Step II: semifinal win

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team defeated Pine River-Backus tonight by a 77-52 score in the subsection semifinals. Jenna Dingmann led the Jaguars (17-10) with 18 points and four three-pointers.

They've advanced to a subsection final game every year now since 2014. That is tremendous!!!

Tip-off for the Sub-Section 5A-West championship game on Wednesday, March 4 will be at 7 p.m. at Wadena-Deer Creek high school. B-B-E's opponent will be top-seeded Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (27-2).

State wrestling finals...HUGE news!

Two B-B-E Jaguars went 1-1 in the third-place matches today in St. Paul...Blaine Fischer lost a 2-1 decision at 132 pounds. He battled to the very end and definitely left it all on the mat.

Canon Swanson won an 8 to 4 decision in the 145-pound third-place match. He finished the winningest season by any B-B-E Jaguar wrestler with state medals in five state appearances. That is amazing! He took sixth place in eighth grade, then fifth, second, second and now third place.

Jaguar Country is proud of them!!!

After 6 p.m., the mats at Xcel Energy Center will be re-arranged. Then the first-place matches will go in all three classes at the same time.

Walker Bents will be up first at 106 pounds.

*Update: the championship matches should be underway by 6:15 p.m. or soon thereafter. (Looks like 6:25)  In spite of the best efforts of the local mafia in Little Chicago (also known as Brooten), the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department has been able to cover the state finals this evening in person. This was not easy. Every year it's difficult to have a one-person newspaper news and sports department cover a high school sports state tournament (any sport)...this year was as challenging as it gets to make it down to St. Paul. We take what life throws at us, we chew on it, but we won't allow it to take us down.

STATE FINALS UPDATE!

Jaguar Country has its third state wrestling champion!!

It happened so fast. It was incredible.

Walker Bents won by fall in just 30 seconds to claim the 106-lb. state title!! He defeated the No. 2 seed in the bracket, junior Anthony Romero (44-4) of Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander.

Bents joins Brendan Bogart (1989) and Adam Jaeger (2018) as state wrestling champion donning the Jaguar uniform.


Meanwhile, at Wadena...the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a 34-26 lead over Pine River-Backus with 2:42 left in the first half. The Jaguars built the lead up to 12 points, and PR-B then cut it down to eight points going into the final 30 seconds. At halftime: B-B-E 38, PR-B 30.

In the earlier game in Wadena tonight, top-seeded Walker-Hackensack-Akeley defeated Sebeka in the other sub-section semifinal game. I didn't catch the score. W-H-A is now 27-2 overall. We're passing on state wrestling news to Bill Dean and the Lakeland Broadcasting sports department. Thanks, Bill, for covering the girls' basketball playoffs!

An early three-pointer by Jacqueline Gossen extended B-B-E's lead to 41-30 in the second half. That's the last I heard...time to get back to Xcel Energy Center's arena floor for the state medals ceremony!

**Update: the girls basketball team won 77 to 52. Their next game is on Wednesday, March 4. Additional updates will follow in a new blog post.

And THANK YOU to Paul Gruber Farms, Bonanza Valley State Bank and Integrity Home Investments for extended sports playoff sponsoring of the Bonanza Valley Voice sports department. They should all be given a huge THANK YOU to their loyal and reliable support.

State wrestling consolation matches

In a nutshell...

132 pounds
Blaine Fischer won his consolation semifinal match by a 4-0 decision. For the second straight year, he will compete in the third-place match at state. This is a great honor for a sophomore!

145 pounds
Canon Swanson won his consolation semifinal match by fall (2:01). He will also wrestle for third place tonight in St. Paul. This is the fifth straight year he will earn state wrestling hardware. This is terrific!


In basketball news...
Tonight's girls' basketball game will be aired by Lakeland Broadcasting's Bill Dean. He will broadcast on 1340 AM as well as 96.3 FM. Bill reported to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department that the game will also be live streamed (audio) at http://www.kwlm.com.

State wrestling, Saturday updates

Good morning, Jaguar Country! The Bonanza Valley Voice sports department will do its best at posting updates from the state tournament today. The newspaper gives a huge shout out and thank you to Bonanza Valley State Bank for their support of Jaguar Sports coverage. Our local businesses such as BVSB in Brooten have stepped up when we needed them to keep our sports department's lights on.

When the day started today, five members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team were still in contention at the Class 1A state tournament. Two of them, Walker Bents and Blaine Fischer, have earned spots in their respective state semifinal matches. Updates on those two matches will follow after wrestleback updates are posted.

113 pounds
In a wrestleback bracket match this morning, Ryan Jensen lost by fall (3:33) at 113 pounds to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City's sophomore Cole Holien (39-7).

Ryan finishes one of the most impressive eighth-grade seasons in school history with a 38-14 record. At the state tournament, he had a 2-2 record.

145 pounds
In a wrestleback match this morning, Canon Swanson won by fall (4:34) against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted's freshmen Collin Boese (29-9).

Next: Swanson (51-1) faces the loser of a championship semifinal match in the consolation round. That match features sophomore Payton Handevidt (46-4) of Jackson County Central and No. 2-seeded senior Trey Fairbanks (36-0) of Deer River.

195 pounds
In a wrestleback match this morning, Michael Doubek lost a 3-2 decision to fellow senior Elliot Mann (26-13) of New York Mills. Doubek finishes his season with a 37-13 overall record.

Action continues today in St. Paul with wrestleback matches and championship semifinals. The championship finals (first, third and fifth-place) begin at 4 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL UPDATE:

Top-seeded Walker Bents defeated seventh-grader Caleb Boese of HL-W-W with a 5-0 decision in the 106 pound semifinals. His win came at about 10:40 this morning. In his championship match tonight, Bents will take on No. 2-seeded and junior Anthony Romero (44-3) of GMLO.

Blaine Fischer, at 132 pounds, is about to take the mat at 10:50.

*Update at 11:10...Fischer lost a great battle by a 4-2 decision to Landon Gode. Fischer (39-11) falls into the consolation bracket and will now fight to get into the third-place match at 132 pounds.

Radio updates from the state tournament will be aired today on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

In basketball news...
The No. 2-seeded B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team continues the playoffs tonight with the Sub-Section 5A-West semifinals. They play at approximately 7:45 p.m. at Wadena-Deer Creek high school. Their opponent will be No. 3-seeded Pine River-Backus. 

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team received the No. 3 seed in Sub-Section 5A-West today. They open the playoffs with a home game against No. 6-seeded Sebeka on Thursday, March 5 with tip-off at 7 p.m.

State wrestling tournament: Friday night update

Here are a few Friday night updates on action taking place at Xcel Energy Center in the state individual wrestling tournament.

106 pounds
In his state quarterfinal match tonight, Walker Bents improved to 44-4 on the season with a second straight tech fall win. The final score was 17-2 with a time of a nearly-completed third period. He will face seventh grader Caleb Boese (27-11) of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in tomorrow's state semifinals.

113 pounds
In his state quarterfinal match, Ryan Jensen (38-13) lost a 4-1 decision to the top-seeded wrestler in this bracket. Then in his first wrestleback match, Ryan won a 5-4 decision against freshmen Ethan Bowman of Crookston.

In his second wrestleback match, Ryan will take on sophomore Cole Holien (38-7) of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

126 pounds
Tyler Jensen finished his state tournament trip with an 0-1 record. The wrestler who defeated him in his opener later lost in the state quarterfinals, ending Tyler's bid for a swing through wrestleback bracket.

132 pounds
In his state quarterfinal match, Blaine Fischer won a 6-2 decision against Kimball's Alex Nelson. Fischer (39-10) now takes on No. 2-seeded and fellow sophomore Landon Gode (49-3) of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville in the state semifinals.

145 pounds
In his state quarterfinal match, Canon Swanson (50-1) suffered an improbable defeat by pin to fellow senior Gabe Geiser (29-4) of New York Mills. The time was 5:08. Swanson then quickly earned a win in the wrestleback bracket in a 16-1 tech fall (3:39). In his second wrestleback match, Swanson will face freshmen Collin Boese (29-8) of HL-W-W.

160 pounds
Evan Young finished his first appearance at state with an 0-1 record. His final season record was 23-22, and he will come back with plenty of fire in the belly for his junior year of wrestling.

195 pounds
Senior Michael Doubek remains alive in the wrestleback bracket after his first-round opponent won his quarterfinal round match. Doubek won a 4-3 decision in tonight's wrestleback round against junior Ethan Kovars (28-8) of Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

Action begins tomorrow at Xcel Energy Center at 9 a.m. with all consolation quarterfinals, championship semifinals and then consolation semifinals.

State wrestling openers

106 pounds
In the 106 pound weight class, sophomore Walker Bents won an 18-3 tech fall in his state opener with a time of 5:07. In tonight's quarterfinals, Bents (43-4) will face junior Daunte Yost of Fertile-Beltrami.

In his opener, Yost (27-8) won a 6-2 decision over Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie's eighth grader David Revering (38-9).

113 pounds
In his state opener at 113 pounds, eighth-grader Ryan Jensen (37-12) won a 7-6 decision over B-H/V/PP's freshmen Deagen Captain (39-10).

In tonight's quarterfinals, Ryan takes on the top-seed, junior Derek Steele (45-2) of Sibley East. In his opener, Steele won a 13-0 major decision over Crookston's freshmen Ethan Bowman (35-10).

126 pounds
In his state opener, sophomore Tyler Jensen (39-11) lost a 4-2 decision to freshmen Zack Fier (28-12) of Minneota. Fier faces the 126-pound bracket's top seed, undefeated Trevor Janssen (35-0) of Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena, in tonight's quarterfinals. For Jensen to be able to compete in the wrestlebacks, Fier needs to beat Janssen.

132 pounds
In his state opener, sophomore Blaine Fischer (38-10) won a 9-2 decision over Deer River's senior Marshall Michienzi (28-9). In tonight's quarterfinals, Fischer faces Kimball Area junior Alex Nelson (30-6). In his opener, Nelson won a 7-1 decision over senior Caleb Beeier (30-15) of Blue Earth Area.

145 pounds
In his state opener in his fifth appearance at the big show, senior Canon Swanson (49-0) won a 16-1 tech fall with a time of 3:48 against Medford's freshmen Tate Hermes (34-7). In tonight's quarterfinals, Swanson faces senior Gabe Geiser of New York Mills. In his opener, Geiser (28-4) won by fall (5:55) over a freshmen from (UNCW?, Section 8A) who had a record of 15-19.

160 pounds
In his state opener, sophomore Evan Young (23-21) lost by injury default to Blue Earth Area junior Max Ehrich (31-1). Young needs Ehrich to beat BH/V/PP junior Mason Schroeder (31-18) in tonight's quarterfinals in order to have a shot at the wrestleback bracket.

195 pounds
In his state opener, senior Michael Doubek (36-12) lost a 6-2 decision to Wabasso/Red Rock Central's senior Derek Werner (34-4). In order for Doubek to have a shot at wrestlebacks, Werner must defeat Zumbrota-Mazeppa's junior Ethan Covers (28-6) in tonight's quarterfinals.

The Minnesota State Quarterfinals and then Consolation round matches begin at 4 p.m. today.

That's it for now for state tournament wrestling updates.

Community Job Fair

Click here to read up on the upcoming B-B-E Community Job Fair. The Community Ed department asked the Voice to help promote the event. We missed getting it in this week's newspaper...but here it is online. Please spread the word!

Work and paychecks = dignity! And the best way to live...versus stealing what is not yours! There's too much of that going on these days...in my opinion, anyway.

(Short link) https://bit.ly/2w9QN20.

Speaking of making it...getting by, trying to cut it...we are happy to announce that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper has gained 11 new subscribers in February. We appreciate each and every one of them! Thank you! You are all rock stars.

(VIDEO) Elementary shows support

The B-B-E elementary showed their huge support for the state-bound B-B-E Jaguar wrestlers on Wednesday. School staff recorded video of kids cheering for the Jaguars, and students also created posters and banners for the Jaguars.

Below is a short video clip featuring some of the cheering that took place


Due to the threat of Influenza and other illnesses, the wrestlers did not attend in person. They are taking extra precautions to ensure their good health as they head to St. Paul and gear up for the Class 1A state tournament on Friday and Saturday in St. Paul.

THANK YOU Paul J. Gruber and Gruber Baling for helping to keep the lights on at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Wounded animal

Cutting to the chase...right now the local mafia is a wounded animal.

And anyone who's been on a farm or has any experience with the outdoors knows that a wounded animal is dangerous. And when you corner a wounded animal, you have to be ready to get bitten.

I'm getting tired of these people. I think their ability to hold onto power is running out. They have access to a whopping amount of money, so for now I have zero intentions of letting my guard down.

The farmer he must feed them all

From the Land O' Lakes YouTube page, dated 2017.


The poem was written over 100 years ago. Its words ring as true as ever in 2020.

Here's some additional commentary that I found noteworthy (short link): https://bit.ly/2v7GAmC.

State wrestling

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team has advanced seven members to the Class 1A state tournament. This is a school record, as they advance one more than they did in 2018 when six made it through to the big show.

Just as noteworthy: four of last year's five state entrants are among this current group going to state, including senior and five-time state entrant Canon Swanson. Swanson placed second at state in 2018 and 2019.

The total list heading to state includes Walker Bents, Ryan Jensen, Tyler Jensen, Blaine Fischer, Canon Swanson, Evan Young and Michael Doubek.

Also noteworthy: eighth-grader Maximus Hanson placed third at 138, missing out on state by one placing; junior Dylan Kampsen also took third place (152). This means that of the 14 Jaguars who competed at the Section 5A tournament, nine of them earned third place or better. Of those nine Jaguars, just two are seniors (Swanson and Doubek).

The section sends 28 student-athletes to state, and one-fourth of them are from B-B-E. This is tremendous.

The Class 1A state wrestling tournament opens at 9 a.m. on Friday this week at Xcel Energy Center.

At the Bonanza Valley Voice, we are doing what we can to keep the lights on. This is a tremendously difficult time to maintain regular operations, including operating our sports department. Currently, the sports department is operating on a very, very limited basis. We are fighting very dark forces (I call it unaccountable darkness, or in laymen's terms...a mafia) who are working in earnest to shut our newspaper's lights off permanently. They are rooting for our destruction. Just when we think the storm has calmed, we get a sharp, left hook to the face when we're least expecting it. We do not know how this will turn out. If the lights are turned off for good, that is the end. There is no more sports department. There is no more Jaguar Sports blog. That is the end, and those things will not be resurrected. Here's one example: this local mafia does not want me to succeed in covering the state wrestling tournament. I know this, because I now that the mafia has been actively engaged in jeopardizing my safety. Putting me at ground zero of a major gambling crime investigation is extremely dangerous. I have talked about their actions, and the mafia in general, in the newspaper. This should be no secret to anyone who has read the newspaper. If you have read the newspaper, you should not be wondering what I'm talking about. If you are wondering, then read the damn newspaper. We have a contingency plan, as any good business would have. It involves out-of-area ownership. This is a for-profit, private business, and we will fight this criminal enterprise with every tool at our disposal as allowed by law. This criminal enterprise has connections to very powerful players in our community. Part of this was addressed on page one last week. Make no mistake: we will continue expending energy to stay one step ahead of the mafia.

*Update: we've made progress today. We don't know the full sum of what coverage we can accommodate at the state wrestling tournament, but the Bonanza Valley Voice has plans in place to attend state this weekend. It's a work in progress. I want the public to know that we are moving in the right direction.

Gonna say this one time

My ability to keep a roof over my family has been threatened, to say the absolute very least.

Posting on this blog has been suspended for an indefinite period of time.



I know what it looks like...


In laymen's terms: I will choose what I do with my time very carefully. Consequently, I will choose what public events I attend very carefully. I won't allow any member of the local mafia to gang up on me in public. I will not allow it. I don't get paid enough to take that. If you think I make appreciable money doing this, you are wrong. I drive a $600 minivan, and I have gotten good at repairing it when necessary. If I made an appreciable amount of money, would it make sense to keep repairing a $600 minivan?

Moving on...
We look forward to the day when criminals and bullies no longer run this town. That's our goal.

I find it ironic that the same day my newspaper comes out with "bullying" in a page one headline, I was told by multiple sources that Facebook has a thread on it that says bullying is taking place at B-B-E high school. I am not a Facebook user, but I inquired into that and read across what was posted on Facebook about bullying at B-B-E.

It's predictable how kids follow the example of adults. I am bullied from fulfilling all aspects of my work and forced to take actions to protect myself. Then I hear of bullying of a child in the high school...it's just too ironic.

Let's go back to September 2016, the eve of the start of the 2016-2017 school year. I posted this blog post, with reference to the late Coach Rich Vos (RIP)
https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2016/09/snuff-out-bullying.html

Short link: https://bit.ly/2vSwxln.

Let me give another example of bullying. When you spread unsubstantiated rumors about our bars and bar owners (last winter that's what the local mafia did) - then you are participating in bullying. You are hurting main street business owners who didn't ask for it. They did nothing wrong, except at one point they were following directions from an ex-gambling manager who was telling them incorrect instructions on how to conduct charitable gambling in Minnesota. What the ex-gambling manager told them was flat out against what the official gambling manual says. Eventually they broke free from that ex-gambling manager, but the local mafia continued spreading lies and rumors - all unsubstantiated - about the bars and bar owners. This is a form of bullying. What was being spread was NOT what official state reports said about what happened in Brooten. And that's a fact.

I hope and pray that the bullying issue at B-B-E high school can be dealt with. Unless it's directly handed to me, that is not my battle.

Stopping bullying isn't difficult: teach kids to look out for one another and be supportive of any peer who is being harmed in some way. I have said that many times on this blog and in my newspaper. I wish parents would take notice.

End rant.

Section runners-up

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team finished as Section 5A runners-up after going 1-1 in the Final Four last night at Minnewaska Area. They finish the team portion of the season with a 20-4 record, tying the record for most overall wins in a season (set in 2017-2018).

In the semifinals against No. 3-ranked Minnewaska Area, the Jaguars defeated the Lakers 38-23. The match was decided quite early, after Dylan Kampsen earned an 11-2 major decision at the 160-pound class over Ryan VanLuik. The Lakers finished 24-7 this season.

In the Section 5A finals, the Jaguars lost 33-18 to No. 1-ranked Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, the odds-on favorite to win the Class 1A state title for the second straight year. The Wolves are 31-3 overall and advance to state for the third straight season. They placed fourth at state in 2017.

B-B-E competed in their first wrestling section final since 2017 and fifth overall in school history. They also advanced to the section finals in 1998, 1999, 2015.

Back to the drawing board for next week's Bonanza Valley Voice issue.

Valentine's Day

Please support the two, locally-owned florists who serve the Bonanza Valley!

Rustic Flower Design Farms of rural Georgeville/Belgrade is owned by 1995 B-B-E graduate Mary Solbreken. Her advertisement was on page 7 in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. They are open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today

https://www.rusticdesignsflowerfarm.com

Uptown Florist of Glenwood is owned by Julie Lloyd, former B-B-E speech and drama coach and the director of children's theater in Terrace. Today she also serves as the Sedan city clerk. Her advertisement was on page 2 of this week's Voice. They are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today.

https://www.uptownfloristglenwood.com

This post will be updated later today. Happy Valentine's Day!

*Update: I really enjoyed visiting with both Mary and Julie today. I did my best to give them good ink and promotion. Look for more on their businesses in next week's Voice.

Have a good night, everyone.

Basketball scores

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost a tough one tonight at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted high school. Final: HL-W-W 68, B-B-E 67.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team defeated visiting Maple Lake by a 59-21 score tonight.

That's it for tonight.

Good news

I am happy to report on some good news in Brooten. Click to read more at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/3buW1pf.

Many folks are working hard behind the scenes to continue events in Brooten such as the upcoming Easter Egg hunt. In my opinion, they are all heroes, working in a difficult environment in our town.

Have a great day.

Two hours late*

B-B-E schools will begin two hours late tomorrow...Thursday, February 13. It's just before sunset tonight, it has gotten really nasty out there! Be safe.

It was neat to see two B-B-E Class of 2018 members show strong production for Ridgewater College basketball teams tonight. I just saw terrific game reports penned by sports editor Tom Elliot at the West Central Tribune website on the women's and men's games at Anoka-Ramsey college in Coon Rapids. The Ridgewater Warriors faced Anoka-Ramsey in conference play.

The Ridgewater women's basketball team lost 91-38 to a Rams squad that improved to 18-5 this season. B-B-E's Morgan Gronli scored 11 points off the bench. The Ridgewater men's team defeated the Rams 92-75 to improve to 14-7 on the season. B-B-E's Parker Schwinghammer scored 10 points, and his four fellow starters were also in double figures.

Ridgewater's basketball teams travel to Austin this Saturday to face Riverland.

Going back to her B-B-E years, Gronli played four years of varsity girls' basketball. In three of those four seasons, the Jaguars competed in the Section 5A finals. In all four seasons, the Jaguars played in the sub-section championship game. Across those four seasons, the Jaguars won a total of 84 games.

Gronli and Schwinghammer were both three-sport athletes at B-B-E. "Great kids from great families."

Other fun facts: Morgan Gronli's aunt, Mary Solbreken, is owner of Rustic Designs Flower Farm of rural Belgrade. Mary has advertising running in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper to promote her business for Valentine's Day. Her advertisement is on page seven in this week's newspaper issue.

Mary's brother, Mark, who is Morgan's dad, was a 1997 graduate of B-B-E and a classmate of my sister.

Anyway - here's a big shout out to Mary Solbreken and Rustic Designs Flower Farm! I hope she sees a nice uptick in business on Friday. Her business website is https://www.rusticdesignsflowerfarm.com, Mary reported to me that she has special Valentine's week hours today, tomorrow and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Rustic Designs Flower Farm is a really incredible business that's located just two miles south of Gausdal Lutheran church on County Road 9.

Hats off to Mary and her family for building up this true, rural gem!

Section 5A wrestling playoffs underway

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is Final Four-bound after throttling No. 7-seeded Benson tonight in the Section 5A quarterfinals. The final score was 71-9, marking the biggest margin of victory in a playoff match for a B-B-E wrestling team. Benson had advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Ortonville 54-21 in the preliminary round earlier tonight.

The next round is the section semifinals at 6 p.m. on Friday this week at Minnewaska Area high school. The Jaguars will take on No. 3-seeded Minnewaska Area for a berth in the section finals.

In the other bracket of Section 5A, No. 5-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg defeated host Paynesville Area 49-27 to advance to the semifinals.

In a home Central Minnesota Conference game, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost 66-44 to first-place Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles (20-1) led 39-19 at halftime.

Good night, all!

(VIDEO) Sno-Daze coronation

Here's a video clip posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website from the Sno-Daze coronation held this morning at the high school (short link): https://bit.ly/38hlcJK.

The student council and school staff who worked together to pull off the coronation program all did a splendid job! It was a terrific event in Jaguar Country!

Don't forget that tonight is home wrestling playoffs...a preliminary match starts at 6 p.m., and following that, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team faces the winner in the Section 5A quarterfinals.

Non-conference win

At halftime at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team holds a 58-9 lead.

Final score: B-B-E 96, A-C-GC 22. The Jaguars improve to 14-8 overall.

The school record for points scored in a game was set on January 14, 2008. On that night, the Jaguars hosted E.C.H.O. Charter from Echo and won 111-28 in Brooten. Tonight's 96 points scored is the second-most scored in a game for a B-B-E girls' basketball team.

A-C-GC is 1-20 overall. They will join the Central Minnesota Conference next year to replace Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. In girls' basketball, the Falcons have struggled every year since 2012-2013, when they finished 11-15 overall. In 2011-2012, they went 14-12 in the last year they had a winning record (8-4 and tied for second in the West Central South Conference). In 2010-2011, they went 17-9, and they finished 20-4 the year before (16-0 WCC-South).

That's all for tonight. "Many irons in the fire."

A new day

"With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts." - Eleanor Roosevelt

On another note...
I sent this message to one of the Belgrade Commercial Club organizers, who had a big hand in putting together their Designer Purse Bingo night this past Friday.

"I'm thrilled for your purse bingo night, looked like everyone there had a great time. That's why we do what we do and it all adds up to making the town a better place to work and live."

There will be light coverage of the event in this week's Voice (which will be a jam-packed issue)

The Brooten Fire Relief Association will hold a Designer Purse Bingo night on March 1 at the KaDe Shack. You can read more about that on page one of last week's Voice.

That's all for today. This blog will include very few and very light postings this week.

Looking out for one another

I was catching up on reading blogging from a very good newspaper friend of mine in Morris. He worked for the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper from the 1970s through 2006.

He posted information about two serious incidents that took place recently at Yellow Medicine East high school in Granite Falls as well as Lac qui Parle Valley high school in rural Madison. Click to read that (short link): https://bit.ly/2tH8mFC.

A parting thought. At B-B-E, I want to see more parents encourage their children to look out for one another. Our kids already do a fantastic job about caring for one another in Jaguar Country. However, we are all human - and there is always room for improvement with our own personal behavior and how we interact with one another. We have a small, rural school. We fully have the ability to look out for one another, whether it's fellow parents who are in difficult situations or if it's from a student's perspective, and a fellow student is having a bad day or just needs a kind word or a smile to cheer them up. This can make great strides towards diffusing bad situations that can turn into tragedies.

The two students who were at the center of those two incidents at YME and LQPV (sounds like one was a threatening message of some sort, the other an actual bomb threat) ...clearly are troubled and need help. What a FAILURE of those around them to not notice that something was wrong. It should never get to the point where a kid causes that type of a disturbance at a school. That's a failure of everyone around them.

Should the student suffer consequences? Absolutely. But that does not absolve everyone in that kid's life of sharing part of the blame.

End rant.

Speech team takes first place

Today at Swanville, the B-B-E speech team earned first place in the large school division.

Four team members earned individual titles in their respective categories. A total of 28 B-B-E students completed at Swanville. That represents about 10 percent of the entire high school student body!

This is terrific! Great job!

Pirouettes at Section 3A dance comp

The B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team competes in the Section 3A state qualifier today at Montevideo senior high school.

They perform in the jazz division at 12:30 p.m. Doors open at 11 a.m., and the National Anthem will be sung at about 12:05 p.m. to kick off that portion of the section meet. The kick division performances begin at 1:45 p.m., and the Pirouettes are scheduled for a 3:08 p.m. performance.

The Section 3A jazz division includes a total of 14 teams. That portion of the dance comp finished up at 1:25 p.m., at which time a short break took place. Each division is split in half, and half the teams face the east side of the gymnasium bleachers, and the other half perform while facing the west half.

*Below, here's video from the Pirouettes jazz squad performing this afternoon in Montevideo:


The Pirouettes really nailed their jazz routine today. It was fabulous! That was absolutely terrific.

The kick division teams began their portion of the dance comp at 1:45 p.m. with a total of 14 teams performing. Included in the 14 teams at the Section 3A meet today is is Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, who is the defending Class 1A state champion. They had 31 total student-athletes in their kick squad.

Here's the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton jazz team performing today. They performed to one of my favorite songs, so I felt it was worth recording and posting.


Additional coverage to follow.

*Update: Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd won the Section 3A title in both jazz and kick divisions. Yellow Medicine East was runner-up in both. BOLD placed third in both divisions, and Minnewaska Area placed fourth. All teams mentioned advance to state.

Additional updates coming late tonight.

THANK YOU to Central Minnesota Seeds, LLC of Belgrade for sponsoring this Jaguar Sports blog post from the section meet

Conference series finale, and a conference title!

In their last-ever meeting in conference play, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted are duking it out tonight at the B-B-E high school. Next season, HL-W-W will join the Wright County West Conference.

At halftime, the Jaguars held a 32-27 lead.

With 11 minutes left in the game, the lead is now 47-35.

The lead stood at 52-39 before the Lakers scored five straight. A reverse layup by Grace Illies then put the Jaguars ahead 54-44 with six minutes to go.

With under three minutes to go, the Lakers cut it down to 58-54. At the 2:37 mark, Coach Anderson called a timeout.

With 1:43 left, the Lakers got a steal at midcourt and scored to make it 59-56.

Then with 1:13 left, Illies drained two double bonus free throws, making it 61-56.

Illies went 1-of-2 at the line with 56 seconds left for a five-point lead.

Final score: B-B-E 67, HL-W-W 62. The Jaguars take the season series with a 2-0 mark against the Lakers this season. They improve to 13-8 overall with their seventh win in a row (8-4 CMC). HL-W-W falls to 13-8 overall and 5-6 in the CMC. Up next: the Jaguars travel to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school on Monday for a non-conference game.

And other big news!

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team went 3-0 tonight at a quadrangular at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted high school. The three wins raise their regular season record to 18-3. This is the second-best regular season mark ever in 32 years of B-B-E Jaguars wrestling.

The Jaguars won the Central Minnesota Conference title outright with a 65-12 win over HL-W-W tonight. They finish 6-0 in the CMC and finish undefeated in a dual meet schedule for the first time since the 1997-1998 season. This is the fourth wrestling conference title in B-B-E history. After finishing second place in the CMC for the past five seasons, they can finally claim the mantle of conference champions!!!

In the other duals at HL-W-W, B-B-E defeated Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran 47-21 and Sibley East 64-6.

More to follow later.

Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on February 7:
Royalton 64, Holdingford 57 OT (huge win for Royalton; Holdingford would have pulled into a tie for first place with the Royals if they won)
Eden Valley-Watkins 45, Maple Lake 24

Area girls' basketball scores on February 7:
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 62, Browerville 44
Albany 51, Little Falls 26
Pine City 63, East Central 56
Rush City 58, Braham 56 OT
Onamia 63, Isle 32
Medford 57, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 43
Parkers Prairie 60, Osakis 49
Upsala 66, Swanville 56
Sauk Centre 84, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 25
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 71, Melrose Area 57
BOLD 57, Montevideo 44  

Area boys' basketball scores on February 7:
Renville County West 54, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 34
Central Minnesota Christian 70, Dawson-Boyd 45
BOLD 82, Springfield 80
West Central Area 75, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 51
Minnewaska Area 79, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 68
MACCRAY 76, Lac qui Parle Valley 68
Browerville 57, W-H-A 53
Ashby 61, Battle Lake 35

Conference win

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team defeated visiting Holdingford 66-62 tonight to even their record at 10-10 overall. They were led by Luke Dingmann's 12 points (four three-pointers). Peyton Winter and Jackson Peter each added 11 points.

The Jaguars have now won four games in a row and hold a 5-5 record in the Central Minnesota Conference.

Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on February 6:
Paynesville Area 59, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 53
Eden Valley-Watkins 69, Kimball Area 33
Maple Lake 48, Royalton 46

Once again...putting this out there!
Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website to read about the Belgrade Commercial Club Designer Purse Bingo. They are holding it tomorrow night (Friday) at the Belgrade V.F.W. They still have tickets available, but they have a limitation on seats! (short link) https://bit.ly/2SpgX8b. Talk to Megan or Julie tomorrow and pick up a ticket.


*Here's a video clip featuring the end of regulation play and the overtime session of the JV boys' basketball game against Browerville, played on February 1:


The Jaguars won 51-47 in overtime.

Area boys' basketball scores on February 6:
Minnewaska Area 78, BOLD 66 (BOLD's first loss of the year, they are 19-1 overall; Minnewaska's senior guard Grant Jensen is the son of 1987 Brooten graduate and a standout Buccaneer athlete Eric Jensen)
Benson 83, Montevideo 63
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 73, Sauk Centre 42
Melrose Area 72, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 49
Annandale 49, New London-Spicer 47
Hancock 53, Renville County West 49
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 70, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 48
Upsala 76, St. John's Prep 36
Osakis 70, Browerville 42

Area girls' basketball scores on February 6:
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 58, Pine River-Backus 56 (PR-B almost pulls off the upset, with WHA avenging a huge conference loss to the Tigers earlier in the season)
Ogilvie 73, Hinckley-Finlayson 64
Alexandria 76, Sauk Rapids-Rice 41
Brainerd 71, Willmar 66
Rothsay 53, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 40
Parkers Prairie 71, Ashby 53
Mora 60, Isle 40
Albany 56, Foley 35
Paynesville Area 46, Kimball Area 40 OT
Maple Lake 54, Spectrum 46
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 49, Renville County West 35
Lac qui Parle Valley 72, MACCRAY 49
Canby 75, Lakeview 57
Central MN Christian 85, Dawson-Boyd 41
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 50, Yellow Medicine East 35
Minneota 88, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 63
Sebeka 72, Bertha-Hewitt 52
Menahga 65, Verndale 35
New York Mills 46, Pillager 38
Wadena-Deer Creek 47, Henning 46 (W-DC avenges a 48-25 loss they suffered to Henning on January 4; Henning is now 20-2 overall)
Hancock 68, Brandon-Evansville 40
West Central Area 67, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 60
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 68, BOLD 66
Benson 58, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 40
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 66, Ortonville 28

Section 5A wrestling playoffs

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team earned the No. 2 seed for the upcoming 10-team Section 5A tournament. The playoff rankings and bracket was released yesterday by section officials. B-B-E is 15-3 overall and 5-1 against section opponents.

The Jaguars will host a wrestle-in qualifier to the Round of Eight that features No. 7-seeded Benson and No. 10-seeded Ortonville. That match starts at 6 p.m. at the B-B-E high school next Tuesday, February 11. The winner of Benson-vs.-Ortonville will face the B-B-E Jaguars in the section quarterfinals right after that 6 o'clock match at the same location.

Benson, the No. 7 seed, is 3-10 overall and 3-4 against section opponents. Ortonville, the No. 10 seed, is 3-16 overall and 0-6 against section opponents.

The Section 5A Final Four is on Friday, February 14 at Minnewaska Area high school. The semifinal matches start at 6 p.m. that night.

Defending Section 5A champion and Class 1A state champion Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville has the No. 1 seed. They hold a 27-3 overall record.

Minnewaska Area, 21-5 overall, is the No. 2 seed. They are 4-1 against section opponents, with the one loss coming to the B-B-E Jaguars on January 16 in Sauk Centre.
Paynesville Area is the No. 4 seed and 12-15 overall; they are 4-4 against section opponents.
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 10-12 overall, is the No. 5 seed. They lost 37-36 to Paynesville in Paynesville on January 3.
BOLD is the No. 6 seed. They hold a 7-14 overall record and a 5-3 mark against section opponents.

**Here's a fun Blast from the Past...back to the 2012-2013 season. It was a memorable but bittersweet season for the B-B-E wrestling program. In October 2012, head coach Rich Vos was killed in an accident. He was extremely excited about that wrestling season, and he felt his Jaguars had a legitimate shot at a state tournament trip. His assessment was not wrong, and the Jaguars ultimately went 1-1 in the section and lost 35-27 in the section semifinals hosted in Belgrade. B-B-E finished 14-5 overall in what was their best season of the century to that point. The team that defeated the Jaguars, Kimball Area, then lost 34-27 to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in the section finals. A-C-GC went 2-1 at state that year, finishing in fifth place after losing 30-24 to Sibley East in the state quarterfinals. Click here (short link) for a blog post from the night of the section quarterfinals: https://bit.ly/2OsIRiD.

While I've got your attention...here's a web article posted online at the Bonanza Valley Voice website on the B-B-E Business Professionals of America team (short link) https://bit.ly/2UGIJA7. Coach Goodwin has done a remarkable job building up this group of students. They are on a good run with 10 students advancing to state! Bravo!!

Newspaper consolidation

Consolidation of the newspaper industry advanced in a huge way this week (short link): https://bit.ly/39aJEfZ. This is rather eye opening. This consolidation includes the Litchfield Independent Review and the Hutchinson Leader. This news is extremely unsettling and disturbing to see.

For many small town newspapers, times are tough. That is not the case everywhere, but when times get tough, the need to keep your doors open to continue serving your town outweighs your desire to continue operating as a locally-owned business. There's an obligation to keep the business alive, especially one that's been in your town for 100 or more years.

Look at these examples: the present-day Sauk Centre Herald was founded in 1880. It is still locally-owned by a group of families who live in the Sauk Centre area. The present-day Paynesville Press was founded in 1912 and is owned by the Jacobson family, who lives in Paynesville.

Meanwhile, the Hutchinson Leader was also founded in 1880, but it is now owned by Media News Group. This company was founded in 1983 and is based in Denver, Colorado. They also own the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

It's kind of crazy! Profits from the operation of Hutchinson's newspaper go to Denver, Colorado. Profits from the operation of Sauk Centre's newspaper remain in and near Sauk Centre.

Here in the Bonanza Valley, the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper is not going anywhere any time soon. Now in our 51st year of business under the third owner, the Voice was started from nothing in the fall of 1969 and - with a huge amount of sweat equity from its first two owners - developed into a strong small town newspaper. The second owner, Howard Johnson, had it for approximately 45 years and built a strong and loyal base of readers and advertisers. That strong base allowed the third owners (my family) to take risks and flex our muscle over the last five years. Most of those risks have paid off. We have extraordinarily high circulation in a town of 750 people (~1,600 readers each week).

We took a severe beating in 2019. Not gonna lie, it was ugly! But we are soldiering on with some very tremendous support by the local business community. The support in Brooten remains very, very strong - for which we are extremely blessed and grateful. We push forward!!

More to say on the topic, but now it is time to make this day productive!!! Time to conquer the day!

Third in a row

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won their third straight game by defeating visiting Swanville last night 84-45. They were led by a career-high 31 points from senior Jackson Peter.

Now 9-10 overall, the Jaguars host Holdingford (8-9, 4-4) tomorrow night (Thursday) in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouttes dance team will perform at halftime of the varsity game.

Area boys' basketball scores on February 4:
Milaca 78, Holdingford 47 (Holdingford's three-game winning streak is halted)
Moose Lake-Willow River 82, East Central 52
Pierz 65, Foley 46
Royalton 48, Staples-Motley 41
Braham 63, Ogilvie 50
Paynesville Area 74, Benson 68
Eden Valley-Watkins 85, St. John's Prep 46

Kimball Area 63, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 58

Dawson-Boyd 77, Ortonville 55
Pine River-Backus 86, Browerville 75
Osakis 59, Minnewaska Area 44
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 67, Montevideo 42
Nevis 49, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 48
Perham 67, St. Cloud Cathedral 62
West Central Area 59, Parkers Prairie 41
Hancock 78, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 51
Henning 102, Sebeka 37
Wadena-Deer Creek 59, Bertha-Hewitt 48
St. Cloud Apollo 73, Willmar 71 OT
Rush City 68, Barnum 62

Area girls' basketball scores on February 4:
Benson 72, Paynesville 52
Willmar 75, Alexandria 59
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 72, Nevis 27
New London-Spicer 51, Minnewaska Area 29

Brandon-Evansville 56, Ashby 39

Osakis 66, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 37
New York Mills 51, Verndale 41
Parkers Prairie 56, Browerville 31
Menahga 71, Bertha-Hewitt 20
Hancock 56, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 47
Holdingford 69, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 31

Maple Lake 46, Kimball Area 27
Rush City 61, Isle 41
MACCRAY 55, Dawson-Boyd 44
Lac qui Parle Valley 61, Yellow Medicine East 65


It took until tonight to post this small sports update after I took last night "off" from sports and blogging. This has occupied much of my energy lately - which sucks, that's all I can say about that! (short link) https://bit.ly/2GXqSwH.

The town of Brooten has been in the regional news this week...I'll ask people this, and I know that some will struggle to comply: "Don't blame the messenger."

I also have to confess: the raging inferno of a dumpster fire called the Iowa Democratic party has also distracted me over the past 48 hours. It's spectacular, breathtaking and hard to believe all at once.

Game updates

Taking the night off. This blog post will be updated in the morning.

Wrestling playoff information

Just confirmed.

The Section 5A playoff bracket/rankings will be released some time on Wednesday this week. Also, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team will host a Section 5A play-in round match and then a quarterfinal-round match on Tuesday, February 11 at the high school. (Time TBA)

The section quarterfinal winners will advance to the Section 5A Final Four, which will take place on Friday, February 14 at Minnewaska Area high school.

Monday night scores...and!

Area boys' basketball scores on February 3:
Holdingford 58, Kimball Area 43
Park Christian 92, Rothsay 66
MACCRAY 78, Renville County West 65
Redwood Valley 79, New London-Spicer 58
Lakeview 62, Montevideo 59 (OT...Lakeview had a turnaround last-second buzzer-beater on the baseline send the game into overtime)
Sauk Centre 86, St. Cloud Cathedral 82
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 58, Ortonville 47
Maple Lake 74, Spectrum 68
Eden Valley-Watkins 59, Glencoe-Silver Lake 48
Hancock 53, Underwood 33
Central MN Christian 83, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 57

Area girls' basketball scores on February 3:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 69, Minnewaska Area 43
Royalton 62, Paynesville Area 36
MACCRAY 49, Renville County West 42
Central MN Christian 53, K-M-S 39
Sauk Centre 71, Montevideo 35


And meanwhile...down in Iowa, the dumpster fire that is the 2020 Democratic party is hard at work coming up with a "damage control" plan as they see Bernie Sanders run away with first place. Joe Biden, meanwhile, is suffering a crushing defeat.

Someone pass the popcorn...extra butter, please!

*Waking up Tuesday morning we see...nothing! Still nothing in Iowa. It is a glorified dumpster fire. It is a clear example of the dangers of centralized power. 

(VIDEO) Dairy crisis meeting

On Thursday, I spent a little over two hours at the Greenwald Pub at a dairy crisis meeting. It was hosted by Land Stewardship Project. I don't think it has to be stated too loudly for most people to understand: if we have more and not fewer farmers living and working on the land, our rural communities will be better off.

Below is a video from near the beginning of the meeting featuring three different speakers explaining what would be discussed that day.


One farmer spoke about his strong frustration at how large agribusiness co-ops are taking advantage of farmers. You can listen to what he said by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website (short link): https://bit.ly/2GPfP8u.

Look for at least one feature story on the dairy crisis meeting in the February 6 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. More to follow this afternoon.

In other news, today is Super Bowl Sunday if you hadn't heard. While I have considerably more important things to do tonight (like working and generating an income) than watch an NFL game, I want to share a pizza special at RJs Mini-Mart in Brooten. This special has been in place all weekend, actually...with a purchase of any large pizza, you can get a second one of equal or lesser value at half price. A medium one-topping pizza is $9.99 each, and a 12-piece of broasted chicken is $12.99. Bone-in wings are $8.99 for a dozen (sauces: buffalo, BBQ, teriyaki, sweet chili or garlic parmesan). RJs in Brooten will be open until 10 p.m. tonight (usual closing time is 8 p.m. on Sundays).

Saturday action

Here's video from the 145-pound match featuring Canon Swanson during the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City dual on Thursday night:


Today we have a home youth wrestling tournament that started at 10:30 a.m. at the elementary school. This afternoon we have JV and varsity girls' and boys' basketball games at the high school against Browerville. The games will be aired on the radio station of 107.1 FM.

Today's games are part of the Coaches vs. Cancer series. A special presentation takes place on this between the two varsity games.

In the J.V. boys' basketball game, the Jaguars won 51-47 in overtime.

*Update: in the varsity girls' basketball game, the Jaguars are ahead 37-16 at halftime.

**Update in the girls' varsity game: with 10 minutes left, the Jaguars have a 55 to 25 lead.

Final: B-B-E girls' basketball 68, Browerville 34. The Tigers fall to 8-9 overall. They are currently leading the Prairie Conference with a 6-1 mark. The Jaguars improve to 12-8 overall.

*Boys' varsity update: with 3:30 left in the first half, the Jaguars are ahead 34-30.

Halftime: B-B-E boys' basketball 39, Browerville 36.

Final: B-B-E boys' basketball 76, Browerville 53. The Jaguars scored 37 second-half points. They improve to 8-10 overall. The Tigers fall to 8-6 overall. Going into the game, Browerville was ranked No. 4 in the Sub-Section 5A-West standings, one spot ahead of the Jaguars.

*Below, here's video from the end of the home boys' basketball game last Tuesday night: