Let's get more buzz going around our state-bound B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, who won the Section 5A championship for the fourth straight year this past Saturday in Minneota. This is the definition of awesome!
Here's a video featuring action at 172, 189 and 215 pounds against Paynesville Area in Saturday's semifinal round at Minneota:
B-B-E opens the state tournament at 11 a.m. on Thursday, February 29 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. As of tonight, I do not see state seedings posted.
As seen in other section tournaments, being the top seed or even the No. 2 seed is no guarantee of success. Even in our Section 5A, higher seeds fell in the quarterfinals, and the Jaguars ultimately took out the top seed by a healthy margin in the finals on Saturday. In Section 7A, Holdingford has had two state-tournament caliber teams fall in the section tournament last year and this year. The Huskers went 33-8 overall last year but lost in the section semis. This year they had a 36-3 record going into the Section 7A championship, but Staples-Motley defeated them 32-25 to go to state.
In girls' basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team (15-10) finishes the regular season with a border battle tomorrow night at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. The Fighting Saints won the Camden North Conference title with two narrow victories over an outstanding Central Minnesota Christian squad from Prinsburg. The Bluejays finished the Camden North in second place and are poised to earn the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 3A-North behind defending Section 3A champion Minneota. K-M-S, meanwhile, looks like they should grab the No. 3 seed in a very tough Sub-Section 3AA-North. Ahead of them will be state-ranked New London-Spicer and then Minnewaska Area. K-M-S has an edge on Paynesville Area with a 70-39 win over the Bulldogs back on January 12. Paynesville Area has been playing remarkably better lately than they were in January, so I would not count them out. A second-round match up with bordering rival NL-S would be a tall task.
Here's a video from February 8 against Eden Valley-Watkins:
Tomorrow's trip to K-M-S marks the end of the regular season and the seasons of our very successful JV and C-squad girls' basketball teams. For our varsity Jaguars, tomorrow's game marks a huge opportunity to show if they are up to the task of blazing through the Section 5A tournament. That will be a tall task with two state-ranked teams sitting above them just in our Sub-Section 5A-East standings.
On a much, much sadder note...
I am grappling with the terrible, awful news from Burnsville about the two police officers and one medical responder who were murdered by a total and complete scumbag (Shannon Gooden was his name, and he apparently shot himself after murdering three men). This is a profound tragedy for Minnesota. I have countless good friends in this state who are police officers, fire fighters and EMT responders. It is heartbreaking to know that in one incident, three such people were gunned down by a total and complete maniac who was banned from owning firearms. He had no right to own guns, yet he got them anyway thanks to the pathetic, toothless justice system in Minnesota.
I digress.
