extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Friday, February 27, 2026
GOOD TIMES! Jensen heading to the 'Ship! Boys' hoops thrash Arrows (VIDEOS)
Don't look now! B-B-E freshman Noah Jensen is championship bound! He wrestled a marvelous match, he was outstanding, in tonight's Class 1A 114-pound state semifinal at Grand Casino Arena. Jensen has been ranked No. 2 in The Guillotine polls all season, and today he lived up to that by defeating Pelican Rapids senior Danny Salazar by a 4-1 decision in a sudden victory overtime period.
For Jensen, he now heads to the medals round at state, which starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday. In the championship, Jensen faces top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Liam Sommer, a sophomore from Kenyon-Wanamingo with a 47-1 record. It will be a match that the wrestling scene has been looking forward to all season.
Here's a video featuring Noah winning in his state opener on Thursday:
He's now guaranteed first or second place in his third overall state tournament. As a seventh grader, he wrestled at 107 pounds for the Jaguars when they took third place as a team in 2024.
In basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team takes a 14-11 record into the Section 6A playoffs after defeating Ashby 81-50 tonight on the home court. It was the final home game for five seniors: Cameron Loe, Jesse Niklaus, Owen Roering, Taylor Pieper and Aiden Radermacher.
The Jaguars shot 47 percent from the floor while making 8 of 30 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Jaguars made 7 out of 8 shots. Leading the way was Taylor Pieper with 27 points, and Hudson Reed had 15 points. Aiden Radermacher also had a fine game with 13 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.
Here's a video from the middle of the second half tonight:
In Section 6A, it appears the Jaguars will not be included in the play-in round, which will be on Monday next week. The Jaguars are currently ranked No. 9 out of 22 teams, and this lands them a spot in the section quarterfinals. The Section 6A quarterfinal round will be next Thursday, March 5.
The Jaguars took third place alone in the Central Minnesota Conference with a 7-6 record. Royalton and Eden Valley-Watkins each tied for fourth place with 7-7 records. In first place, we had a tie this season for the CMC title, as Holdingford and Paynesville Area each went 13-1 while splitting the series against one another. To close out the regular season, Holdingford defeated Kimball Area 100-85 tonight at Kimball.
Area boys' basketball scores on February 27:
Melrose Area 58, Sauk Centre 49 (the Dutchmen clinch third place in the West Central Conference and completed the series sweep against the neighboring rival Mainstreeters)
Parkers Prairie 66, Bertha-Hewitt 49
Montevideo 72, Redwood Valley 42
West Central Area 63, Border West 53
St. Cloud Apollo 68, Willmar 66
Area boys' basketball playoff scores on February 27:
New London-Spicer 60, Paynesville Area 55
Litchfield 74, Eden Valley-Watkins 57
Minnewaska Area 61, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 54
Noah Jensen won his state quarterfinal match today at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. He wrestles again later in the semifinals. In his match this morning, Jensen won by fall (2:34).
In the 114 semis, Jensen faces senior Danny Salazar of Pelican Rapids. That session begins at 4 p.m. today. As for when Jensen's semifinal match will take place, I have no idea. The sessions start with Class 3A wrestlers, and they're followed by the Class 2A field and then Class 1A.
Friday afternoon updates...
Elizabeth Rademacher is wrestling this afternoon in the 130-pound wrestlebacks. Rademacher's opponent is St. Croix Lutheran senior Amelia Converse (14-5). As of 2 p.m., her match hasn't started yet. The match will take place on Mat 7. As of 3 p.m., it has not taken place, but Rademacher is in the queue.
UPDATE on Friday afternoon:
In a crushing loss, Elizabeth Rademacher lost a 2-1 decision in the third tiebreaker to see her season close out at the state tournament. She finishes a terrific sophomore season with a 33-12 record.
Here's how Rademacher's state match played out...
With 1:37 left, Rademacher earned an escape to take a 1-0 lead. Early in the third period, with 1:51 left, Converse got an escape to tie it at 1-1.
Two choice tiebreakers went by without any scoring. In the next tiebreaker, Converse got an escape with 6 seconds to go to claim the 2-1 win.
ONCE again...a friendly reminder! The B-B-E Knights of Columbus will host their first Lenten season fish fry tonight, Friday, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the KaDe Shack. This is an all-you-can eat meal! Please spread the word and come out and support a great organization. Our communities would not be what they are today without our local civic groups. They need your support.
COMING tomorrow...
The Belgrade Lions chili cook-off is tomorrow. You can read all those details here: LionsChiliContest2024. This event is in support of the B-B-E Area Food Shelf. Please, please! I am talking until I'm blue in the face...come out and show your support for our local groups like the K of Cs and the Lions.
Friday evening update...as of 5:30 p.m., Jensen's semifinal match hasn't taken place.
**Update: Noah Jensen is heading to the championship match! He won a 4-1 sudden victory overtime decision in the semifinals.
At halftime in Brooten, the boys' basketball team is ahead 40-25 over Ashby.
Noah Jensen outside the competition floor at Grand Casina Arena in St. Paul this morning.
Shortly after 11 a.m. today, the Class 2A individual matches are near the middle weights at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul.
For B-B-E freshman Noah Jensen, he is about to begin the third Class 1A state wrestling tournament of his career. For the second straight year, Jensen will compete in the individual tournament. Last season, Jensen placed 3rd at the 107-pound bracket. This season, he has been in the No. 2 spot in the Top 10 of 114 pounds this whole season in The Guillotine rankings. Currently, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 114 is sophomore Liam Sommer of Kenyon-Wanamingo. Sommer is the top seed in the bracket and has a 44-1 overall record.
In Jensen's state bracket this year, he is first paired for the opening match with eighth grader Rylan Moritz (32-8) of Aitkin. Jensen has a 42-3 overall record as the Section 5A champion. I'm guessing shortly after 12 p.m., he'll be preparing to take the mat for the Round of 16
In the girls' wrestling tournament...
B-B-E sophomore Elizabeth Rademacher is competing today in the state girls' individual tournament. Rademacher is having a tremendous sophomore season and takes a 33-10 record into her first state tournament. He is paired against the No. 2-ranked wrestler, senior Lauren Elsmore of Pine Island. Elsmore is 32-5 overall.
While you're in the mood to read, you can also take in a video clip from West Lake Johanna Lutheran church. Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website for more: WestLakeJohannaChurch.
**STATE UPDATE: Noah Jensen won by a 17-1 tech fall early in the 3rd period in his state opener! Jensen will face a sophomore from Goodhue in his semifinal match, which takes place tomorrow. The Goodhue wrestler won by fall in his opener.
Here's a video from the first period of Noah's match:
In other lower-weight state matches, two upset losses occurred with neighboring wrestlers. Benson's Max Nygaard lost a tough 9-5 decision at 139 to a fellow senior from Jackson County Central. Also, Paynesville's Jamison Meagher, the No. 2 seed at 121, lost his state opener by a 6-3 decision to a fellow sophomore from Westfield.
In the girls' division, Rademacher we'll be wrestling in her state opener sometime after 2 p.m.
**Update: Rademacher lost by fall late in the second period. Her opponent from Pine Island was a state champion last year. Rademacher wrestled very well, and the score after the first period was 3-0.
What's coming tomorrow...
Both Jensen and Rademacher will wrestle tomorrow at Grand Casino Arena during the 9 a.m. round of action. Those matches begin with Class 3A male athletes, and then it goes to Class 2A and Class 1A. The girls' wrestlers follow the Class 1A boys. Both the state quarterfinals and wrestlebacks take place at the 9 a.m. session.
Jensen will be in the 114-pound state quarterfinals. His opponent from Goodhue is sophomore Arlyn von Knobelsdorf, who holds a record of 23-4 and is ranked No. 6 in The Guillotine Top 10 polls.
Rademacher will be in the win-or-go-home wrestlebacks. Her opponent will be senior Amelia Converse of St. Croix Lutheran, who has a 14-5 record this season.
The individual state semifinals plus additional rounds of wrestleback matches take place on Friday night.
After supper, it's time to shift gears to basketball!
The Class 1A state individual wrestling tournament begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. Two members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team will compete. In the girls' division, sophomore Elizabeth Rademacher competes in her first state tournament in the 130-pound bracket. She has the tough draw of facing the No. 2 seed in the field, which is a one-class format. For the boys' tournament, which has 3 classes, B-B-E freshman Noah Jensen will compete in Class 1A in his third overall state tournament. As a seventh grader, Jensen wrestled at 107 pounds for B-B-E's 3rd place finisher in 2024. Last season, Jensen wrestled in the individual tournament and placed 3rd at 107.
In college basketball news...
The University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars men's basketball team is heading to a National qualifier after they defeated visiting Crown College 85-79 tonight in Morris. The game was a semifinal in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) playoffs. With a berth in the UMAC championship, the Cougars have a chance to advance to the Division III National Tournament. Against Crown College tonight, B-B-E's Kaden Pieper scored 20 points after being held to just 4 points in the first half. For periods of the second half, Pieper put the team on his back while the team's leading scorer, Carvin Fish, was attracting the teeth of Crown's defense. UMM overcame a 43-33 halftime deficit to improve to 14-13 overall. Fish finished the game with a career-high 42 points.
With under 16 minutes left in the game, Crown expanded their lead to 52-38. With 7 minutes to go, the deficit shrank to 66-64. Finally, with 3:27 to go, Pieper drained a step-back three-pointer with only 4 seconds on the shot clock to lift the Cougars on top 73-71.
Pieper, a 2023 B-B-E graduate, shot 53 percent on field goals to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 blocked shots.
Other information is forthcoming.
**Thursday update: Noah Jensen should be on the mat between 11:30 and noon. By 10:30, the Class 3A individual matches are wrapping up. **A NEW blog post will feature state wrestling updates.
One more to state wrestling; girls' basketball earns No. 2 seed
At Canby high school today, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling teamhad individual Section 5A competition underway starting at 10 a.m. Once the dust settled, freshman Noah Jensen earned his second trip to the state tournament by winning the 114-pound title. At 139, freshman Noah DeRoo took third place as the other high finisher for the Jaguars. Two additional freshmen, McCoy Detloff and Jace Mueller, each placed 5th.
At state last year at 107 pounds, Jensen took third place and finished 39-8. He was the only underclassmen member of last year's Jaguars to compete at state. Jensen joins Elizabeth Rademacher in the state trip, as she won the 130-pound girls' Section 5 title on February 7 at St. Michael-Albertville high school.
In basketball news...
The Sub-Section 5A-East rankings show the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team as the No. 2 team out of a field of 8 schools. Braham has the top seed for the playoffs that begin on Thursday, February 26. The Jaguars have an 18-8 record and will host Mille Lacs in their quarterfinal game in Belgrade on the 26th. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Swanville, the Prairie Conference champions, earned the No. 3 seed with a 14-11 record.
Wrestlers host Parents Night and quadrangular (VIDEOS)
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team fell in three duals on Thursday night on the home mats. They hold a 2-16 record heading into the final matches of the regular season. In their final dual, the Jaguars held a 33-18 lead against Royalton/Upsala. Giving up four forfeits at the end gave Royalton/Upsala a 42-33 win.
Here's video recorded during the A-C-GC match:
More to come later in the day on Friday with more to this blog post. I'll be in Brooklyn Park at the Minnesota Newspaper Association state convention.
In basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a huge game coming tonight, Friday, when they travel to Kimball Area for a big Central Minnesota Conference game. The Cubs are one game out of first place behind the 9-0 Jaguars in the league standings. Also tied for second is Royalton, who travels to B-B-E high school next Friday, February 6.
Here's a video from early in the 2nd half against A-C-GC on Tuesday night:
I'm gathering results from the Camden Conference dance championships that were held in Granite Falls last night.
Once I fire up my editor's blog, I'll have notes to share from the newspaper convention later this morning.
And finally...here's my editor's blog post with notes provided from Brooklyn Park today: MNAconvention2026.
Noah Jensen's championship finish at 114 pounds helped lead the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team to earn 5th place tonight at their home invitational. A total of 10 teams plus B-B-E were in attendance. B-B-E had 106 team points, which put them ahead of Pipestone Area, who finished 6th with 78.5 points. In fourth was Osakis with 123 points. Watertown-Mayer/Mayer-Lutheran won the team title with 254 points.
In the 114-pound finals, Jensen won by fall (1:17) against WM/ML's Blake Brose.
At 133 pounds, Jude Oeltjenbruns had a strong finish to his night by earning a pin (1:06) in the fifth-place match against Sibley East's Alex Thomes.
At 139 pounds, Noah DeRoo took second place.
At 145 pounds, Jace Mueller took second place.
At 160, Aiden Mueller finished in third place with a thrilling win by an 11-10 decision in his final match of the night. His opponent was senior Jacob Hidalgo of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville. In the opening seconds of the second period, Aiden fell behind 7-1. In the closing seconds of that period, he pulled in front by an 8-7 score with 4 near-fall points.
Here's a video featuring a large portion of Aiden Mueller's final match of the night:
Next: the wrestling team travels to Minneota for a triangular next Thursday, January 8. The third team included is Canby.
And a quick update on today's Highway 71 car crash...the vehicles were from out of our area. The accident claimed at least one life. I do not have confirmation on whether or not a second person died. It appears that it was a head-on type crash right at the gentle curve of Highway 71 located 3 miles south of Elrosa.
Additional updates and video will be added to this blog post on Saturday morning.
Area boys' basketball scores on January 2:
Braham 74, Upsala 66
Ashby 84, Floodwood 29
Park Christian 64, Rothsay 42
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 73, Paynesville Area 71
Area girls' basketball scores on January 2:
Henning 75, Ortonville 25
Braham 68, Upsala 34
K-M-S 69, Paynesville Area 26
Sauk Centre 71, Holdingford 34
Aitkin 53, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 44
To kick off 2026, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa high school will host the Jaguar Invitational today, Friday, January 2 at 2:30 p.m. Teams invited include Watertown-Mayer, Sibley East, Red Rock Central, Pipestone Area, Ottertail Central, Osakis, Marshall, Milaca, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville and Eden Valley-Watkins.
My wrestling blogging was interrupted this evening with word of a serious accident on Highway 71 right north of the County Road 175 intersection. I know that Kurt and Michelle Herickhoff and kids are all okay. None of them were involved in the crash. It appears that it was a violent, head-on crash. Not good.
The finals tonight will get going around 7:30 p.m. Jace Mueller will go for 1st place at 145, Noah DeRoo will go for 1st at 139.
UPDATES:
At 114, Noah Jensen took first place with a pin in the finals.
Wrestling is home, boys' basketball is home (RADIO, UPDATES)
On a frigid, sub-zero evening, we have home cooking for two varsity teams.
At the high school, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling teamis trailing Paynesville Area 45-11 after the 189-pound match is complete. The Jaguars are hosting a Central Minnesota Conference triangular that also includes Kimball Area.
In girls' basketball action...
The Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons are hosting the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team in a CMC game. The varsity game started at 5:30 p.m. That game is being broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Through 7 minutes, the Falcons are on a 10-0 run and hold an 11-4 lead in the first half.
With 9 minutes to go, the Falcons are ahead 16-10.
Halftime: with Kacey Fischer and Mya Worms playing through early foul trouble, the Jaguars hold a 24-23 lead at the break. Halftime started at 6:12 p.m. Kamie Fischer is leading the Jaguars with 7 points and 3 rebounds.
Final: B-B-E girls' basketball 67, A-C-GC 46. The Jaguars are 4-1 overall.
Also at home tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is hosting Upsala in non-conference action. The JV boys defeated the Cardinals by single digits. In the varsity game, the Jaguars led 28-17 at halftime.
Jaguar wrestlers defeat BOLD, Quad County; girls' basketball wins at Eden Valley (VIDEO)
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is hosting a quadrangular at the high school tonight. In one of their duals, they defeated BOLD 39-36.
In the second-to-last dual of the night, Wabasso defeated Quad County 42-26.
The quadrangular concludes with the Jaguars facing Quad County (MACCRAY/Renville County West/Yellow Medicine East co-op).
Final score in the final dual: B-B-E 48, Quad County 24. They are 2-1 overall to start the dual campaign, which is remarkable with only 2 seniors on the roster.
Here's a video from the BOLD dual at 172 pounds:
Aiden Mueller won that match by a 10-8 decision.
Next for the wrestlers: the Jaguars travel to Parkers Prairie on Thursday this week for a triangular with Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and Parkers Prairie/Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale. Action in Ottertail County begins at 5 p.m.
In basketball news...
For their season opener, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a 41-25 lead at halftime at Eden Valley-Watkins.
At Minnewaska Area, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team trails 13-2 with just over 13 minutes to go. The Lakers have scored 13 straight points. Coach Rambow has called his first timeout. Later in the first half, the Lakers have opened up a 24-10 lead with 6 minutes to go.
At halftime: the Jaguars fought like mad in the final minutes and closed the gap to a 28-16 score at the break in Pope County.
Later in the evening...
In their season and Central Minnesota Conference opener, the girls' basketball team defeated Eden Valley-Watkins on the road by a score of 63-43. Now they can put revenge on their minds when they travel to Upsala on Thursday this week for a non-conference game. The Cardinals earned an upset victory in last year's subsection semifinals over the Jaguars.
Tiffany Dingmann had a career-high 14 points to lead the Jaguars, who shot a respectable 37 percent on field goals while overcoming cold 50 percent free throw shooting. Overall, a total of 8 Jaguars found the scoring column. Two other Jaguar were in double figures: Teagan Dingmann with 13 and Kacey Fischer with 11.
A home quadrangular is coming for the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, who hosts three teams with action starting at 5 p.m. The teams include Quad County, Wabasso and BOLD. In the preseason Guillotine rankings, Section 5A has 3 teams ranked in the Top 10: Minneota, Canby and Paynesville Area. The Jaguars hold a spot in the Lean and Mean rankings along with fellow section teams Benson and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.
For individual state rankings, the Jaguars open the season with just one ranked wrestler: freshman Noah Jensen at 121 pounds.
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team opens their season on Tuesday with a Central Minnesota Conference game at Eden Valley-Watkins. This is the first time in a generation or more that the girls' basketball team has a season opener against a conference opponent.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team begins their season on Tuesday with a border battle at Minnewaska Area.
Now you're caught up.
In the varsity wrestling quad...
The B-B-E Jaguars opened up the evening by facing Wabasso at 5 p.m. Later in the varsity match against the Rabbits, the Jaguars trail 24-15 after Noah DeRoo won a 7-2 decision at 145 pounds.
Step II: semifinals is a bust, Jaguars suffer brutal loss; more state wresting success (VIDEO)
Note: video was added late Saturday night to this blog post...
First, I'll start off with the great news.
At the state wrestling tournament: Noah Jensen finished one of the most spectacular 8th grade wrestling seasons at B-B-E by winning a 17-0 tech fall (4:41) in the 107-pound third-place match. With that, he gains a small level of "bragging rights" against his big brother, Tyler, who also had a wonderful 8th grade wrestling season before finishing in 6th place at the state tournament. Tyler Jensen was a 2022 B-B-E graduate.
At 160, Brett DeRoo won an 11-5 decision in the consolation bracket to advance to the third-place match. DeRoo (41-3) faces Holdingford junior Simon Boeckman (44-8) in the third-place match.
More good news: Olive Olson earned a berth in the finals round in Humorous at the Chatfield speech invitational today. Olson ultimately placed 6th overall. In Great Speeches, Tia Nelson took second place with another berth in the finals. The B-B-E speech team left Chatfield at about 5:00 p.m. to head back to Jaguar Country.
Back to state wrestling news: Brett DeRoo finished a spectacular season as a Jaguar wrestler with a fourth-placee finish at 160 pounds at the state tournament. He lost by a 2-0 decision in the third-place match tonight with a final season record of 41-4.
At 215 pounds, Carson Gilbert meets United North Central sophomore Eli Roiko (35-4) in the championship match that comes later tonight at Xcel Energy Center.
In girls' basketball playoff news...heartbreak in Hinckley
In my humble opinion, the game was lost in the first 6 minutes of the opening half. It was tough to watch, as Upsala attacked the rim with a high level of intensity on offense while using their defense to push the tempo. Facing the No. 3-seeded Cardinals for the second time this season, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team struggled nearly the entire game and came up short in a devastating 54-51 loss in the Sub-Section 5A-East semifinals.
Upsala's fast start helped them build early leads of 12-4 (with just over 6 minutes played) and later 17-10 (with 9:39 left).
Before the game, news had just been released that Region 5A officials moved the site for the upcoming subsection championship game from Hinckley to Foley high school. It was a terrific prize for either Upsala or B-B-E, but it required winning today's game to get that prize.
Here's a video from the first half today in Hinckley:
In that video, the clip begins right after Upsala scored in the paint with 5:15 left. This gave the Cardinals a 20-17 lead. Across the first 6 minutes, Upsala built a 12-4 lead, but the Jaguars clawed their way back to trail 18-17 when Macey Roering went 1-of-2 at the free throw line with 5:33 to go.
It was not meant to be for the Jaguars, who had an outstanding season from the outer view with a 19-9 final season record, a runner-up finish in the Central Minnesota Conference and a 2-0 record at the Granite City Classic over Christmas. This was all achieved with just 3 seniors on the roster and just 2 senior starters. However, earning playoff hardware was not in the cards. Upsala played a terrific game from start to finish and withstood an incredible second-half comeback by the Jaguars.
With 11:45 left, Upsala led 41-27 and appeared firmly in the driver's seat. The Jaguars slowly chipped away, and they tied it at 48-48 on two free throws by Kacey Fischer with 1:43 left. With under 1 minute to go, Teagan Dingmann's three-pointer forced a 51-51 tie, but the Cardinals won the game on a banked three-pointer by senior guard Isabel Ripplinger on the left wing with 23 seconds to go.
Upsala (19-9) advances to the subsection finals to face top-seeded Braham (22-6) next Tuesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. at Foley high school. Upsala has 6 seniors on the roster, and they earned a huge feat by getting Upsala into a playoff championship game for the first time in many years. (I'll look that up later.) This is all I have for now, as my laptop battery is nearing the end of its charge. This blog post will be updated again at about 7 p.m.
In Class 1A state wrestling news...the Jaguars have another state champion in the program. Carson Gilbert won by a 6-5 decision in the 215-pound state championship tonight to finish a perfect 42-0 overall. He's the third B-B-E wrestler to have an undefeated season, joining Adam Jaeger (2018) and Maximus Hanson (2024).
Gilbert trailed 4-2 after the first period but took the lead with a takedown with just 20 seconds remaining in the third period. The 3 points awarded at that point gave him a 6-5 lead.
In college basketball news...
Earlier today in the NJCAA Division III Region 13B tournament, Northland Technical and Community College (21-4) defeated St. Cloud Technical and Community College 70-49 to advance to tomorrow's national-qualifying championship game. The Pioneers, who include B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer, face Rochester Community and Technical College (20-4) tomorrow on back Northland's home court at noon in Thief River Falls. The winner gets an automatic berth in the NJCAA DIII national tournament.
The STCC Cyclones finish 11-13 overall after earning a region playoff berth for the first time since 2020 and just the third time in program history. They were led this season by B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Brooklyn Fischer.
Schwinghammer and fellow sophomore Josie Iverson each scored 16 points to lead the No. 3-ranked Pioneers, who are the top seed in Region 13A. Also in the scorebox for Schwinghammer: 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots.
In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate College conference tournament quarterfinals in Sioux Falls, the Minnesota State University-Moorhead Dragons women's basketball team lot 87-79 to top-seeded Southwest Minnesota State University. MSU-Moorhead finishes 14-16 overall after they went 11-11 in the NSIC regular season. B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Abby Berge scored 13 points with 6 rebounds for the Dragons.
Ridgewater College lost 74-53 to Minnesota West Community College in the Region 13A semifinals today in Thief River Falls. The Warriors, whose roster includes B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Grace Jackson, went 4-20 overall this season.
Area girls' basketball playoff scores on March 1:
Sauk Centre 68, Foley 48
Breckenridge 66, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 49
Annandale 58, Osakis 57
West Central Area 62, Hancock 57
Underwood 60, New York Mills 53
Royalton 49, Albany 43
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 69, Sebeka 30
Bertha-Hewitt 61, Pine River-Backus 46
Fergus Falls 59, Willmar 47
A big day lies ahead with postseason action taking place in Hinckley and St. Paul.
MAJOR afternoon update...Region 5A officials have already changed the venue (site) for Tuesday's subsection championship game to Foley high school. This is wonderful!!!! Now we have to get there!
At Xcel Energy Center, three members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team compete for hardware at the Class 1A individual state wrestling tournament. Noah Jensen at 107 pounds can battle back for as high as third place, while Brett DeRoo (160) and Carson Gilbert (215) are both in contention for state titles.
And shifting gears to basketball...
Coach Austin Rambow reported that the seeding for Section 6A has to be completed by 10 a.m. today. Shortly after 10 a.m., we should know the final seedings and the schedule for next week's boys' basketball playoffs.
UPDATE in the afternoon: please spread the word! Both local radio stations will carry today's playoff game in Hinckley. Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood (107.1 FM) also streams online with Brady Erdmann's coverage: https://www.kmgk1071.com. Also! Out of Norway Lake-Sunburg, 106.5 FM The Train will carry the game. Bill Dean's radio coverage can be heard online at: https://www.willmarradio.com/the_train.
Here's a video from Royalton on February 18:
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team faces Upsala in the sub-section semifinals today after an obnoxious, ridiculous 2 1/2-hour drive to face Upsala at Hinckley-Finlayson high school. For what it's worth, Upsala also has an extensive drive, but they have the "luxury" of not being forced to drive through the 83 stoplights of the St. Cloud Metropolitan area. The Upsala team and fans have about a 100-minute-long drive to go 89 miles. The drive for us is 120 miles and at least 150 minutes of driving.
MEANWHILE...Braham, the top seed with a 21-5 overall record, has just 26 miles to drive to play today's game. Braham faces No. 5-seeded Swanville (13-12) at 12 p.m. in Hinckley. Swanville has to travel 99 miles with what is about a 2-hour long drive that includes traveling through Little Falls. That would be a challening drive to complete in under 120 minutes. THINK about it: Braham has a 30-minute drive time today, while Swanville has a 120-minute drive. The playoff site of Hinckley-Finlayson high school creates one of the most over-the-top terrible decisions I've seen in over 20 years of sports reporting by the powers-that-be who create the playoff brackets. This is far and away a "Top 5" bad decision in anything I've seen. It's absolutely wild that officials did not seek out a site that's at a minimum closer to St. Cloud. There's "fair" and there's "wrong" and this is wrong!
Upsala has a roster that includes "lights out" good players such as Dakota Soltis, who can go off for 20+ points if she gets on a tear. The Cardinals are 18-9 overall while having one of their better girls' basketball seasons in school history. They have earned great success in fastpitch softball in the past 3 years, and this year's girls' basketball team includes players with extensive state fastpitch tournament experience (2022 state appearance and then 4th at state in 2023). Last spring, Upsala went 17-7 overall and finished third in Section 6A after going 6 games deep in the postseason. In fastpitch softball, Upsala's team has played in 21 postseason games in the last 3 years. In the Prairie Conference, Upsala's fastpitch team tied with Swanville for the title last spring, and the Cardinals earned solo Prairie titles in their state tournament seasons of 2022 and 2023.
UPDATE:you can listen to the Braham vs. Swanville girls' basketball playoff game (noon tip-off) by clicking here to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_X5SIFp43A. After Swanville took a 2-0 lead, they committed three straight turnovers while facing Braham's fullcourt press. The Bombers then racked up 5 team fouls in the game's first 3 minutes, but they have a 5-4 lead.
With 14 minutes to go in the first half, the Bombers had 5 team fouls, and Swanville was tagged with their first team foul. Braham led 7-6 at that point. The underdog Bulldogs clearly came to play! It will be interesting to see how they fare against Braham's fullcourt pressure.
UPDATE at state wrestling! Noah Jensen (37-8) won a 20-8 major decision this morning against Pipestone Area freshman Lane Fruechte (34-7) to advance to the consolation bracket semifinals. Additional updates to follow here after 11 a.m. Update: Noah's next opponent will be Chatfield freshman Jameson Priebe, the bracket's No. 2 seed. Priebe is 40-3 going into this match.
Brett DeRoo's semifinal match should start sometime after 12 p.m.
Afternoon update: Brett DeRoo lost a tough one in his state semifinal match by a 7-1 decision to the bracket's No. 2 seed. He will battle in the consolation bracket and try to fight back to take third place at 160. DeRoo faces Canby senior Blake Giese in his consolation semifinal match.
In his 215-pound semifinal, Carson Gilbert won a 7-2 decision to advance to the state finals.
At 107, Noah Jensen won a 14-7 decision to advance to the third-place match at state. It's a grand achievement for the 8th grader in his first appearance at the individual state tournament!
BASKETBALL UPDATE:Braham defeated Swanville 67-58 in overtime to advance to the subsection finals. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 53-53. I've got extensive game notes to post tonight from that game. The B-B-E vs. Upsala game should get started at about 2:10 p.m. in Hinckley. Updates to follow!
In the first half, the Cardinals have jumped out to an early 12-4 lead. With 11 minutes to go, the Jaguars trail 12-6.
Halftime: Upsala 23, B-B-E 19. It as been a mighty struggle.
In the 2nd half, with 12:40 to go, the Cardinals have a 39 to 27 lead. This blog post is a wrap as of 4 p.m. A new blog post is coming later this afternoon with the girls' basketball final score.
Coming tomorrow morning in the Class 1A individual state wrestling tournament, No. 6-ranked Noah Jensen faces Pipestone Area freshman and No. 10-ranked Lane Fruechte (34-6) in his next consolation bracket match. He is one of three B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team members still in contention for state hardware at Xcel Energy Center.
Consolation bracket quarterfinal matches begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday.
No word yet on how the basketball team fared in Hancock tonight.
In college basketball news...
B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Grace Jackson scored 2 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes of reserve play for the Ridgewater Warriors women's basketball team tonight. The Warriors faced Minnesota North College-Vermillion in a Region 13A play-in round game and won 74-34. This improves Ridgewater's record to 4-19 overall heading into tomorrow's region semifinal game with No. 1-seeded Minnesota West of Worthington. These Region 13A playoff games along with Region 13B NJCAA Division III games are being played at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls.
The NCTC Pioneers, the No. 1 seed in Region 13B, face No. 4-seeded St. Cloud Technical and Community College in a semifinal game that starts at 12 p.m. tomorrow. The host Pioneers include B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer, while SCTCC's team includes B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Brooklyn Fischer. All Region 13 games this weekend are live streamed online with a one-time cost of $10: https://gonorth.land/pioneerstv.
And here's a basketball update...
In a hard-fought, neck-and-neck battle in Hancock tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team saw an exciting winning streak halted in a 56-53 overtime defeat to the sub-section rival Owls. The Jaguars led 30-22 at halftime, but the score was tied 46-46 at the end of regulation play. Luke Illies powered the offense with a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds. Also in double figures was Taylor Pieper with 10 points.
The Jaguars take a 10-16 record into the Sub-Section 6A-South tournament, where it appears they should earn either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. Hancock (14-12) seems a lock for the No. 4 seed in the 10-team subsection.
Area boys' basketball scores on February 28:
Border West 71, Brandon-Evansville 61 (2 OT)
Sauk Centre 52, Melrose Area 45
Fergus Falls 82, Willmar 70
Paynesville Area 81, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 73 (playoffs)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 83, Eden Valley-Watkins 55 (playoffs)
Minnewaska Area 61, Litchfield 27 (playoffs)
Montevideo 70, New London-Spicer 29 (playoffs)
Benson 93, PACT Charter 66
Wresting success at state - UPDATES! and Speech heads south
In his Class 1A state wrestling opener this morningat Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Noah Jensen won by an 8-5 decision to advance to the quarterfinals. Jensen, an eighth grader, is one of four members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team who are competing in the individual state tournament today.
Jensen's first-round opponent was a fellow eighth grader, Kiptyn Thompson of Fosston/Bagley, who had a 31-10 record. Jensen improves to 35-7 and now faces Paynesville seventh grader Tyson Meagher (34-4) later tonight.
At 160 pounds, B-B-E senior Brett DeRoo won a 17-2 tech fall (4:05) against Redwood Valley's Zachary Guggisberg in his state opener today. In the state quarterfinals, DeRoo faces Border West senior Brody Nachbor (35-9).
In his state opener at 215, B-B-E senior Carson Gilbert won by fall (2:30) against LBW's Tommy Miron (16-20). Gilbert, now 36-0 overall, faces Chatfield junior Will Boelter (39-8) in the state quarterfinals.
In his state opener, B-B-E senior Hunter Laage (30-8) will face Fertile-Beltrami senior Jack Leiser (20-10). That match has not happened yet as of noon.
Update: at 285, Hunter Laage trails by a 4-3 score in the third period against Fertile-Beltrami's Jack Leiser. Final: Leiser 4, Laage 3. Additional individual state tournament updates will be posted later this afternoon.
In other news...
The B-B-E speech team has departed the high school for the long trek south to the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota. Part of their travels include the Chatfield high school invitational tomorrow, while other time features team bonding with the overnight trip.
Here they are heading out in two school vehicles...
At the team state wrestling tournament...
In the Class 1A team state consolation championship held yesterday, No. 5-seeded Canby defeated United North Central 34-28 to take fifth place. Staples-Motley, the No. 2 seed at state, defeated top-seeded Chatfield 33-16 in the championship last night.
Friday evening state update...
In his state quarterfinal match, Noah Jensen lost an incredible battle by an 11-7 decision to Paynesville's Tyson Meagher. Jensen will compete later tonight in the wrestleback round.
In his state quarterfinal match, Brett DeRoo won by fall (2:42) against Border West's Brody Nachbor. DeRoo (40-2) advances to the state semifinal round, which takes place tomorrow morning. Update: DeRoo will face the No. 2 seed in the 160-pound bracket: senior Ayden Miner (42-4) of Chatfield.
In his state quarterfinal match tonight, Carson Gilbert won by fall (4:54) against No. 9-ranked Will Boelter of Chatfield to move on to the 215-pound semifinals. In tomorrow's semifinals, Gilbert faces No. 3-ranked Le Sueur-Henderson junior George Doherty (32-2).
Laage's season has concluded.
Another Friday night update: in the 107-pound wrestlebacks, Noah Jensen won a 17-1 tech fall (2:13) against New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva seventh grader Grahm Jacobson (21-22). This keeps his season alive as he guns for tomorrow's third-place match...but he's not there yet.
If you're reading this far, this blog post is a wrap. A NEW blog post is coming later tonight featuring additional state wrestling notes and also an update on the boys' basketball game at Hancock.
Further below on this blog post is a link to re-direct you to where wrestling results have been posted.
Noah Jensen at 107 and Brett DeRoo at 160 both won back-to-back matches at today's Section 5A individual wrestling tournament at Yellow Medicine East high school. This puts both of them in their respective championship matches. Noah Jensen is the No. 2 seed in his bracket, and he faces top-seeded Tyson Meagher of Paynesville in the finals.
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team has all weights in play except 189 pounds.
Afternoon updates: at 215 pounds, Carson Gilbert won back-to-back matches with falls in the first period. He faces Minneota sophomore Cael Fier (26-10) in the championship.
At 285 pounds, Hunter Laage earned perhaps the biggest win of the tournament so far when he beat No. 2-seeded Juan Cardenas of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City by a 5-3 decision during the semifinals. Laage (29-8) faces Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg senior Logan Rudningen (17-15) in the championship.
Four other Jaguars are in the hunt for at least third place today: Noah Welte (114), Noah DeRoo (121), Andrew Spanier (152) and Ethan Mueller (172).
Going for fifth place today are Jace Mueller (127) and Louie Tensen (145).
These Jaguars have seen their 2024-2025 wrestling season conclude today in their respective wrestleback rounds: Dylan Koob (133) and McCoy Detloff (139).
Additional wrestling updates will be posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website's sports section: https://shorturl.at/0TvVx. That web article will include final standings for each weight division that the Jaguars competed in.
LATE afternoon updates...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team earned the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 5A-East. They host No. 7-seeded Mille Lacs in the playoff opener on Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m.
The B-B-E speech team had an excellent day at Maple Lake today! They were led by Tia Nelson's runner-up finish in the Great Speeches category. More on that to come in a NEW blog post.
In a home J.O. volleyball tournament today at the B-B-E elementary school, the B-B-E Blaze volleyball 16s team took first place with a 5-0 record.
Playoff opener loss by the smallest margin (VIDEOS)
For the first time in 9 years, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team will not compete in the Section 5A Final Four.
The Jaguars were facing an uphill climb by the upper weights and trailed 34-18 after the 172-pound match. At 189, Ethan Mueller won by a decision, and the Jaguars pinned out from there at 215 and 285 pounds - Hunter Laage and Carson Gilbert.
Final: K-M-S 34, B-B-E 33.
And a quick shift of your attention to Valentine's Day...
Numerous businesses have advertised Valentine's Day in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. I've got a summary of food and entertainment options for Friday night posted at the newspaper website (click): https://shorturl.at/MEqVb.
The Jaguars had a 6-0 lead after 107, but a penalty point at 114 ultimately cost them the win. Next is the individual section wrestling tournament in Granite Falls (Yellow Medicine East high school) on Saturday, February 22. Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. that morning.
Here's a video featuring part of the singing of the National Anthem plus player introductions:
The Jaguars finish 7-13 overall.
In 2015, the Jaguars advanced to the Section 5A championship but lost to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. That was the team's first appearance in the section finals since 1999. In 2016, the Jaguars lost 36-27 to Royalton/Upsala in the opening round of the section playoffs. For the next eight seasons, the Jaguars earned Final Four appearances in Section 5A. That streak ended tonight.
Here's a video from the 152-pound match tonight:
After the Jaguars had an open weight at 172 pounds, Ethan Mueller won a 4-2 decision over Aaron Jones that cut the K-M-S lead to 34-21.
In other Section 5A wrestling quarterfinal matches tonight...
Minneota defeated BOLD 65-9. BOLD advanced to the section quarterfinals with a 42-31 win against Quad County earlier tonight.
At Paynesville, the Bulldogs defeated Benson 43-21. In Canby, the Lancers defeated Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 40-26.
Some other sports programming notes...
For tomorrow's action at B-B-E high school, the C-squad girls' basketball Class of 2029 Jaguars will play Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City starting at 4:30 p.m. at the main gymnasium. Once their game is complete, the JV Jaguars will face A-C-GC, and the varsity game will follow that. It is also Parents and Seniors Night. And! The varsity game will be broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Their website is: https://www.kmgk1071.com.
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team begins their quest for a sixth straight Section 5A championship appearance tonight with a short trip south to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg high school. The Jaguars face the Fighting Saints (11-3) of Swift County in the Section 5A quarterfinals, and action begins at 7 p.m. This is the evening's only varsity action for Jaguar Country fans.
On February 15, 2019, the Jaguars lost 49-15 in the Section 5A semifinals to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville. Since then, they have appeared in five straight Section 5A championship matches. In 2020, LPGE/Browerville defeated the Jaguars 31-18 to advance to state for the third straight season. In 2021, the Jaguars avenged the 2020 loss and won the Section 5A title for the school's first team wrestling state appearance. The 2021 Section 5A championship match was won by the Jaguars, who beat LPGE/Browerville 33-23 at West Central Area high school. They finished 28-4 overall that winter while also earning the Central Minnesota Conference title.
**Going into 189, the Jaguars trailed 18-34.
More to come in a new blog post. Time to head home.
The B-B-E wrestling teamearned the No. 5 seed in Section 5A. The Jaguars (7-12 overall) open with a quarterfinal match at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg high school on Thursday this week (February 13) at 7 p.m. They face the No. 4-seeded K-M-S Fighting Saints (11-3) in the playoff opener.
Minneota (21-0) is the top seed. Paynesville Area (12-4) is the No. 2 seed, and Canby (12-8) is the No. 3 seed.
The Section 5A Final Four is this Saturday, February 15 at Paynesville Area high school. The semifinal round matches start at 12:30 p.m.
Tonight!
The school board meets at 7 p.m. at the high school media center in Belgrade, while the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball teamhas a huge conference game at Kimball Area. The Jaguars are 9-2 (second) in the Central Minnesota Conference, while the Cubs are 7-4 and in fourth place but just a half game out of third behind Holdingford (8-4).
Today! All day, through around 8:45 p.m...before they close at 9...RJ's Mini Mart of Brooten has a chicken wings special going plus a "BOHO" pizza offer for Super Bowl Sunday. You can buy any pizza and get one of equal or lesser value at half off! This deal also applies to single pizza slices. Also, a half dozen chicken wings are available for just $5.
Extensive Valentine's Day advertising was published in the February 6 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. It will be repeated again this week, and the Padua Pub's Valentine's Day specials will also be featured in the upcoming issue.
In sports news...
It doesn't appear that the Section 5A wrestling seedings have been posted. I am sure of this: Section 5A is completely loaded/stacked to the hilt! In the latest Guillotine state rankings, four teams in Section 5A are in the Top 7! This includes Minneota (No. 4), Canby (No. 5) and Paynesville Area (No. 7). Another is ranked No. 11 (Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg). The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is grouped with 8 other teams in the Lean and Mean category.
In a result I did not get in time for the press last week, the regular season finished for the wrestling team at Long Prairie last Tuesday (February 4) with a 37-24 loss to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville.
