State final is CP sophomore’s swan song

Updated: October 26, 2011 9:37PM

Bay Kurtz might have nodded off for a few minutes on the bus ride home from Warsaw on Saturday. Celebration, though, won out over sleep. His body wanted to rest, but the Crown Point sophomore’s mind was wide awake from the excitement of winning a semistate title.

No one would have blamed Kurtz, though, if he had slept the remainder of the weekend. After battling strep throat earlier in the week, missing three days of practice, and taking a course of antibiotics, Kurtz played every minute of Saturday’s Warsaw Semistate semifinal and title game matchups, as well as every minute of overtime sessions in each game and their ensuing penalty kick showdowns.

“Ever since I was younger, I’ve always fought for everything,” Kurtz said. “That’s what I’ve been taught, and I put that mentality to work this (past) weekend.”

The Crown Point coaches worried cramping would settle in at some point with Kurtz, the team’s attacking midfielder. And the coaches were spot on. Kurtz began suffering leg cramps in the semifinal and then played through them in during the entirety of the championship game.

Still, there was no quit in Kurtz.

“I knew I couldn’t let my team down by stepping out of the game,” Kurtz said. “I just had to keep fighting.”

Kurtz has been a key figure in Crown Point’s rise this season, which includes the team’s first visit to the state final Saturday when the Bulldogs meet Columbus North for the Class 2A title at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis. Kurtz leads the team in points with 11 goals and a team-best 12 assists. He’s a scorer, a creator and a general disruption for opponents who don’t have an answer to his skill and speed.

“He can do things with the ball other players in the area can’t do and at a speed defenders can’t keep up with,” Crown Point coach JR Rosenbaum said. “He’s been causing other teams fits all year. Teams know him and circle his name. But it’s usually not to stop him but to try to slow him.”

Kurtz is capable of playing anywhere on the field. And Rosenbaum takes advantage of that skill when necessary.

“It just depends on where the game is at,” Rosenbaum said. “We’ll move him around if necessary. If the other team is causing us trouble, we’ll move him back to defense. If we want to attack more, we’ll move him forward.”

Though he’s just a sophomore, Saturday will likely be Kurtz’ last game with the Bulldogs. He is moving to Arizona after the semester to enroll in school there and join the Real Salt Lake Academy, a high-level soccer training program.

The promising future aside, Kurtz is focused on Saturday and the possibility of helping the school capture its first soccer state title.

“This is awesome,” Kurtz said. “I wanted to be here and try to win and make it to state. There’s definitely a lot of focus this week on winning it all.”

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