Speech at Morris

The B-B-E speech team took fourth place at subsections tonight and advances 13 to the Section 5A meet next Saturday in Melrose.

Sub-sections

Good luck today to the B-B-E speech team as they compete in the Sub-Section 5A-West meet in Morris!

More sad news

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

Joe Traen, shown in the 1987 Brooten high school yearbook.

*NOTE: this blog article was updated at 20:47 on Thursday night. I posted an incorrect date a short while ago on the funeral.

Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran head wrestling coach Joe Traen passed away early on Wednesday morning this week. He just completed his 27th season as head coach at Watertown-Mayer high school and recently picked up his 400th career coaching win on February 3. He was 59 years old when he died while on a routine, three-mile morning jog before school around his neighborhood in Watertown. The apparent cause of death was a heart attack.

Coach Traen was head coach of the Brooten Buccaneers wrestling program from 1983 to 1988. He was co-head coach of the very first B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team with Chuck Marks in 1988-89, a team that won the Prairie Conference title. Traen was a staff member at Brooten elementary school from 1983 until he resigned in July 1989. He taught Physical Education for grades K-6, including six of my seven years attending Brooten elementary.

One of his former colleagues at Brooten elementary said it best, "Joe was a super, super nice guy. He always had a smile and was just amazing with the kids. I feel he was the finest P.E. teacher Brooten ever had. This is very sad news. Joe was one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of teaching with. He treated EVERYONE with kindness and respect. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and two sons."

As a youngster, Coach Traen wrestled as a Canby Lancer in high school before graduating in 1976. During his senior year, Traen won the 112-pound title in Region III and competed at the state wrestling tournament where he earned a fourth-place medal. Two of his Lancer teammates, Fred Full and Jeff Merritt, won state titles in 1976, with Full winning his second title in a row.  Traen then attended Willmar Community College before earning his B.S. degree at St. Cloud State University in 1981.

Fun facts: when he was a senior, Traen's Canby Lancers team made it to the state tournament in the first year they held it in a two-class dual meet format (1976) at the St. Paul Civic Center. In 1975, the Lancers were state runners-up with Traen on the team wrestling at 105 pounds. In that year, Minnesota had just one class of wrestling. Back to his senior year, the Lancers brought a perfect 13-0 record into the 1976 team state tournament. They repeated a run to the state title match in 1976, facing St. Michael-Albertville, who they beat for the program's first state wrestling championship in a 16-0 season. (Canby also won state titles in 1977 and 1979 and many more in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.)

As head coach of the Brooten Buccaneers, Traen's teams won around 50 dual meets in five seasons. I have to go back and look up the exact number. In the 1984-85 season, his Buccaneers won the District 20 tournament for the first time in Brooten history and competed at the Region 5A tournament, where they lost to St. Michael-Albertville 39-17 in the semifinals. Four of his five Buccaneers wrestling teams won Prairie Conference titles (1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987), so in five of his six years coaching here, his teams won conference titles.

Coach Traen's 1987-88 team in Brooten was loaded with junior high wrestlers. They started the dual season 0-4 but rallied to finish the season with a 6-5-1 dual meet mark. That was the final year of Buccaneer wrestling, but that team's record was important as it meant that no Buccaneer wrestling team ever finished with a sub-.500 dual meet record (1970 to 1988)!

The nucleus of Coach Traen's last Buccaneers team later became part of a powerful 1989-1990 Jaguars wrestling team that won the West Central South Conference title and finished with a 13-2 dual meet mark under head coach Chuck Marks.

Coach Traen guided numerous wrestlers at the state tournament during his 33 years of coaching the sport in Minnesota. I don't have an exact grasp on those records, but I know a handful of his Brooten/B-B-E wrestlers earned hardware at the state tournament from 1984 to 1989.

From memory, I know that one of the Presler boys finished as a state runner-up in March 1987 at the wrestling tournament. Greg Schmitz won his state title as a senior in 1985, during Traen's second year leading the team.

I am very sad about this right now. He was perhaps one of my favorite elementary teachers at Brooten elementary school in the 1980s. Putting aside his coaching prowess, he was a truly kind and caring man with a big heart. I'll never forget his hearing his soft-spoken voice, "Try your best! You can do it! I know you can!" while encouraging me or my classmates in Phy Ed class in a variety of activities from broom ball to climbing the rope in the gym to kickball or soccer or wrestling and everything in between.

I'll never forget him - even though my memories of him are over 27 years old!

"He died too young."

As sad as this is, I look forward to visiting with his sidekick on the mats in Brooten - Bud Heidgerken - who was Traen's assistant coach from the 1983-84 season through 1989. Heidgerken was one of the two founding coaches of the Brooten Buccaneers wrestling program, along with Don Larson, back in 1970-71. I can only imagine the stories he has about Coach Traen!

Subscribers to my Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper will be able to read much more in the April 6 issue.

*Update on Thursday night: according to one of his former Brooten wrestlers, the funeral for Coach Traen will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4 at Watertown-Mayer high school. He leaves behind his wife, Deborah, and two sons who both wrestled for him, Andrew and Adam. From my light amount of digging on The Guillotine website plus the Watertown newspaper, Adam was a W-M high school graduate of 2016. Andrew is just a few years older.

Here is the link to his official obituary (which will be posted on Friday, March 31): http://itenfuneralservices.com/obituaries_post/joseph-a-traen

New section assignments

Here's the teams making up the Section 5A postseason group for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons:
B O L D High School
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa H.S.
Benson High School
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg H.S.
Minnewaska Area H.S.
Ortonville High School
Osakis High School
Paynesville Area High School
Coop: 192 "Quad County" (MACCRAY, Renville County West, Yellow Medicine East)
Coop: 260 "LPGE-Browerville Wolves" (Browerville, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle)

I haven't spent much time going through all the section assignments, but I can report that the B-B-E Jaguars football team is still in Section 4A. One great thing about that is that Minneapolis North is not, making the path to state quite a bit easier than it was - but it is still a tough road.

Both basketball teams are in Section 5A, as is the volleyball team.

The B-B-E/Paynesville dance team is moved to Section 3A, out of Section 4AA, which will bode well for that program.

Both track and field teams remain in Section 6A, where they competed for the first time in school history in 2016.

Both the baseball and fastpitch teams are now in Section 6A.

Youth Jaguar wrestlers

The B-B-E elementary Jaguars wrestling team had a terrific weekend at New London-Spicer high school today and Friday. They qualified 12 wrestlers for the state tournament after they took third place or better at the Region IV contest at NL-S.

The Northland Youth Wrestling Association (NYWA) state tournament is in Rochester from March 30 to April 2. It includes both individual and team competition.

The Jaguars will also compete as a team at the NYWA state tournament. This is the fourth year in a row they have qualified for state. At last weekend's Region IV tournament in Pierz, the Jaguars finished sixth out of 16 teams to earn a spot at state. Both the K-6 Jaguars and 7th-8th grade Jaguars will compete in the team portion of state in Rochester.

**Shifting gears...I was asked to post this on the Jaguar Sports blog...an event coming up on April 8 in Sunburg! The Sunburg Fire Department invites everyone to their spring Ham and Turkey Bingo night on Saturday, April 8 at the community center/fire hall building. A total of 24 bingo games will be called beginning at 7 p.m. sharp! One card is $6, while three cards cost $12. Prizes include 12 hams and 12 turkeys.

You can see a long list of activities taking place across the Bonanza Valley area at this link at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/page/bonanza-valley-community-calendar/102.html

(Video) Human foosball

Here's a video clip from this past Saturday in Elrosa:

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Additional coverage of this tournament was in the March 23 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper (pages 1 and 10).

Speech represents at CMC meet

Check this out! Here's breaking news brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper:
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/03/02/bbe/b-b-e-speech-team-brings-it-at-conference-meet/431.html

(Reposting) The Voice on KMGK radio!!!

The Bonanza Valley Voice has expanded into radio broadcasting...sort of...the newspaper has partnered with Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood to bring you "The Voice on KMGK" where the newspaper publisher and B-B-E Jaguars sports reporter/editor will visit with radio sports broadcaster Brady Erdmann for a 10 to 15-minute period each Friday morning.

The first show was on March 10, and the second one is on Friday, March 17 starting at about 9:15 a.m. This arrangement was set up back in February, and with the difficult March we've had so far, the promotion of the radio show fell by the wayside.

*The third radio show is on Friday, March 24, starting at about 9:15 a.m. 

This is a terrific extension of the radio station, and we will do our part to help promote the programs on Smooth Magic 107 FM that promote B-B-E and Brooten-area activities.

You can tune in with the "TuneIn" app on your SmartPhone, listen on your radio if you live close enough to Glenwood or use their website to listen in = http://www.kmgk1071.com

Speech showcase!!! Next Monday

The Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa speech team will host their annual Spring Speech Public Showcase on Monday, March 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the high school auditorium. This is a unique opportunity for community members to come out and have a close look at the talents of students involved in B-B-E’s powerhouse speech program!

Great memories

A glimpse of the student section at the sub-section championship game on March 7 at Melrose.

This rates as one of the more exciting winter sports seasons in my memory. Seeing the girls' basketball Jaguars make a run to the section championship - just their fourth appearance overall in school history in that game - was very fun. The boys' basketball team surprised many followers with 10 wins, and also the chance at getting at least three to four more than that. Our B-B-E/Paynesville dance team was excellent from start to finish. And of course, having four wrestlers get to state with two earning hardware was terrific.

Now we shift gears to spring!

St. Patrick's Day parade

CHeck it out:
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/03/02/streaming/saint-patricks-day-parade/137.html

Food shelf month

I've had a few people ask me about what is happening now for Food Shelf month at B-B-E. In terms of what's currently being advertised in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper... the big things right now are the Jaycees fundraiser (Page 7 in the newspaper) and also the North American State Bank food drive (Page 12 this week, they sponsored my color ink) and next week I'll have a picture of a donation from the Brooten bank that goes to the food shelf.

Radio Friday at the Voice

The Bonanza Valley Voice has expanded into radio broadcasting...sort of...the newspaper has partnered with Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood to bring you "The Voice on KMGK" where the newspaper publisher and B-B-E Jaguars sports reporter/editor will visit with radio sports broadcaster Brady Erdmann for a 10 to 15-minute period each Friday morning.

The first show was on March 10, and the second one is on Friday, March 17 starting at about 9:15 a.m. This arrangement was set up back in February, and with the difficult March we've had so far, the promotion of the radio show fell by the wayside.

This is a terrific extension of the radio station, and we will do our part to help promote the programs on Smooth Magic 107 FM that promote B-B-E and Brooten-area activities.

You can tune in with the "TuneIn" app on your SmartPhone, listen on your radio if you live close enough to Glenwood or use their website to listen in = http://www.kmgk1071.com

Transition period

Currently the sports department at the Bonanza Valley Voice has remaining work to wrap up winter sports coverage while also getting ready for spring.

We're also getting some much-needed rest.

Some exciting news (I think) for our B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams...after talking to the coaches on Thursday I learned that they have an ambitious goal of getting turnout to 40 members between the boys' and girls' squads. That hasn't happened in quite a few years for this program.

I haven't gotten a handle on turnout for the other spring sports...baseball and the golf teams don't hold their first practice until next Monday.

(Video) An oldie but a goodie

I found this video from January of 2015 on my Youth Jaguars video archives. Austin Young (No. 33) was on the court in the final seconds of the game (he is lined up during a free throw attempt on the right block)...the 8th grade Jaguars won this game for a 3-0 start that season.


It blows me away how special these videos are today, now that Austin is no longer with us. Never in a million years would I imagine that we'd go through what we just went through - and continue to go through as the grieving continues.

Hearts are heavy.

Social media

I thought this blog post was definitely worth sharing:
https://myrecruitingsolutions.com/student-athlete-loses-scholarship-due-social-media-posts/

Some music

From worship at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooten yesterday morning (March 12). Pastor Steve Bovendam is shown on the guitar.


Hearts are heavy.

They'll remain heavy for weeks to come and probably much longer than that for those close to Austin Young.

Section 5A championship

At the half in Little Falls, Cromwell-Wright is ahead 45-13 against our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team. The Jaguars trailed 16-0 before they got on the scoreboard.

The game is on both radio stations.

Final score: Cromwell-Wright 63, B-B-E 37. The Jaguars finish the season 21-9 overall, and they fought to the bitter end and have much to be proud of.

This has been the most challenging week in Jaguar Country since October of 2012 when we lost Coach Rich Vos. Tomorrow we will lay a student to rest.

It all seems so wrong.

Boys of summer

A photo from the Quisberg Park diamond in Brooten on July 18, 2012:

Click to enlarge the photo for best viewing. Austin Young is on the far left, second from left.

The horror is on its way tonight and tomorrow.

(HD video) Canon Swanson state quarterfinals

I had planned to post more state wrestling video last weekend, following my return from the state tournament. I actually have quite a bit of video to get online. Then the tragedy took place and sent the week into a tail spin. It's gonna take awhile to pick up the pieces of our shattered news organization.

Here's video of Canon Swanson in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, March 3:


May your Friday be great!

Final score

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team fought valiantly against a very good Parkers Prairie team tonight in the Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals. By halftime, the Panthers held a 33-30 lead. The Jaguars fought to a 39-39 tie early in the second half, but from there the Panthers size plus what was a very noticeable disparity in the willingness of the referees to call pushing fouls (as one example) took its toll on the Jaguars.

Final score: Parkers Prairie 70, B-B-E 53.

The Jaguars finish the season 10-17 overall, which is rather terrific considering that they started the season returning just 11 points per game of offense. They should be very proud of the season they had!

That's all for now. I am still emotionally spent.

Radio

Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood will be in Parkers Prairie tonight! Pregame starts at approximately 6:45 p.m.

**With 2:40 left in the first half, Parkers Prairie leads 29-25. **Halftime: Parkers Prairie 33, B-B-E 30.

Something to celebrate

Some exciting news, a huge pick-me-up for our news organization this week:
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/02/23/news/exciting-news/430.html

We needed this little boost today.

(Video) Sub-section championship game

Here's video from the final two-plus minutes of the Sub-Section 5A-South championship game in Melrose on Tuesday:


Next is defending Section 5A champion Cromwell-Wright at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 10 at Little Falls high school. At stake is a berth in the Class 1A state tournament!

Here's a bit of advice a friend gave me earlier today:
Life is about falling. Living is about getting back up.

(Video) More Junie B. Jones

Here's more video with Austin Young as "Mr. Scare" in the fall musical at B-B-E high school:


Not seeing much light around here! I hate that we have to go through this.

It's a win!

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team won 49-43 against Kimball Area tonight in the Sub-Section 5A-South championship game! This marks the second time in the past three seasons that the Jaguars have won a sub-section title.

They play at Little Falls next at 7 p.m. on Friday night (March 10) against defending champion Cromwell-Wright in the Section 5A finals. The Cardinals are 24-4 overall after beating No. 2-seeded Menahga 78-40 in the Sub-Section 5A-North final tonight at Crosby-Ironton high school.

Here's video, courtesy of a former Jaguar basketball player, showing the awards ceremony:


This is all I can post tonight. The past 44 hours have been an emotional roller-coaster. I can't get to an area scoreboard or other updates until tomorrow afternoon. I'll try to post video around 3 or 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

(HD video) Junie B. Jones "kickball tournament"

From November 2016 during the B-B-E Fall Musical:


Support the Fine Arts!

A dark day ahead of us

From "Junie B. Jones, the Musical" on November 20, 2016 at the B-B-E high school.

I'd also say that this is a dark week with a very dark day ahead of us. We need to go out of our way to be there for one another as we journey through the endless grief and sorrow.

Austin N. Young, 16 of Belgrade died Saturday March 4, 2017 near Belgrade from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 11, 2017 at Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade. Visitation will from 5- 8 p.m. Friday at the Church and for one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred. Arrangements are with the Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade.

Austin Young is on the trombone in the blue t-shirt in this photo taken at Sauk Rapids-Rice high school on March 8, 2016 during the Sub-Section 5A-South championship game.

Hearts are heavy

Radio coverage

Both the Glenwood's Smooth Magic 107.1 and Norway Lake/Sunburg's The Train (106.5) FM stations will be in Melrose on Tuesday for the girls' basketball sub-section title game. Pre-game coverages will begin at 6:45 p.m.

Blast from the past

Austin Young is holding the basketball in this photo taken in March 2015 during the junior high CMC tournament in Maple Lake. His number was 33.

The eighth-grade boys' basketball Jaguars defeated Kimball Area 38-36 in the third-place game. Payton Van Beck hit a buzzer-beater, in the air as the buzzer sounded, to lift the Jaguars to third place. Here's video from the waning seconds of the third-place game during the 2015 Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball eighth grade tournament:

Heavy hearts in Jaguar Country.

(Video) Solo at choir concert

Photo from the February 23, 2017 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice - page six.

He was one of at least five soloists who performed at the concert. I don't have the program next to me to be sure.


Monday, February 20, 2017 at the B-B-E high school auditorium:



I keep looking for a new text message from him, asking if he can come over. It takes my breath away. I am actually thinking it is a bad dream. I honestly believe that right now, and it makes me feel better.

Austin was "Mr. Scary"  in the B-B-E fall 2016 musical "Junie B. Jones"

Jaguar Country has been hit by a tragic, devastating and unexpected loss of life this weekend. Austin Young, age 16, a member of the B-B-E Class of 2019, has been taken from us in a one-truck accident south of Belgrade. Many of us are still in shock and are having trouble comprehending what unfolded on Friday night and Saturday morning.

His passing was broadcast far and wide across social media yesterday. I respected the family's wishes that everyone take a breath and wait before posting. "Pause before you post!"

The kids are grieving through differing formats of social media. I hope they take time to put their phones down, look at one another, hug one another and spend time with one another actually talking to each other, face-to-face, without the endless distractions of their devices.

That's all for now. As I said, this definitely is NOT REAL. IT'S A BAD DREAM.

**For the grieving students in our community, they are all invited to Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade tonight (Sunday, March 5) between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to allow some grieving to take place with one another. Austin was an active member of Grace Lutheran Church as well as the B-B-E chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Our hearts are heavy.

Experiencing loss

Jaguar Country has been hit by a tragic, devastating and unexpected loss of life this weekend. A member of the B-B-E Class of 2019 has been taken from us. Many of us are still in shock and are having trouble comprehending what unfolded on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Even though it has been broadcast far and wide across social media, I am not ready to jump in. I just received the Stearns County sheriff's report on the one-vehicle accident. Too much is swirling in my head for me to even pretend that I know what to say.

The kids are grieving through differing formats of social media. I hope they take time to put their phones down, look at one another, hug one another and spend time with one another actually talking to each other, face-to-face, without the endless distractions of their devices.

That's all for now. This definitely is NOT REAL. IT'S A BAD DREAM.

Updates

Canon took fifth place, while Adam took third place at the state tournament. Simply outstanding finishes to their 2016-2017 seasons of wrestling.

The girls' basketball team defeated K-M-S 65-56 to advance to the sub-section finals. They face Kimball Area at 7 p.m. at Melrose Area high school on Tuesday, March 7 in their next game.

Much to tend to now in Jaguar Country beyond athletics.

Boys' basketball playoffs

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team (10-16) earned the No. 6 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South. They begin the playoffs with a road game in the quarterfinals at No. 3-seeded Parkers Prairie (19-7) on Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

Ortonville is the No. 1 seed, while Battle Lake is the No. 2 seed. Both teams are 19-5 on the season.

The sub-section semifinal round will be on Saturday afternoon, March 11 at the P.E. Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota-Morris.

Radio

Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood will be in Sauk Rapids tonight to cover the girls' basketball playoff game. Pre-game coverage will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m.

State updates

Canon Swanson won his wrestleback match this morning by a 4-2 decision. He will compete for fifth place later today.

Adam Jaeger lost a 5-2 decision in his semifinal match, and he will compete for third place in his final match of the state tournament.

Robotics at regionals

Here's another update from the Bonanza Valley Voice for the B-B-E robotics team in Duluth!

http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/02/23/bbe/terrific-first-day-for-b-b-e-robotics/429.html

State wrestlebacks

Canon Swanson stayed alive in the Class 1A state tournament at 113 pounds with a win by a 5-2 decision over a wrestler from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. Swanson raised his season record to 40-4. His next wrestleback match is at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

Updates will be posted later.

Jaguar fans! Check out this video interview with Coach Mueller at the Xcel Energy Center:
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/02/23/sports/b-b-e-state-wrestling-update/428.html

At Eden Valley-Watkins, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost 71-59 to the 12th-ranked (Class 2A) Eagles. They take a 10-16 record into playoffs.

State quarterfinals!

Results in the Class 1A state quarterfinals!!

Canon Swanson lost a close battle by a 5-3 decision in his 113-pound quarterfinal match.

At 126, Tyler Bents defeated a state-ranked Deer River wrestler by a 6-3 decision! Bents trailed 2-0 early in the first period but wrestled great the rest of the way.

At 145, Adam Jaeger got off to a fantastic start with an early takedown with two back points. He won an 11-4 decision to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in his career.

Isaiah Gilbert's season is a wrap.

Here's a big THANK YOU to the following business sponsors who are helping underwrite the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's coverage at the state wrestling tournament!
Belgrade Coop, Paul Gruber Baling, North American State Bank, Bonanza Valley State Bank, North American Insurance Agency, Belgrade Tire & Auto-Tiremaxx, Micki's C-Store, Central Minnesota Insurance-Jolene Zachman, Brooten Electric, Big Dog Stove Sales-Larry Schumann, Schroeder Transfer, Fauskee Oil, RJ's Mini-Mart, Irrigation Pump Service-Brent DeKok, Bohmer Insurance Agency, Integrity Home Investments-Amber Bohmer, KaDe Shack, Ziemer Auction Service, RD Offutt, American Family Insurance-Glory Schreifels, Channel Seeds-Martin Gjerde & Kurt Herickhoff, Hofmann Auto Transmission-Scott Voss and Brooten Auto.

State! State is GREAT!

Canon Swanson shown in his state opener today in St. Paul.

Canon Swanson won his state tournament opener by a 9-3 decision over Grand Meadow-Leroy-Ostrander's Chris Romero (20-8) in the 113-pound bracket this morning in St. Paul. He led 4-1 after the first period and was never threatened from there. Swanson (39-3) is in his second straight trip to the state tournament, and he is looking to improve on a sixth-place finish at state in 2016.

Next is Tyler Bents at 126.

**Updates! At 126, Tyler Bents (30-11) defeated his first-round opponent in a 4-2 decision! His opponent, freshmen Lincoln Carpenter of Sibley East, was ranked 10th in the last Guillotine poll. Bents trailed 2-0 out of the gates but got an escape with 55 seconds left in the first period. About midway through the second period, Bents nearly turned Carpenter (31-9) for back points. Just seconds into the third period, Bents got an escape after starting in the down position to tie the match at 2-2. Bents moved aggressively heading into the final minute and earned a takedown near the edge of the mat with 44 seconds left for a 4-2 lead. That score stood up to the end, with Bents advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time in his career.

Here's video from the end of Tyler Bents' state opener:


At 145, Adam Jaeger won by an 8-4 decision over Cole Vanoverbeke (31-11) of Minneota to advance to the quarterfinals. Jaeger got an early takedown, then Vanoverbeke got an escape with 1:10 left in the first period. Jaeger earned another takedown with 55 seconds left, but Vanoverbeke cut it to one point in the last 40 seconds. The third period started with Jaeger up 4-3, and just 12 seconds in Jaeger got another takedown for a 6-3 lead. Vanoverbeke scored one more escape with 1:40 left. With 51 seconds to go, Jaeger got one last takedown for an 8-4 lead. Vanoverbeke got one last escape, but Jaeger (40-2) took an 8-5 win by decision that sends him to the state quarterfinals for the second time in his career.

Isaiah Gilbert shown between periods two and three in his state opener.

At 152, Isaiah Gilbert lost a 7-3 decision to No. 8-ranked sophomore Ian Frenzel (33-4) of Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena. Gilbert trailed 2-0 after an early takedown in the first period, but he battled for an escape before the first buzzer. Early in the second period, Gilbert got an escape to tie it at 2-2. With 1:08 left, Frenzel earned a takedown to make it a 4-2 deficit, but Gilbert again got an escape to make it 4-3 with 60 seconds to go.

With Gilbert in the up position to start the third period, Frenzel got an escape just seconds in for a 5-3 lead. Gilbert had a couple good shots at a takedown, but Frenzel scored again on a takedown with 1:20 left for a 7-3 lead. Frenzel had Gilbert tied up for the final minute and was able to avoid stalling points on his way to the quarterfinals. Gilbert falls to 31-12 and waits to see if he has a chance to continue in the wrestlebacks.

The Class 1A state quarterfinals begin at 4 p.m. today at Xcel Energy Center. Three Jaguars will be fighting for all they've got to earn their way into the semifinals! The Bonanza Valley Voice is excited to cover wrestling today at state and will be matside for the state quarterfinals. Our state tournament coverage is being sponsored by over a dozen local businesses. These businesses will be highlighted in another blog update this afternoon.

The quarterfinal matchups for the B-B-E Jaguars will be posted this afternoon as well. Now it is time for lunch!!!

Playoffs are underway

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team got off to a successful start to the Sub-Section 5A-South playoffs with a 55-26 win over No. 10-seeded Ogilvie tonight. The Jaguars, seeded No. 2, now travel to Sauk Rapids-Rice high school on Saturday to face neighboring rival Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the semifinals. Tip-off will be at approximately 7:45 p.m.

Against the Lions, the Jaguars led 33-11 at halftime and 49-16 with about six minutes to go in the second half.

Here's video from the final minute of the first half:


Section 5A girls' basketball playoff scores on March 2:
Kimball Area 70, Isle 31  
Upsala 56, Swanville 37 (No. 5 seed beats the No. 4 seed in a border battle)
Cromwell-Wright 89, Bertha-Hewitt 32  
Menahga 61, McGregor 22    
Verndale 54, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 52    
Pine River-Backus 64, Sebeka 50

Other scores and updates are forthcoming.

School nurse saves Santa Claus

Here's a web link to a video story that I promised I would post here...I mentioned it in my publisher's column in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. It features a 1989 graduate of Brooten high school!!

http://www.voiceofalexandria.com/news/local/nurse-saves-christmas/youtube_068258fa-6935-11e3-8f84-0019bb30f31a.html

Halftime

33-11 Jaguars over Ogilvie at halftime. The game is being aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

At East Central, K-M-S trails 27-24 at the break.

Final: B-B-E 55, Ogilvie 26. Next is Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the semifinals at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday night in Sauk Rapids. The Fighting Saints won 46-31 tonight to improve to 11-16 overall. They are the No. 6 seed in Subsection 5A-South.

State wrestling team updates

Carson Huls of Pierz won a 7-2 decision over Ryan Torkelson of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at the 195-pound division to hand the Pioneers a win in the Class 1A quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center today. The win by Huls made the score 32-19 with just two weights left to wrestle.

Pierz's Austin Kickmann then made the team score 38-19 when he pinned K-M-S's Michael Doubek with a time of 3:57.

Troy Fischer than put an exclamation point on Pierz's win when he pinned Brody Forsell in a time of just 22 seconds to make the final score Pierz 44, K-M-S 19.

In another Class 1A quarterfinal match, West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville defeated Pipestone Area 30-29 to advance to the Final Four for the first time in the paired program's short history. WCA/A/BE was seeded No. 3, while Pipestone Area was unseeded.

State wrestling matchups

Four members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team begin competition at the Class 1A state individual wrestling tournament on Friday morning starting at 9 a.m. at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Bonanza Valley Voice will be there! To read about first-round match-ups, visit the Bonanza Valley Voice website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/02/23/sports/jaguar-wrestlers-primed-and-ready-for-state/426.html