Download - 2011-2012 Winter Sports Guide

Austin Daily Herald

2 | WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW 2011-2012

Friday, December 9, 2011

YoungGuns.........A youthfulbackcourtlooking togive thePackers aboost.•Packer boys willput off-seasonwork to the test

P. 3

ReloadedPacker

gymnastseyeing a returnto state with a

bolsteredlineup

P. 5

P. 4

Grapplingwith

changeChanges to

impact wrestlers

P. 7

The gangsall hereGirls’ hockey:

new facesand

veterans

P. 8

• GirlsBB.............p.6

•Boyshockey......p.8

•Boysswimming.p.10

•Dance....p.10

TTiimmee rreemmaaiinngg oonn tthhee cclloocckk

TThhrreeee ssttoorreelliinneess ttoo wwaattcchh ffoorr tthhiiss sseeaassoonn

• Hayfield’s BobbieStephens has 217 careerthrees and needs 47 totie all-time school recordholder, David Johnson.

• Austin’s Sela Fadness hopes to befully recovered from a major arminjury at the season’s midpoint.Only time will tell if she can return to her top form.

• RCC men is expecting DenzelSmith back after semester break.

An Austin Daily Herald publication

Text by Rocky HulneGraphics and Design by Eric Johnson

Starting LineupAustin BruinsBruins enjoying a good start to their second season

Riverland A rundown of the RCC men’s, women’s seasons

Southland Southland girls will run with a deep bench

Lyle/Pacelli LP girls hope to expound on last year’s breakout season

Hayfield Boys return plenty of experience and scoring

Grand Meadow GMLOK wrestling moves forward with new coach

LeRoy-Ostrander Boys basketball hoping numbers will turn things around

Blooming Prairie Girls BB looking to win despite big loss in starting five

PP.. 1111

P. 12-13

P. 14-16

P. 17

P. 18-19

P. 20

P. 21

P. 22-23

As this season moves forward thePackers young backcourt will grow

into their role as leaders

YYoouunngg GGuunnss

Story by Rocky Hulne • Photos by Eric Johnson

If things go as planned, the two sophomores, who have playedtogether since they were third graders, will be starting in thebackcourt for the Austin basketball team on a nightly basis.Wessels played on the varsity team his entire freshman year

and Lukes was close to cracking the varsity lineup at the end oflast season.It’s been a long time coming for the duo, who played on sepa-

rate AAU teams over the summer, to play together at the varsitylevel.“They’re both gym rats and they’re hard workers,” Austin

head coach Kris Fadness said. “Zach is highly competi-tive and he’s tough and Brett is a strong, physical

guard.”Wessels averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 assistsand 2 steals per game last season and hespent the summer working on a jumpshot that he struggled with his fresh-man year.

Wessels is pleased with theprogress he’s made and he’slooking forward to this season.“I’m very comfortable (with

my jump shot) now and I don’thave that kick anymore. I justgo straight up and I’m excitedto show it off,” Wessels, a 6-foot, 1-inch guard said. “It’sgoing to be a fun year. Ourgame improved last year, andwe should be wanting to win ourconference andwin our section.That takes a lot ofwork and we have to

practice hard.”Lukes is ready

for his first lengthyvarsity action as he did

get into a few games last sea-son.

He’s not intimidated and he’s ready togo.“I’m pretty much used to competition

and I’m not real nervous about it,” Lukes, a5-10 guard, said. “It’ll be more physical. I’lljust have to be ready and stay calm.”Fadness said that both players have al-

ready shown vast improvements due to theirexperience of playing over the summer. “Zach is taking it to the basket at a differ-

ent level than last year with a stronger burst.I wouldn’t be surprised if he was dunking bythe end of the year,” Fadness said.

Zach Wessels and Brett Lukeshave been in the same backcourtfor most of their basketball careers and after a year apart,they will be reunited with the

Packers this season.

“...we should be wanting to win our conference and win our section.”

Zach Wessels

Wessels 2010-2011


“Brett has very good bodycontrol and he can take it to thebasket. He’s a solid shooter, butwe’d like him to speed up his re-lease a little.”Wessels and Lukes have also

gotten better by playing pick-uphoops in the gym. They alwaysalways drive each other to bebetter in those games.“We usually guard each

other and we push each otheraround a little bit. We help eachother get better,” Lukes said.Wessels has also helped

Lukes by telling him about theatmosphere of var-sity games andhow to pre-pare forthem.

H efeels likethe two willfit in just fine,just like they alwayshave from youth basketball tomiddle school.“We’ll be filling in some key

roles, but we’ll be fine and we’lldo pretty well,” Wessels said.“We’re pretty smart about read-ing each other when we’re com-ing off of screens and thingslike that.”While Fadness has a lot of

trust in his young guards, thereis one thing they must showthat they can handle — runningan offense.“Their challenge will be how

do you command an offense andbe a quarterback,” Fadnesssaid. “You have to know whento slow it down and when tospeed it up.”Lukes said it’s only a matter

of time before the Packers’young backcourt has the teamrolling.“Once we figure out what

everybody’s doing and how towork together, I think we’ll wina lot of games,” Lukes said.

“Once wefigure out

whateverybody’s

doing...I think we’llwin a lot of

games.”

Brett Lukes

Payingoff big

The Austin boys basket-ball team bringsback all three ofits top scorers asit hopes to takethe next stepand contendfor a Big Ninetitle and atrip to state thisseason.The team

will be led upfront by juniorforward TomAase, who av-eraged 8.5points, 7.2 re-bounds andtwo blocks lastseason and jun-ior center JoeAase, who aver-aged 13.1 points and 5.1 re-bounds last season. Sophomore point guard

Zach Wessels averaged 9.4points per game last season.“Our guys are real confi-

dent, we’re coming off a strongseason,” Austin head coachKris Fadness said. “In the 15years I’ve been here, it’s themost talented team I’ve everhad, but I don’t know if it’sgoing to be the best team yet.”Fadness said his squad

needs to show that it haschemistry and that the topof the zone defense can beas strong as it was last yearif it wants to be at the top ofits game.He’s pleased with the

leadership amongst hissquad so far.“I’ve seen Tom Aase take

a huge step in becomingmore vocal and GoliathOboyo has stepped up as anemotional leader for us,”Fadness said. “Everybody’sdoing their part right now.”

The Packer boys’team will find out if

work in the off-season pays off

> PACKER BOYScontinues on 9

Tom Aase

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW 2011-2012 | 5

Two years removed from their firstClass ‘A’ state appearance in school history,the Austin gymnastics team has that lookof a contender once again.Austin took sixth in the Class ‘A’ meet in

2010 and it just missed get-ting back to state lastseason.“I hope the commu-

nity realizes they have anopportunity this year to seea team that’s spectacular,”Austin head coach Mark Ray-mond said. “I hope to see a lot ofpeople come out, because there’steams that come around every nowand again that are special and itcould be a fun ride at the end of theseason.”Along with returning individual

state qualifiers Abby Bickler and CarolynHackel, who are each freshman, the Pack-ers bring back Sela Fadness, who com-peted in USGA at Pine Island last seasonafter finishing third in the floor and 10thoverall at state for Austin in 2010.Fadness, a sophomore, is recovering

from a major arm injury, but she’s hopingto be back up to full strength by the half-way point of the season.“I’m back here to gain back what I had

lost from my injury,” Fadness said. “Hope-fully I’ll have it back soon enough. I’vebeen out for awhile and it’s been itching atme to start competing again.”Bickler also suffered an injury to her

ankle last season that kept her from put-ting out her best routine at last year’s statemeet. She was having a great season, butcouldn’t overcome an injury at the statemeet and wasn’t able to go full speed.“The injury has motivated me a lot to keep

my body healthy and to come in and workhard,” Bickler said. “I know where I can beand where I expect myself to be this year.”Austin has a young, but experienced squad.

The only senior is Marissa Bartels and she’shelped the team, which includes four middleschoolers, learn the basics of a varsity sport.“Marissa is a wonderful girl to have on

the team,” Raymond said. “She’s done a lotof leadership and helped mature some ofthe younger girls and bring them along.She’s been an absolute blessing.”The Packers put in a lot of time in the off-

season and all of that work is paying off now.The team is hoping to improve it’s scorethroughout the season and it hopes to be scor-ing consistently in the 140s by season’s end.“Our biggest goal is probably the state

tournament,” Bickler said. “This teamknows how much work we need to haveand how much we need to put in the gymto get what we expect.”Fadness has been impressed with what

she’s seen from her teammates after a yearof being apart.“I’m pretty excited. We have a good team

and the future’s looking bright,” she said.“We’ve all gotten so much better from wherewe have been. Our group is young, but we’retalented and we can all push each other.”While it’s clear the Packers would like to

make it to state, Raymond isn’t about tofocus on that goal. He’d rather focus on howeach gymnast needs to improve throughoutthe year and work on their individual skills.“If you can take care of the things you

can control, the concept of going to a statetournament, competing at a state tourna-ment and eventually winning a state tour-nament will take care of itself,” he said.

Flip this houseWith some additions to the YMCA, the

Packers will have some new equipment totrain on this season.

There will be a new foam pit to work onvaulting, the bar and tumbling.

“Before we didn’t have a pit where wecould throw things we didn’t have skillson,” Sela Fadness said. “If we threwsomething and we missed it, we were

gonna be out. Now we can get morerepetitions without any injuries.”

There will also be a new tumblingstrip and four low beams for youngerathletes, and 10 extra feet ofdismount area for the tumbletrack will be added.

“There’s a lot of equipmentcoming. We are doubling oursurface area,” Austin head

gymnastics coachMark Raymond said.“I’m excited for what

it means to the highschool team, but I’m probably

more excited for the kids thatare five to eight years old.They’ll get some morededicated space to work on.”

Austin gymnast Abby Bicklersaid the new equipment can only help thePackers.

“I think it’s going to help us a lot withthe skills,” she said. “We’re at the pointwhere we’ve got to throw it big, or we’renot going to go anywhere.”

It’s been two years since Austin reached state, but now the hunt to return is back on

• Dec. 3 Austin Invite, 11 a.m.• Dec. 10 Austin at Blue Earth, 11 a.m.• Dec. 15 Austin at Mankato East, 6:30 p.m.• Dec. 17 Austin at Stewartville, TBA• Dec. 20 Mankato West at Austin, 6:30 p.m.• Jan. 5 Austin at Faribault, 6:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Century, Mayo, JM at Austin, 6:30 p.m.• Jan. 14 Austin at Farmington, 11 a.m.• Jan. 19 Austin at Winona, 6:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Owatonna at Austin, 6:30 p.m.• Feb. 4 Austin at Breck, 11 a.m.• Feb. 11 Austin at Big Nine meet in Mankato, noon

SCHEDULE/ Home meets in bold

AbbySnater

R E L O A D E DPPaaiiggeePPaaiiggee

RaymondRaymondRRaacchheellRRaacchheellQuandtQuandt

CCaassssiiddyyCCaassssiiddyyBawekBawek

CCaarroollyynnCCaarroollyynnHackelHackel

SSeellaaSSeellaaFadnessFadness

AAbbbbyyAAbbbbyySnaterSnater

AAbbbbyyAAbbbbyyBicklerBickler

MMaarriissssaaMMaarriissssaaBartelsBartels

LLooggaannTischer

IIllaaIIllaaAndersonAnderson


Building or Remodeling?Your Home Deserves A Mendota!

Heating & Cooling, LLC

Come see the Mendota.It’s the fireplace of your dreams.

103 3rd Street SEAustin, MN 433-5652

• Mendota DXV gas fireplaces were rated “BestBuy” value by Consumers Digest Magazine

• Mendota was awarded “Best of Show” at theNational Hearth Products Association EXPO

• Mendota’s award-winning log fire sets it apart from every other gas fireplace

• Four sizes and 24 black, brass, silver, copper,pewter, cast, and gold fronts to fit any roomand decor

PLAYING HARD BALLThe Austin girls basketball

team brings back their top twoscoring options, but it needssome quality guards to step upas they look to improve onlast year’s 8-16 record.The first thing Austin

must do is to show upevery night by playing

their hardest. Austin headcoach Gary Peterson wants

his team tocrash theboards,h u s t l efor de-flections, chasedown steals and

take charges.“The big thing is we want to keep

it fun and we want to play hard,” hesaid. “We want the best effort no matterwhat and if we work hard, we’ve got achance of beating talent. But if you don’twork hard, you’ll never beat talent.”The Packers bring back two All Big

Nine players in senior forward BabayeOja, who averaged 12.8 points 7.2 re-bounds and 3.6 steals last season, andjunior forward Jenna Svoboda, who av-eraged 12.1 points, 7 rebounds and 2steals per game.“We’ve got to have more balanced

scoring. I’d like to have threein double figures and some-times more,” Peterson said.“We’re trying to figure outroles and we need to find outwho’s going to handle thepoint guard position.”This season will be Peter-

son’s last one at Austin as heenters his 21st year at thehelm. “We’d like to finish on a

good note, that’s for sure,” hesaid.He’s looking to work on the

little things in improvingAustin’s chances of winning.“We’re going to try some different

things to shoot better free throws andwe’re going to limit the turnovers,” Pe-terson said. “You have such a higher per-centage of winning if you can cut thoseturnovers down.”Austin returns a few other players in

senior center Danielle Tschann, juniorforward Taylor Lady, and junior guardStephanie Justice.Other Packers players will be sopho-

more Merideth Fritz, juniors AllisonStoltz, Cassidy Mayer, ChristineBarinka, Gabby Wagner, Jocelyn Shee-han, and seniors Olivia Grev and MarwaOmot.

• Nov. 29 New Prague atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 6 Red Wing atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Austin at Owatonna,7:30 p.m.• Dec. 13 Austin at AlbertLea, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 16 Rochester Mayoat Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 17 Northfield atAustin, 2:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Austin at MankatoWest, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 26-27 Austin at AlbertLea tournament, TBA• Jan. 3 Austin at Waseca, TBA• Jan. 6 Mankato West atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Austin at Faribault,7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Rochester Cen-tury at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Austin at Winona,7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Rochester JohnMarshall at Austin, 7:30p.m.• Jan. 27 Owatonna atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 2 Albert Lea atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 3 Austin at RochesterMayo, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 4 Mankato East atAustin, 4:30 p.m.• Feb. 9 Austin at MankatoWest, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 11 Austin at Stew-artville, 7 p.m.• Feb. 14 Faribault atAustin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Austin at RochesterCentury, 7:30 p.m.•Feb. 21 Winona at Austin,7:30 p.m.• Feb. 24 Austin at RochesterJohn Marshall, 7:30 p.m.

SCHEDULEHome games in bold

SHOWING

UP WILL BE

THE FIRST

STEP IN

BUMPING

UP LAST

YEAR’S

RECORD

BabayeOja


The Austin wrestling team has plenty oftalent this season. The trouble is, they’reall close to the same weight.The Packers bring back two state quali-

fiers in Devon Felton, who wrestled at 103last season and Erick Power, who wrestledat 119 last season. The team also returnskey wrestlers Brandon Cotter, Dylan Diek-man and Brennen Russell, who are all inthe 120 to 130 pound range.What makes it worse for the Packers is

that Minnesota is going to a new weightclassing system that puts just two weightclasses in the 130s.“It doesn’t do us any favors,” Austin

head coach Bill Kinney said. “As luckwould have it, some of the best kids on ourteam are in the upper 20s and lower 30s.Without a weight class, it will be difficult tofind a spot for some of them.”The Packers are very thin in the upper

weights, but since the talent is concen-trated in the lower weights, it does meanthat the smaller wrestlers will have tougherpractice partners.“It helps us smaller guys get better and

improve, but then it leaves out the bigger

guys who need to improve and get better,”Power said. “We’re just trying to get kidsout and keep everybody healthy.”Kinney said the Packers may not be able

to fill out a full lineup and the 195 pound spotwill be especially tough to fill. He’s hopinghe can get some new wrestlers to come outwithin the first four weeks of the season.“If we have a full lineup, we’ll be

stretched pretty thin. We’ll fill the firstseven or eight and those last six, we’ll justhave to see,” Kinney said. “The kids that wehave are very good, but we just don’t haveenough of them at this point.”Newcomers Braiden Eggum and Riley

Grinstead could help the Packers as theyprepare for this season and Diekmanshould provide leadership.“Dylan’s going to need to be a leader for

us and he’s going to need to be a high per-former for us,” Kinney said. “Braiden hada fantastic JV year as a freshman and Rileyis a very talented kid, who’ll make a con-tribution right away.”Austin will make the move from Class

‘AAA’ to ‘AA’ at the section meet this season.That means, instead of going against famil-iar Big Nine opponents, the Packers will betaking on unknown wrestlers from schoolslike Byron and Caledonia at the section meet.Kinney said the switch will be a difficult

one for the Packers.“I believe it’s a tougher section than what

we were in,” Kinney said. “It’s out of the fry-ing pan and into the fire for us. I thought wematched up better in the ‘AAA’ section.”

GrapplingwithchangeThe Packers are facing a lot this season, including asection change andchanged weight class

• Dec. 8 Austin at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 10 Austin at Andover Invite, 10 a.m.• Dec. 15 Rochester Mayo at Austin, 7 p.m.• Dec. 17 Austin at Fillmore Invite, 10 a.m.• Dec. 22 Austin at Mankato East, 7 p.m.• Jan. 5 Mankato West at Austin, 7 p.m.• Jan. 13 Austin at Faribault, 7 p.m.• Jan. 19 Rochester Century at Austin, 7 p.m.• Jan. 26 Austin at Winona, 7 p.m.• Feb. 2 Rochester John Marshall at Austin, 7 p.m.• Feb. 9 Owatonna at Austin, 7 p.m.

SCHEDULE/Home meets in bold

“If we have a full lineup,we’ll be stretched

pretty thin”

-Bill Kinney, Head coach

ErickPower


The Austin girls hockeyteam brings back two of its topscorers from last season andwelcomes one of its promisingplayers from the past as it pre-pares for the season.Carley Grunewald, a junior,

and Abby Gallaher, a senior,each scored 36 points last sea-son and they’ll be looking toimprove this season. The thirdmember of their line will beKennedy Thompson, a juniorwho has moved back to Austinafter living in St. Paul for ayear.“That line’s going to be fun

to watch. They’re going to bephenomenal and we’re lookingforward to that,” Austin headcoach Denny Bray said.“Kennedy brings good stickhandling skills and she pickedup some speed up there in St.Paul.”Thompson is glad to be com-

ing back to Austin, where shewas a member of the 2008 statequalifying team as an eighthgrader. “It’ll be just like U12 hockey,

with me, Carley and Abby,” shesaid. “I’m glad to be back andhopefully I help them out. I did-n’t get to play a lot in the cities,so it will be nice to actuallyplay a lot this year.”Bray said his Packers have

gelled immediately and thatchemistry should be the

strength of the team this sea-son. Grunewald agreed.“We’re feeling pretty good

about the season,” she said.“We get along really well and Ifeel like there’s already a lot ofteam chemistry and it’s onlygoing to get better. We have theability to learn fast and that’sgoing to help us get better.”Austin’s roster covers all

grade levels as there are fourseniors and five eighth graders.One of the team’s lines in-cludes two eighth graders inMadison Overby and ChloeSummerfield and freshmanMackenzie Trimble.

The other line includes Re-becca Bartlett, Kara Potach,Leah Semones, and CarissaJohnson.“We’ll be a little immature,

but we have good leadership. Ifeel like I have eight captains,”Bray said.The elder Packers have

taken it on themselves to helpout some of their younger andmore inexperienced team-mates.“We’re like a family,”

Vanessa Talamantes, a seniordefenseman said. “We’re help-ing out the younger girls andshowing them what to do. Wedon’t want them to be shy andwe want them to ask questions.”On defense, the Packers will

look to Vanessa Talamantes andJustina Talamantes to lead theway. Camille Anderson, MarieClennon and Allison Crumpcould also see time on defense.The Packers have two eighth

graders at goalie in AllisonHoban and Mara Overby.Hoban was the starter for mostof last season.“Hoban looks pretty strong

right now. She shows improve-ment every day,” Bray said.“Mara is not used to seeing thequickness (of varsity hockey)and she has some catching upto do, but I have confidence thatshe’ll catch up. She’s very ath-letic.”

TheGang’s All

Here• The Packers return veterans and some

familiar faces to this year’s deep roster

Abby Gallaher

• Dec. 1 Austin at Winona, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 3 Rochester John Marshall at Austin,1 p.m.• Dec. 6 Albert Lea at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 8 Owatonna at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 13 Austin at Northfield, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 15 Austin at Rochester Mayo, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 17 Mankato East at Austin, 3 p.m.• Dec. 20 Austin at Mankato West, 5:30 p.m.• Dec. 26 Austin Invite, TBA• Dec. 27 Austin Invite, TBA• Dec. 28 Austin Invite, TBA• Jan. 5 Faribault at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 7 Austin at Rochester Century, 5:30 p.m.• Jan. 12 Winona at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 14 Austin at Rochester John Marshall, 3p.m.• Jan. 17 Austin at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 21 New Ulm at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 28 Austin at Mankato East, 6 p.m.• Jan. 31 Austin at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 2 Mankato West at Austin, 7 p.m.


Keepingthe tankoff emptyThe Austin

boys hockeyteam wasn’t avery goodthird periodteam last sea-son as it strug-gled andfinished with a4-22 overallrecord.This sea-

son, the Pack-ers are going out of their wayto make sure those letdownsdon’t happen again.“We’ve done a lot of extra

stuff,” Austin head coach TimPeterson said. “We’re runningand doing some dry landthings. They’re sore, butthey’re having fun and I thinkthey realize that we’re puttinggas in the tank for later. It’sgoing to pay dividends whenwe’re in the third period andwe need a big goal or a bigstop.”The Packers will feature a

good mix of veterans andyounger players. The team will have four ex-

perienced forwards in sen-iors Tyler Stevens andPreston Moe, junior Pat Wag-ner and sophomore NickCastellano.The younger players have

already mixed in well withtheir elders according toStevens, who is a captain.“We’re looking at this as a

brand new season and we’vegot a lot of strong players com-ing up from the youth programand that’s going to help us,”Stevens said. “They’re talent is fine,

they’ve just got to adjust to thespeed and they’ll be good.”Austin returns senior

Kevin Sauer and junior ConorPeterson on defense. JuniorMarcus Stoulil, a two-yearstarter, will likely be back froman injury a couple of weeksinto the season.

> HOCKEYcontinues on 9

• Tim Petersonand thePackersworkto avoidcostlyletdownsthisseason


After splitting time in thenet last season, junior RainerLondino-Green is ready to be-come the primary starter thisseason.“He played a lot of games last

year and mentally that’s going tohelp him,” Peterson said. “We’vegot to help him out and limit thenumber of shots that he sees,then he can stay out more andlimit some angles.”Londino-Green came into

last season a little inexperi-enced and he still recalls theRochester Century game,where he faced 29 shots in re-lief. But he’s feeling much bet-

ter as heads into his second sea-son in net.“Last year I came in as a

backup kind of,” Londino-Green said. “I’ve gotten used tothe speed and my confidence isup there.”Peterson is pleased with

what his team as a whole hasshown so far in practice.“They’re a fantastic group

of kids and they’re coming to-gether,” he said.

Joe Aase and many of theother Packers have been play-ing basketball since the begin-ning of the summer. Theyrecently finished a fall leaguein the Twin Cities and they’reready to start the high schoolseason.“We’ve gotten to the point

that we’re playing pretty welltogether and we like ourchances to get to state,” JoeAase said. “Oboyo, a senior who will be on

the varsity team for the first time,is looking forward to this season.

“We keep getting better andbetter the more we play to-gether,” he said. “It’s going to bea really good team. I’m very ex-cited to play with these guysand it’s just amazing to watchthem.”While the Packers aren’t

making any major changes thisseason, they would like to pushup the tempo to where they canplay in the 70s instead of the50s.“We’re talented enough and

we want to create more posses-sions in the game,” Fadness

said. “But to be real good you’vegot to be able to play two speeds.Sometimes you’ve got to crankit up, and other times it’s going

to slow down. If we can playboth speeds well, we’ve got themakings of something special.I think we can do it.”

Packer boys: “We keep getting better and better.”CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm PPaaggee 44

• Dec. 6 Austin at New Prague, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 10 Austin at Cedar Falls, Iowa, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 13 Albert Lea at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 16 Austin at Rochester Mayo, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Mankato East at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 22 Red Wing at Austin, TBA• Jan. 3 Waseca at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Austin at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Faribault at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Austin at Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 17 Winona at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Austin at Roch. John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 24 Austin at Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 27 Austin at Owatonna, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Austin at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 3 Rochester Mayo at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 9 Mankato West at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 14 Austin at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Roch. Century at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 21 Austin at Winona, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 24 Roch. John Marshall at Austin, 7:30p.m.• Feb. 25 Austin at Caledonia, 6 p.m.• March 2 Owatonna at Austin, 7:30 p.m.


Hockey: Coming togetherCCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm PPaaggee 88 • Dec. 2 Waseca at Austin, 7 p.m.

• Dec. 6 Austin at La Crescent, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 8 Austin at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 10 Dodge County at Austin, 3 p.m.• Dec. 15 Rochester Mayo at Austin, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 17 Austin at Mankato East, noon• Dec. 20 Mankato West at Austin,7:30 p.m.• Dec. 27-29 Austin at Waseca In-vite, TBA• Jan. 3 Austin at Waseca, 7:30p.m.• Jan. 5 Austin at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 7 LeSueur/Henderson atAustin, 1 p.m.• Jan. 12 Austin at Winona, 7:30 p.m• Jan. 14 Roch. John Marhshallat Austin, 2 p.m.• Jan. 17 Albert Lea at Austin,7:30 p.m.• Jan. 19 Owatonna at Austin,7:30 p.m.• Jan. 21 Austin at DodgeCounty, 7 p.m.• Jan. 28 Mankato East atAustin, 2 p.m.

• Feb. 2 Austin at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 4 Faribault at Austin, 2 p.m.• Feb. 9 Rochester Century at Austin, 7:30

p.m.• Feb. 11 Winona at Austin, 2p.m.• Feb. 16 Austin at Roch. JohnMarshall, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 18 Austin at Owatonna,

7:30 p.m.


“They’re a fantasticgroup of kids.”

-Tim PetersonHead coach

Ethan Larson


The Austin boys swimmingand diving team brings back 21swimmers from last season as itprepares for a strong year.The Packers are led by cap-

tains Caleb Bentley, Jordan Bent-ley, Tanner Conway, Joe Johnson,Jacob Legreid and Drew Peter-son.Nick Brehmer is the only re-

turning state qualifier as he wasconsolation champion in the 200-freestyle last season.The Packers are hoping to im-

prove as the season goes long andthey hope their

younger swimmers can chip in.“We have a large team return-

ing we will need to have some ofthe younger swimmers ready totry new events to help us fill out aline up,” said Austin head coachLynn Gulbrandson, who is in his26th season at the helm. “We have several strong

events based on returningswimmers and divers.Relays should be astrength forthisteam.”

Swimmers return numbers

Dec. 8 Austin at Albert Lea, 6 p.m.Dec. 13 Rochester Mayo at Austin, 6 p.m.Dec. 20 Austin at Mankato East, 6 p.m.

Dec. 22 Mankato West at Austin, 6 p.m.Jan. 5 Austin at Faribault, 6 p.m.Jan. 10 Rochester Century at Austin, 6 p.m.Jan. 19 Austin at Winona, 6 p.m.Jan. 26 Rochester John Marshall at Austin, 6 p.m.Feb. 2 Owatonna at Austin, 6 p.m.

SCHEDULEHome meets in bold

The Austin Packerdance team has fiveseniors as it looks tocompete for a 10thstraight trip to the Class ‘A’ state meet.

The Packers willlook to seniors Anissa

Zynda, BriannaCapretz, Katelyn

Joseph, Kathleen Collier and Maggie Chidester to lead the way.

Austin Packer Dance

Nick Brehmer

Katelyn Joseph


The Great Wall of

BruggemanThe Austin Bruins are off to a

solid start in their second season asthey’re off to a 14-7-2 overall start(through Nov. 26).Tyler Bruggeman has been a solid

force at goalie going 9-3-2 overallwith two shutouts and a save per-centage of 916.B r a n d o n

Wa h l i nhas ledt h escoringattack with19 points,while Chris-tian Folin andAustin grad JohnKirby each have 15points.

Dec. 9 Austin at Alexandria, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 10 Aberdeen , S.D. at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Dec. 16-17 Bismarck at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Dec. 30 Austin at Coulee Region, 8 p.m.Dec. 31 Coulee Region, Wis. at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Jan. 1 Austin at Alexandria, 5 p.m.Jan. 5-6 Austin at Bismarck, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 13-14 Minot at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Jan. 18 Coulee Region, Wis. at Austin, 7:05 p.m.

Jan. 27-28 Bismarck at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Feb. 4 Alexandria at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Feb. 9-10 Austin at Aberdeen, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 11 Austin at Bismarck, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 17-18 Aberdeen, S.D. at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Feb. 24-25 Austin at Aberdeen, S.D., 7:15 p.m.Mar. 2-3 Coulee Region, Wis. at Austin,

7:05 p.m.Mar. 8-9 Austin at Minot, 7:05 p.m.March 10 Austin at Bismarck, 7:15 p.m.Mar. 16-17 Minot at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Mar. 18 Austin at Coulee Region, Wis., 5p.m.Mar. 23-24 Bismarck at Austin, 7:05 p.m.Mar. 25 Austin at Alexandria, 5 p.m.Mar. 30-31 Austin at Coulee Region, Wis., 7 p.m.

REMAINING SCHEDULE/Home games in bold

TylerBruggeman


Things are looking very different for theRiverland men’s basketball team as they pre-pare for the upcoming season.They return just one player who played sig-

nificant minutes last season and they’ll turn tointerim head coach Scott Koenigs, who takesover after former coach Dan Swift resigned be-fore the season.Koenigs was an assistant coach for RCC up

until last year, and two players are coming backfrom that team — Jeff Clark-Neil and TaylorMorgan.Morgan said the coaching change was tough

to deal with so close to the start of the season.“It hit a lot of people hard, but we’re coming

together as a team and we’re trying to take careof business on the court. That’s the only thingthat matters right now,” he said. “Everything’sgoing to have to be a team effort, on every pos-session.”The Blue Devils will be vastly undersized as

they have just two players over 6-foot-3 inches.They’ll also be missing some key players earlyon as a few players will be ineligible, includingtheir main returnee Denzel Smith, who aver-aged 13 points and 7 rebounds as a freshman.RCC will likely have nine players on the ros-

ter until the semester break.“These guys were thrown into a tough situ-

ation and they’ve adjusted well,” Koenigs said.“There isn’t any discipline issues anymore andthey’re checking the attitudes at the door.”Koenigs hopes RCC can make up for its lack

of height with their speed and athleticism. Hesaid Zach Bunch, a 6-2 guard from Kenosha,Wis., and Keith Thames, a 5-7 guard fromChicago, Illinois, should chip in as well as Mor-gan, who is from Cripple Creek, Colo. andClark-Neal, who is from St. Paul, Minn.“We need to be a team that really pushes the

basketball up the floor,” Koenigs said. “This isa pretty athletic team and we’re going to tryand force the issue and press.”RCC already got off to a strong start when it

won the alumni game for the first time in fiveyears. They he ld on to an 86-83 win as Smithpoured in 29 points.From there the Blue Devils won their first

two games on the road and went 4-2 throughtheir first six games.Koenigs said his team must take care of the

ball.“They hear me say a million times, make the

good pass not the great pass,” Koenigs said. “Iwant to see the three good passes in a row in-stead of trying to make the pass that gets thecrowd off their feet.”While Koenigs, who is the head coach of the

RCC baseball team, took the basketball coach-ing job on an interim basis, he’s consideringtaking on the position full time.He just wants to make sure it doesn’t inter-

fere with his baseball program.“When I first took this job it was definitely

in the interim, but I’m enjoying the heck out ofit and I’m a basketball coach at heart,” Koenigssaid. “Chances are pretty good I’d want to comeback and bring in some of my own recruits.”

Backon therighttrack

Backon therighttrackNew coach andnew faces try to get RCC some

wins

New coach andnew faces try to get RCC some

wins

ZachBunch


EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE

New • Certified • Used Parts • Service • Collision Center

www.useminc.com

RCC welcomes new facesThe Blue Devils are turn-

ing back the clock a coupleyears as they prepare for theupcoming women’s basket-ball season.Riverland has a lot of tal-

ent, but some of that talenthasn’t taken the court in atwo years or more.One of the new players is

center Rebekah Aase, whostarted on the Austin girlsbasketball team that went tostate in 2008, but hasn’tplayed much since.“We’re definitely working

on shaking off the rust.”Aase said. “Once we all learnto play together and get our heads back inthe game, we’ll be a lot better. A lot of ushaven’t played in awhile, but hopefully itcomes sooner, rather than later.”The success has come early on. Like the

men, the Blue Devil women went 4-2 intheir first six games of the season.Another one of RCC’s newcomers is

Takiyah Stewart, who played for Min-neapolis North which won three straightstate titles from 2003-2005.RCC’s other new contributors include

Cassie Masberg of Water-ville/Elysian/Morristown, who sat outlast year with an injury, Skylar Andersonof Albert Lea, Brittany Murphy of St.

Paul, Minn. and Sophia He-brink of Austin.Along with returnees

Robin Arjes of Austin, KimCraig of Southland, SelenaGindratt, and BridgetBergstrom, the Blue Devilshave plenty of players to callon this season.“We have a lot of depth, but

if we have a group out thereon a spurt, we’re going toleave them out there untilthey get tired,” RCC headcoach Suzy Hebrink said. “Wecan go 12 deep, but sometimesthat’s not the best way to play.We’ll try to maximize and play

efficiently and see what happens.”RCC looks to hound the ball on defense

to trigger its offense, where the team mustreplace its all-time leading scorer KristaViehauser, who graduated last year.While Stewart has made some plays in

practice, Hebrink said it will likely be ateam effort to score this season.“We’ve got a lot of girls who can score,

but it is yet to be seen if we have a go toscorer,” she said. “I think as long as weshoot the ball well and move the ball well,we’ll be fine. Defensively, I think we’ll con-tinue to improve. There’s been a lot ofcompetitiveness in practice and that’sgood.”

“II tthhiinnkk aasslloonngg aass wweesshhoooott tthhee bbaallllwweellll aanndd

mmoovvee tthhee bbaallllwweellll,, wwee’’llll bbee

ffiinnee..”

-Suzy HebrinkRCC women’s head

coach

• Dec. 9 College basketball: Riverland at Itasca, women play at 6 p.m.,men play at 8 p.m.• Dec. 10 College basketball: Riverland at Northland, women play at 1 p.m.,men play at 3 p.m.• Dec. 16 College basketball: Southwestern, Iowa at Riverland, women play at 7 p.m.,men play at 9 p.m.• Jan. 4 College basketball: Riverland at WWTI, women play at 6 p.m., men play at 8 p.m.• Jan. 7 Collge basketball: Riverland at Gustavus JV, women play at 6 p.m., men play at 8p.m.• Jan. 11 Colllege basketball: Anoka-Ramsey at Riverland, women play at 6 p.m., menplay at 8 p.m.• Jan. 14 College basketball: Riverland at Central Lakes, women play at 1 p.m., men playat 3 p.m.• Jan. 18 College basketball: Riverland at RCTC, women play at 6 p.m., men play at 8p.m.

• Jan. 21 College basketball: Riverland at Ridgwater, women play at 1 p.m.,men play at 3 p.m.• Jan. 25 College basketball: Fergus Falls at Riverland, women play at6 p.m., men play at 8 p.m.

• Feb. 1 College basketball: Minnesota West at Riverland, women play at 6 p.m., menplay at 8 p.m.• Feb. 4 College basketball: Riverland at at Anoka-Ramsey, women play at 1 p.m.,men play at 3 p.m.• Feb. 8 College basketball: Central Lakes at Riverland, women play at 6 p.m., menplay at 8 p.m.• Feb. 11 College basketball: Rochester at Riverland, women play at 1 p.m., men playat 3 p.m.• Feb. 15 College basketball: Ridgwater at Riverland, women play at 6 p.m., men play at 8 p.m.• Feb. 25 College basketball: Riverland at Minnesota West, women play at 1 p.m., men playat 3 p.m.


RobinArjes


The Southland girls basket-ball team brings back eight ofits key players from last year’steam that went 18-9 overall andit hopes to have another strongseason this year.Seniors Kelli Smith, who is

a strong defender that aver-aged 2.2 steals per game lastyear, Madi Schmitz, who aver-aged 8.2 points, 6.7 rebounds2.4 assists and 1.8 steals, andLindsey Bottema all return askey players.Junior guard Jana Scham-

mel, who led Southland inscoring with 15.9 points pergame last season, will also beback.“We were able to get to the

semis of the sub-section lastyear and the girls are very ex-cited about trying to betterthat,” Southland head coachBob Sheehan, who is in histhird year at the helm, said.“We are also looking to be afactor in the conference race.”Southland will look to Bre-

anne Vogel, Betsy Oswald andBrooke Yunker to chip in as ithas six seniors. The Rebels

will also get a boost from jun-iors Haley Kirkpatrick andMegan Mullenbach.“I see all of six seniors lead-

ing in one way or another,”Sheehan said. “One of thebiggest strengths that we havethis year is going to be our

depth. We havea very talentedgroup of juniorsand seniors thisyear and theyare very athleticand quick.”The Rebels’ one

weakness will be their lackof height this season and

that will be some-thing they’ll haveto overcome.“We are not very

tall compared to theother teams on ourschedule so we aregoing to have to be ac-tive and work hard onthe defensive side ofthe ball,” Sheehansaid. “With the speed

and athleticism thatthis team posses weshould be a fun teamto watch. But the lackof height is going tobe a concern.”

DDeepptthh CChhaarrggee

SouthlandSouthlandwill havewill haveplenty ofplenty of

faces on thefaces on thebench, butbench, buthas to find ahas to find away aroundway aroundits lack ofits lack of

heightheight

• Nov. 29 Riceville, Iowa at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 2 Hayfield at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 6 Southland at Saint Charles, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Lewiston/Altura at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 13 Southland at Dover/Eyota, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 17 LeRoy/Ostrander at Southland, 3 p.m.• Jan. 3 Southland at Rushord/Peterson, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 5 Caledonia at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 7 Wabasha/Kellogg at Southland, 5:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Southland at Plainview/Elgin/Millville, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 12 Southland at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Southland at Kingsland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Southland at Chatfield, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Saint Charles at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 24 Southland at Lewiston/Altura, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 27 Dover/Eyota at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 30 Kingsland at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Southland at Wabasha/Kellogg, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 2 Southland at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 6 p.m.• Feb. 6 Southland at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 9 Medford at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 10 Rushford/Peterson at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 14 Southland at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Plainview/Elgin/Millville at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 21 Chatfield at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 23 Southland at Kasson/Mantorville, 7:30 p.m.


KelliSmith

JanaSchammel


Adams Office15 4th Street SW, Adams, MN • 507-582-3448

Rose Creek Office61255 170th, P.O. Box 156, Rose Creek, MN • 507-437-4678

www.fsbadams.comFARMERS STATE BANK OF ELKTON

P.O. Box 84 (507) 584-6441OFFICES IN DEXTER AND ELKTON, MN

Serving The Area For 90 Years

MANUFACTURING & FABRICATION

R & S Grain Systems, Inc.

25863 650th Ave, Minnesota 55926(507) 584-6794

Fax (507) 584-6634

Ray DietrichD LINEGrain Equipment

The Rebelswill look torun and gun asthey preparefor the upcom-ing boys bas-ketball season.Southland,

which went 14-13 overall lastyear, doesn’thave any play-ers taller than6-foot, 3-inches, but ithas a few ath-letes who canget up anddown the floor.“Our

strength is ath-letic abilityand we’ll re-ally have torely on it,”Southlandhead coachJon Thalberg,who is in hissixth year atthe helm, said.“This year wewill look topush the ballon offenseusing our ath-letic abilityand play hardnosed pressuredefense, bothman-to-manand zone.” Junior for-

ward Mike Go-

ergen shouldlead the offenseas he averaged16.6 points andsix reboundslast season andis a two-yearstarter. Juniorguards NickSchmitz andDecker Bendt-sen also returnas starters.Southland

also returnstwo key playersin juniors SamKlaehn andChris Wolff.Goergen is

on track toscore his1,000th careerpoint at somepoint this up-coming season.

IInn tthheeffaassttllaanneeWith a mind torun, Southland

is looking toput opposingteams in their

rearview• Dec. 2 Wabasha/Kellogg at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 6 Saint Charles at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Southland at Lewiston/Altura, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 13 Dover/Eyota at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 15-16 Southland Invite, 6 p.m.• Dec. 19 Southland at Riceville, Iowa, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 22 Southland at Fillmore Central, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 3 Rushford/Peterson at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 5 Southland at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Grand Meadow at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Plainview/Elgin/Millville at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Kingsland at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Chatfield at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 19 Southland at St. Charles, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 24 Lewiston/Altura at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 27 Southland at Dover/Eyota, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Wabasha/Kellogg at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 2 Southland at Lyle/Pacelli at Lyle, 8 p.m.• Feb. 4 Southland at Hayfield, 5 p.m.• Feb. 10 Southland at Rushford/Peterson, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 13 Fillmore Central at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 14 Caledonia at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Southland at Plainview/Elgin/Millville, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 21 Southland at Kingsland, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 23 Southland at Chatfield, 7:30 p.m.

SCHEDULE/Home games in bold

SouthlandʼsNick

Schmitzdrives the

lane againstLyle/Pacelli

last year


507-584-6348 • Elkton, MN507-754-5125 • Grand Meadow, MN507-346-7261 • Spring Valley, MN

• Grain • Feeds• Seeds• Agricultural Chemicals

Save time, labor & money with our custom application

Resources forenriching lives.

ADAMS BUILDERS SUPPLY

220055 CCoommmmeerrccee SSttrreeeett SSWW,, AAddaammss •• 582-3210

• Rollex Siding & Soffit• AndersenWindows• Entrance Doors• Makita Power Tools

• Plumbing & Electrical• Building Materials• Paint & Stain• Fencing & Gates

HAMILTONAUCTION, CO.

(507) 584-0133130 State Hwy. 16 • Dexter

Located Off I-90 at Dexter, MN Exit then 1/4 Mile E. on Hwy 16

WWee AArree HHeerree FFoorr AAllll YYoouurr AAuuccttiioonn NNeeeeddss

Real Estate • HouseholdFarm Equipment Insurance • Investments

[email protected]

236 S. Main St., P.O. Box 69Dexter, MN 55926

Paul A. TangenCLU, ChFC, LUTCFAgent

Numbers gameThe Southland wrestling team returns just six wrestlers with

varsity experience as it graduated seven from last year’s team.The Rebels will look toAlex Pitzen, Chris-tian Padilla andMatt Schmitz tolead the waythis sea-son.“With

the fewnumbersthat wehave, ourwork ethicwould be astrength,”S o u t h l a n d

head coach BillFeuchtenberger said.

“We look to be competitive with what we have and improve everyweek.”

• Dec. 15 Southland at Blooming Prairie, 5 p.m.• Dec. 16 Southland at Plainview/Elgin/Millville, 5 p.m.• Dec. 17 Southland at Northwood/Kensett, Iowa tour-nament, TBA• Jan. 5 Southland at Northwood/Kensett, Iowa, 6 p.m.• Jan. 7 Southland at Cresco, Iowa, TBA• Jan. 20 Southland at Fillmore Central, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 21 Southland at Riceville, Iowa, TBA• Jan. 26 Lewiston/Altura, Rushford/Peterson, UnitedSouth Central at Southland, 5 p.m.• Jan. 27 Southland at Medford, 5 p.m.• Feb. 2 Hayfield, Saint Charles at Southland, 5 p.m.• Feb. 4 Southland at Wabasha/Kellogg, noon• Feb. 18 Southland at Maple River, 10 a.m.


• With low numbers the Southlandwrestling team expects to be competitivewith what they have


When you look around town, what do you see?You see homes, schools, parks, playgrounds.

But itʼs more than that. Itʼs our hometown.Shop locally, invest locally, and

support our local economy.You qualify for membership if you live, work, worship

or attend school in Mower or Freeborn Counties.

LP led by three returning startersThe Lyle-Pacelli boys basketball team returns

three starters from last year’s squad that went 9-16 overall as it prepares for the upcoming season.Junior forward Skylar Meyer is the top re-

turnee, averaging 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5steals and 1.5 blocks last season. The Athleticsalso bring back senior forward Max Brennanand junior guard David Diang.“All three of those guys have spent a lot of

the offseason in the gym and the weight room,”L-P head coach Casey Anderson.L-P will have a young squad after graduating five

seniors, but six players return with varsity experience.Anderson is hoping his team can stay in

games this season as they struggled in the sec-ond half of contests most of last season. He’shoping it will help to turn up the pace.“We are looking to play more up tempo this

year and also be more aggressive on both offen-sive and defensive boards,” Anderson said.

LP girls find success in youthLast year the Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball

team had a breakthrough season, winning moregames than it had in the previous three seasonscombined. The Athletics, who went 17-6 last year,hope to keep that upward trend going as theybring back four starters.The Athletics have just two seniors in Abbie Leif

and Whitney Hinz and they will both be asked tostep up as leaders. The team, which has no juniors,will also rely on sophomore point guard AnnRysavy, who was All-SEC last season and averaged15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Sophomore Mag-gie Lewison averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds.“Our goal for the season is to win the west side

of the conference, and make a return trip toRochester for tournament play,” LP head coach BradWalter said. “I am really looking forward to work-ing with this group of girls. It is a great group witha lot of basketball skills and good work ethics.”The Athletics have four middle schoolers and a

freshman on their roster including freshman center

Madison Truckenmiller, who averaged six pointsand eight rebounds last season, and eighth gradeguard Courtney Walter, who was All-SEC honorablemention and averaged 9 points last season.“We have a fast team that is very athletic,”

Walter said. “Our weakness would have to be thatwe are very young. If we have any injuries depthcould become a concern. But in the past coupleyears we have really gotten quality minutes fromsome very young girls, and that could be the dif-ference on how our season turns out.”

Dec. 5 Lyle/Pacelli at Randolph, 8 p.m.Dec. 6 Lyle/Pacelli at Schaeffer Academy, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 9 Lyle/Pacelli at Spring Grove, 8 p.m.Dec. 16 Lyle/Pacelli at Houston, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 20 Lyle/Pacelli at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 22 Lyle/Pacelli at Triton, 7 p.m.Jan. 3 Alden/Conger at Lyle/Pacelli at Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 5 LeRoy/Ostrander at Lyle/Pacelli at Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 10 Glenville/Emmons at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 13 Lyle/Pacelli at Hope Lutheran, 8 p.m.Jan. 16 Lyle/Pacelli at Goodhue, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 20 Mabel/Canton at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 24 Lyle/Pacelli at Lanesboro, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 27 Spring Grove at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 8 p.m.Jan. 30 Schaeffer Academy at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 2 Southland at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 8 p.m.Feb. 3 Houston at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 6 Lyle/Pacelli at Medford, 8 p.m.Feb. 7 Lyle/Pacelli at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 10 Hope Lutheran at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 8 p.m.Feb. 13 Grand Meadow at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 17 Lyle/Pacelli at Mabel/Canton,7:30 p.m.Feb. 21 Lyle/Pacelli at Glenville/Emmons, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 23 Lanesboro at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.


Nov. 29 Lyle/Pacelli at Schaeffer Acad., 7:30 p.m.Dec. 2 LeRoy/Ostr. at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 5 Lyle/Pacelli at Randolph, 6 p.m.Dec. 9 Lyle/Pacelli at Spring Grove, 6 p.m.Dec. 13 Lyle/Pacelli at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 16 Houston at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 19 Glen./Emmons at Lyle/Pac. in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 3 Lyle/Pacelli at Lanesboro, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 5 Lyle/Pacelli at Alden/Conger, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 6 Schaeffer Acad. at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 9 Roch. Home Schoolers at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 6 p.m.Jan. 13 Lyle/Pacelli at Hope Lutheran, 6 p.m.Jan. 17 Lyle/Pacelli at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 20 Mabel/Canton at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 6 p.m.Jan. 23 Grand Meadow at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 26 Lyle/Pacelli at Fillmore Central, 6:15 p.m.Jan. 27 Spring Grove at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 6 p.m.Jan. 31 Lyle/Pacelli at Glenville/Emmons, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 2 Southland at Lyle/Pacelli at Lyle, 6 p.m.Feb. 3 Lyle/Pacelli at Houston, 7:30 p.m.Feb. 6 Lyle/Pacelli at Medford, 6 p.m.Feb. 7 Fillmore Central at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 7 p.m.Feb. 10 Hope Lutheran at Lyle/Pacelli in Lyle, 6 p.m.


SkylarMeyer

AnnRysavy


BBiigg TTiimmee

The Hayfield boys basketball team is thinking

big, returning four starters from last year’s squad that went 17-11 overall.

The Vikings bring backtheir top playmaker in sopho-more point guard Cole Kruger,who averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 as-sists, and 4.8 rebounds last sea-son and their best scorer inBobbie Stephens, who aver-aged 13 points per game and hit43 percent of threes last sea-son.Junior forward Brady

Kramer, who averaged 11.6points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3 as-sists per game last season, willalso be a key player.“These guys have played in

some big games and that experi-ence should help us this year,”Hayfield head coach Chris Pack,who is in is 12th year at the helm,said. “We hope to compete for theHVL Gold Title and we expect tobattle for the subsection title.”Pack’s biggest concern for

the Vikings is rebounding. Hay-

field gave up 10 offensive boardsper game last season.Stephens could set the Hay-

field career record for three-pointers this season. He set aschool record with 104 last sea-son and has the record for onegame with nine.He currently has 217 threes

in his career and is 47 threesfrom tying the record held by

David Johnson, who willcoach Hayfield’s freshmanthis year. As a freshman, Kruger be-

came only the fifth player inschool history to record 100 ormore points, rebounds, and as-sists in the same season. Herecorded 269 points, 135 re-bounds, and 114 assists last sea-son.

• Dec. 3 United South Central at Hayfield, 5 p.m.• Dec. 9 Hayfield at Rochester Lourdes, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 13 Hayfield at Pine Island, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 16 Hayfield at Goodhue, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 17 Saint Peter at Hayfield, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Byron at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 22 Winona Cotter at Hayfield, 7 p.m.• Dec. 28 Hayfield at Tartan Invite, 2:45 p.m.• Dec. 29 Hayfield at Tartan Invite, 4:45 p.m.• Dec. 30 Hayfield at Tartan Invite, 2:45 p.m.• Jan. 3 Hayfield at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Roch. Lourdes at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.

• Jan. 7 Hayfield at New Richland/H/E/G, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Hayfield at Kasson/Mantorville, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 13 Hayfield at Stewartville, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 14 Blue Earth at Hayfield, 6 p.m.• Jan. 17 La Crescent at Hayfield, 7 p.m.• Jan. 31 Stewartville at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 4 Southland at Hayfield, 5 p.m.• Feb. 6 Hayfield at Winona Cotter, 7 p.m.• Feb. 10 Kasson/Mantor. at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 14 Hayfield at Byron, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 17 Hayfield at La Crescent, 7 p.m.• Feb. 21 Kenyon/Wan. at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.


• Dec. 6 United South Central at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 8 Hayfield at Pine Island, 5 p.m.• Dec. 10 Hayfield at Jackson County Invite, 9:30 a.m.• Dec. 13 Lewiston/Altura, Rushford/Peterson, Byronat Hayfield, 5 p.m.• Jan. 5 Hayfield at Lake City, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 10 Kenyon/Wanamingo at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 12 Hayfield at Zumbrota/Mazeppa, 5 p.m.• Jan. 14 Hayfield at Wabasso, 10 a.m.• Jan. 17 Hayfield at Goodhue, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 19 Hayfield at Blooming Prairie, 5 p.m.• Jan. 21 Hayfield Invite, 10 a.m.• Jan. 26 Kasson/Mantorville at Hayfield, 5 p.m.• Jan. 28 Hayfield at Lake City, 10 a.m.• Feb. 2 Hayfield at Southland, 5 p.m.• Feb. 9 Hayfield at La Crescent, 7:15 p.m.


Hayfield Viking Wrestling

Cole Kruger

Hayfield’s Mason Moreno wrestlesat last years section meet

BobbieStephens

The Hay-field girlsbasketballteam will belooking forsome play-ers to sharethe scoringburden thisseason.T h e

V i k i n g sbring backtheir topscorer fromlast seasonin seniorpoint guardAlyssa Selk,but theyneed to finda few other

options. Selk averaged 11.4 points, 1.9 assists and 2.2steals as Hayfield went 13-13 last season.“We will have to find a few scorers to step up for us

this year,” said Hayfield head coach Fred Kindschy,who is in his eighth year at the helm. “The conferenceis loaded with talent, so we are going to have to playwell right from the start if we want to be in the mix.”The Vikings have plenty of experience as seven re-

turn from last year’s squad. Sophomore guard DaniWagner, senior guards Courtney Severson and AbbyBlanchard all played significant minutes last season.“We have a strong group of seniors who have been

very loyal to the program. They will be counted onheavily as the leaders this year,” Kindschy said. “Weare looking to start strong again this year, and keepimproving as a team throughout the year.”Kindschy said Hayfield has a lot of team speed

that can run the floor, but with just one post player,the Vikings may have to play some small ball.

Fromthe openingjump


Ryan’s Foods4 East Main Street • Hayfield, MN 55940

Video, Lottery, Food Stamps, WICDelivery Wednesday - Call by Noon

Senior Citizen Day every Wednesday: 5% discountLaundromat - located behind the store

507-477-3804

To be competitive,the Hayfield girls willhave to be good ....

• Nov. 29 Hayfield at Goodhue, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 2 Hayfield at Southland, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 6 Hayfield at Pine Island, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 9 Triton at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 13 Hayfield at Kenyon/Wanamingo, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 16 Zumbrota/Mazeppa at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 22 Hayfield at Winona Cotter, 7 p.m.• Dec. 27 Hayfield at St. Clair Invite, 3:30 p.m.• Dec. 28 Hayfield at St. Clair Invite, 1 p.m.• Dec. 29 Hayfield at St. Clair Invite, 1 p.m.• Jan. 3 Blooming Prairie at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 6 Hayfield at Rochester Lourdes, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 7 Hayfield at New Richland/H/E/G, 6 p.m.• Jan. 10 Kasson/Mantorville at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 13 Stewartville at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 14 Blue Earth at Hayfield, 4:15 p.m.• Jan. 17 Hayfield at La Crescent, 7 p.m.• Jan. 26 Hayfield at Byron, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 31 Hayfield at Stewartville, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 6 Winona Cotter at Hayfield, 7 p.m.• Feb. 9 Rochester Lourdes at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 10 Hayfield at Kasson/Mantorville, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 14 Byron at Hayfield, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 17 La Crescent at Hayfield, 7 p.m.• Feb. 21 Hayfield at United South Central, 7:15 p.m.


McCaylaThoe


SSSSuuuuppppeeeerrrr llllaaaarrrrkkkkssss sssseeeeeeeekkkkiiiinnnngggg iiiinnnnssss iiiiddddeeee----oooouuuutttt bbbbaaaallllaaaannnncccceeeeThe Grand Meadow boys basketball team brings back 10

players with varsity experience as it looks to have a stronginside and outside game this year.The Superlarks will look to senior Dezmon Johnson, and

juniors Collin Jacobson and Bryce Benson to lead the way.Mike Ojulu will also be asked to step up in the paint.“We will be looking to improve from game to game,” said GM

head coach Chad Burmester, who is in his sixth year at thehelm. “We really want to improve defensively and make it dif-ficult for opponents to score on us and we would like to controlthe boards both offensively and defensively. We have decent sizewith Bryce and Mike. We should have pretty decent depth thisyear and we have a nice combination of shooters and slashers.”

• Dec. 6 Grand Meadow at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Lanesboro at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 15 Schaeffer Acad. at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 16 Grand Meadow at Spring Grove, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Lyle/Pacelli at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 27 LeRoy/Ostr. at Grand Meadow Invite, 6 p.m.• Dec. 28 LeRoy/Ostr. at Grand Meadow Invite, 6 p.m.• Jan. 3 Fillmore Central at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Grand Meadow at Southland, 7:45 p.m.• Jan. 10 Hope Lutheran at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Mabel/Canton at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Grand Meadow at Hope Lutheran, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 19 Randolph at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 20 Grand Meadow at Houston, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 24 Grand Meadow at Glen./Emmons, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 27 Grand Meadow at Lanseboro, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 30 LeRoy/Ostr. at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Alden/Conger at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 3 Spring Grove at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 6 Grand Meadow at St. Charles, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 10 Grand Meadow at Mabel/Canton, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 13 Grand Meadow at Lyle/Pacelli at Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Houston at Grand Meadow, 8 p.m.• Feb. 21 Grand Meadow at Schaeffer Acad., 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 23 Glen./Emmons at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.


The Grand Meadow/Leroy/Ostrander/Kings-land wrestling team will turn to a long-time assis-tant coach to lead the way as it prepares for theseason.Jim Richardson, who has been an assistant

coach at GMLOK for the past 15 years, will takeover the helm. Richardson said former headcoach Bill Simpkins will still be part of the

program.“He has not

only been agreat coach tobe around, buthe has becomea very goodfriend ofmine,”Richardsonsaid. “He’s likefamily andwrestlingseems to dothat.”The Bull-

dogs willcome outwith all theycan bring this

season.“We have some kids that will work very hard

and will put the time into being the best they canbe,” Richardson said. “In the sport of wrestlingbeing known as a hard goer, being in great shapeand having a tough mind set will always make youdangerous and in position for a win.”GMLOK returns seven varsity wrestlers

from last season.

New headcoach to lead GMLOKwrestling

• Dec. 1 GMLOK at Saint Charles, 6 p.m.• Dec. 3 GMLOK at Faribault Invite, TBA• Dec. 8 Southland, Dover Eyota atGMLOK in Grand Meadow, 6 p.m.• Dec. 17 GMLOK at Fillmore Central Invite,TBA• Jan. 6 LARP at GMLOK in LeRoy, 6 p.m.• Jan. 12 GMLOK at Plainview/Elgin/Millville,6 p.m.• Jan. 14 GMLOK at Stewartville, TBA• Jan. 20 Caledonia at GMLOK in GrandMeadow, 6 p.m.• Jan. 21 GMLOK at Hayfield, TBA• Jan. 26 GMLOK at Wabasha/Kellogg, 6p.m.• Jan. 28 GMLOK at Wisconsin Dells Invite,TBA• Feb. 3 GMLOK at FCLMC in Kingsland, 6p.m• Feb. 4 GMLOK at Pine Island, TBA• Feb. 9 GMLOK at Chatfield, 6 p.m.


GM girls return eightThe Grand Meadow girls

basketball team returnseight players with varsityexperience as it prepares forthe upcoming season.The Superlarks, who

went 6-19 last season, willbe led by junior pointguard Autumn Thorsen,who averaged 8.9 pointsand 1.7 steals last seasonand junior forward Cort-ney Olson, who averaged9 points and 5.4 reboundslast season.“We are very optimistic

about improving on ourrecord from last season.The key will be to stayhealthy and injury free,”GM head coach DawnBaduoin, who is in her20th year at the helm, said.

Stephanie Russell re-turns as the team’s only sen-ior and junior forwardAudra Durhman, whoaveraged 4.5 pointsand 2.9 reboundslast season, isanother key re-turnee.

Sydney Richardson

• Nov. 29 Grand Meadow at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 1 Alden/Conger at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.

• Dec. 6 Schaeffer Academy at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Grand Meadow at Lanesboro, 7:30 p.m.

• Dec. 13 Lyle/Pacelli at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 16 Spring Grove at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Grand Meadow at Pine Island, 7:30 p.m• Dec. 22 Fillmore Central at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.

• Dec. 28 Grand Meadow at Randolph Invite, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 29 Grand Meadow at Randolph Invite, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 3 Grand Meadow at Glenville/Emmons, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 LeRoy/Ostrander at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 9 Grand Meadow at Lewiston/Altura, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 10 Hope Lutheran at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Grand Meadow at Mabel/Canton, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Grand Meadow at Hope Lutheran, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Grand Meadow at Houston, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 23 Grand Meadow at Lyle/Pacelli, in Lyle, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 27 Lanesboro at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 31 Grand Meadow at Schaeffer Academy, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 3 Grand Meadow at Spring Grove, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 6 Southland at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 10 Mabel/Canton at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 14 Glenville/Emmons at Grand Meadow, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 17 Houston at Grand Meadow, 6 p.m.



www.ffmbank.com

105 Main Street NorthGrand Meadow, MN(507) 754-5123

111 20th St NEStewartville, MN(507) 533-4081

19 East Main StreetRacine, MN

(507) 378-5121

The LeRoy-Ostrander girls basketball team brings back threestarters as it looks to improve on last year’s record of 8-20.The Cardinals will look to seniors Chanda Riedemann and Krista

Bunne and sophomore Becca Bunne to lead the way.“Becca started last year and just kept getting better with each game,”

said L-O head coach Aaron Hungerholt, who is in his third year at thehelm.The Cards will be a little

short on size this season,but they’ll have six playerswith varsity experience— including Jessica Jen-nings and Anna Miller.The team will also get

point guard MeganGrant back after shemissed all of last sea-son with a knee injury.

• Nov. 29 Grand Meadow at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 2 LeRoy/Ostrander at Lyle/Pacelli inLyle, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 9 LeRoy/Ostrander at Mabel/Canton, 6p.m.• Dec. 13 Glenville/Emmons at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 15 LeRoy/Ostrander at Houston, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 16 Hope Lutheran at LeRoy/Ostrander, 6 p.m.• Jan. 3 LeRoy/Ostrander at Schaeffer Academy, 7:15p.m.• Jan. 6 LeRoy/Ostrander at Grand Meadow, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 13 LeRoy/Ostrander at Spring Grove, 6 p.m.• Jan. 17 Lyle/Pacelli at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 20 Lanesboro at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 23 LeRoy/Ostrander at Glenville/Emmons, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 27 Mabel/Canton at LeRoy/Ostrander, 6 p.m.• Jan. 31 Houston at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 3 LeRoy/Ostrander at Hope Lutheran, 6 p.m.• Feb. 9 Spring Grove at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 17 LeRoy/Ostrander at Lanesboro, 7:15 p.m.

Making the pieces fit


Cards hopingnumbers canhelp turnthings aroundThe LeRoy/Ostrander boys basketball team has its

most players in years and head coach Jason Jude ishoping his they can stay in games this season.The Cardinals, who went 5-21 overall last season,

have 19 players out for basketball this year, which isabout five more than they usually have.L/O will look to two senior newcomers in Tom

Mackey and Zach Miller to provide a boost and they’lllook to sophomore Zach Royston, who averaged 6points last season, to grow into a solid role.“How Zach develops could determine how well we

do,” L/O head coach Jason Jude said. “I’m hoping hetakes a big step this year.”The Cards will have two backcourt players return-

ing with varsity experience as junior Dom Lazzaraand sophomore Nate Bunne return.“We’re getting close and our conference isn’t too

strong,” Jude said. “We’re hoping to be a little morecompetitive in games this year.”

• Dec. 6 Grand Meadow at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Dec. 9 LeRoy/Ostrander at Mabel/Canton, 7:30 p.m.• Dec . 16 Hope Lutheran at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 Glenville/Emmons at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 5 LeRoy/Ostrander at Lyle/Pacelli in Pacelli, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 10 LeRoy/Ostrander at Houston, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 13 LeRoy/Ostrander at Spring Grove, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 LeRoy/Ostrander at Lanesboro, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 24 LeRoy/Ostrander at Schaeffer Academy, 7:15 p.m.• Jan. 27 Mabel/Canton at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 30 LeRoy/Ostrander at Grand Meadow, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 3 LeRoy/Ostrander at Hope Lutheran, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 7 Lyle/Pacelli at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 10 Spring Grove at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 13 LeRoy/Ostrander at Glenville/Emmons, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 17 Lanesboro at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 21 Houston at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.• Feb. 23 Schaeffer Academy at LeRoy/Ostrander, 7:15 p.m.

SCHEDULEHome games in bold Chanda

Riedemann


Finding a way to winThe Awesome Blossoms girls basketball

team will have to find ways to competewithout their biggest play-maker this sea-son.Janelle Morem, a junior who had two

years of varsity experience, suffered anACL tear during volleyball season and willnot be able to play for BP this season. Sheaveraged 8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1steals last season as BP went 13-13 overall.“It’s one of those situations where you

have a kid for a couple of years and you gether to where you want her to be and thenall of the sudden she’s not able to play,” BPhead coach John Worke said. “That’s quitea void to fill.”Worke will look to senior Tricia DeBoer,

junior Shelbi Swenson and freshman Madi-son Worke to handle the ball in Morem’s ab-sence.“Tricia will probably be asked to handle

the ball more and Shelbi’s a good athlete,”Worke said. “(Madison) does a lot of things

for us. She can handle the ball and she getsto be a hard matchup sometimes.”Besides DeBoer, BP will have four other

seniors in Cortney Easton, Julia Manges,Melanie Grant, and Kelli Naatz, who hasplayed varsity since she was a sophomore.“They’re a good group of kids,” Worke

said. “There’s nothing flashy about them,but they certainly enjoy the game.”Junior guard Jenna Krell returns from

last year’s team and freshman TaylorHagen could also contribute.“Taylor gives us another six-footer along

with Kelli,” Worke said. “We may be able toput them on the court at the same time, al-though we might lose a little defense.”While Morem is out for the season,

Worke said that she will still be a strongpresence from the sideline.“She is still going to be very much in-

volved and she’ll be around,” Worke said.“Her off the court leadership will be good,but we’ll miss her on the court leadership.”

• Nov. 29 Kenyon/Wanamingo at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 2 Blooming Prairie at Triton, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 6 Medford at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 8 Blooming Prairie at Goodhue, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Blooming Prairie at Randolph, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 16 Blooming Prairie at Mankato Loyola, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 20 New Richland/H/E/G at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 22 Blooming Prairie at United South Central, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 29 Byron at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 3 Blooming Prairie at Hayfield, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Janesville/Waldorf/Pem. at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 10 Blooming Prairie at Water./Elysain/Morristown, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 12 Southland at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Bethlehem Academy at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 16 Blooming Priarie at Alden/Conger, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 17 Blooming Prairie at Medford, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Randolph at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 28 Mankato Loyola at Blooming Prairie, 2 p.m.• Jan. 31 Blooming Prairie at New Richland/H/E/G, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 3 United South Central at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 9 Tri-City United at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 10 Blooming Prairie at Janes./Waldorf/Pem., 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 14 Water./Elysian/Morris. at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Blooming Prairie at Bethlehem Academy, 7:30 p.m.


CortneyEaston

BBPP wwiillll bbee tteesstteedd wwiitthh ttoopp ppllaayymmaakkeerr JJaanneellllee MMoorreemm oouutt ffoorr tthhee sseeaassoonn


Carpet • Vinyl • Window TreatmentsCeramic Tile • Wallpaper Vacuums

Laminate • Hardwood

322 East Main • Blooming Prairie507-583-2276 • Tim Wacek

Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-4pmSaturday 8am-Noon, or by Appointment

FLOOR TECH COMPLETE & COMPREHENSIVE DENTISTRYAfter Hours Emergency Only • 507-456-5822405 East Main Street • Blooming Prairie • (507) 583-2141

159 18th St. SW • Owatonna • (507) 455-10003142 Wellner Drive NE • Rochester • 507-536-7700

132 North Broadway • New Richland • 507-463-0502

Main StreetDental Clinic

Open Monday-Saturday and 2 Evenings

The Blooming Prairie boysbasketball team will look tonine seniors to help the squadbounce back from last year’s 6-19 finish.The Awesome Blossoms

will have a tough time get-ting going after a long foot-ball run, but BP head coachdoes like the athletic abilityhis squad will bring to thetable and he thinks they willimprove throughout theyear.“This is probably one of

the most athletic teams wehave had in a while,” Brunssaid. “That fact, coupled withthe experience that we havecoming back is very exciting.”Bruns, who is

in his 13thyear

at the helm, said the Blossomsshould be tough on defense, butthey’ll have to look to find somescoring this season.Michael Thomas, a 6-4 jun-

ior forward, will pick up someof that load as he led the teamin scoring, rebounding, stealsand three-pointers as a sopho-more. He’ll also get some helpfrom senior guards LucZellmer, Luke Hueman andGabe Kartes.Up front, BP will look to 6-2

senior Alex Fiebiger and 6-6freshman Jon Rumpza to leadthe way. Rumpza played intwo varsity games as aneighth grader and 7.5 points, 6rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per

game in thatstretch.

BP boys turnto their seniors

• Dec. 2 Triton at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 5 Blooming Prairie at Kenyon/Wanamingo, 7:30 p.m.

• Dec. 6 Blooming Prairie at Alden/Conger, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 8 Goodhue at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 9 Randolph at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.

• Dec. 13 Blooming Prairie at Montgomery/Lonsdale, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 15 Blooming Prairie at Southland Invite, 6 p.m.• Dec. 16 Blooming Prairie at Southland Invite, 6 p.m.

• Dec. 20 Blooming Prairie at New Richland/H/E/G, 7:30 p.m.• Dec. 22 United South Central at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 3 Hayfield at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 6 Blooming Prairie at Janesville/Waldorf/Pemberton, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 10 Waterville/Elysian/Morristown at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 13 Blooming Prairie at Bethlehem Academy, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 17 Medford at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Jan. 20 Blooming Prairie at Randolph, 7:30 p.m.

• Jan. 28 Blooming Prairie at Mankato Loyola, 2 p.m.• Jan. 31 New Richland/H/E/G at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 3 Blooming Prairie at United South Central, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 10 Janesville/Waldorf/Pemberton at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 14 Blooming Prairie at Waterville/Elysian/Morristown, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 17 Bethlehem Academy at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.

• Feb. 21 Mankato Loyola at Blooming Prairie, 7:30 p.m.• Feb. 23 Blooming Prairie at Medford, 7:30 p.m.


Sign up to the Austin Daily

Herald E-NewsSend an email to:

[email protected] ‘ENEWS’

in the subject line.

The Blooming Prairiewrestling team is strong on num-bers and talent as it brings back 13

letter winners from last season.Last year BP usually had to forfeit

three or four weights in duals, but thatshouldn’t be a problem this season.“We have a good core group that has

been around for a while,” BP head coach Kevin Driessen,who has coached the Blossoms for 15 years, said. “I expect atleast five of them to have a minimum of 20 wins, and a fewshould even approach 30 wins. As a team, it looks like we'll beable to fill all the weight classes, so we should be more com-petitive in dual meets.” BP will look to seniors Adam Driessen, who had 22 wins

and took third in sections last season, and Derek Drees tolead the way, along with juniors Blake Arett, who had 16 winslast season, and Jarrod Grunklee, who had 19 wins last sea-son.“Our middle to upper weights are where we'll be

strongest,” Kevin Driessen said. “However, we do have someyounger, lighter weights that we expect to do well too.”

Talented to the core

• Dec. 3 Blooming Prairie at Faribault, 10 a.m.• Dec. 6 Blooming Prairie at St. Clair/Mankato Loyola, 5 p.m.• Dec. 8 Blooming Prairie at New Richland/H/E/G, 6 p.m.• Dec. 10 Blooming Prairie at Shakopee, 10 a.m.• Dec. 15 Southland at Blooming Prairie, 5 p.m.• Dec. 17 Blooming Prairie at Kenyon/Wanamingo, 10 a.m.• Dec. 22 Blooming Prairie at Janesville/Waldorf/Pemberton, 5 p.m.• Jan. 5 United South Central at Blooming Prairie, 6 p.m.• Jan. 7 Blooming Prairie at Montgomery/Lonsdale/LeCenter, 10 a.m.• Jan. 14 Blooming Prairie at Stewartville, 8 a.m.• Jan. 19 Medford, Hayfield at Blooming Prairie, 5 p.m.• Jan. 21 Blooming Prairie at Nicollet, 9 a.m.• Feb. 2 Blooming Prairie at Triton, 5 p.m.


Download - 2011-2012 Winter Sports Guide

Top Related