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2015-16

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Owatonna.com

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW Friday, November 27, 2015

2525 Lemond St. SW, Owatonna, MN | gophersport.com

Good luck to all area sports teams in the upcoming winter season!

ContentsOwatonna

Girls basketball Page 3Boys hockey Page 4Wrestling Page 5Boys basketball Page 6Gymnastics Page 7Swimming Page 7Girls hockey Page 8

MedfordWrestling Page 9

Boys basketball Page 12Girls basketball Page 13

Blooming PrairieBoys basketball Page 14Wrestling Page 15Girls basketball Page 16

NRHEGBoys basketball Page 18Wrestling Page 19Girls basketball 0

2015 Winter Sports Preview

A special project of the Owatonna People’s Press135 W. Pearl St., Owatonna, MN 55060

PUBLISHER Ron Ensley

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ADVERTISING DESIGN Lauren Barber, Nikkie Gilmore,

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Winter Sports Preview 2015 is distributed to readers and subscribers of the Owatonna People’s Press at no additional charge.

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Friday, November 27, 2015 WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW PAGE 3

Becky Hermanson-Hill(OHS Class of ‘87)

507-213-0331

1880 Austin Rd, Suite #1, OWATONNA

507-451-7355www.owatonnarealestate.com

Good Luck Huskies!

By JON [email protected]

Owatonna girls basketball coach Tricia Ho�mann is enter-ing her fourth season at the helm. �roughout her tenure, she has won more games than she has lost and directed the Huskies as far as the Section 1AAAA champion-ship game just two short seasons ago.

Ho�mann — who sports a 50-31 overall record at OHS — has no doubt steered the program in the right direction and hopes to turn the corner this season. She has been with the current crop of seniors since they were freshman and would like nothing more than to make a leap forward with the �rst group she has seen all the way through the program.

Two of her top senior leaders are Carli Langeland and Rachel Williamson. �e pair has taken diverging paths to the present, but come together in their �nal seasons as co-captains.

“�e seniors are the leaders on the team,” Ho�mann said. “�ey are excellent role models for those younger players. I can’t do it alone, so I’ve asked these guys to step up and help the younger players make the adjustment and keep everyone accountable when I’m not around.”

Langeland, who started play-ing varsity as a sophomore, has forged a steady path throughout

her career, serving as one of the Huskies’ main play-makers and defensive leaders last season. She is excellent in transition and solid rebounder.

For Williamson, her career has been a little more up and down. A�er emerging as one of Huskies’ leading scorers a couple years ago on a team that won 25 games, Williamson su�ered a se-rious knee injury and missed es-sentially all of her junior season in 2014-15. She returned for the �nal couple of games but was clearly not 100 percent.

But she is now.Re-energizing herself in the

o�season by playing AAU basket-ball, Williamson says she is fully healed, and aside from a full brace on her le� knee, there are no rem-nants of the injury whatsoever.

“It’s like it never happened,” Williamson said. “I’m pretty much back into the swing of things.”

Both Langeland and William-son can handle the ball and will likely feed Syd Schultz as much as they can. A�er averaging rough-ly 15 points and eight rebounds per game, the 5-foot-9 forward emerged as one of the top under-classmen in the Big Nine Confer-ence last season and looks to take the next step as a sophomore. Ho�mann calls her a “dynamic player” and a “match-up problem” for opposing defenses.

Another promising young player returning is Jenna Zeman. �e sophomore has worked hard

in the o�season to increase her range and will serve as the team’s primary ball handler. In a late-season game against Red Wing last year, she poured in a team-high 16 points.

With four bona-�de o�ensive threats in the starting lineup, players like Kirstin Pumper, Cait-lin Anderson and Millie Wanous can ful�ll the much-needed roles as defensive specialists and physi-cal rebounders. Each one played significant varsity minutes last season. Anderson and Wanous have the ability to guard the op-ponent’s top o�ensive threat while Pumper takes pride in executing many of the things that go un-noticed like keeping balls alive, double-teaming in the post and playing great help defense.

Filling out the bulk of the ro-tation as valuable reserves will be Megan Peglow, Ari Buck and Maddie Seykora.

Ho�mann expects Rochester John Marshall, Rochester Mayo and Winona to pose serious threats in the conference with both Lakeville schools serving as the preseason favorites on the section.

“But nothing is guaranteed,” Ho�mann said “�at’s why you play the game. We’ll look to sur-prise a few teams this season.”

Reach sports reporter Jon Weis-brod at 444-2375, or follow him on Twitter.com @OPPJonW

Seniors lead way for Huskies

SCHEDULE

Nov. 30 vs. Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 vs. Rochester John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 at Prior Lake, 7 p.m.

Dec. 11 at Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 vs. Faribault, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 18 vs. Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 at Chaska, 7 p.m.

Dec. 22 at Rochester Mayo, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 28 at St. Cloud Tech Tournament

Dec. 29 at St. Cloud Tech Tournament

Jan. 5 at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 at Red Wing, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 15 vs. Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 vs. Rochester Mayo, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21 at Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26 at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 30 at Rochester John Marshall, 3 p.m.

Feb. 2 vs. Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9 at Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 13 vs. Albert Lea, 3 p.m.

Feb. 16 vs. Red Wing, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 19 at Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 23 at Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 25 vs. Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL

Syd Schultz

“FROM THE COACH “This is our second year running the read and react offense and the players are starting

to see the scoring opportunities on their own and reading each other better. Playing with continuity and creativity will be one of our greatest strengths.”

LAST SEASON 13-14 overall, 13-9 Big Nine


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When a team goes through a “re-building” season, it is typi-cally transitioning to something close to what the Owatonna boys hockey team looks like.

Though the Huskies never came close to hitting rock bottom or starting over the last couple of seasons, the fact remains that this year’s group enters the new campaign with as much talent as sixth-year coach Josh Storm has had in a number of years, if not ever.

“It’s exciting,” Storm said. “�e depth that we have at forward is probably more than we have ever had. We might not be as strong in the top end as two years ago with guys like Soren Colstrup, but it’s pretty close. When it comes to our second, third and fourth lines, we are really have a lot of guys that can play the game right now and that’s exciting for us.”

Storm has always hung hit hat on calculated, yet relentless, o�ensive attack, and this season in no di�erent. �e Huskies will be anchored by a solid nucleus of seniors that spread throughout every position on the ice.

“Our goal is to be a very of-fensive team,” Storm said. “We want our defensemen in plays and we want our forwards making plays. Our whole identity wants to be based around o�ense. If we are playing well, you will see us pressuring the puck. We want to put pressure on the other team constantly. �e third part is we to be team �rst. Our saying is pack before pride. It’s about the team, not the individual. We are really preaching that to start this year. �ose are the big things that will make up our identity.”

Leading the list of returning players is Noah Scheid. �e senior paced the Huskies 32 points last season on 15 goals and 17 assists. He will be joined at forward on the �rst couple of lines by Trase Wencl. In 25 games last season, Wencl pounded in 14 goals and came up with seven assists.

Last season’s third-leading scorer, Michael Brein, is not re-turning for 2014-15, but forwards Alec Holcomb (captain) and Kody Keil are back a�er contributing 16 total points last season.

Junior John Swenson (2 as-sists and 2 goals in 2014-15), Adam Rehman (5 assists), Carter Broton, Tyler Wencl and Austin

Medvec will round out the for-ward rotation.

On defense, Owatonna will be anchored by captain Sam Hylle, who has is entering his fourth season on the Huskies’ top line. Storm calls the three-sport star a “great leader.” He is equally en-thusiastic about fellow captain defenseman Kade Friedrichs. �e senior, who registered 16 points last year, played on the Advanced 17s for Section 1 and kept busy on the ice during the spring as well.

“He has taken his game to the next level in my opinion,” Storm said. “He looks extremely strong.”

Varsity newcomer Mitch Weisse, Cameron Trout, Mitch-ell Mayer and Nick Sande will complement Hylle and Fried-richs on the blue line.

Nate Smith, Nick Brown and Nick Smith will share duties at center.

�e Huskies will have a new goalie this season as Brad Beistad and Jacob Dub will share duties.

Reach sports reporter Jon Weisbrod at 444-2375, or follow him on Twitter.com @OPP-JonW

Huskies poised to take next step

OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS HOCKEY

SCHEDULEOwatonna boys

hockeyNov. 21 vs. St. Paul

Academy, 1 p.m.Nov. 24 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Nov. 28 vs. Rochester

Century, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 3 at Rochester

John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Winona,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 10 at Faribault,

7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 vs. South St. Paul, 7 p.m.

Jan. 5 at Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 at Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 9 at Chanhassen, 3 p.m.

Jan. 14 vs. Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 at Rochester Mayo, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21 vs. Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23 vs. Rochester John Marshall

Jan. 26 at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28 at Winona, 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 2 at Red Wing, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 vs. Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9 vs. Dodge County, 7 p.m.

Feb. 13 vs. Austin, 1 p.m.

“FROM THE COACH “Structure is important to me. We want to have structure; we understand that it’s early in

the year but we want to have the guys understand what their jobs are when they are out there.”

LAST SEASON 11-13-2, 8-7-2


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Since taking over the Owa-tonna wrestling program four years ago, Cliff Casteel has kept the program moving forward. During his tenure, he’s domi-nated the Big Nine Conference, won a Section 1AAA title and guided several individuals to the state tournament.

Indeed, Casteel has main-tained the Huskies’ position as one of truly dominant forces in southern Minnesota.

And 2015-16 could be he best year yet.

Bringing back high-level tal-ent at essentially every weight class, Casteel boasts one of the most intimidating rosters south of Apple Valley.

The Huskies’ embarrass-ment of riches is headlined by defending Class AAA light-weight state champion Pey-ton Robb. As one of the most decorated young grapplers in the entire state, Robb has been a fixture in the varsity rotation since his eighth grade year. Af-ter adding a few pounds in the offseason, the sophomore will bump up to 120 or 126 pounds.

S e t t l i ng i nto t he s ame weight-range as Robb is an-other elite young wrestler, Cade King. As an eighth-grader last season at Waseca, King placed fifth in Class AA at 120 pounds. He will be asked to bulk up a

tad this season and wrestle as high as 138.

King will offer as a great compliment to veteran Tan-ner Cole, who has dominated Section 1AAA at a variety of weights since his eighth grade season. Last year at 126 pounds, Cole won his third section title and will be asked to wrestle somewhere between 126 and 152 pounds.

Hungry for his first state championship, Brandon Moen has bulked up in the offseason and could wrestle as high as 195 pounds. Moen is probably naturally suited at 170, but de-fending USA Today National Wrestler of the Year and five-time defending state champion Mark Hall is expected to slot in at that classification, so that may, or may not, factor in to Moen’s decision. The junior finished third at 152 pounds last season and is a four-time state qualifier with nearly 150 career wins. Moen’s summer was highlighted by a National Folkstyle Tournament cham-pionship in Cedar Fa l l s , Iowa in which he de-feated future Ne b r a s k a C o r n -h u s k e r T a y l o r Ve n z o f Far m i ng -ton in the

title bout.“To be honest I weight like

185 now but I’m going to start at 182,” Moen said. “I’ll just see how the competition is (and) drop to 160 if I need to. You don’t always have to go down, because I can bump up to 195 too. I’ll just go where the team needs me.”

The final returning state qualifier from last season is Austin Abbas. The senior, who is entering just his second season, will anchor the heavy weights with returning letter-winner Goy Tut.

Aside from the five section favorites, the Huskies return a few other letterwinners that could easily make the jump to state this season, includ-ing senior Blake Westphal (152, 160, 170), junior Grif-fin Thorn (170, 182, 195) and sophomore Parker Aase (138, 145, 152). Westphal and Thorn are tremendous overall athletes and won close to 35 combined matches last season.

Juniors Cory Ulrich and Isaiah Damitz as wel l as s o p h o m o r e s P a r k e r

Westphal and Journey Peterson appear in good position to start the season at the varsity level after earning letters last season.

Kaden Nelson, Matt Seyko-ra, Abe Stockwell, Jerez Au-tridge, Dillon Sheehy, Hunter Gathje, Manuel Hinojosa, Ri-ley Becker, Trevor Schroeder, Kobie Kath, Dominic Garces, Jonathon Klecker, Logan Nel-son, Nick Staska, Joe Wencl, Ja-cob Harlicker, Carlos Beaosco-chea, Cameron Robert, Taylor Hall Derek Roehmhildt, Parker Holton, Alec Somers, Gerry Sanjuanero, Isaiah Gaalswyk, Bryce Goodwin and Josh Mueller are expected to fill out the re-maining spots on the varsity and junior varsity ro-tations.

The section field has been shuf-

fled once again this season with the biggest move being Hast-ings’ exit to Section 3AAA. Aside from the Huskies and defending champion Farming-ton, Section 1AAA is made up of Austin, Faribault, Lakeville South, Northfield and the three Rochester schools.

Reach sports reporter Jon Weisbrod at 444-2375, or fol-low him on Twitter.com @OPPJonW

Huskies could have best year yetOWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL

WRESTLING

SCHEDULEOwatonna wrestlingNov. 28 at Faribault

InviteDec. 3 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 7 p.m.Dec. 4 at Farmington,

5 p.m.Dec. 5 vs. Apple Valley,

10 a.m. (OHS Invite)Dec. 12 at Chanhassen

Invite

Dec. 18-19 at MN Christmas Tournament

Dec. 29-30 at Fargo, N.D. Invite

Jan. 7 at Winona Triangular, 7 p.m.


Jan. 16 at Zumbrota-Mazeppa Invite

Jan. 21 at Lakeville

South, 7 p.m.Jan. 22 at Rochester

Century Triangular, 5 p.m.Jan. 28 vs. Kasson-

Mantorville, 7 p.m.Jan. 30 at Albert Lea,

7 p.m.Feb. 5 at Faribault, 7 p.m.

“FROM THE COACH “We return a state champion, three state place winners and an additional state quali� er. All of

these young men would like nothing more than to return to the podium….on the top of the podium. We have several others that would also like to get there and compete with the best in the state.”

LAST SEASON 15-8 overall

Brandon Moen


OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL


An interesting — and perhaps special — mix of talent appears to be swirling together for the Owatonna boys basketball team.

� e Huskies’ 2015-16 roster contains a blend of emerging sophomores poised to make an impact at the varsity level for the � rst time and a solid core of se-niors with diverse skills sets.

And then there is Jay Sullivan.Perhaps the team’s most

promising playmaker, the junior is stuck between the two corner-stone classes and could emerge as the team’s most vital player by the end of the season.

But as is the case in any sport, timing is everything. If Owa-tonna wants to make a huge leap forward from an up-and-down 2014-15 campaign, it’s going to have to contend with some of the state’s truly elite teams in order to do so.

Rochester John Marshall, which is already ranked No. 7 in Class AAAA, is loaded with Min-nesota Gopher signee Michael Hurt and future top 25 national recruit Matthew Hurt as well as Albert Lea transfer, and Division I recruit, Dedoch Chan.

Mankato East also added a scholarship-level transfer from Chicago and Faribault and Northfield both have players that could play at the Division I level in Luke Harris and Kade Hart, respectively. As for the Sec-tion 1AAAA, Lakeville North is a state powerhouse with several high-end college recruits and New Prague is the defending Section 1AAA champ.

Basically, this could be Josh Williams’ most talented group of players since the Huskies last made it to state in 2010-11, but winning 20 games for the first

time in four years could be a stretch.

But that’s doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

Owatonna enters the new sea-son with 13 total letterwinners coming back from a team that � nished 13-14. Williams utilized several di� erent starting line-ups and rotations last year and the only regular starter lost to gradu-ation is Dexter Leer.

Digesting the Huskies’ roster, it’s clear their backcourt is going to be one of the team’s biggest strengths. Sullivan has gotten signi� cantly stronger since last year and has added a couple of inches as well. He’s single-sport athlete and spends much of his o� season re� ning his game and playing AAU basketball in the summer.

“(He) could have a breakout year,” Williams said. “Jay put in a tremendous amount of time in the o� season; Has really im-proved all aspects of his o� ensive game.”

Joining Sullivan in the pro-jected starting line-up is Alex Emanuelson. � e senior was the team’s leading scorer last season and honorable mention all-con-ference performer a� er averaging 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Williams will no doubt utilize a three-guard line-up for long stretches with Jake Borchert serv-ing as the team’s swingman. � e two-time all-conference defen-sive back in football has perhaps the team’s highest vertical leap and is most comfortable taking the ball to the rim.

“He’s a very athletic kid who gave us some great energy and scoring during the middle of the season last year,” Williams said of Borchert. We will need the same this year.”

Senior Nick Raichle and his

younger brother, Alex, will share backup point guard duties be-hind Sullivan.

As for the frontcourt, Eli Havelka anchors that group. � e 6-foot-4 senior has excellent shooting touch and range for a center and is a great passer. He’s also the team’s emotional leader and co-captain with Emanuelson.

Mason � ein will challenge for more minutes a� er starting about half of Owatonna’s games last season. He’s the tallest player on the team and displayed solid fundamentals on the as a junior. He could potentially lead the team in blocks and rebounds.

The wildcard in the front-line rotation could be sopho-more Dalton Kubista. A gifted athlete who was the Huskies’ leading receiver this past sea-son on the gridiron, Kubista could someday lead Owatonna in scoring. Though he’s unlikely to take a top offensive role quite yet, the swingman displayed superior potential last season, and at 6-foot-3½, possesses the ideal size and frame for an off-guard spot at the high school level. In in a late-season game against Austin, Kubista dropped 14 points on the Packers in the first half.

“Dalton is a very gi� ed un-derclassmen who will be expect-ed to step in and contribute right away,” Williams said.

Filling out the role positions o� the bench will be a combina-tion of guards Jacob Neuharth, Eden Mrozek, Nolan Malo, Hunter Atkinson and forwards Ethan DeKam and Andrew Jack-son. Each one is either a junior or sophomore.

Reach sports reporter Jon Weisbrod at 444-2375, or follow him on Twitter.com @OPPJonW

Huskies prepare to bring mix of talentSCHEDULE

Nov. 24 at Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 1 vs Rochester Mayo, 6 p.m.

Dec. 3 at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 4 at Farmington, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 at Rochester John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 11 vs. Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 18 at Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 22 vs. Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 29 vs. TBD, Owatonna Tournament


Jan. 5 vs. Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 vs. Red Wing, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 at Austin, 7:30 p.m.


Jan. 16 vs. East Ridge, 7:30 p.m.




Jan. 30 vs. Rochester John Marshall, 3 p.m.

Feb. 2 at Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 vs. Faribault, 7:30 p.m.


Feb. 12 at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.


Feb. 19 vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Jay Sullivan

“FROM THE COACH “O� ensively we hope to transition bet-

ter than the last couple years. We de� -nitely have more shooter and scorers at

various positions to make that a reality.”

LAST SEASON 13-14 overall, 11-11

Big Nine


OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASTICS

OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING


The Owatonna gymnastics team typically finds itself perched near the top of the Big Nine Conference at the end of the season.

�e Huskies didn’t �nish where they would have liked last year (fourth in the conference), but that doesn’t mean the program has taken a step back.

Far from it actually.�e Huskies are as strong as ever. Head coach Tom

Smith credits a stable club program for his team’s con-sistent success.

“Strengthening our program is due to the continued success of the Owatonna Gymnastics Club,” Smith said. “All our gymnasts are brought up through the club

with consistent coaching. �at is what makes any team strong. Problems arise when there is no consistency. �e gymnastic club is one of the best in the state. In the o� season most of our gymnasts train at the club. It is where all our meets are and it is where we practice. �e club is dedicated to help improve our high school team.”

Indeed, the OGC has churned out high-level gymnasts for a number of years, including last season’s most consistent performer Tatelyn Blazek. She graduated last May and will be the most signi�cant piece missing from last year’s team that �nished 6-5 in the Big Nine.

But the cupboard isn’t bare.Owatonna enters the new season with

most of its team returning from a season ago.

It also welcomes back one of top per-formers over the last four years in Steph Kretlow. The senior was ham-pered by injury last season and fill in nicely in Blazek’s vacated spot in the line-up.

Also returning this season is Emily An, Grace Pick, Tatelyn Jensen, Macy Han-

son, Morgan Welker, Becca Olson, Sydney Kretlow and Allison An.

“We should have a good season with expe-rience coming back,” Smith said. “But downfall

is that we are still really young. Goals win confer-ence and sections.”


Huskies ready to prove strength

SCHEDULEOwatonna gymnasticsDec. 10 vs. Winona, 6:30 p.m.Dec. 15 at Mankato triangular,

6:30 p.m.Dec. 22 at Northfield,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 5 vs. Red Wing, 6:30 p.m.Jan. 9 at Faribault Invite,

11 a.m.Jan. 15 at Faribault, 6:30 p.m.Jan. 16 at Jackson County

Invite, 9 a.m.Jan. 22 at Rochester quad,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 26 vs. Austin, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 6 at Big Nine Conference

Invite (Owatonna), 3 p.m.

LAST SEASON

6-5 Big Nine

“FROM THE COACH “We have to wait to see who

will perform for us; it could be a real battle.”


As the season approaches, sec-ond-year head coach Sam Hager will be tasked with replacing per-haps his three best swimmers from a season ago.

Gone from the 2014-15 team are Brodie �iede, Micah BigEagle and Aaron Evans. The trio ac-counted for four of the Huskies’ six top 10 �nishes at the Section 1AA competition and were also the an-chors of the 200 yard and 400 yard relay teams.

Owatonna will be one of the most inexperienced squads in the Big Nine Conference in 2015-16 and will look to eight returning let-terwinners and several new athletes to improve on last season’s seventh

place �nish.With 17 of the 31 athletes on the

team completely new to the sport — and 10 of those being in seventh graders — Hager remains realistic about his expectations. �e Huskies probably won’t contend for confer-ence or sectional titles, and will look to personal progression as the main barometer for success.

“We want to improve on per-sonal best (times) every meet,” Hag-er said. “We would like to advance someone to state.”

Owatonna’s leading contenders at the sectional level are sophomore Ben Stelter and senior captain Zach Jorgenson. Last season, Stelter end-ed ninth in the 200 yard freestyle at sections and Jorgenson came in eighth in the 200 yard IM.

Jorgenson is also the only re-maining swimmer on the roster that was part of the fourth-place 200 free relay squad. �is season, he will take part in the butterfly and backstroke as well. He’s also expected to �ll in at any freestyle event, not just the 200.

Co-captain Windham Anez will swim the 200 IM, 100 breastroke along with any freestyle event.

Ghoutham Monokar (multiple events), Billy Zheng (mainly back-stroke), Joshua Belting (multiple events), Payton Jorgenson (mul-

tiple events) and Colton Kamholz (diving) will play a huge role in filling out the remainder of the events.

Hager expects Rochester Cen-

tury to be the No. 1 contender for the conference title with the Pan-thers, Lakeville North, Lakeville South and Hastings serving as the top teams in the section.

OHS looks to 8 returning letterwinners, several new athletes for success

SCHEDULEDec. 10 vs. Rochester Mayo,

6 p.m.Dec. 17 vs. Rochester John

Marshall, 6 p.m.Dec. 19 at Albert Lea Invite,

10 a.m.Dec. 22 at Mankato East,

6 p.m.Jan. 7 at Mankato West,

6 p.m.Jan. 14 at Austin, 6 p.m.Jan. 21 vs. North�eld, 6 p.m.Jan. 28 at Faribault, 6 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. Albert Lea, 6 p.m.

Feb. 13 at Big Nine Conference Meet in North�eld (diving), noon

Feb. 16 at Big Nine Conference Meet in North�eld (swimming), 5 p.m.

LAST SEASON 7th in the Big Nine

“FROM THE COACH

“Strong work ethic and positive attitudes

are our biggest strengths.”

Steph Kretlow

“Power to the People”

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This could finally be the year for the Owatonna girls hockey team.

Though the first four games include a pair of losses in which the Huskies have surrendered six goals apiece, a thorough ex-amination of those defeats ex-hibits a team that simply had a few early-season hiccups.

Bottom line, the Huskies are going to good.

Really, really good.The reason for all the opti-

mism is based on sheer num-bers and facts. The Huskies return 12 players from last year’s team that finished 13-12-1 overall and already have eight players with at least one goal so far this season (through four games). Even in losses to Red Wing and Bloomington Jefferson, OHS has stayed rela-tively even in shots-on-goal and controlled the puck for large chunks in both games.

The Husk ies have a l s o proven they can lay the ham-mer down as demonstrated in a pair of wins against Mankato East and Albert Lea in which they finished with an 11-2 edge in goals scored.

“We’ve had success scor-ing so far this year,” Owatonna

coach Tim Hunst said. “Our passing is greatly improved. We are young, but have some experience.”

Owatonna has also been re-classified to Class A and will compete against schools in the postseason with much smaller enrollments.

Senior wing Jessica Von-Ruden leads OHS in scoring through four games with five goals and four assists. This comes a season after tying for the team lead in goals with 13.

VonRuden is the the Hus-kies’ top scoring threat, but Achterkirch might just be their best overall player. Just a sophomore, the center tallied 13 goals last season and has already found the back of the net once and assisted on two others.

Jenna VonRuden also re-turns at center a year after scoring three goals and handing out four assists. She has scored twice this season and could eas-ily be in double-figures by the middle of the year.

Captain Meghan Rethemeier has gotten off to a strong start af ter missing 2014-15 due to injury. In four games thus far, she’s scored two goals and notched two assists.

Joining Rethemeier and Jes-sica VonRuden on the wing is Jenna Bogen, Shannon Van-

Reeth, Megan Foss, Reagan Schallau and Maylynn Proko-pec. Bogen leads the bunch with three goals so far this season.

VanReeth tallied four points a season ago on three goals and one assist while Foss, Schallau and Prokopec combined for five points.

The blue line will be com-manded by sophomores Rilee Schmidt and Jamie Davison along with senior captain Pey-ton DeVinny.

“DeVinny anchors our de-fense,” Hunst said. “Schmidt is smart and plays her posi-tion well (and) Davidson is a smooth, efficient skater.”

A pair of youngsters in eighth-grader Asia Buryska and sophomore Laura Ebeling will be asked to replace Kacy Borwege in front of the net.

Red Wing — which defeated the Huskies 6-2 despite being out-shot 17-15 on Nov. 12 — is expected to be the team to beat once again in the Big Nine Conference and Section 1A. Northfield, split its first four games, could also challenge for both titles.


OHS prepares for successful year

OWATONNA HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS HOCKEY

SCHEDULENov. 20 at Eveleth-

Gilbert, 7:30 p.m.Nov. 21 at Orono, 2 p.m.Nov. 24 at Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 3 vs. Rochester John

Marshall, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 5 at Winona,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Rochester

Century, 5 p.m.Dec. 10 vs. Faribault,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 12 vs. Northfield,

7 p.m.Dec. 19 at South St. Paul,

1 p.m.Dec. 29-31 at Blaine

Tournament, TBDJan. 5 vs. Austin, 7 p.m.Jan. 7 at Farmington,

7 p.m.Jan. 9 at Rochester

Century, 1 p.m.

Jan. 14 at Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 vs. Rochester Mayo, 7 p.m.

Jan. 19 at Rochester John Marshall

Jan. 21 at Mankato West, 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 28 vs. Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 30 at Faribault, 7 p.m.

Meghan Rethemeier

“FROM THE COACH “We have set our sights on the Section 1A championship. We should be in the hunt.”

LAST SEASON 13-12-1 overall, 15-7 Big Nine


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MEDFORD HIGH SCHOOLWRESTLING


Longtime Medford wrestling coach Dennis Whitman is accus-tomed to turnover in his program. He’s fully aware that athletes come and go due to graduation and the quest to �nd the next cornerstone wrestler is a never ending mission.

It looks like his search will con-tinue into the 2015 season.

Gone from last year are three of the Tigers’ top performers, includ-ing one that placed ��h at the Class A state tournament in Nate Elzen. Also departed are Nick Von Ruden and Trevor Grems.

Whitman does not list what

each athlete brings to the table, or how they performed last season, but sites Cael Kavitz (106 pounds), Willie Von Ruden (120), Bo Noble (138), Nick Masso (145), Marcus DeLeon (152), Greg Larson (152), Nate Meixner (160) and Josh Schauer (170) as his returning let-terwinners.

Whitman also says he has sever-al new athletes out for the sport and will spend the �rst couple of weeks training the rookies and re�ning

each wrestler’s technique.In order for the Tigers to match

last season’s 7-10 record, they will need to get extra production from their middle weights and stretch the limit of some of the heavier wres-tlers as Whitman does not list an athlete heavier than 170 pounds.

Tigers seek to match last season’s record

SCHEDULEDec. 1 at Redwood

Valley Triangular, 5 p.m.Dec. 5 at Winona

TournamentDec. 10 vs. W-E-M, 7 p.m.Dec. 19 at Kenyon-

Wanamingo InviteJan. 2 at Pipestone

Invite

Jan. 7 vs. USC, 7 p.m.Jan. 9 at Gopher Valley

Tournament in St. ClairJan. 14 at Mankato West

Quad, 5 p.m.Jan. 16 at Hayfield InviteJan. 19 vs. Hayfield,

7 p.m.Jan. 21 vs. Maple River,

7 p.m.Jan. 23 at Lake City

TournamentJan. 28 at Blooming

Prairie, 7 p.m.Jan. 30 at Pine Island

QuadFeb. 5 at NRHEG, 7 p.m.

“FROM THE COACH “We want to gain as much experience as we can. We don’t

have any seniors, so we should be able to keep building the next couple years.”

LAST SEASON 7-10 overall, 1-3 Gopher

Conference


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OWATONNA WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULESBoys basketball

Nov. 24 at Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 1 vs Rochester Mayo, 6 p.m.

Dec. 3 at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 4 at Farmington, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 at Rochester John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 11 vs. Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 15 at Faribault, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 18 at Northfield, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 22 vs. Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.



Jan. 5 vs. Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 vs. Red Wing, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 at Austin, 7:30 p.m.


Jan. 16 vs. East Ridge, 7:30 p.m.




Jan. 30 vs. Rochester John Marshall, 3 p.m.

Feb. 2 at Winona, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 vs. Faribault, 7:30 p.m.


Feb. 12 at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.


Feb. 19 vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Girls basketballNov. 30 vs. Mankato West,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Rochester John

Marshall, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 10 at Prior Lake,

7 p.m.Dec. 11 at Winona,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 15 vs. Faribault,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 18 vs. North�eld, 7:30 p.m.

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OWATONNA WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULESDec. 21 at Chaska, 7 p.m.Dec. 22 at Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 28 at St. Cloud Tech

TournamentDec. 29 at St. Cloud Tech

TournamentJan. 5 at Albert Lea,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 8 at Red Wing,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 12 vs. Austin,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 15 vs. Rochester

Century, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 19 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 21 at Mankato East,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 26 at Mankato West,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 30 at Rochester John

Marshall, 3 p.m.Feb. 2 vs. Winona,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 4 at Faribault,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 9 at Northfield,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 13 vs. Albert Lea,

3 p.m.F e b . 1 6 v s . R e d

W i n g , 7 : 3 0 p . m .

Feb. 19 at Austin, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 23 at Rochester Century, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 25 vs. Mankato East, 7:30 p.m.

Boys hockeyNov. 21 vs. St. Paul

Academy, 1 p.m.Nov. 24 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Nov. 28 vs. Rochester

Century, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 3 at Rochester John

Marshall, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Winona,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 10 at Faribault,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 15 vs. South St. Paul,

7 p.m.Jan. 5 at Northfield,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 7 at Rochester

Century, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 9 at Chanhassen,

3 p.m.Jan. 14 vs. Mankato East,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 16 at Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 21 vs. Mank ato

West , 7 :30 p.m.Jan. 23 vs. Rochester John

MarshallJan. 26 at Albert Lea,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 28 at Winona,

6:30 p.m.Feb. 2 at Red Wing,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. Northfield,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 9 vs. Dodge County,

7 p.m.Feb. 13 vs. Austin, 1 p.m.

Girls hockeyNov. 20 at Eveleth-Gilbert,

7:30 p.m.Nov. 21 at Orono, 2 p.m.Nov. 24 at Rochester

Mayo, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 3 vs. Rochester John

Marshall, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 5 at Winona,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Rochester

Century, 5 p.m.Dec. 10 vs. Faribault,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 12 vs. Northfield,

7 p.m.Dec. 19 at South St.

Paul, 1 p.m.

Dec. 29-31 at Blaine Tournament, TBD

Jan. 5 vs. Austin, 7 p.m.Jan. 7 at Farmington,

7 p.m.Jan. 9 at Rochester

Century, 1 p.m.Jan. 14 at Mankato East,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 16 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 7 p.m.Jan. 19 at Rochester John

MarshallJan. 21 at Mankato West,

5:30 p.m.Jan. 28 vs. Winona,

7:30 p.m.Jan. 30 at Faribault, 7 p.m.

WrestlingNov. 28 at Faribault InviteDec. 3 vs. Rochester Mayo,

7 p.m.Dec. 4 at Farmington,

5 p.m.Dec. 5 vs. Apple Valley,

10 a.m. (OHS Invite)Dec. 12 at Chanhassen

InviteDec. 18-19 at MN

Christmas TournamentDec. 29-30 at Fargo,

N.D. Invite

Jan. 7 at Winona Triangular, 7 p.m.


Jan. 16 at Zumbrota-Mazeppa Invite

Jan. 21 at Lakeville South, 7 p.m.

Jan. 22 at Rochester Century Triangular, 5 p.m.

Jan. 28 vs. Kasson-Mantorville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 30 at Albert Lea, 7 p.m.

Feb. 5 at Faribault, 7 p.m.

Swimming and divingDec. 10 vs. Rochester

Mayo, 6 p.m.Dec. 17 vs. Rochester

John Marshall, 6 p.m.Dec. 19 at Albert Lea

Invite, 10 a.m.Dec. 22 at Mankato East,

6 p.m.Jan. 7 at Mankato West,

6 p.m.Jan. 14 at Austin, 6 p.m.Jan. 21 vs. Northfield,

6 p.m.Jan. 28 at Faribault, 6 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. Albert Lea, 6 p.m.Feb. 13 at Big Nine

Conference Meet in Northfield (diving), noon

Feb. 16 at Big Nine Conference Meet in Northfield (swimming), 5 p.m.

GymnasticsDec. 10 vs. Winona,

6:30 p.m.Dec. 15 at Mankato

triangular, 6:30 p.m.Dec. 22 at Northfield,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 5 vs. Red Wing,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 9 at Faribault Invite,

11 a.m.Jan. 15 at Faribault,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 16 at Jackson County

Invite, 9 a.m.Jan. 22 at Rochester quad,

6:30 p.m.Jan. 26 vs. Austin,

6:30 p.m.Feb. 6 at Big Nine

Conference Invite (Owatonna), 3 p.m.


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Go Tigers!

The Medford boys basket-ball team didn’t set the world on fire last season. The Tigers won just five games and were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs, but something felt different.

Medford simply never quit, even though that would have been the easy thing to do.

The Tigers scratched, clawed and hustled their way through 25 games and lost five contests by fewer than 12 points. Who knows what would have hap-pened if the Tigers could have found a way to beat Blooming Prairie and St. Clair in overtime in back-to-back games after be-ginning the season 3-3.

Bottom line, the results

weren’t there, but the excite-ment was.

“Many fans approached me and said it was the best basket-ball they had seen in some time in Medford,” second year coach Rich Powers said. “We worked extremely hard and look to con-tinue that pattern this year. Last year we increased our scoring from the year before and our free throw percentage went up 20 percent, which was a big rea-son we increased our scoring output.”

If Powers hopes to continue to move the program forward and get Medford to double digit wins for just the second time in the last eight seasons, he’s going to have his work cut out for him.

Gone from last season’s team are three of its top offen-sive weapons in Lucas Peterson, Richie Powers and Lucas Cro-nin. The trio represented 60 percent of the team’s starting rotation.

But with loss often come op-portunity. The Tigers have four returning players that are poised to step into leadership positions. The most notable of them is point guard Wyatt Volkmann. The senior had the ball in his hands during critical situations last season and could be one of the breakout players in the Go-pher Conference.

Also coming back are Cody Rehman, Alex Goetze and Bryce McCarty.

Youthful Medford looks to make some noise

Wyatt Volkmann

SCHEDULENov. 20 at St. Peter,

7:30 p.m.Nov. 24 vs. Mayer

Lutheran, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 1 vs. Glenville-

Emmons, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 3 at Cleveland,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 11 at Blooming

Prairie, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 15 at Jordan,

7:30 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Triton, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 18 vs. NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 21 at JWP, 7:29 p.m.Jan. 5 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 11 vs. St. Clair,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 12 at Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 15 vs. WEM, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 18 vs. TCU, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 21 vs. Maple River,

7:15 p.m.

Jan. 26 vs. Blooming Prairie, 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 29 at NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 1 at USC, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 4 at Schae�er

Academy, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 9 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 11 vs. Pine Island,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 12 at WEM, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 16 vs. Kenyon-

Wanamingo, 7:15 p.m.

“FROM THE COACH

“Defensively we have to get better this year. We did take some huge strides last year. We played USC, Waterville and Maple River tough and we fought hard. We had eight to 10 games that came down to the end and a couple that went into overtime.”

LAST SEASON 5-20, 0-12 Gopher

Conference

MEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL


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MEDFORD HIGH SCHOOLGIRLS BASKETBALL

Mark Kubat is the perfect person to coach the Medford girls basketball team.

He’s not only extremely knowledgeable, but he’s also patient. He’s keenly aware of the struggles a young team can endure playing in the tough Go-pher Conference and demands nothing more than progression from his players.

In time, the wins will come.After back-to-back seasons

in which they won just 12 to-tal games, the Tigers appear primed for a breakout cam-paign. Medford brings back nine of its top 11 players from a season ago and could easily climb to .500 and beyond this season.

“Our strength is that we have a team that wants to im-prove,” Kubat said. “We have a

solid core of returning players with a great attitude and an idea of what we need to do to be suc-cessful. Our goal is to finish in the upper half of the conference and go deep into the post sea-son tournament.”

Senior Sarah Manderfeld is perhaps the most dangerous overall player returning. The forward has the ability to play at a high level on both ends of the floor and is a tough matchup. At 5-foot-8, she is quicker than most posts and taller than most guards.

Another versatile forward is Marnie Madsen. The senior forward is most comfortable around the basket but can ex-tend the defense with her ability to knock down open 3-pointers.

On the blocks and round-ing out the top frontcourt ro-

tation is Mikayla Spinler. The 5-10 junior is a classic back-to-the-basket center. She will be joined by valuable reserves Kristina Niner, Cassie Borwege and Ashley Gilbertson.

Dani Morgan will be tasked with taking care of the bulk of the ball handling duties and will be joined in the backcourt by Becca Edel, who Kubat calls the “quickest player on the team.” Maddie Krenske and eighth-grader Emma Kniefel are expected to start the season on the second unit, but could challenge for starting positions by the end of the season.

“Our keys (to success) will be to stay healthy, find 7-8 girls to score 6-8 points a game, tighten up defensively and force some turnovers that result in transition points,” Kubat said.

Tigers hoping for breakout season

SCHEDULEDec. 4 at TCU, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 10 at Mayer

Lutheran, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 11 vs. Blooming

Prairie, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 15 vs. Jordan,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 18 at NRHEG,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 21 vs. J-W-P,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 4 at Randolph,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 5 at USC, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 11 at St. Clair,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 12 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 15 at W-E-M,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 21 at Dover-Eyota,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 22 vs. Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 26 at Blooming

Prairie, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 29 vs. NRHEG,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 1 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. LeSeuer-

Henderson, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 5 vs. Lewiston-Altura,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 9 at Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 12 vs. W-E-M,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 16 at Cleveland,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 18 vs. Schae�er,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 19 at Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 22 vs. Cannon Falls,

7:15 p.m.

“FROM THE COACH: “We will mix our defenses and plan to pressure when we can-

try to capitalize on our quickness. O�ensively, we will try to get everyone involved. We need to �nd a hot hand.”

LAST SEASON3-22, 1-11

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BLOOMING PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOLBOYS BASKETBALL

It’s truly a season of change for the Blooming Prairie basket-ball team.

The Awesome Blossoms are not only under new leadership with a first year coach, but the program will also be without its most productive player of all-time in John Rumpza.

In his dazzling career with the Blossoms, Rumpza set school records for most career points (2,108), rebounds (1,310) and blocks (215). The ultra-tal-ented 6-foot-6½ forward was as comfortable on the perimeter as he was on the blocks. He av-eraged 20.8 point, 13 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season and will no doubt be missed. Rump-za received interest from several Division II programs for basket-ball, but decided to accept an football scholarship from Wi-nona State and play quarterback.

Also gone from last season are former starters Scott Romeo and Jake Decker.

Nate Piller has his work cut out for him in his first season at the helm, but he’s the right man for the job. After begin-ning his career in the BP pro-gram in 2000 as a junior high coach, Piller moved to the JV team in 2008 and served as John Bruns’ top assistant on the var-sity squad until accepting the head position in the offseason.

Piller is fully conscious of what is missing from last year’s

16-11 squad, but that doesn’t concern him. He’s rightfully fo-cused on his current mix of play-ers and concentrating on ways to utilize their set of skills to his ad-vantage. He’s also not willing to hand over any starting spots until he fully evaluates each player.

“Yes, there are new guys I think will contribute, but they haven’t done it,” Piller said. “In fact, none of these guys have done anything. All last year’s stats are wiped away. In high school, every year is brand new. The chemistry is different, the roles change, leadership changes and nothing should be taken for granted.”

As Piller states, no spot is 100 percent secure, but there are a few players that no doubt have a beat on securing a position in the frontline rotation.

Leading the list of return-ing players is reigning People’s Press all-area honorable men-tion guard Anthony Nelson. The senior started all 26 games for the Blossoms last season and was second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game while haul-ing in 4.9 rebounds and handing out 3.3 assists. He led the team in steals per game at 2.4.

“He has a great attitude and great athletic ability to go along with a love for the game,” Piller said. “His leadership has already taken tremendous strides.”

The second main piece

coming back from last season is Mitchell Jones. Though the senior will miss time recover-ing from an injury, he will likely slide into the starting rotation when he’s fully healthy. There is no firm timetable for his return, but he will be ready at some point this season. In 2014-15, Jones averaged almost 11 points per game in 24 starts and tied Nelson for fourth on the team in rebounds per game at 4.9 per night. He’s a plus defender who swatted 21 shots and collected 26 steals last season. Inside the arc, he shot 57.3 percent from the field.

Ben Smith is the only other player on the roster with any varsity experience having start-ed one game last season.

The rest of Piller’s rotation will be filled by players from a large junior and sophomore class. The underclassmen pos-sess excellent length and boast a couple players pushing 6-6.

The juniors, which include Bryan Fristedt, Connor Getch-ell, Wyatt Grundmeier, Josh Hein, Zach Piller and Smith, will be asked to offer leadership with co-captains Nelson and senior Dawson Heuer.

“We’re going to have young guys playing critical roles,” Piller said. “The boys have been work-ing very hard and have tremen-dous enthusiasm for compet-ing.”

Awesome Blossoms ready for season of change

“FROM THE COACH “We will need to �nd cohesive

groups and play well as a team to have success. With this group

gaining experience throughout the season, daily improvement is not just something we give lip-service to; it’s a necessity.”

Anthony Nelson

SCHEDULENov. 20 at Triton

Tournament, 6 p.m.Nov. 21 at Triton

Tournament, TBDNov. 24 vs. St. Clair, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 1 vs. Lyle-Pacelli,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 4 at WEM, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 10 at Grand Meadow,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 11 vs. Medford,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 12 at Alden-Conger,

6:30 p.m.Dec. 15 at Southland,

7:30 p.m.Dec. 18 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 22 at NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 5 at Faribault BA,


7:15 p.m.Jan. 9 at Mankato Loyola,

4:30 p.m.Jan. 12 vs. NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 14 at Kenyon-

Wanamingo, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 22 vs. WEM, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 23 vs. TCU, 6:30 p.m.Jan. 26 at Medford, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 29 at USC, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 2 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. Goodhue,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 5 at Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 9 vs. Hay�eld, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 12 at J-W-P, 7:15 p.m.


Gopher Conference


BLOOMING PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

For school’s the size of Bloom-ing Prairie, sports like wrestling are o� en a numbers game.

With basketball to compete with for athletes in the winter and an absolute minimum of 14 individuals required to � ll a team, winning and losing is o� en rela-tive.

Sure, the Awesome Blossoms would love to come out ahead in every duel match this season, but that’s just not realistic. As is the case with several smaller pro-grams in the conference, Bloom-ing Prairie won’t have enough kids to � ll all the weight classes this season, but they have at least one individual that could represent the school at the state tournament

in St. Paul.His name is Ethan Arett.As just a freshman last season,

Arett won 31 of his 40 matches and � nished second in the sec-tion. � ough he did not place at the state tournament, the experi-ence will no doubt serve him well moving forward.

No other returning wrestler finished with a winning record last season, but three did collect at least 10 wins. Payton Simon is a logical candidate to take the next step this season a� er going 13-19 last year at 132 pounds.

Seniors Jon Hansen and Ri-ley Olson also come back. Han-sen went 10-12 in 2014-15 at 132 pounds while Olson went 12-23

at 182.� e remaining weights will be

� lled in by freshman or eighth-graders Seth Peterson (138), Colin Lerum (132), Colton Krell (152) and Dylan Nirk (170).

“We have young quality wres-tlers that work hard, focused and are very coachable,” Blooming Prairie coach Chad Gimbel said. “Team we will have a di� cult time � lling all the weights but we want to win the duals with the matches that are wrestled.”

NRHEG and Maple River en-ter the season as the teams to beat in the conference. Both programs boast great depth and could send 10 wrestlers to the state tourna-ment between them.

Awesome Blossom star wrestler to shine

SCHEDULEDec. 1 at St. Clair QuadDec. 3 at NRHEG,

7 p.m.Dec. 5 at Springfield

InvitationalDec. 10 vs. USC, 5 p.m.Dec. 17 at Hayfield

TriangularDec. 19 at Kenyon-

Wanamingo InviteJan. 7 at Maple River,

5 p.m.Jan. 9 at Gopher Valley

Tournament in St. ClairJan. 16 at Crystal

Lake-Wellcome Memorial Tournament

Jan. 19 vs. Southland,

5 p.m.Jan. 21 at Triton,

5 p.m.Jan. 23 at Lake City

TournamentJan. 28 vs. Medford,

7 p.m.Feb. 4 at J-W-P

Triangular

“FROM THE COACH “Early part of the season there

is lots of drilling and learning of new techniques, and condition.

Middle and late part of the season is more full speed wrestling and putting those tech-niques and drills to live situations.”

LAST SEASON 2-13 overall

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BLOOMING PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOLGIRLS BASKETBALL

Similar to the boys pro-gram, the Blooming Prairie g i r l s b asketb a l l te am los t some record-setting talent to graduation.

But unlike the boys team, the Awesome Blossoms didn’t lose just one al l-time great player.

They lost two.Gone from a season ago are

perhaps the two best players to ever wear a Blooming Prai-rie jersey in Madison Worke and Taylor Hagen. Worke is c ur rent ly re d-shir t ing for nationally-ranked Division II Winona State while Hagen is playing as a true freshman for Division I Northern Iowa.

The Blossoms ran the ta-ble in the Gopher Conference last season and advanced to the sub-section championship before falling to state power-house Goodhue, 38-33.

T h e p ro g r a m a l s o l o s t i t s head coach when John Worke decided to retire, but the team is in good hands as John Bruns will take over af-ter spending the last 16 years as the boys coach.

Despite two huge holes left in the rotation, all isn’t lost for Blooming Prairie. The Awesome Blossoms return two players that were hon-ored by the Gopher Confer-ence and have several young

and talented athletes poised to take their game to another level.

For the first time in her ca-reer, reigning all-conference performer Kalyn Naatz will enter the season as the team’s top offensive threat. The post offered an excellent comple-ment to Hagen the last couple of years and will be asked to carry a much larger load on the blocks.

Joining Naatz in the pro-jected starting lineup is Han-nah Ahrens. The senior is still developing a reliable outside shot, but is an excellent re-bounder for her position and can set the tone on both ends with great energy. She was given all-conference honorable men-tion consideration last season.

Seniors Anika Nowlan and Lauren Larkoski also return to the backcourt and will pro-vide undeniable leadership.

Another big piece of last season’s team, Kaci Gwilt, will be eased back into the rota-tion in 2015-16 after suffering an ACL injury in the offsea-son. Bruns does not have a firm timetable for her return.

Junior newcomer Marissa Larson can play both forward positions and even slide into the center spot. Bruns said she h a d an “out s t and i ng” summer and has come a long

way since last season when she played JV.

The remaining frontcourt depth will be filled by sopho-mores Ayren Ingvalson and Samantha Wurst.

The remaining backcourt spots will be taken by Kylie Forystek, Taylor Christian-son, Jasmine Anderson and McKenna Hein.

“To begin the season we are going to focus on build-ing the team and bringing the girls together,” Bruns said. “We have people coming from three different teams last year (C, JV, and V) plus we have a new head coach. All of this will mean that we have some work to do to get on the same page. Once we have everyone going in the same direction, then we can focus on our on-court strengths and weak-nesses.”

It would be a stretch for the Blossoms to repeat last season’s 12-0 mark in the conference, but they will be in the mix with preseason favorites NRHEG and W-E-M.

The section will once again be one of the most competi-tion in Class A with defend-ing champion Ly le-Pacel l i s er v ing as the prohibit ive f rontrunner. Goodhue and up-and-coming Grand Mead-ow will also challenge for the top three seeds.

Blossoms hope to pick up where they left off

“FROM THE COACH“We have nice size at all po-

sitions and a lot of depth at the post position. Defensively, we

have good quickness and athleticism and we should be able to end up being a pretty good defensive team.”

SCHEDULEDec. 1 at Triton, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 3 vs. Grand Meadow,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 4 vs. J-W-P, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 8 at Goodhue,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 11 at Medford,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 12 at Alden-Conger,

5 p.m.Dec. 15 vs. Southland,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 18 at USC, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 22 vs. NRHEG,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 5 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 8 at Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 9 at Mankato Loyola,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 12 at NRHEG,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 14 vs. Kenyon-

Wanamingo, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 22 at WEM, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 23 vs. TCU, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 26 Blooming Prairie

at Medford, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 29 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 2 at Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 5 vs. Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 9 at Hay�eld,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 11 at Lyle-Pacelli,

7:29 p.m.Feb. 16 vs. Byron,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 19 vs. W-E-M,

7:15 p.m.

Hannah Ahrens


Gopher Conference


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NRHEG HIGH SCHOOLBOYS BASKETBALL

� e NRHEG boys basketball program has evolved to the point where it can sustain significant losses and still remain a� oat.

Such is the case for the upcom-ing season. � e Panthers lose four three-year starters from last season to graduation, but return perhaps the best guard in the entire Go-pher Conference and four other key reserves from a team that won 23 games.

A� er patiently waiting his turn to take over the team since join-ing the regular varsity rotation two years ago, junior Oakley Baker emerges as the unquestioned cen-terpiece of the o� ense.

Listed by coach Pat Churchill at

6-foot-5, he’s a matchup nightmare for most defenders in the Gopher Conference. The off-guard — who averaged 15 points and � ve rebounds per game last season — has a sweet stroke from the outside and will be asked to handle the ball more than ever before in 2015-16. If he can react to suddenly becom-ing the focal point of every team’s defensive game plan, Baker could easily average more than 20 points per game this season.

Baker isn’t the only returning player with decent length as 6-6 swingman John Cole and 6-7 cen-ter Tyler Raimann also return. � e pair averaged 5.1 and 3.2 points per game, respectively, and will

likely slide into the starting rota-tion. � e � nal returning letterwin-ner is Chad Agrimson (3.1 points per game in 2014-15).

� e Panthers don’t have much size coming off the bench with only one of the seven projected newcomers standing taller than 6-0, so Baker could shift to the frontcourt if Churchill decides to go with a smaller lineup.

NRHEG’s emergence as a re-cent Gopher Conference contend-er is based largely on the fact that most of the players in the program don’t hang up their sneakers in the o� season. According to Churhill, nine individuals participated in AAU in the summer.

Panthers hope to maintain momentum after losing four starters to graduation

SCHEDULENov. 21 at Redwood Valley,

6 p.m.Dec. 1 at LeSueur-

Henderson, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 4 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 7 at Kenyon-

Wanamingo, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 8 vs. St. Clair,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 11 at Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 15 vs. TCU, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 18 at Medford,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 22 vs. Blooming

Prairie, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 26 at Bethany

Lutheran College Tournament, TBD

Jan. 2 vs. Hay� eld, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 at W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 12 at Blooming

Prairie, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 15 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 18 vs. J-W-P, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 19 vs. Blue Earth,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 22 at Faribault BA,


7:15 p.m.Jan. 28 at Triton, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 29 vs. Medford,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 4 vs. W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 9 vs. Waseca,

7:15 p.m.Feb. 12 at USC, 7:15 p.m.

LAST SEASON 23-5, 9-3 Gopher

Conference

“FROM THE COACH

“We expect to be competitive in a very

tough conference. We realize that we have a lot of experience that has graduated, but we feel that we a lot of potential and will be in the thick of things at the end of the year.”

Oakley Baker

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NRHEG HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

Flush with experience and ac-complished wrestlers, NRHEG is no doubt going to be a huge factor in the race for the conference and section title.

A privilege at a school its size, NRHEG enters the new season con� dent it can � ll most of the 14 weight classes with experienced athletes. In all, coach Shawn Lar-son brings back 15 letterwinners from a team that swept through the Gopher Conference and � nished 16-9 overall in 2014-15.

Cordell Peterson will anchor the team once again at 126 pounds. � e senior has been to the state tourna-ment three times and � nished as the section runner-up last season.

A� er missing out on a state bid in 2014-15, Wyatt Fitterer looks to

return to the Xcel Energy Center in his � nal season with the Panthers a� er qualifying for state in 2013. He will she shi� ed to heavyweight with Zeke Erickson moving down from 285 to 220 pounds.

� e rest of the large senior class includes one-time section � nalist Trey Hoppe (third in section at 160 in 2014-15), Lucas Herrmann (152, 160), captain Palmer Peterson (152, 160), Karter Sletten (160, 170), Jon Weller (182) and Trai Wicks (138, 145).

With no juniors on the roster, the rest of the varsity rotation will be � lled with a combination of un-derclassmen including Chad Erick-son (145), Brett Kubiatowicz (113, 120), Bryce Okland (152, 160), Cole Staloch (145), Tyler Jacobson (138)

and Ross Lenort (126).� e biggest voids to � ll are at

120 pounds where three-time state entrant Dillon Kubiatowicz has graduated along with Todd Erick-son at 220 (third in the state last season).

� e stability in Larson’s pro-gram comes from dedication displayed by several of his wres-tlers in the o� season. Several of his athletes attend miscellaneous camps, but according to Larson, the most progress was made by Peterson and Fitterer. Both com-peted with Team Minnesota at the USA Greco-Roman Duals in Tulsa, Oklahoma and competed in the Junior National Greco-Roman Championship in Fargo, North Dakota in July.

Panthers full of experience for upcoming season

SCHEDULENov. 28 at Rochester John

Marshall TournamentDec. 3 vs. Blooming Prairie,

7 p.m.Dec. 5 at St. James

TournamentDec. 12 at Caledonia

Tournament

Dec. 17 at USC, 7 p.m.Dec. 18-19 at Redwood

Valley TournamentJan. 7 vs. W-E-M, 7 p.m.Jan. 9 at Gopher Valley

Tournament in St. ClairJan. 14 at Blue Earth QuadJan. 16 at Lake Mills

TournamentJan. 21 at Hay� eld

Triangular, 5 p.m.Jan. 23 at Kasson-

Mantorville TournamentJan. 29 at Maple River,

7 p.m.Feb. 5 vs. Medford, 7 p.m.

LAST SEASON16-9 overall, 5-0 Gopher

Conference

Palmer Peterson


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NRHEG HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL

You have to run with what you’ve got.

In Onika Peterson’s case, this can be taken literally.

Coaching a team that lacks universal height up and down the roster, the second-year NRHEG girls basketball coach is going to deploy a fast-paced philosophy. � e Panthers, who won back-to-back state championships in 2013 and 2014, have always � ourished in an up-tempo style, but this sea-son Peterson is going to crank up the speed to another level.

Peterson’s desire to run the � oor is no doubt in part to com-pensate for her team’s lack of size, but she also has the personnel to make it happen.

Leading the way in 2015-16 will once again be a pair of dy-namic twin sisters in Maddie and Marnie Wagner. � e two not only look almost exactly alike, but their skill-sets are also eerily similar. Both can shoot from deep, drive to the basket and are equal-opportu-nity distributors, averaging 3.3 and 3.1 assists per game, respectively.

Maddie paced the team in scor-ing at 17.8 points per night while Marnie led the squad in rebound-ing at 8.5 while maintaining a 12.3 scoring average. Together they ac-counted for almost � ve steals per contest.

With a pair of undisputed go-to players in place, it will be up to a handful of returning letterwinners

and newcomers to help elevate the team past last year’s up-and-down 14-12 campaign.

Guard Gretchen Ramaker is the team’s top complimentary play-er coming back a� er averaging 5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.1 assists last year. Also returning are a pair of regular contributors Rachel Collins and Kayley Ca-merer. Collins will join the front line guard rotation while Camerer will serve as a valuable frontcourt contributor. In 2014-15, she aver-aged 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Sophia Fischer, Hailey Schuller and Emily Eder saw limited action last season and will have expanded roles this year.

Panthers to deploy fast-paced philosophy

Maddie Wagner

SCHEDULEDec. 5 vs. Fairmont, 5 p.m.Dec. 8 at Waseca, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 11 vs. Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 18 vs. Medford, 7:15 p.m.Dec. 21 at St. Peter, 7:30 p.m.Dec. 22 at Blooming Prairie,

7:15 p.m.Dec. 28-30 at St. Olaf College

TournamentJan. 2 vs. Hayfield, 6 p.m.Jan. 5 vs. Kenyon-Wanamingo,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 8 vs. W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 9 at Hayfield InviteJan. 12 vs. Blooming Prairie,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 15 at USC, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 19 at Blue Earth, 7:15 p.m.Jan. 22 vs. Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 25 at J-W-P, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 26 at Maple River,

7:15 p.m.Jan. 29 at Medford, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 4 at W-E-M, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 5 at Mankato Loyola,

7:30 p.m.Feb. 8 vs. Triton, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 12 vs. USC, 7:15 p.m.Feb. 19 at Faribault BA,

7:15 p.m.

winter sports preview 2015

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