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 28, 2025
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.
While it is painful that we will not be part of either of them, here's a brief overview of the state quarterfinals coming this week for football and volleyball. It pains me that this will be the first fall since 2017 (not including 2020, when there was no state tournament for any sports) that B-B-E will not have a fall state tournament team. That is a stretch of 7 years!
State volleyball...
In the Class 1A state volleyball pairings, West Central Area (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed and will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 in the quarterfinals. Last night in the Section 6A championship, WCA swept Hillcrest Lutheran Academy to earn back-to-back state trips. The MSHSL website has not posted set scores from the match yet. At state in the opener, WCA will face No. 5-seeded Kittson County Central, who won the Section 8A championship in a four-set win over Ada-Borup West.
Incredibly, New Life Academy of Section 4A earned the No. 3 seed at state. They were ranked No. 19 in the QRF rankings and have an 18-12 record. In the Skyline Conference, NLA tied for fourth place with Maranatha Christian. From my view, WCA was robbed in the state seedings and should have been seeded No. 3.
New London-Spicer is back at the state volleyball tournament for the first time since 2009, when Mimi Knutson coached the Wildcats into the state tournament with a 29-1 record. At state this year, the Wildcats are the No. 8 seed and open up with No. 1-seeded Albany in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 7.
State volleyball seedings:
1. Mayer Lutheran
2. Minneota
3. New Life Academy
4. West Central Area
5. Kittson County Central
6. Fillmore Central
7. Ely
8. Sebeka
State football...
In the Class 1A state football pairings, Upsala/Swanville Area earned the No. 1 seed in the North half of the state field. The state tournament was split into "south" and "north" divisions for the first time ever. (A good move.) For U/SA, they open with No. 4-seeded (North) Parkers Prairie on Thursday, November 7 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Rock Ridge high school's football stadium, which is located between Eveleth and Virginia. The Rock Ridge high school opened up in 2021, and their football stadium is impressive. My stepson Jack (Class of 2025) played two years of varsity football there with the Class 4A Rock Ridge Warriors.
In Class 2A, Kimball Area will play in the state tournament as the No. 1 North seed. They open state on Friday, November 8 with kickoff at Brainerd high school at 7 p.m. against No. 4-seeded Moose Lake/Willow River. This is Kimball's first football state tournament of this century, and I am unaware of when they may have played at state in the 20th century.
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 2: Section 5AA championship: Annandale 3, Maple Lake 1 (a tough loss marking the end of the season for 6 seniors on Coach Kiebel's Irish squad) Section 7A championship: Ely 3, Bigfork 0 Section 1A championship: Fillmore Central 3, Mabel-Canton 1 Section 1AAA championship: Stewartville 3, Byron 2 (after missing state since 2019, Stewartville is back at state for the first time in Class 3A; they were the 2019 Class 2A state champions) Section 3AA championship: New London-Spicer 3, Redwood Valley 0 (NL-S Wildcats are back at state for the first time since 2009; this was NL-S's first section championship berth since 2014) Section 6A championship: West Central Area 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0 Section 3A championship: Minneota 3, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 1
Section volleyball championship match scores on November 1: Section 4A championship: New Life Academy 3, West Lutheran 1 Section 8A championship: Kittson County Central 3, Ada-Borup West 1
Section semifinal (sub-section finals) match scores on October 31:
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 1
Mayer Lutheran 3, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 0
Annandale 3, Watertown-Mayer 2
Mabel-Canton 3, Kenyon-Wanamingo 2
Sebeka 3, Pine River-Backus 1
New London-Spicer 3, Paynesville Area 1
Alexandria 3, Rocori 1
Minneota 3, Canby 1
Albany 3, Sauk Centre 2
Maple Lake 3, Providence Academy 1
STEP V: Jaguars dial up double-digit win at STATE! (VIDEOS)
NOTE: this blog post has been heavily updated since 22:00 tonight...
How about that!
Was that FUN or what!!! And guess what!!! In our next game, the Jaguars will be on TV! (Channel 45!!)
At Maturi Pavilion on the campus of the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis today, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball teamused an incredible second-half display of defense to win going away by a 60-44 score against No. 4-seeded Underwood. The win improves their season record to 26-4 overall. They have shattered the school record for most wins in a season, which was 24 (set in the 2018-2019 season when they finished 24-6.)
The Jaguars held Underwood to just 11 points in the game's final 13 minutes. In the last 13 minutes, the Jaguars outscored the Rockets 21-11. B-B-E's crew were pure ball hawks all game long and forced 22 turnovers compared to just 9 turnovers by the Jaguars. The official box score showed 20 points scored by B-B-E off of turnovers to just 6 off of turnovers by Underwood. B-B-E scored 11 points off of the fast break, while the Rockets scored none in the same fashion.
Depth was another factor in the game, as the Jaguars went with an 8-person rotation to Underwood's 7-person rotation. With 4 minutes to go, Underwood subbed in an eighth player as the game began to get out of hand.
Overall, the game had 9 lead changes and 3 ties.
**Here's a short video clip from the first half of the game:
The video begins with 12:32 left in the first half.
With 14:20 left, Brooklyn Fischer's three-pointer gave the Jaguars an 8-6 lead. Underwood made two straight shots and led 10-8 with 13:35 left. After trailing 12-11 and then 16-13, Anna Jaeger swished a 10-footer with 8:14 left to narrow it to 16-15. Underwood succeeded on a three-point play with 7:14 left to take a 20-15 lead with a 10-4 run. After that the Jaguars dialed up the defensive full court pressure complete with a half court trap and tied it at 22-22 with 4:49 left on two Abby Berge free throws.
Fischer later drained an all-alone three-pointer with 3:47 left to gain a 26-24 lead. Underwood ultimately did not make a field goal in the last 4 minutes. At halftime: B-B-E 31, Underwood 25.
In their past two games, Underwood went into halftime in a deficit. They did not feel rattled at all being down six against B-B-E, as their head coach stated in the post-game press conference.
*Here's the last 53 seconds of the first half:
I'll get more second-half notes posted here after 8 p.m.
With 13 minutes to go, the Jaguars led 39-33. By the 9-minute mark, they had expanded the lead to 47-36 and were not threatened the rest of the way.
**Here's video from the final minute of the game:
B-B-E scoring: Abby Berge 18, Brooklyn Fischer 14, Allison Dingmann 9, Tiyana Schwinghammer 7, Adley Hagen 5, Bree Thieschafer 3, Ella Halvorson 2, Anna Jaeger 2. For the game, the Jaguars shot 32 percent from the floor (18-of-56) with solid marks from three-point land (4-of-14 for 29 percent) and also at the foul line (20-of-29 for 69 percent). Noteworthy: this was Abby Berge's fifth state tournament game in her career; in her first state game (March 12, 2020) she scored 18 points...and in today's game she scored 18 points!
UP NEXT: the Jaguars play at 12 p.m. tomorrow at The Barn. Their opponent will be top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl. The Rangers defeated Minneota 65-50 today in the 11 a.m. game at Maturi Pavilion.
In the 3 p.m. quarterfinal today, No. 2-seeded Hayfield defeated Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 63-58 in overtime. In the last quarterfinal of the day, No. 3-seeded BOLD defeated United Christian Academy 67-29. BOLD and Hayfield will meet in the other semifinal tomorrow (2 p.m.) at The Barn.
More to come. It's supper time!
Here's a big throwback all the way to the 2014-2015 season...this marks the final seconds of that season in the final game, which was held at a brand-new Alexandria Area high school on March 13, 2015:
I will never, ever forget that game. B-B-E trailed 8-7 early but then took a 22-15 lead with 9 minutes to go in the first half. At the break, the Jaguars led 32-31. It was not meant to be, however, as the Tigers outscored the Jaguars down the stretch. Senior Peyton Miller's three-pointer glanced off the rim in the final 2 seconds. It was a potential game-winning shot had it gone down. "STATE" that year was just not meant to be. The stars did not align for Coach Anderson's crew until 5 years later, the week before "COVID" broke out and overtook our lives. That 52-50 loss in 2015 was such a tough one to swallow. But look where we are today!!! B-B-E is playing in the program's second-ever Final Four round at state.
Speaking of looking back...let's do more of that!
In Coach Kristina Anderson's third season as head coach in 2014-2015, the Jaguars blazed their way to the Section 5A championship, a spot they hadn't been in for 10 years.
It was 2004-2005 when a team led by April Hansen, Tiffany Gruber, Colleen Radermacher, Krista Lundgren, Holly Thompson and others won a sub-section title before losing 57-51 to Underwood in the Section 5A championship at Minnewaska Area high school.
That Jaguar team was facing a Rockets team led by first-year head coach Brian Hoverud. That same coach worked opposite to Coach Kristina Anderson today, as Coach Hoverud is now in his 18th season leading the Underwood girls' basketball program.
In that aforementioned 2014-2015 season, B-B-E went toe-to-toe with state-ranked juggernaut Browerville before falling 52-50 in the Section 5A finals. It was a bitter loss to swallow.
Coach Anderson's teams have ran into other juggernauts in the playoffs since her third season. In 2015-2016, another Browerville juggernaut thrashed the Jaguars in the sub-section finals. In 2016-2017, B-B-E ran into a loaded Cromwell-Wright team in the Section 5A championship. In 2017-2018 and also 2018-2019, it was loaded/stacked Menahga teams who ended B-B-E's season just one game short of state.
Finally, in 2019-2020, the Jaguars tore apart Section 5A and thrashed Ogilvie in the finals to punch their ticket to the school's first-ever girls' basketball state tournament. Their next game was exactly where we played today: Maturi Pavilion. The opponent at state that year was a loaded Cromwell-Wright team that had two Division II players on the roster. The Jaguars put all they had into that game but fell 67-58. Fun stat: then-freshman Abby Berge scored 18 points to lead the Jaguars. That was without a doubt the last normal day of our lives (write it down: March 12, 2020, a day I will never, ever forget). The whole world seemed to change the next day. In the three basketball seasons since then, the Jaguars have made it to state two of those three years. In 2020-2021, we all can think back to the incredible run to the state championship game. Two televised games! And a tough 48-45 loss to Minneota in the title game.
This is where state tournament updates will be posted today after 1 p.m. for our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team'squarterfinal game against Underwood! Their head coach, Brian Hoverud, was in his first season leading the program when his Rockets defeated our girls' basketball team 57-51 to go to state in March of 2005. I still remember that game! We were in it all the way to the bitter end.
**HERE'S that moment!!! The rare and special moment when you see a team advance to state!
More to come. Updates to follow after 13:00! THIS game is aired on both The Train 106.5 FM and Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood...you can Google their websites and listen online as well.
**STATE QUARTERFINAL UPDATES... With 14:20 to go, the Jaguars have an 8 to 6 lead. Then with 7 minutes and 14 seconds to go, the Rockets have a 20 to 15 lead.
Halftime: Jaguars 31, Rockets 25. Scoring: Jaeger 2, Berge 9, Hagen 3. That is all that's on the board. I'll have to just take a picture of the scoreboard when they get the starters back in to start the second half.
In the second half the Jaguars are ahead 51 to 37 with 5 minutes to go.
With 3 minutes and 15 seconds to go, the Jaguars have a 53 to 42 lead.
FINAL: BBE 60, Underwood 44.
The Jaguars play at 12 p.m. tomorrow at The Barn. Their opponent will be top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl. The roads are getting tough. By 3:30 p.m., the temperatures in the cities are dropping below 32°. The newspaper's entourage will be staying in the cities tonight. I'll get a new blog post added by 5:00 p.m. today.
The Henning Hornets stands in the way between an expired 2022 season on the volleyball court and a trip to the Class 1A state tournament for our B-B-E Jaguars. If you didn't hear already, tonight's huge, huge volleyball showdown starts at 7 p.m. at Fergus Falls high school. We need 1,500+ fans there tonight! I hope you've been working diligently in the past two days to fill car pools! I heard that one volleyball mom has three vehicles full of fans ready to make the trip up I-94! I am almost complete getting a Chevy Impala and a Chevy Suburban filled with fans.
If you don't have the good fortune of attending the match and cheering your heart out in person, you can click over to (or tune in on the radio) to Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Brady will have the call with pre-match coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.; here's the link to find them on your computer or device: https://www.kmgk1071.com.
The Hornets are an outstanding volleyball team. On paper, they are slight favorites, but our Jaguars are aware of that and fully up to this! They welcome the challenge and will put everything they've got out on the court to come out on top. This one could go five sets. I'm just sensing that right now. Henning has a lights-out defense, a dynamic setter and a set of incredible hitters. They are the real deal. The November 2 issue of the Citizens Dispatch newspaper of Henning said about their playoff-opening win over Rothsay, "The Hornets controlled the tempo from start to finish. Rothsay did a nice job getting some blocks up and also getting some good digs, but the Hornets passed well and were able to move the ball along the net, which was too much for the Tigers in the end."
Against Rothsay in the Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals, Henning served at a red hot clip of 98 percent with 7 aces. Wow. They tallied 39 kills with 20 percent hitting with serve-receive at 93 percent. Henning played every player on the bench that night.
The Citizens Dispatch article on the subsection semifinals against a 20-win New York Mills team said, "The game against NYM was intense. The Eagles are a scrappy team that can keep the ball alive. They have a couple strong attackers and can give out-of-system balls anytime."
"The Hornets started on fire, but the Eagles settled down and managed to come back and tie the score at 20-20. The lead changed hands, but a kill down the line by Henning's Natalie Eckhoff ended the first set."
"In the second set, the Hornets controlled the tempo. Henning was able to get kills and had some big blocks."
"The third set was a back-and-forth game, but the Hornets stayed focused and kept attacking from all along the net, which enabled the Eagles to get blocks they needed. Alivia Gunderson did an amazing job, as she had to sub in for Myiesha Anotoni, who had an ankle sprain."
Head coach Kristy Finck said, "The energy in our gym was huge, which made for a fun night."
As a team in the Sub-Section 6A-South semifinals, Henning served 95 percent with 6 aces. Ally Hart, Aaliyah Olson and Gretchen Eckhoff all served 100 percent. Eckhoff led the team with 2 aces.
The Hornets tallied 45 kills with 15 percent hitting. Hart was the kill leader with 15 ace attacks, while Becca Frederick had 12 kills. Lyvia Misegades had 9 kills, Natalie Eckhoff 4 kills, Gretchen Eckhoff 3 kills and Gunderson 2 kills.
(The article reads that three players each had 21 or more digs, which just does not sound plausible in a 3-set match.)
Henning's serve-receive was 90 percent to target, which helped Misegades spread the ball to their hitters. She led the team with 33 set assists, and Gretchen Eckhoff had 7 set assists. The Hornets run primarily a 5-1 offense, but they have two rotations where they employ the 6-2 (dual setter) offensive format.
*Here's the moment that Henning took down defending Section 6A champion Breckenridge on Thursday night at Fergus Falls:
They will be a truly formidable opponent. As I said in the video, Henning avenged last year's 3-2 loss in the Sub-Section 6A-North finals with a 3-0 sweep two nights ago over the Breckenridge Cowgirls (23-6). Game scores were 25-19, 25-22, 25-21. (I was incorrect in the scores I stated in the video.) Earlier this season, Henning also won by a 3-0 score on September 1 at Breckenridge high school. Game scores in that September 1 match were 25-17, 25-20, 25-20.
**Here's a lengthy video from game three of B-B-E's match on Thursday:
During the regular season, Henning won the Browerville tournament on September 10. At the stacked Burnsville tournament on September 24, the Hornets finished 2-3 with extra-set (two-to-one) wins over Canby and Legacy Christian. They lost in straight sets that day to Bethlehem Academy, Mabel-Canton and Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda. I noticed that HL-O/F lost 3-2 in their playoff opener to Adrian/Ellsworth to finish 19-10 overall. Adrian/Ellsworth was then swept by Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in the next round, and T-M-B was then swept by Russel-Tyler-Ruthton in the Sub-Section 3A-South championship on Thursday night at the SMSU R/A Center. R-T-R (29-3) takes on Minneota tonight for the right to go to the state tournament while trying to avenge a 3-2 loss they took at R-T-R high school in Tyler on October 11. Earlier this season at the Southwest Challenge in Marshall, our Jaguars lost 2-1 to R-T-R in the final match of the day on September 10. Game scores were 25-19, 21-25, 5-15 as the Jaguars ran out of steam in that grueling third set. B-B-E opened that day in Marshall with a 2-1 win over Sioux Falls Roosevelt.
*This blog post is a wrap. Updates in a new blog post!!!!
B-B-E wrestlers shine in state quarterfinals (UPDATES)
Re-capping the state individual quarterfinals...at 126, Ryan Jensen won by pin in just 42 seconds to advance to the state semifinals. At 132, Walker Bents won a 10-1 major decision to also get into the state semis! The win was also his 200th of his career! He was also named to the Class 1A state tournament Wells Fargo All-Tournament team yesterday.
At 152, Blaine Fischer won a 10-0 major decision to become the third Jaguar to get into the state semis!
At 160, Maximus Hanson lost a 6-2 decision to his weight's top seed. He will be able to continue his tournament journey in the wrestleback round.
Carson Gilbert's quarterfinal match at 182 pounds started at 5:47 p.m. *Update: Gilbert lost a 3-1 decision in this match.
At 220 pounds, Ethan Spanier won an 11-5 decision in his state quarterfinal match! The Jaguars went 4-2 in the state quarterfinals tonight. Awesome!
Wrestleback updates will be posted tonight.
**Friday night update: at 160 in the wrestlebacks, Maximus Hanson won a 10-0 major decision against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville sophomore Tucker Zigan (23-23). To stay alive in the tournament, Hanson (38-9) now faces Mahnomen/Waubun senior Will Olson (34-6) in the consolation semifinals.
At 182 pounds in wrestlebacks, Carson Gilbert lost by fall to junior Tytan Small (34-10) of St. Charles. Gilbert, the youngest wrestler competing for B-B-E in the individual tournament, finishes his freshman season 37-11 overall with back-to-back trips to state.
I haven't had a chance to get through all the state brackets, but I saw that in his state semifinal match, Ryan Jensen (45-3) will take on Border West junior Eli Larson (33-2).
For Walker Bents (44-1), standing in his way to get to the state title match at 132 pounds is Chatfield sophomore Owen Denstad (44-4). Denstad won by fall (1:29) in his opener and then by a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals.
In his semifinal match, Blaine Fischer (42-3) gets a familiar opponent in Royalton/Upsala senior Jacob Leibold (49-2). Leibold won by fall (3:15) in his opener and then by a 9-2 decision in the quarterfinals.
Basketball update:out west at Hancock high school, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end in a 57-55 loss. Hancock (21-5), who won the game tonight on a buzzer-beater to break a 55-55 tie, has now beaten the No. 2 and No. 1-ranked teams in Sub-Section 6A-South to make the playoff prognostication very interesting.
B-B-E shot just 7-of-16 at the free throw line in the game. They struggled in the second half at free throws by making just six of 14 at the line after halftime. The home team was also poor on free throws while making 4 of 11 free shots in the second half and 11-of-20 overall in the game.
Hancock lost in the Pheasant Conference championship game to West Central Area 58-41 at Hancock on February 28. WCA went 7-1 to win the title, while Hancock took second place at 6-2. WCA just earned the No. 3 seed (by coaches vote) in Sub-Section 3AA-North behind Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta and New London-Spicer. Paynesville Area is the No. 4 seed in Sub-Section 3AA-North. Playoff seedings will be posted in a new blog post on Saturday.
Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website to catch a short video clip from the medals ceremony last night in St. Paul...(short link) https://bit.ly/2Tbbbc4.
Here's video from the final ticks on Blaine Fischer's third-place match at 132 pounds yesterday at Xcel Energy Center:
Busy week ahead! More sports playoffs, the robotics team heads to Duluth...and all the other usual activities in the Bonanza Valley area. Stay up to speed on all of it in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
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.
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.
How about a big shout out to the Rocori Spartans football team!
Stearns County's entry into the Prep Bowl produced a state football championship yesterday when the Spartans defeated a private school conglomerate from the Twin Cities by a 22-21 score in overtime!
Rocori defeated the "SMB Wolfpack" - a mix of players from three premier private schools: St. Paul Academy, Minnehaha Academy and Blake.
The Spartans had a 6-2 regular season before rattling off five postseason wins to claim the state title. They won it on a gutsy two-point conversion play in overtime. The quarterback and receiver on that play were on the same youth baseball team, according to former St. Cloud Tech boys' basketball head coach Mike Trewick.
Rocori's head coach, James Herberg, took over the Spartans football program in 2018. His first Rocori team finished 2-8 after a 1-7 regular season, and this year's squad went 11-2.
Rocori advanced to state in 2017 and lost 20-8 in the state quarterfinals to Holy Angels. In 2016, Rocori lost in the state semifinals by a 34-30 score to Winona in a 9-4 season. They also played in the state semifinals in 2015, when they lost 19-14 to South St. Paul, also finishing 9-4. The 2014 season? They also played at state that year and lost in the state quarterfinals. The 2013 season had a 3-7 final record with a 1-1 record in the Section 8AAAA playoffs.
Rocori went 6-4 and was a section semifinalist in 2012. They won the Class 4A state title in 2011 with a 12-1 final record. They lost the season opener in 2011 to Class 5A and Section 8AAAAA finalist Brainerd by a 28-20 score and then reeled off 12 straight wins.
Rocori preceded the 2011 state title season with a 2-7 season in 2010.
Back to this season, the SMB Wolfpack entered playoffs 8-0, won the Section 5AAAA title with two wins and then won twice more in the state playoffs to land a spot in the Prep Bowl for the second year in a row. In the regular season, the Wolfpack won the Twin City-Maroon District championship.
Last year, SMB defeated Willmar 44-18 in the Prep Bowl to finish the season 13-0.
One of the SMB football captains was a no-show to receive the state runner-up trophy. Very sad!! Kids need to learn that: being a student-athlete does not make you privileged, but it is a privilege to be able to play sports. Fun fact: in 1982, the Belgrade Redmen football team defeated St. Paul Academy in the Class C state semifinals in the Tundra bowl played at Belgrade's field.
In other Prep Bowl news...today's nine-man state title game is underway. Hancock and Mountain Lake Area are sitting in a 14-14 tie at halftime. **Final score: Mountain Lake Area 22, Hancock 14.
Also, in Class 3A, Pierz won 28-27 over Dassel-Cokato to win a state title.
Here's a clearly dejected Coach Vix following R-P's loss to the Jaguars in the state title game.
I didn't record the entire interview, but it was classy all the way. Outstanding sportsmanship in a difficult situation following a hard-fought loss. We've been there, and it's tough to swallow. This is a well-coached program top to bottom. Hats off to the Trojans! I'd hope (and I'm sure we would) be as classy if we had lost that game as you and your players were.
At Moorhead Albany's girls' basketball team trails Fergus Falls 41-25 in the Section 8AAA finals. *Final: Fergus Falls 80, Albany 53.
Sauk Centre lost to NLS 84-81 in overtime in the Section 6AA girls' basketball championship at SCSU. The Mainstreeters had a girl at the line with almost no time left in regulation. She made a free throw to tie it but then missed the second one that would've sent them to the state tournament. Game story: http://www.wctrib.com/content/girls-basketball-nls%E2%80%88tops-sauk-ot%E2%80%88-earn-spot-state
Central Minnesota Conference champion Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted beat Annandale 53-49 in the Section 5AA championship at SCSU.
WHAT A CROWD!! Here they are cheering for the Jaguars after the final horn sounded.
GREAT JOB Jaguar Country!!! What an incredible crowd! I have no idea just how many were there cheering for the Jaguars, but it was definitely at least 1,000.
More coming tonight. My iMac died at my Herald office for the 2nd time in the last 6 weeks...not fun!!!! Really gummed up my afternoon....and then I get home, and now Youtube has crashed.
State tournament Class A updated scores:
#2-seed Maranatha Christian 95, Red Lake 67
#5-seed Fond du Lac 85, #4-seed Canby 82 (3 OT!)
Final: B-B-E85, Park Christian 50. The Falcons finish 22-10 overall. Their ball handling just wasn't up to the task for what the Jaguars brought to town. Park Christian played very well to start out, but the intense pressure defense by the Jaguars wore them down by around the 9-10 minute mark after tip off. The score was tied one time at 13-13 with 11:39 left. For the entire game (all early in the first half) the lead changed 6 times. The Jaguars broke the game open with a 16-0 run lasting between the 11:39 mark to the 7:10 mark. Park Christian broke the 16-0 run with a free throw with 6:37 left. In the final 11:39 of the first half, the Falcons scored just 5 total points.
Field goal shooting: Jaguars 56.1% for the game, Falcons 46.7%. Park Christian had two players in double figures (15, 14) while the Jaguars had 3 guys in double figures (35, 13, 12).
Points in the paint stood in favor of the Jaguars by a 34-24 margin for the game. The HUGE statistic that jumps off of the page is "points off of turnovers" which was 37-9 in favor of the Jaguars!
The Jaguars, 29-1 overall, now face either Canby or Fond du Lac in the Class A state semifinals on Friday, March 14 at 12:00 noon at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Watching Canby and Fond du Lac now at The Barn!
At halftime Canby trails 36-29. I have to get home, more video and photos to come here at 4:00.
It's Camoflauge day for B-B-E at the state tournament opener in Minneapolis. I am kicking myself for not posting this sooner...I'm not posting the dress-up day information for Friday or Saturday until after the conclusion of Thursday's game.
Friday is not promised to us! Let's bring it Jaguars and beat Park Christian!!!!!!!
Those younger elementary students will never forget this week.
Talk about an emotional time, an exciting time, a thrilling time and a memorable time at B-B-E! The big stuff starts tomorrow!! Time for some sleep.
The Jaguars boys' basketball team opens state with Park Christian from Moorhead, champions of Section 6A. They play at Williams Arena in Minneapolis at 11:00am on Thursday. If the Jaguars win, they play the winner of the #4 Canby vs. #5 Fond du Lac quarterfinal game in the semifinals on Friday. If the Jaguars lose to Park Christian, it's all over. That's the end of our state tournament.
2014 Class A state tournament boys' basketball seedings:
1st - B-B-E
2nd - Maranatha Christian
3rd - Rushford-Peterson
4th - Canby
5th - Fond du Lac
6th - ACGC
7th - Red Lake Falls
8th - Park Christian (who beat Battle Lake out last night)
Here's some action from the second half of last night's game: < video marked private >
I'm offline now until after 2:00pm. Have to get ready for a trip to Pierz, and that's no small feat!
Patrick Reusse is a writer with the Star Tribune, which in my opinion is a worthless, worthless liberal rag - especially after they spent all of last year ripping on private day care business owners across our great state.
Hey, Reusse, "big schools" can't be kings at a state tournament, because they don't know how to turn out a huge fan base for a state tournament event.
Upsala lost in the Class A state semifinals to Southwest Minnesota Christian today at the Target Center. The Cardinals were undefeated heading into the game. I heard that the Eagles held a 9-point lead with about a minute to go. SWMN will play in the state title game for the second year in a row; they'll face Maranatha Christian Academy.
I haven't gotten any other information from the state tournament. Eventually I'll probably read up on what happened down there this weekend. I honestly could care less about it - we are not there!
FYI - Upsala brings back their top player (Christian Pekarek) for next season, and while graduation takes some of their regular lineup in 2013, they'll be the top competitor for the Jaguars if they want to get back to the state tournament in 2013-14. Pekarek will be a senior next year. Overall, Upsala has six seniors on their 17-player varsity roster. They will be a force to reckon with in Section 5A next year.
