Further details on Benson FibroMinn girls basketball invitational

Admission at Benson High School is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, and $4 for students each day.

On Friday night the Jaguars will be the home team against MACCRAY, with a 6pm tip-off. Twenty-five minutes after the conclusion of that game, the host Braves face Estherville, Iowa.

At approximately 7:30pm in the auxiliary gymnasium, the Jaguars JV team will face the MACCRAY JV team.

On Saturday, Estherville faces B-B-E or MACCRAY. The schedule depends on whether or not Estherville beats Benson on Friday night.

If Estherville wins Friday, they will play the winner of the B-B-E/MACCRAY game in a championship game. If Estherville loses to Benson, then the 6pm will be a third-place game with the loser of the B-B-E/MACCRAY game.

A little confusing, but this is done in order for Estherville to get a chance to leave town early on Saturday night for the 170-ish mile trip home.

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Jaguars Boys Basketball opens season this weekend at Tip-Off Classic at K-M-S

A few scenes from last season featuring returning players for '09'-10' (click to enlarge)

The Jaguars face off with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at 6:00pm Friday night (Dec 4th) at the fourth annual Tip-Off Classic, hosted by Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. The nightcap features Glenwood City (Wisconson) and the host Fighting Saints. The loser's face off for third place at 1pm on Saturday, with the championship game set for 3pm at K-M-S.

Glenwood City, Wisconsin, replaces Chokio-Alberta in the Tip-Off Classic, as the Spartans' program was absorbed into Morris Area this season. Glenwood City is located on the other side of River Falls, Wisconsin, 171 miles straight east of Kerkhoven on the other side of the Metro Area. The Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg athletic director moved the Saturday games into the afternoon to accommodate Glenwood City's return trip home after the tournament is completed.

This Jaguars sports update brought to you by:

Jaguars girls basketball to open season Friday at Benson FibroMinn Invitational

Shannon Gruber, Lauren Anderson, and Julie Hieserich are shown in action on defense from a year ago - Sauk Herald file photo.

The Jaguars Girls Basketball team opens up the 2009-2010 season on the road at Benson on Friday and Saturday, at the FibroMinn Invitational. The Jaguars are two-time defending champions of this event. On Friday night, the Jaguars face MACCRAY at 6pm, with the host Braves playing Estherville (Iowa) in the nightcap. Estherville is just south of Jackson, Minnesota, a short stint south of the state border. (Total distance, 167 miles to Benson.)

This will be the first season since 1993-1994 that the Jaguars Girls Basketball will host games at the High School building in Belgrade. (That season, it was the Junior High building for the B-B-E system) The Jaguars' home opener is Thursday, December 10, against Ortonville.

The Jaguars enter the new season on the heels of two of the best regular seasons in team history. Cumulatively they are 36-19 overall in the last 2 years, including a 19-9 mark in the Central Minnesota Conference. Both seasons they finished in third place alone in the CMC, their best-ever placing in that league.

They set the regular season record in 2007-2008, when they went 17-9 before playoffs.

The Jaguars had 1-1 showings each of the last two seasons in Section 6AA, losing last season in a tough battle with eventual section champion New London-Spicer 50-39. NL-S went on to place third at the Class AA state tournament.

This year they are new members of Section 6A, where Hancock, Brandon-Evansville, and Parkers Prairie will all provide the top challenges for post-season action next March.

Top challengers for the Central Minnesota Conference crown this year will be Pierz, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, and four-time defending champion Eden Valley-Watkins.

Seniors on the roster include Laura Johnson, Lauren Anderson, Rachel Anderson, and Shannon Gruber. Altogether the Jaguars have plenty of height on the front line to work with, as both Andersons and junior Maggie Gruber all stand at 6'1".

This Jaguars sports update, the first one of the 2009-2010 winter season, is brought to you by:

New London-Spicer is Class AAA football champions

The Wildcats capped a 14-0 season with a 28-21 win over Glencoe-Silver Lake in the Prep Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

Just off of the top of my head, NL-S now has won state championships in Cross Country, Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, and now Football. They've also had girls golf, boys tennis, girls tennis, and volleyball teams advance to the state tournament.

Dan Essler, Brooten High School graduate in 1982, is the head coach of the Wildcats. He was a member of the 1981 Brooten Buccaneers team that went 6-3 (4-3 Prairie), one of the best seasons in football for BHS. The head coach that year was current B-B-E athletic director Jerry Lindstrom. In Essler's first season as head coach at NL-S, his team went 1-8 (2002).

Last year they went 10-3 overall and lost to DeLasalle in the Class AAA semi-finals.

Here's their season records beginning in 2004: 5-4, 3-6, 8-3, 6-4, 10-3, 14-0. They are 13-3 in the playoffs since 2006, when they finished as Section 6AAA runners-up.

A look to the past:
In 1989, B-B-E and NL-S both lost their first 7 games of the season. They met for the final regular season game in New London, a game aptly called the "Toilet Bowl" as the winner could brag that they beat a winless team. NL-S ended up bringing up the bottom of the West Central Conference South standings that year. They were shutout in an embarrassing loss to B-B-E, 27-0. The next week's Belgrade Observer had Bob Beliveau quoted as saying "This is a step in the right direction for our football program." B-B-E went on to post 0-8 or 0-9 seasons in seven of the next 15 seasons up through 2004. NL-S played in two section finals in that same period (the old Section 6A and then 6AAA) and then made the Section 6AAA final in 2006. So we can see which football program made a step in the right direction after 1989.

Keep in mind, since the early 2000's, NL-S has had 2X the amount of students than B-B-E has.

Football notes from the Kimball Area Cubs Co-Head coach Jason Mortenson

This was interesting, it's always good to see what's being said and done in other schools' athletic programs. The following was published in the Tri-County News (Kimball newspaper) on November 5.

The Kimball Cubs football team lost their first round of play-offs to Maple Lake. Sadly, we looked like the team from the first half of the season rather than the team from the second half. The offense was led in rushing by Travis Schiefelbein, with 20 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Laabs had three completions out of 12 attempts for four yards and three interceptions. Defensively, Kimball was led by Tyler Loch with 10 tackles, followed by Danny Lochen and Mitch Pramaan with seven tackles each. Travis Wills and Austin Schlueter each had a sack as well.

Since the season is done, please let me take this opportunity to thank the athletes and parents for their efforts this season. We knew from the beginning it would be a tough season because of our age and inexperience. Believe me, it was harder for me psychologically than I thought it would be. But that is why I kept telling myself that it is hard to ask a junior varsity team to compete with a varsity team. By age that is what we were.

The coaches are now meeting with players individually to talk about the season and to discuss how to improve for next year. We tell all our athletes to be involved in other activities and if they are not, then they NEED to hit the weight room.

As parents, please discuss the meeting with your son. Let's prepare them for their next season as well as our season next fall. Genetics can only take them so far, but athletes can always get stronger and faster. With the experience (good and bad) that the boys gained this year, along with getting faster and stronger, will only help the team next year. Let's face it, if we do nothing, can we really expect different results?

Pierz Pioneers boys basketball season preview

by Rick Converse, Morrison County Record sports reporter

Pierz seniors Andy Kretschmar, Travis Kahl, Alex Bujalski and Zach Kummet are expected to carry on with the great senior leadership the Pioneer boys basketball team had last season.

Juniors Brandon Meyer, Austen Marschel, Andy Leidenfrost and Dylan Kummet return as letter winners. Sophomore letter winner Caleb Janson and sophomore Preston Weber are also expected to make a strong contribution.

The Pioneers were the Sub-section 18 runners-up. The 11-3 record in the Central Minnesota Conference (CMC) was good enough for second place last year. Pierz had a 21-7 record overall.

"Our conference is wide open," said Pierz head coach Kurt Stumpf. "Four teams graduated their starting lineups and two other teams lost 20 point scorers to transfer."

The teams that graduated their starting lineups are Pierz, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted and Eden Valley-Watkins. Kimball and Holdingford lost high scorers to transfer.

"We are in one of the top sections in the state in AA," said Stumpf. "We have three ranked teams in our section, New London-Spicer, Staples-Motley and Morris Area."

"Pierz had the top JV team last season and has put in a lot of time in the off season," said Stumpf.

"We should be able to contend for a CMC championship, but with our section being so tough, we have to improve a lot in order to compete for a section championship," he said.

Pierz will not change its style of play. It will run the floor on offense and try to get some transition baskets. The Pioneers will pressure the ball on defense and play a couple of different full court defenses.

The Pioneers play their first game in Little Falls, Tuesday, Dec. 8, and play their first home game Thursday, Dec. 10, against Big Lake.

A shocking crime hits home - Crow River Lutheran church member is assaulted and robbed Tuesday afternoon - the BBE community asks, "What next?"

The assault and robbery took place south of Belgrade, beginning in the parking lot of the Crow River Lutheran Church. The victim is 73 years old, and the low-life thug who committed the crime is a 61-year old from Bemidji.

From reports I received, the victim was physically assaulted, including being kicked in the face, all from an attempt to steal her purse as she was leaving the church grounds. I've learned other details of the crime but it's not necessary to make that public - the point is, something completely awful took place on Tuesday afternoon right in our own B-B-E community.

Thank God, she will only be in the hospital for a few more days before returning home to finish the healing process.

The Bemidji trash then traveled southbound, ultimately to Cosmos, where a bonehead move on his part led to his arrest. He was seen in a rear-view mirror of a truck ahead of him throwing a purse out of the driver's window. After being pulled over, the APB put out to law enforcement after the Crow River attack was matched to his identity at the traffic stop in Cosmos, where the police then made the arrest.

Local law enforcement around the surrounding area responded with lightning-fast precision at getting the word out and ultimately finding the suspect's vehicle. A sincere "hats off" to their efforts is needed!

The suspect is being held at the Kandiyohi County Jail - where hopefully word gets out among the inmates on what he did. They won't be kind to this type of trash.

All I can think is "What's next?" In a world where you can't even find safety on church property in a small town, rural area - it's shocking, for sure.

A blast from the past - a look to the Buccaneer wrestling program

A throwback to yesterday in local wrestling history.

The following is a list of the first three head wrestling coaches at Brooten High School, from 1971 to 1983. I found it while browsing over The Guillotine (MN-based) amateur wrestling website.

The link is theGuillotine.com.

In preceding order:

Jerry Huls, Brooten, 42-6, 87.5% (Retired 1983)
Keith Krebsbach, Brooten, 40-6, 86.95% (Retired 1979)
Don Larson, Brooten, 37-17-1, 67.27% (Retired 1975)

Cumulative, the Brooten Buccaneers wrestling program was an eye-popping 119-29-1 overall from 1971 through 1983, when Huls moved to St.Cloud.

From 1983 to 1988, Joe Traen led the Buccaneers on the wrestling mats before the pairing with Belgrade-Elrosa took place for the 1988-1989 season.

Traen's best season came in 1984-1985, when they won the District 20 championship and advanced to Region 5A. The 1987-1988 squad was loaded with junior high talent that lost their first four varsity matches, then rebounded to finish 6-5-1 overall in dual meets. That season capped a nearly two-decade stretch where the Brooten Buccaneers never had a losing season in dual meets.

Not only that, but according to conversations I've had with Bud Heidgerken, the Buccaneers won 12 Prairie Conference championships in a row, from 1975 through 1987.

In fact, their "poorest" seasons came in the first and last seasons. The first edition of the Buccaneers wrestling team went .500 (5-5) in dual meets, with the last team finishing one win above .500.

Not bad for a tiny school district on the west central Minnesota prairies.

Girls Basketball Preseason Polls are released - hot off the press!

Noteworthy is seeing Sauk Centre ranked #5 in Class AA.

Class AA
1. Minneapolis Roosevelt
2. New London-Spicer
3. Pipestone
4. Dover-Eyota
5. Sauk Centre
6. Braham
7. East Grand Forks
8. Caledonia
9. Rochester Lourdes
10. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva

Class 1A
1. Barnum
2. Cedar Mountain-Comfrey
3. Maranatha
4. Bigfork
5. Parkers Prairie
6. New Life Academy
7. Red Lake County Central
8. Granada-Huntley-East Chain
9. Brandon-Evansville
10. Bertha-Hewitt
11. Northern Freeze
12. Hancock
13. Fulda
14. Canby
15. Sebeka

In relation to the Jaguars girls basketball playoff hopes, Section 6A teams who are ranked in the poll are Parkers Prairie, Brandon-Evansville, and Hancock. Not only that, but all three of those teams are in Sub-Section 6A-South, where the Jaguars reside also for playoffs.

Stunning - one example of a teachers union bargaining unit that has lost its mind

Significant salary gap remains in school negotiations at Morris

The Morris Area School District is seeking a salary freeze over two years while teacher union members want 4.5 percent hike in each of those years
from the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper

Salary remains a significant issue in negotiations between the Morris Area School District and its teachers union.

School board chair and negotiations committee member Kurt Gartland updated the board on negotiations at its regular meeting Monday.

The school district is proposing a salary freeze for 2010 and 2011. Teachers are seeking a 4.5 percent hike for each year of the two-year contract.

The negotiators for the district and the Morris Teachers Association are scheduled to meet again on Monday, Nov. 30.

Among several other issues being negotiated, the MTA’s compensation proposals include a district-paid health insurance increase of $1,000 per year to $6,000 per year, and increase the maximum years for career incremental pay from six years to 10 years. The MTA also wants three teachers grandfathered into career incremental pay without limits, and the addition of a Business Professionals of America position to the extra-curricular schedule.

In addition to the salary freeze, the district is proposing no change in health care insurance.

The district also is proposing no step increases for 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 step increases would be paid as a one-time payment off the salary schedule, Gartland stated.

Lane changes would be given for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

MTA members also are seeking issues regarding family illness leaves, college classes taught in the high school, a sick leave bank and prep time.

The district is offering proposals regarding overload pay, college course instructor pay, and increases for elementary teachers managing larger class sizes.

Both sides are addressing possible zero-hour or eighth-hour scheduling.

Winter sports notes - news from our neighbors

Sauk Centre/Melrose will not merge their wrestling programs this season

The Sauk Centre School Board voted 5-2 not to merge the school's wrestling program with Melrose.

The Melrose School Board unanimously approved the merger at a meeting Wednesday,

About 35 people, mostly parents of current wrestlers, and members of the coaching staff of both the youth and varsity programs were on hand for Friday's special meeting. Almost all were outspoken against the measure that would have combined the two teams for the 2009-2010 season.

The following is from this week's sports column by Bryan Zollman, Sauk Centre Herald sports editor:

Sauk Centre and Melrose officials have been meeting to discuss the possibility of a merger between the two schools' wrestling programs. A decision is expected to be made this week. Sauk Centre head wrestling coach Ken Vogt was approached by Melrose coach Vaughn Glasener. Vogt said the idea had been mentioned in passing in the past, but that talks have become serious about the possibility of a merger.

Athletic Directors from both schools have met with each other and also have met with superintendents and coaches. "It's been talked about for the past few years, but nothing has been followed up on," said Melrose Athletic Director Jonathan Ruoff.

"We know our numbers will be down so we initiated it." Ruoff said Melrose is expected to have about 20 wrestlers out between grades 7-12. There are 14 weight classes at the varsity level. Ruoff said in the past couple years Melrose has had to forfeit as many as seven matches a night because they didn't have wrestlers to fill a weight class. Vogt said he expects to have approximately 22 wrestlers out this year and will likely have to forfeit weight classes against other teams. He said he has mixed emotions about a possible merger.

To read more information on this matter, grab a copy of this week's Sauk Centre Herald.

Representative Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, tells a joke about Governor Tim Pawlenty to the crowd at the Minnesota Farmers Union PAC reception

The video clip is about one minute in length.

Falk is a 2001 graduate of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg High School. He was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 2006 election.

68th Annual Minnesota Farmers Union State Convention underway this weekend in Minneapolis

A video clip of State Representative Tom Rukavina of Virginia speaking to the delegates at the MFU State Convention on Saturday afternoon. Rukavina is running for the DFL nomination for governor of Minnesota in 2010.

Ouch! A tough, tough loss for the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles football team in the Class AA semi-finals: 21-20 overtime final score

The Eagles finish an outstanding season 12-1 overall, after losing 21-20 to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown on Friday.

Jaguars Football Coach Mike Richards resigns post - applications sought for new head coach through December 1

Coach Richards gives a post-game speech to the team after winning the 2008 home opener, a 31-13 drubbing of Rockford on September 12th.

Coach Richards served the Jaguars Football program with a passion for the game and for his teams, leading the Blue and Silver on the gridiron for the past five seasons.

His best mark came in 2008, when the Jaguars went 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the very tough Central Minnesota Conference.

Playoff wins were earned in Section 5A in 2006 and 2008.

The overall mark for the Jaguars from 2005 through this season was 14-32. The fourteen wins equals the number of victories under previous head coach Paul Beuning (1994-2004). The Jaguars' second head coach, Bob Beliveau, won 11 games from the 1989 season through his resignation in 1994.

In the Jaguars' first season, 1988, Coach Dennis Weimerskirch led the team to an 8-2 final record, including a 7-1 regular season, a 4-0 mark in the Prairie Lakes Conference, and a 1-1 showing in Section 4B.

Holy smokes! Eden Valley-Watkins destroys Pierz in Class AA state quarterfinals - Other State Tournament results in volleyball posted below

Class AA results:
Eden Valley-Watkins 41, Pierz 7
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 20, Caledonia 13

Class A results:
Adrian 27, St. Bernard's 21 OT
Blooming Prairie 21, New Ulm Cathedral 8
Fosston 49, East Central 13
Minneota 45, Barnesville 17 (Minneota led 19-0 to start the game)

Class AAA results:
Kasson-Mantorville 46, Waseca 14
Mora 31, Pequot Lakes 14
New London-Spicer 28, Minneapolis North 8

State Tournament Volleyball results:

Class AA volleyball:
New London-Spicer was swept out of the state tournament by Wadena-Deer Creek in a 25-20, 25-18, 29-27 loss.

Class A volleyball:
Nevis defeated Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop today and will play Parkers Prairie tomorrow for the Consolation Championship (5th place).

**Finals results in Class A:
Bethlehem Academy 3, Minneota 0 (BA is state champs)
Meadow Creek Christian 3, Lake of the Woods 2 (MCC takes third place)
Nevis 3, Parkers Prairie 2 (Nevis takes the consolation championship, 5th place)

**Finals results in Class AA
LeSueur-Henderson 3, Hibbing 0
Marshall 3, Delano 0 (Marshall is AA state champs)
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Byron 1

"Holy Bells - A Deer Camp Christmas" coming to John O's in December

The link to John O's is http://myjohnos.com/

Another link to read about the Deer Camp Christmas is: http://www.deercampchristmas.com/

State Volleyball tournament quarterfinal results

NL-S 2, Hibbing 3 (BlueJackets win game five 15-11)

Marshall, Delano, and LeSeuer-Henderson won the other quarterfinal games in Class AA.

Class A results:

Number-four seeded Nevis was stung by a 3-2 loss to Meadow Creek Christian school of Andover, losing 16-14 in game five.

Minneota swept Parkers Prairie 25-15, 25-14, 25-14, advancing to the semi-finals to face un-seeded Lake of the Woods.

In about a thousand words - Jaguars Volleyball playoff run below

Jaguars Volleyball stunned by Nevis
Swept by tough-serving Tigers in 5A finals

Ranked number seven in the final three Class A state polls of the season, having just knocked off sixth-ranked Bertha-Hewitt two nights before, the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Jaguars Volleyball team seemed poised for their third straight state tournament trip.

Prior to the Section 5A championship match against Nevis, who the Jaguars swept in the finals in 2008, Coach Kevin Weller stressed with his team that getting to the state tournament involved more than defeating Bertha-Hewitt. His warning was stern, "Nevis has a bone to pick with us."

Showing how true Coach Weller's statement was, the Nevis Tigers proceeded to pick apart the Jaguars' vaunted defense with cutthroat efficiency, in an effort that did not let up through a 70-minute, three game sweep.

The telling stat when the dust settled: three ace blocks for the Jaguars against Nevis, while they stuffed 10 attacks in each of their three sub-section matches.

The section final loss cannot overshadow what was an incredible comeback in the Sub-Section 5A-West championship against Bertha-Hewitt. After taking a beating in a 25-12 game one loss, the Jaguars overcame a 17-11 deficit in game two to win 25-23. A 28-26 win in game three ultimately propelled them to a 3-1 match win for their sixth straight sub-section championship.

Three senior starters graduate from the team, Rachel Anderson, Lauren Anderson, and Shannon Gruber. Beyond that, the Jaguars (27-6 final record) have an outstanding core returning, as they set their sights on another state tournament berth in 2010.

• B-B-E 3, Kimball Area 0

In order to make their eighth straight sub-section title berth, the Jaguars had to deal with the best-ever Kimball Cubs team, a rival in the Central Minnesota Conference.

The Jaguars came out strong and led through the entire first game, after being fueled by three kills from Maggie Gruber for a 6-2 lead. Twice the Cubs would get within one point, but the Jaguars responded each time.

After taking game one 25-18, the Jaguars had to fight in game two. Their 4-1 lead dissipated into a neck-and-neck battle, as they fell to an 11-10 deficit. Strong hitting by Rachel Anderson helped them to a 25-21 win.

The Jaguars coasted in game three, pouncing on the Cubs with four ace blocks while taking a 14-2 lead in a 25-13 win.

B-B-E stats: Shannon Gruber 1 ace serve 6 kills 7 digs, Brittany Roelike 2 ace serves (14-14 serving) 6 kills 1 block, Julie Hieserich 28 set assists, Anna Marthaler 16-16 serving 4 digs, Raeann Sorenson 13-13 serving 13 digs, Taylor Braegelman 1 ace serve 6 digs, Rachel Anderson 13 kills 3 blocks, Lauren Anderson 1 kill 2 blocks, Maggie Gruber 12 kills 4 blocks, Kelsey Kampsen 1 dig.
　

• B-B-E 3, Bertha-Hewitt 1

Game one turned into a see-saw affair after the Jaguars took a 3-0 lead on a kill and block from Shannon Gruber. Seven ties and three lead changes followed after the Bears tied it at 5-5. A kill by Lauren Anderson for a 12-11 lead was the last score the
Jaguars earned in game one, though, as Bertha-Hewitt proceeded to go on a tear.

A 14-0 run ended game one, leaving the Jaguars nothing short of shell-shocked. Maggie Gruber said, "We were all in disbelief, we didn't know what was going on."

After a heart-to-heart discussion between Coach Weller and the team, the Jaguars still showed signs of rust in game two. Runs of 6-0 and 4-0 helped put the Bears on top 17-11. The outlook was grim.

Two straight kills by Gruber fired up the team, as the Jaguars trailed by two. Helped by strong serving by freshmen Taylor Braegelman, the Jaguars then went on top 20-19. After a 20-20 tie, a 40 second volley followed, ending with a thunderous kill by Rachel Anderson. Another dizzying 40-plus volley followed near the end of the 25-23 win.

Game three unfolded with the Jaguars building a 17-12 lead after seven ties played out. A block by Brittany Roelike, two kills and a block from Maggie Gruber, and an Anna Marthaler ace serve put the Jaguars up 17-12. The Jaguars were crashing to the floor, displaying outstanding digging to fuel the rally.

Bertha-Hewitt then heated up and tied the game 21-21. They ultimately went up 24-22, putting the Jaguars' backs to the wall. Excellent digging kept their chances alive, with a kill from Maggie Gruber making a 24-24 tie.

Two game point situations followed for the Bears, but the Jaguars responded both times with kills from Gruber, with her final attack ending the game in favor of B-B-E, 28-26.

The teams traded the lead three times before a kill and block from Gruber put the Jaguars up 15-11. They were on a roll and maintained a four to six point lead the rest of the way, winning 25-21.

Sophomore libero Raeann Sorenson, who led the team with 19 digs, said, "Our defense really stepped it up tonight. We played amazing, and the fans really got us pumped up."

Coach Weller elaborated about the turnaround midway through the match, "Our leadership really stepped up, they took it on their shoulders and said we can't go down two games here. We started getting up quicker in the offense, that seemed to turn things around."

B-B-E stats: S. Gruber 6 kills 15 digs, Roelike 2 ace serves 2 kills 6 digs, Hieserich 36 set assists 8 digs, Marthaler 10 digs, Sorenson 19 digs, Braegelman 1 ace serve 10 digs, R. Anderson 13 kills 5 ace blocks, L. Anderson 3 kills 1 block, M. Gruber 23 kills 2 blocks.

• Nevis 3, B-B-E 0

After Maggie Gruber's kill put the Jaguars up 1-0 in game one, an incredible back-and-forth tussle ensued, with each team returning the ball six times before Tigers' attacker Maggie Lindow earnd a tip kill for the side out.

It was a sign of things to come, as Nevis led 7-2 before Gruber earned a second kill of the game. Outstanding jump serving by the Tigers put the Jaguars on their heels, leading 10-3 and 18-10. The Jaguars would get within three, down 20-17, after Gruber supplying most of the offense.

A kill by Lindow ended the game with Nevis winning 25-18.

Game two started much better, as the Jaguars led 7-3 on two consecutive kills from Rachel Anderson. The Tigers then tied it at 7-7 and 8-8 before re-taking the lead in a 25-17 win.

Lengthy vollies were the standard of the match, but too often the Jaguars would lose the battle with unforced errors or blocked attacks.

The Jaguars led only twice in game three, 1-0 and 7-6, and the Tigers then re-gained the momentum to build leads of 16-11 and 19-13. An ace serve from Brittany Roelike made it 19-15, but a timeout by Nevis snuffed the momentum.

Punch for punch, the Jaguars answered in the final minutes of game three, but the damage was done. An attack by the Jaguars was soundly rejected by a double block, giving Nevis a 25-20 win.

Coach Weller said about the loss, "Nevis had nothing to lose, they outplayed us. Both their middle hitters were much stronger than last year. We tried different things but they answered everything we threw at them."

After the Jaguars took a 7-3 lead in game two, Weller added "Errors haunted us. We gave them numerous free balls and they took advantage of that."

About the 27-win season, Weller stated, "They had a great season, they played your hearts out. Our senior leadership was great this year."

B-B-E stats: S. Gruber 9-9 serving 3 kills 6 digs, Roelike 2 ace serves (12-12 serving) 1 kill 3 digs, M. Gruber 2 ace serves 11 kills 1 block, Hieserich 2 ace serves 22 set assists 6 digs, R. Anderson 6 kills 1 block, Marthaler 7-7 serving 3 digs, Sorenson 11 digs, Braegelman 3 digs, L. Anderson 1 block, Shyan Kuefler 1 kill.

Nevis is seeded #4 at the state volleyball tournament

Nevis will open against Meadow Creek Christian school on Thursday in the Class A quarterfinals.

Top four seeds in Class A:
1- Bethlehem Academy
2- Minneota
3- Deer River
4- Nevis

BA plays Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Minneota plays Parkers Prairie, Deer River plays Lake of the Woods, and Nevis opens with MCC.

Class AA top four seeds:
1- Marshall
2- Delano
3- LeSueur-Henderson
4- New London-Spicer

Not good: Melrose boy shot by group hunting

From the Associated Press.

SPRING HILL (AP) — Authorities in Stearns County say a 14-year-old boy has been shot in the leg while hunting with a group.

The sheriff’s office says the Melrose boy was shot Saturday about noon while hunting with his father and 12 other men.

Deputies say the group flushed out a deer and four men fired at it. One slug hit the boy in the left thigh.

The teen is expected to be hospitalized overnight.

Brainerd High School turns into House of Horrors - Jaguars Volleyball goes down in flames, 3-0 loss to Nevis in section title match

The Jaguars volleyball team ended another outstanding season with a final overall record of 27-6. They were ranked #7 in the final three state ranking polls of the season in Class A. The program has now been continuously ranked in the state polls since August 2005, when the pre-season poll came out with them at #8 in Class AA. That itself is nothing short of incredible, for a school that has not qualified a team for the state tournament in any other sport.

The Jaguars also received votes in the AA polls for a short period of time in the 2003 season, when they finished 25-4 after a loss to Albany in the 6AA-East finals. They were 23-3 in the regular season that year.

Nevis takes a 25-5 record into the Class A state tournament, which begins next Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul. They were ranked #15 in the last state ranking poll of the season, coming on October 27.

The 27 wins ties for third-best in B-B-E volleyball history.

The Jaguars won the conference title for the fourth year in a row, as well as winning their sub-section for the sixth year in a row.

Their ultimate goal of playing in the state tournament for the fourth time in team history was not achieved, however.

For anyone who didn't listen to the match or watch it, Nevis out-played the Jaguars in just about ever facet of the game, beginning with better serving and harder hitting. The Jaguars' serve-receive was out of sync the whole night, making it a long night for their passers and setter Julie Hieserich.

The loss may go down as one of the most shocking losses in school history, one that nobody saw coming. One that is comparable would be the 2006 loss to Montevideo in the Section 6AA final - a year after the Jaguars made their first state tournament berth and had most of the team return.

On a side note, B-B-E is now 3-13 overall in section championship appearances in all sports. They've put teams in section finals in girls basketball (1995, 2005), boys basketball (1997, 1998, 2004, 2005), wrestling (1998, 1999), football (1997), and volleyball (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).

**A fun side note: It was reported by Smooth Magic 107 that 25 listeners dialed in their internet to listen to the Jaguars Volleyball team's section final match on their computer tonight. Even more listened on Thursday night when they played Bertha-Hewitt, with around 35 tuning in via the world wide web. For reference, their peak was 50 listeners through the Smooth Magic 107 website during the memorable Windom match in the 2008 state semi-finals. That is the maximum number who can listen, due to internet bandwidth restrictions from their Glenwood studio.

The website for Smooth Magic 107 is: http://www.kmgk1071.com/

The New London-Spicer Wildcats advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1998 with a 3-0 sweep over Sauk Centre in the Section 6AA championship this afternoon. Game scores were 25-15, 25-18, 25-20. NL-S also made the state tournament in 1993.

NL-S is 31-1 overall, by far the most wins in school history. They were ranked #9 in the latest Class AA state poll.

Section 3AA final:
Marshall 3, Montevideo 0

Section 3A final:
Minneota 3, Windom Area 0

Section 4A final:
Meadow Creek Christian 3, Mayer Lutheran 2

Section 6A final:
Parkers Prairie 3, Norman County East 1

Section 2AA final:
LeSueur-Henderson 3, Hutchinson 2

Section 5AA final:
Delano 3, Maple Lake 0

Section 8AA final:
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 1

This Jaguars sports update brought to you by:

Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood will carry tonight's Jaguars Volleyball appearance in their 6th straight Section Championship

The Sub-Section 5A-West champion Jaguars volleyball team posing with their trophy on Thursday night in Brainerd.


The match will begin at 7:00pm tonight, with pre-game coverage beginning about 10 to 15 minutes earlier. The site is the Brainerd High School, a familiar location for the Jaguars volleyball fans.

**The playoff matches will be aired on Glenwood's 107.1 FM, Smooth Magic 107, for the duration of the Jaguars' playoff run. You can tune in either via the airwaves around western Stearns and Pope Counties, or else go on the internet and listen through a high-speed connection.

**Call or e-mail friends and family outside the Glenwood radio coverage area and tell them about this website address, giving them the chance to listen in to the Jaguars Volleyball coverage on Smooth Magic 107.

The website for Smooth Magic 107 is: http://www.kmgk1071.com/

The direct link for streaming auto is http://www.smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm

You'll need a high speed internet connection and Windows Media Player to hear the broadcast through your computer. If you've got a modern WMP loaded on your computer, the audio stream should pull up automatically and begin playing after you click to that link (smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm)

Postseason Football results

Notes: Maple Lake blew a 20-6 lead in a loss in the Section 4AA final to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop.

Eden Valley-Watkins and Pierz will both represent the Central Minnesota Conference in the state tournament. It's the 6th straight trip to the state tournament for the Eagles, who were state champions in 2005. The Pioneers qualify for state for the first time since 2007. They won the Class AA state title in 2004.

The winners of the following games advance to next week's State Tournament competition.

NL-S leads Albany 14-6 at halftime. The Huskies cut into the deficit and trailed 14-12 going into the 4th quarter. NL-S won 20-18.

Section 4A final:
St. Bernard's 51, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 38

Section 3A final:
Adrian 14, Murray County Central 0

Section 5A final:
Minneota 22, Dawson-Boyd 13 (D-B led 13-6 at halftime)

Section 3 9-Man final
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 60, Edgerton-Ellsworth 34

Section 4 9-Man final
Verndale 26, Bertha-Hewitt 24

Section 2A final:
New Ulm Cathedral 27, Springfield 14

Section 6A final:
Barnesville 33, Browerville 7

Section 3AA final:
Luverne 21, Jackson County Central 17

Section 4AA final:
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 33, Maple Lake 20

Section 5AA final:
Eden Valley-Watkins 36, Yellow Medicine East 7

Section 6AA final:
Pierz 13, Crosby-Ironton 6

Section 3AAA final:
Glencoe-Silver Lake 44, Fairmont 14

Section 2AAAA final:
Mankato West 13, Hutchinson 7

The following is a comment someone offered about the Maple Lake-GFW game tonight:
In the first half Maple Lake looked to be in complete control, with their speed presenting a problem for GFW. The Irish were up 20-6 at one point. As the hald was winding down Maple Lake was inside the 4 but couldnt punch it in and had to settle for a FG attempt which went wide left, the score at the half was 20-13 Maple Lake.

IN the second half Maple Lake got the ball first, and ended up throwing a pick on a screen play. GFW ended up having to punt, but on the first play from scrimmage Maple Lake fumbled, and GFW ran it back for a td, the missed the XP, which tied the score at 20-20. It stayed that way for most of the quarter. as the 3rd quarter was winding down, GFW faced a 4th and 4, they decided to punt, and with all the Maple Lake coaches yelling and reminding their players to watch the ball and not jump offsides (you could hear them all the way across the field), one of the maple lake defenders #88, completely jumped off sides, giving GFW the first down and basically was the turning point of the game and started the end of Maple Lake. GFW ran a couple plays which ended the quarter and scored a couple plays later to go ahead for good early in the 4th quarter. Maple Lake couldnt put together anothere scoring drive, and GFW got the ball back and scored with about 7-8 min to go in the game to go up 33-20. Maple Lake moved the ball a little bit on the next possesion but turned it over on downs and GFW took the ball with about 4-5 mins left and drove it down inside ML's 5 and ran the clock out from there.

All in all it was a close game, and pretty good one, not very many turnovers and not a lot of penalties. Congrats to GFW for winning, and for hanging in there when they got down. YOU could tell GFW"s size wore on ML as the game went on, especially since the irish didnt seem very big and also lost a couple players in the first half, one LB went down with a knee injury and their wideout/LB/DE #22 looked like he got his bell rung and didnt return. I believe thats Maple Lakes top baskeball player, so hopefully for him and the irish he'll be ok for basketball.

Again congrats to GFW for making it to state, even though it might not have been the strongest section, thats still quite an accomplishment and something for those kids to remember for the rest of their lives. And congrats to the Irish for a very good season.

It's a "six-peat"!! Jaguars Volleyball wins the sub-section! Overcomes Bertha-Hewitt in a grueling 3-1 match

The Jaguars improved to 27-5 with the grueling 3-1 win against state-ranked Bertha-Hewitt. Game scores were 12-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-21.

They are on to the Section Finals! With no doubt, if they bottle up the bright moments from tonight, they'll be unbeatable the rest of the way.

The Section 5A championship match will feature B-B-E and Nevis for the second year in a row. Nevis (23-5) swept Barnum (23-3 finish) in the 5A-East title match earlier this evening in Brainerd.

The big gun for the Nevis Tigers is Maggie Lindow, who recorded her 1,000th kill of her career on October 8 against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.

Tonight was by far their toughest sub-section championship battle they've been in since losing to Albany in 2003 Sub-Section 6AA-East final. I'd say the only other battles that rank this high was in 2005 and 2006 when they duked it out with Sauk Centre.

Bertha-Hewitt, a veteran team with 7 seniors on the roster, certainly felt this was "their year" and wanted badly to advance through the section and to the state tournament. The thing about sports is, things don't always work that way! They last went to the big show with a senior-dominated team in 2006. The Bears Volleyball program is easily one of the Top-20 small-school programs in Minnesota in this decade, they have a track record of winning, winning, winning. Tonight's win was a victory the Jaguars can be proud of.

You can still tune in to Smooth Magic to hear the post-game! It's 9:40 and Dave is still on the air with the post-game report and player/coach interviews.

The direct link for streaming audio is http://www.smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm ...you'll need Windows Media Player and a high speed internet connection to listen.

**The B-B-E athletic department has ordered up a Charter Bus for the Saturday night trip to Brainerd.**

Details are as follows - keep in mind, a minimum of 30 people are needed to make this charter bus happen.

It's a $15 price per person, with sign-ups available at the B-B-E Elementary school and the High School, with a 3:00pm deadline on Friday afternoon.

The bus would leave the elementary school at 4pm on Saturday, then 4:15pm from the high school, then 4:30 from Elrosa (unsure where in Elrosa at this point).

Area post-season volleyball results:
Section 3AA - Montevideo pulls off a gigantic upset, sweeping Benson out of the playoffs in the 3AA-North title match.
Marshall 3, Jackson County Central 1

Section 3A -
Minneota 3, Canby 0
Windom Area 3, Southwest MN Christian 0

Section 4A -
Mayer Lutheran 3, Southwest Christian 0
Meadow Creek Christian 3, Heritage Christian 0

Section 6A -
Norman County East 3, Ada-Borup 0 (NCE pulls off a huge upset)
Parkers Prairie 3, Brandon-Evansville 2

Section 5AA -
Maple Lake 3, Mora 0
Delano 3, Fridley 0

Section 6AA -
Sauk Centre 3, Melrose Area 0
No word on the NL-S vs. Rocori match.

More will be posted on Friday morning.

Fun fact: The Jaguars Volleyball program now has eight sub-section championships to their credit, in 22 seasons of B-B-E athletics!

Tonight was their 11th appearance in a sub-section/district championship match, with their first one coming in 1994.

This Jaguars sports update brought to you by:

Jaguars Volleyball is buried in game one by Bertha-Hewitt, loses 25-12

The Jaguars will have to regroup or they will fall in the sub-section championship for the first time since 2003, when Albany swept them out of the Section 6AA playoffs.

Bertha-Hewitt jumped in front in game two 11-5.

The Jaguars then trailed 19-17 in game two, which they ultimately won to tie the match at one game apiece!

The Jaguars led 5-3 early in game three before falling into an 8-8 tie and then a 9-8 deficit.

Later in game three, the Jaguars led 16-12, after which the Bears called a timeout.

Solid defense helped the Jaguars go up 18-12, forcing the Bears into hitting errors.

A Maggie Gruber kill put the Jaguars up 19-12.

The Bears then fought back for a 20-18 deficit, bringing Coach Weller to call a timeout.

The Jaguars ultimately won game three in dramatic fashion, by a 28-26 margin.

It's 8:55 and game four is now starting. The match began at 7:40pm.

The Jaguars went up 20-15 in game four.

Game four ended in an anti-climactic way, with Bertha-Hewitt serving out of bounds after trailing 24-21 on a sideout.

The Jaguars won!

Smooth Magic 107 out of Glenwood will air tonight's Sub-Section 5A-West championship between the Jaguars and Bertha-Hewitt

The match will begin at about 7:30pm tonight, following the conclusion of the Nevis-Barnum match, which begins at 6:00pm. The site is the Brainerd High School, a familiar location for the Jaguars volleyball fans.

**The playoff matches will be aired on Glenwood's 107.1 FM, Smooth Magic 107, for the duration of the Jaguars' playoff run. You can tune in either via the airwaves around western Stearns and Pope Counties, or else go on the internet and listen through a high-speed connection.

The website for Smooth Magic 107 is: http://www.kmgk1071.com/

The direct link for streaming auto is http://www.smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm

You'll need a high speed internet connection and Windows Media Player to hear the broadcast through your computer. If you've got a modern WMP loaded on your computer, the audio stream should pull up automatically and begin playing after you click to that link (smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm)

Here's a comment from the Fargo Forum newspaper from a really big idiot who can't perform basic math or basic reading and comprehension

Richard L, Moorhead:
Thank you to everybody who voted 'NO' on the Moorhead school referendum. Asking taxpayers for an extra $5.25M for the next 7 years is not the answer. It is time to take a stand and make proactive decisions, instead of reactive ones. The school district already receives $8,514 per student from state and local sources. With 5430 students, that works out to an operating budget of over $46.2M. They were asking for an 11.4% increase!!!! Will somebody please show me where can I get that kind of return on my money?

Can you figure out how he's lying through his computer keyboard?

Area School Levy Referendum vote results

Lac qui Parle Valley passed 484-118, 80% yes.

Montevideo failed 913-807.

West Central Area schools voted down their levy 497-571.

Levies passed in Cyrus, Brandon, Ulen-Hitterdahl, Holdingford, Eden Valley-Watkins, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, and Detroit Lakes.

Levy votes failed in Perham, Pelican Rapids, Paynesville Area, and Kimball Area.

From the Fergus Falls Journal:
Meanwhile, a levy referendum for the Ashby School District passed by only two votes, according to Superintendent Allan Jensen. Voters approved a five-year $317,000 operating levy by a vote margin of 309 to 307.

Jensen said Wednesday he hopes the levy will help district officials avoid the kind of cuts they made last spring, when $170,000 was eliminated from the budget.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to avoid doing that down the road,” he said.

Jaguars Volleyball takes first two games from Kimball, then buries them in game three 25-13!

The Jaguars held an early 6-5 lead in game one before pulling away near the end, winning 25-18.

They took game two from Kimball Area in a 25-21 win.

In the third game, the Jaguars jumped in front 9-1!

The Jaguars won game three 25-13.

They advance to their eighth straight sub-section championship game.

Section 5A results:
Barnum 3, East Central 1
B-B-E 3, Kimball Area 0
Bertha-Hewitt 3, Sebeka 1
Nevis 3, Pillager 0

Bertha-Hewitt won game one against Sebeka 26-24, then lost 25-13, won 25-18, and then picked up a win in game four to decide the match.

Sebeka won the Park Region championship over Bertha-Hewitt, but the Bears won that match that mattered - playoffs!

Bertha-Hewitt will face the Jaguars on Thursday night in the Sub-Section 5A-West championship match, the second year in a row the two teams will meet for a section final berth.

Section 6A results:
Ada-Borup 3, Rothsay 0
Brandon-Evansville 3, Hancock 0
Norman County East 3, Norman County West 1
Parkers Prairie 3, Underwood 1

Jaguars Volleyball hosts Kimball Area on Tuesday night - Smooth Magic 107 information posted - Monday night volleyball scores added

Two seniors on the Jaguars squad are shown flying high in action below.

Those are the nights the Jaguars volleyball team will be in action, assuming they keep on winning!

Tuesday night they will host #2-seeded Kimball Area at 7:00pm.

The other two matches would be played at Brainerd High School.

Nevis is the top challenger out of the east half of Section 5A, with Bertha-Hewitt and Sebeka posing strong challenges to the Jaguars in Sub-Section 5A-West.

B-H and Sebeka will duke it out tonight in Sebeka.

First, they need to take care of Kimball tonight. It will be no small task, as the Cubs are experiencing their best volleyball season in school history.

**The playoff matches will be aired on Glenwood's 107.1 FM, Smooth Magic 107, for the duration of the Jaguars' playoff run. You can tune in either via the airwaves around western Stearns and Pope Counties, or else go on the internet and listen through a high-speed connection.

The website for Smooth Magic 107 is: http://www.kmgk1071.com/

The direct link for streaming audio is http://www.smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm

You'll need a high speed internet connection and Windows Media Player to hear the broadcast through your computer. If you've got a modern WMP loaded on your computer, the audio stream should pull up automatically and begin playing after you click to that link (smoothmagic107.com/listen.htm)



Monday night volleyball results:
New London-Spicer earned a second straight sub-section final berth with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 win over 4th-seeded St.Cloud Cathedral in Sub-Section 6AA-South.
Rocori 3, Annandale 2 (Rocori and NL-S will meet for the sub-section crown)

Section 3A:
Canby 3, MACCRAY 0
Minneota 3, Lakeview 0
Southwest MN Christian 3, Southwest Star Concept 1
Windom Area 3, Murray County Central 0

Section 3AA:
Benson 3, BOLD 1
Jackson County Central 3, Worthington 0
Marshall 3, Pipestone Area 0
Montevideo 3, Morris Area 2 (#2 seeded Morris Area falls in a mild upset, they had high hopes of a sub-section title berth, something they haven't had since 2001)
Game five was won by the Thunderhawks 17-15! The atmosphere in the gymnasium during game five must have been out of this world.
Montevideo, the number six seed, is 15-9-2.
Benson is 26-2-2 overall, their best in school history by a long shot. The next most-winningest volleyball team at Benson finished 21-7, a team that lost in the 2005 Section 6AA final to the Jaguars.

Oddly, the Monte-Morris match was held in Montevideo - a dumb spot to designate as a "neutral site" when it is the home gymnasium for a team playing in that match!

Section 5AA, Maple Lake makes sub-section final, faces Mora for the crown
Delano 3, St. Anthony Village 0
Fridley 3, PACT Charter 0
Maple Lake 3, Foley 0
Mora 3, Milaca 1

Section 6AA, Melrose scores an upset over Pierz:
Melrose 3, Pierz 2
New London-Spicer 3, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
Rocori 3, Annandale 2
Sauk Centre 3, Albany 0

Melrose advances to the sub-section final to face cross-town rival Sauk Centre - that will be quite a match for sure. It's the first sub-section championship berth for Melrose since 2004, when they were swept by the Jaguars. Sauk has now advanced to the sub-section championship match every season since 2005 - five in a row.

A youtube clip of George W. Bush giving us some really big words of wisdom!

Click here to view the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPuLf4aUT4Q&feature=player_embedded