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.
