Wrestlers at Big Bear

Here's what I've gathered so far from the Big Bear wrestling tournament (39 teams) at Cass Lake-Bena high school. It's a two-day affair that started this morning! B-B-E is in this tournament for the third straight year. In the team standings, the Jaguars are in 14th place with 57.5 points. Detroit Lakes is in first place with 124 points. LPGE/Browerville is in seventh place with 72.5 points. Minnewaska Area is the surprise of the field, holding 84 points for fourth place.

106: Walker Bents won his first two matches before losing a 5-2 decision in the quarterfinals; he can still battle back to take third place.

113: Ryan Jensen lost his first match by a 9-2 decision to a sophomore from Frazee; he went 1-1 in the consolation bracket, but I am not sure of his status from that point.

120: Blaine Fischer won his first two matches before losing a hearbreaker in the quarterfinals in a 6-4 decision in overtime to fellow freshmen Cody Wienen of Thief River Falls; in the consolation bracket, he back still battle back for third place.

126: Canon Swanson has gone 3-0 so far today; he landed a spot in the semifinals by beating freshmen Landon Gode of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville by a 6-2 decision in the quarterfinals. Swanson faces sophomore Brody Ullyott of Detroit Lakes in the semifinals.

138: Taiton Lindner lost his first match by a 7-2 decision; he won his first consolation match by a 9-2 decision but then lost a 12-0 major decision to finish 1-2.

145: Tyler Bents has a 3-0 mark under his belt so far and is the third B-B-E Jaguar to land a spot in the semifinals; he won a 13-4 major decision, a win by fall (0:54) and a 12-6 decision.

For the remaining weights, I haven't studied all the results but learned that no other Jaguar is still in contention.

In total, five Jaguars will battle tomorrow: Blaine Fischer and Walker Bents in the consolation bracket; and Tyler Bents, Canon Swanson and Tyler Jensen are still in the championship bracket as stated above.

Time to head to the home boys' basketball game!

*Basketball update: the boys beat K-M-S, while the girls lost 46-36 at No. 4-ranked and undefeated Eden Valley-Watkins.

At Eden Valley, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team trailed 29-14 at halftime but played a superb second half against the Central Minnesota Conference-leading Eagles (5-0, 3-0. B-B-E (2-2, 0-2) was held to 32 percent field goal shooting for the game. The Jaguars were also limited to just eight free throw attempts in the game (of which they made three).

On the home court, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team led 40-23 at halftime over the 3-0 K-M-S Fighting Saints. They led 24-5 with 10:22 to go! Final score: B-B-E 66, K-M-S 45. The Jaguars had very balanced scoring with five guys at nine or more points. They were led by Ashton Dingmann's 17 points and Dylan Meyer's 16 points. The key difference in the game was field goal shooting: 43 percent for B-B-E and just 29 percent for K-M-S. *Fun fact: the 3-1 start for the boys is the best mark to open the season in three years. In 2015-16, the Jaguars started 5-1 on their way to a 16-13, Sub-Section 6A-South runner-up finish.

On the horizon for the basketball teams: the boys' basketball hosts Upsala (1-3) in a big sub-section match up on Tuesday. Prior to that, the girls' basketball team hosts Minnewaska Area (5-1) in a border battle on Monday. That Monday game will be in both radio stations, as was stated in the Bonanza Valley Voice on page 11 this week.

I haven't gotten any reports on the B-B-E/Paynesville dance team yet. The Pirouttes were at A-C-GC tonight for a six-team comp.

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Dec. 14:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 74, Paynesville 57

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Dec. 14:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 59, Holdingford 58
Pierz 64, Paynesville Area 22

Area boys' basketball scores on December 14:
St. Cloud Apollo 55, Willmar 51
Royalton 67, Swanville 45
Hancock 73, MACCRAY 50
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 75, St. John's Prep 70
St. Cloud Cathedral 56, Annandale 55
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 63, Sauk Centre 43
Osakis 70, Upsala 41
Benson 75, A-C-GC 71
Holy Family Catholic 67, Maple Lake 55
West Central Area 65, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 30
Ortonville 68, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 34

Area girls' basketball scores on December 14:
Melrose Area 50, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 46
New London-Spicer 71, Litchfield 56
Parkers Prairie 82, Battle Lake 41
Lakeview 47, Canby 43
West Central Area 73, Breckenridge 70
Central MN Christian 52, Dawson-Boyd 46
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 62, Renville County West 45
Sauk Centre 81, MA/CA 51

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