March (and March Madness) is here

This will be updated through the day Sunday...

From the top...

The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team opens Section 5A playoffs on Wednesday, March 10 on the home mats. They are seeded No. 2 and have a first-round bye. The Section 5A field includes only six teams. The teams seeded No. 3 to No. 6 will wrestle off for the right to advance to the semifinals. B-B-E will begin on Wednesday night against either No. 3 Minnewaska Area or No. 6 Paynesville Area. The Lakers and Bulldogs square off in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at B-B-E high school. The winner then faces the Jaguars that same night and location.

It is estimated that the B-B-E wrestling team won't start their semifinal match until closer to 6:30 p.m., regardless of the first event. The event will be live streamed online.

You can save the following link, as the live stream is already set up for that night = https://youtu.be/3n9gs__0QS0.

If B-B-E wins, they advance to Saturday, March 13 for the next two rounds of playoffs.

Not making the playoffs in Section 5A were BOLD (4-18), Quad County (7-20), Osakis (2-25) and Ortonville (4-21).

Section 5A playoff seeding for 2021:

1. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville (25-1)

2. B-B-E (26-3)

3. Minnewaska Area (20-6)

4. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (24-6)

5. Benson (13-14)

6. Paynesville Area (7-17)

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, the runners-up this year in the Central Minnesota Conference, is the No. 1 seed in Section 4A with a 22-3 record. Kimball Area, the third-place team in the CMC, is the No. 2 seed in Section 4A with a 20-4 record.

Over in Section 6A, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie (24-7) is the No. 1 seed, while West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville (23-4) is the No. 2 seed. Both of those teams are heavy favorites to get into the section championship, which will be combined in a Super Regional-style event on Saturday, March 13. The teams who advance out of their respective section semifinals will compete in their respective section championship, and those two matches (Section 5A and 6A) will take place at West Central Area high school in Barrett.

Many have asked me about basketball playoffs, and they will start the following week with girls' basketball on Wednesday, March 17. Both basketball teams host games tomorrow night.

Keep in mind: COVID restrictions could shut it all down. I even hate saying that, but it's reality and can't be far from our minds. Today's Minnesota Department of Health test positive rate reported to the media is 3.14 percent, which is below what they call the "caution threshold" of five percent. COVID-19 has not gone away, but the "spread" is at a level that is allowing most activities to take place. This is in our favor.

I never got this up last week and wanted to. It's from worship at West Lake Johanna Lutheran church on February 28. Pastor Steve gave a wonderful Lenten season-themed sermon.

The sermon begins right at the 3:00 mark.

I really enjoyed attending Sunburg Free Lutheran church this morning. Pastor Ron Knutson gave a terrific sermon! He is a 1958 Brooten high school graduate. He played three seasons of Brooten Buccaneer football in high school, mainly at the fullback position. Knutson was captain of the team for the 1957 season. His story was published in the September 3, 2020 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Today we are seeing a high of 62 degrees in Brooten! Wow! If you're not outside, get outside! Go out! Get out there!  

Go

Out

Side!

Here's video from Parents/Seniors night for the wrestling team...back on February 19.