legislature.

Statewide, the measure passed with 63% of the vote, with 37% of the voters voting against it.