Bonduel School District athletic director Chris Rank had a front-row seat March 19 for the boys basketball team’s second trip to the WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament.
Although the Bears’ season ended with a 71-49 loss to Cambridge in a Division 4 state semifinal game, Rank joined students and fans at the Kohl Center in Madison to show their support for one Bonduel High School’s successful athletic programs.
The Bears advanced to state for the second year in a row and second time in program history.
“This is really an awesome atmosphere,” Rank said. “Our whole community buys into and supports our sporting programs at Bonduel. It isn’t just basketball, it’s every sport throughout the whole year. To have this team represent Bonduel these last two years at state has been just a blessing.”
The Bears won their semifinal game last year before falling to Aquinas in the championship game. Rank said returning to the Kohl Center feels a little different this year than in 2025.
“They have a little pressure on them,” he said. “Obviously, there are a lot of people in the community that expected them to make it again. They had a little bit of a slump in the season where I think they had a lot of pressure on them, but they started playing a little more relaxed, and these last three games, they played some high-quality basketball teams and came out on top.”
School officials have a lot to take care of to prepare for events like the state basketball tournament, according to Rank.
“It’s been really busy this week, not just for myself, but a lot of people put a lot of time into this to make it a special situation for our fans, our players and our coaches,” he said. “It takes a lot of work, but we’re all happy to do that.”
The district also dealt with a blizzard that resulted in school getting called off at the beginning of the week.
“We had no school on Monday and Tuesday,” Rank said. “It probably worked out best for me where I got a chance to make a lot of phone calls and make a lot of preparations for this weekend.”
It’s been quite a school year so far for Bonduel’s teams, as the football team made it to Level 3 of the state playoffs in Division 6; Mariah Wondra placed sixth in the girls Division 3 race at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships; and Alisha Berg placed third in the girls 165-pound weight class at the WIAA State Individual Wrestling Tournament.
“We’ve been pretty blessed,” Rank said. “We’ve had some great athletes that come through Bonduel. They work hard, and they’re very driven to be successful. All of our coaches do a fantastic job of grooming our kids to be their best. They’re grooming them to be good people down the road, too.”
Senior Lydia Lynch and the Bonduel High School band perform before the Bears faced Cambridge at the WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament. (Greg Seubert)
