Wrestling - CHAMPS at NL-S!

I won't have wrestling information posted until after 10 p.m. tonight.

*Update: the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team won the 10-team New London-Spicer tournament tonight. They beat runner-up Pierz 194 to 168.5.

Next is a home quad on Tuesday next week.

Kensington Bank hours

The lobbies at Kensington Bank in Belgrade, Elrosa and Willmar will be closed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to allow staff members to attend the funeral of George Borgerding.

Drive-up window hours are unchanged for today, and they will be open to serve customers at all three locations.

The funeral is at 11 a.m. today. Refer to page three of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice for his full obituary.

R.I.P.

Winning on the big floor

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team got back on track quickly after losing on Tuesday night. At Morris on the college floor tonight, they beat a very good Lac qui Parle Valley team 63-58. The win improves their overall record to 8-4.

Evan Wiener led all scorers with 26 points. The senior had nine good field goal shots on 13 attempts and made four of five free throws; all that plus two assists, two blocked shots and nine rebounds (eight defensive boards!).

The Eagles (9-5 overall) are currently in first place in the Camden North Conference with a one-game lead (6-2) over second-place Renville County West (5-3). They could have made it a little tighter in the end with better free-throw shooting. They made six of 12 attempts at the line compared to B-B-E draining five of six free throws.

A big difference on the night was B-B-E making 10 three-pointers compared to LQPV making four. Also important was B-B-E's defense holding a high-octane LQPV offense 14 points below their average of 72 ppg.

LQPV is the No. 2-ranked team in Sub-Section 3A-North (No. 25 overall in Class 1A); they are looking up at No. 8-ranked (QRF) Minneota, who is the top overall-ranked team in Section 3A by QRF standings and also the No. 1-ranked Class 1A team in Minnesota in the Minnesota Basketball News poll.

B-B-E is also rated No. 2 in their sub-section (5A-South); the No. 28-ranked (QRF) Jaguars are looking up at defending champion and No. 23-ranked Hinckley-Finlayson.

The Jaguars have had some rough nights on that UM-Morris gym floor, and I'm referring specifically to playoff games over the years dating back to 1996. Tonight was not one of those nights. It was a very satisfying win.

Next for the boys' basketball team: a road game and border battle at Minnewaska Area next Monday, January 21; the Lakers just snapped a three-game losing skid with a 59-40 trouncing of Sauk Centre tonight.

Also tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team beat Paynesville 59-35 in a home conference game. They led 37-25 at halftime.

The Bulldogs fall to 1-12 overall (0-6 Central Minnesota Conference); B-B-E is 10-4 overall and now 4-2 (second) in the CMC. They trail first-place Eden Valley-Watkins, who is 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the CMC.

More to come later. I'm still basically "punched out" and off the clock for the day / night.

Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on Jan 17:
Eden Valley-Watkins 63, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 28
Holdingford 56, Maple Lake 33

Area boys' basketball scores on January 17:
Redwood Valley 80, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 58
Kimball Area 75, PACT Charter 44
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 80, Benson 72
BOLD 61, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 55
Henning 85, Menahga 70
Pillager 66, Bertha-Hewitt 47
Wadena-Deer Creek 66, Verndale 47
Minnewaska Area 59, Sauk Centre 40
Melrose Area 72, Montevideo 28

Area girls' basketball scores on January 17:
Upsala 43, Osakis 37
Parkers Prairie 65, Rothsay 30

Royalton 71, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 53

Yellow Medicine East 61, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 54
Pine River-Backus 48, Verndale 38
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 54, Hancock 53
Minneota 65, Lac qui Parle Valley 51
Swanville 69, Browerville 41
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 50, Ortonville 43

Brandon-Evansville 52, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 12
East Central 53, Hinckley-Finlayson 42
Pine City 82, Ogilvie 33

Two events - and office closed

Two events, one stretching over a multi-week period, are coming to the area. One is outside the Bonanza Valley Voice coverage area, but we are gladly helping promote it.

First, the Spicer Winterfest has a long list of activities scheduled for the next few weeks, basically from now into early February. You can see all of them on page 10 of this week's (January 17) issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

One item that the Spicer Commercial Club specifically asked me to promote is their first annual "Fire On Ice" dance this Saturday night, January 19, on Saulsbury Beach in Spicer from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is just $10 for adults, and kids are free. This is a fundraiser for the Spicer Commercial Club and the Spicer Fire Department.

Another big event to get on your calendar is the 18th annual Belgrade Lions Family Fun Day. This will be held on Sunday, January 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the B-B-E high school. It has been promoted on the front page of the last two issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice.

More details are posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice website in the main slideshow stories. Click to read more: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

"And on this day..."

On this day in 2005, a Holstein bull killed my dad.
https://www.wctrib.com/news/290975-brians-wishes-dream-came-too-soon-benefits-wildlife-and-environment.

The next morning, my dad's former classmate at Brooten high school, Jerry Olson, used a high-caliber rifle to take that bull down. He drove his J&K Meats pickup into a pasture that was adjacent to the cow yard, right across the barbed wire fence where the bull was standing, and shot one bullet into the bull's head. The bull dropped to the ground on the first shot. Jerry then crossed the fence with a large knife and cut the bull's throat to remove any doubt that it was dead.

You can watch part of what I just described in the video below. This video will not be available later today:



Do you know have any idea how lucky you are that we have farm families out there working every day to feed you and your family?

Today, Thursday, the Bonanza Valley Voice office will be closed.

Oh and by the way, I wanted to get this out there, just posted at the Voice website: https://bit.ly/2SZL1Xj
(Big Grove Lutheran church news) Feel free to check it out!

Home triangular

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team defeated visiting Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 57-21 in the opening dual of tonight's home Central Minnesota Conference triangular.

**Late in the Pierz dual, the Jaguars have a 34-27 lead. I don't know what weight they're at.

*Final score: Pierz 39, B-B-E 37. It was quite a match! Two powerhouses going at it.

At Maple Lake tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team suffered their fourth loss of the season. They played without leading scorer Ashton Dingmann, who was out with illness. The Irish won 57-41 in the CMC contest. B-B-E was led by junior Jackson Peter, who had 13 points on incredible six-of-eight field goal shooting with six rebounds and three steals.

B-B-E is now 7-4 overall heading into Thursday's non-conference game in Morris against Lac qui Parle Valley. (Played at the University of Minnesota-Morris campus's P.E. Center)

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Jan. 15:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 55, Pierz 51
Kimball 60, Holdingford 50
That's all I can write...publishing deadline screaming at me right now.

##ConquerEveryDay

We lose another great one

Another great one has passed away from us here in Jaguar Country and the Bonanza Valley. George Borgerding, age 90, member of the Belgrade high school Class of 1946, passed away on Sunday.

He was a member of one of the best Belgrade Redmen teams to play in the 20th century, back in his senior year. The 1945-1946 Belgrade team finished 20-2 overall, the most wins for any Belgrade boys' basketball team. They were guided by first-year head coach Lowell Formo. The Redmen finished in third place in the District 20 tournament, losing to Delano 34-33 before beating Willmar 29-18 for the consolation title.

I don't know why we should be so sad that a 90-year old gentleman has passed on to heaven. But I admit, I do have great sadness over hearing this news.

His funeral is on Friday this week, January 18, at 11 a.m. at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Belgrade. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday this week at the church. At 4:30 p.m., a Knights of Columbus rosary will take place in his honor, followed by a 5 p.m. parish prayer service. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service on Friday.

Click on this link to see a video from his open house 90th birthday party from last November. The Bonanza Valley Voice had extended coverage in two print editions in November 22 and November 29.

https://bit.ly/2QQt3V8

God bless the memory of George Borgerding. R.I.P.

Defending state champs prevail

The defending Class 2A state champion Sauk Centre Mainstreeters eked out a 44-36 victory tonight over our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team.

After trailing 22-15 at halftime, the Jaguars cut the deficit to four points on a few occasions but had too many turnovers at just the wrong time to pull this one out.

B-B-E falls to 9-4 overall heading into Thursday's home game against Paynesville Area.

**Calling all Jaguar fans! Don't miss tomorrow night's big match up between our B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team and the Pierz Pioneers. Action should be underway around 7:30 p.m. on our home mats. At stake is first place in the Central Minnesota Conference.

Area girls' basketball scores on January 14:
Albany 52, Holdingford 51 (Albany's Paige Meyer hit a runner that banked off the glass with 5.2 seconds left to lift the Huskies over the Huskers in a border battle)
Eden Valley-Watkins 83, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 28
Parkers Prairie 49, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 33
BOLD 68, Renville County West 39

Area boys' basketball scores on January 14:
Hancock 67, Benson 54
Henning 84, Browerville 55
Lakeview 64, Yellow Medicine East 55
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 57, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 49

Halftime

At halftime against No. 1-ranked (Class 2A) Sauk Centre, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is trailing 22-15.

A three-pointer by Jacqueline Gossen gave the Jaguars a 15-12 lead. It's been all Mainstreeters since then.

Radio

Tonight's home girls' basketball game with Sauk Centre will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM and also 106.5 FM The Train. This information was omitted from last week's Bonanza Valley Voice, and I apologize for that.

This week's January 17 issue will include a list of upcoming radio broadcasts for our Jaguars.

Game rescheduled

The non-conference game against Lac qui Parle Valley for our B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team has been rescheduled to Thursday, January 17. The game will be played at the University of Minnesota-Morris P.E. Center.

LQPV is 9-4 overall and 6-2 (first place) in the Camden North Conference. They are tough! It will be a great game...with luck I hope to get out to Morris to watch it.

Not sure if this was posted a few days ago or not...here's footage of the Trinity Lutheran (Brooten) Youth Bell Choir performing at Sunday worship on January 6. Many of these students are multi-sport athletes at B-B-E! Click here to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/2QGHXxm.

Faltering down the stretch

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had undefeated Menahga right in their crosshairs in the final minutes of today's non-conference game. At the wrong time, the Braves went on a 10-0 run to erase B-B-E's 46-41 lead.

B-B-E led 36-28 with 12:38 left in the second half. The Braves had a 7-0 run to narrow it to 36-35 with 10:44 left. With 9:20 to go, Macie Kirckof scored on a layup to put the Jaguars ahead 41-35, but less than two minutes later, the game was knotted up at 41-all.

With 4:44 left, the Braves tied the game at 46-46 during their 10-0 run. They led 51-46 with 2:57 to go when sophomore guard Timbr Berttunen went two-for-two at the line on a bonus opportunity.
Final score: Menahga 58, B-B-E 51.

*Below, video from the end of the first half tonight; it started with 3:34 left on the clock and ended right after the halftime buzzer:


The Jaguars take an 9-3 overall record into Monday night's home game against top-ranked (Class 2A) Sauk Centre. Menahga is 13-0 overall.

Area girls' basketball scores on January 12:
Pierz 45, Melrose 42 OT
Minnewaska Area 61, Benson 37
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 55, Lac qui Parle Valley 51
Yellow Medicine East 76, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 43
East Central 59, Upsala 49

Central Minnesota Conference girls' BB scores on Jan. 11:
Pierz 66, Kimball Area 58
Maple Lake 62, Paynesville Area 48
Eden Valley-Watkins 63, Holdingford 20

Area boys' basketball scores on January 12:
Delano 64, Albany 51
Annandale 59, Melrose Area 54
Osakis 55, Minnewaska Area 48
Upsala 61, East Central 59
MA/CA 72, LQPV 68
Dassel-Cokato 45, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 38

Thank you to Coop's Corner of Belgrade for being our premier sponsor of today's Jaguar Sports blog coverage! We love local businesses! Coop's Corner is owned and operated by 2008 B-B-E graduate Danielle Davis, who is also a former Jaguar student-athlete.

More to follow later, including video from today's game.

##ConquerEveryDay

Halftime

At halftime, our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a 28-25 lead over state-ranked Menahga.

The Jaguars led 4-0 with 12 minutes left.

*Update....with 1:51 left, the Jaguars trail 51-48.

More to follow in a new blog post.

A NEEDLE

Nothing less than a needle in his arm.

Fox News: Jayme Closs suspect wasn’t home when she escaped, ‘appeared to be out looking for her,’ authorities say as .... https://www.foxnews.com/us/jayme-closs-suspect-wasnt-home-when-she-escaped-appeared-to-be-out-looking-for-her-authorities

Justice must be served. I'm tired of this. It just sickens me.

Another title

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team won their fourth tournament title of the season tonight with a first-place finish at Paynesville and 221 points. They beat back a strong challenge by Class 2A Sartell-St. Stephen, who took second with 192.5 points.

The Jaguars, ranked No. 9 in today's Guillotine Class 1A team state rankings, had four individual champions: Tyler Bents at 145, Canon Swanson at 126, Mark Jenniges at 182 and Michael Koubek at 195.

*Below is a video of the end of Thaniel Cebulla's fifth-place match at 220 pounds:


Cebulla pinned Eden Valley-Watkins senior Peyton Thul in 45 seconds to claim fifth place.

*Below, video from the 195-pound title match with B-B-E's Michael Koubek winning by fall:


While leaving the Paynesville high school tonight, I overheard that Pierz defeated Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove at the Bemidji duals. I didn't get a score.

Pierz visits our house next Tuesday for a conference triangular. It will be a battle for the ages between our Jaguars and the Pioneers. The tri starts at 5 p.m. with a dual between Pierz and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. Next is the big one: B-B-E vs. Pierz! I expect that will be underway by 6 p.m.

Team scoring from third to 10th:
3. Grand Rapids 167.5
4. (tie) Milaca-Faith Christian and Paynesville, 105 each
6. Holdingford 89
7. Barnesville 84
8. Eden Valley-Watkins 77
9. Sauk Centre/Melrose 74
10. Spectrum 19

Time for another break from work and then back at it in the morning! I have some nice video from tonight to post throughout the weekend.

##ConquerEveryDay

Robotics season lift-off!...and wrestling

Click here to see the video on the B-B-E Resistance Robotics team season 'lift-off' from this past Saturday in Staples: https://bit.ly/2FpzfBw.

*And wrestling updates will follow...I will add a new blog post after it's all done. Currently at Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team sits in first place with 194 points. In second is Sartell-St. Stephen with 163.5 points. In third is Grand Rapids with 141.5 points.

More to come!!

At 106, Walker Bents is going for first place.

*Update: in championship matches, the Jaguars lost at 106, 113, 120 and 132 pounds. They finally got a win at 145, with Tyler Bents winning a 12-4 major decision.