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THURSDAY -  MARCH 11, 2010
 

THIEF RIVER FALLS LATE SURGE IN FIRST HALF LIFTS PROWLERS TO A 50-40 SECTION TOURNEY WIN

Jonathan Milks nine straight points near the end of the first half gave Thief River Falls a 13 point half time lead and the Prowlers would turn back a late Crookston Pirate rally in a 50-40 win in a first round Section 8AA Tournament game in Thief River Falls.
He doesn’t start for the Thief River Falls Prowlers, but it doesn’t take long for Prowler coach Chris McLean to bring in Jonathan Milks, a 6’4 post player and then junior didn’t do much until there was 2:21 left in the first half and Thief River Falls leading by four, Milks scored nine straight points, as he stepped out twice to drain three point shots and then went baseline with a nice drive and basket and a free throw to make it a 26-15 lead with 1:21 to go in the first half and the spark the Prowlers needed with a 28-15 lead at half.  After three early ties, the Pirates were down by five points with 10:49 left in the half and the Pirates would score three straight times down, a 12 footer by Josh Baldock, a great lean in shot in the lane by Ben Curran and then Papou Maiga laid one in after a terrific pass from Carter Denison and Crookston had their first led 12-11 with 8:19 left in the first half. Thief River Falls Steve Peterson scored inside on their next possession and it would be a lead the Prowlers would never give up again as they started to build the lead on a Riley Simenson steal and basket, but after the Pirates Dan Mykleseth made one of two free throws to make it a 17-13 lead for TRF, Milks went off for the nine points in a row and the Prowlers ended the first half on a 17-3 run to lead 28-15. “I thought we came out right away and played pretty well,” said Crookston head coach Greg Garmen, “but we picked up some early fouls on Ben (Curran) Baldy (Josh Baldock) and Timmy (Desrosier) which hurt and we tried to save them to the second half without getting their third fouls and maybe we play them there, we would have stopped that run of theirs, but the other kids have to step up in those situations. William (Pankow) didn’t get out on the Milks kid and did and then he did the third time and then he went baseline and we go down by 13 at half. We didn’t make plays when we needed to in the first half, we had one sequence where we must have had four offensive boards and couldn’t make shots. The bunny deal (close in shots), I’ m not sure what it is, but we seem to be cursed in Crookston in my 14 years, we struggle to score in close.”
After only scoring 15 first half points, the Pirates continued to have a tough time against the Prowlers defense and missing some close in shots and not getting much from the outside either, but Denison finally hit a three pointer after a just made 1-2 at the free throw line to get Crookston back to 36-22 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Pirates found themselves down by 15 points before the Crookston birthday boy, Tim Desrosier started heating up, first scoring on a nice drive and then he soared above a Prowler missed shot and raced coast to coast to score, but missed the three throw and Crookston trailed 40-27 with 10 minutes left. Crookston started getting a little more active and the momentum was slowing swinging there way as Maiga scored on another great pass from Denison, Desrosier had another nice move in traffic for a lay up and after William Pankow blocked a Thief River Falls shot to Shane Chapman, the Pirates were off and running and Curran nailed at 10 foot jumper and after a Crookston steal, Denison made one of two free throws and the Pirates trailed 42-36 with 4:07 left in the game and forced a Thief River Falls time out. Jacob Langevin, who had been fairly quiet had a nice running lay up to stop the Pirate run and Crookston had trouble scoring again, but the Prowlers helped out a bit by missing three straight front ends of one and one free throws, but the Pirates were unable to get any closer and Thief River Falls did make enough free throws in the last minute to win 50-40. “We made a nice comeback in the second half and got back into it,” said Garmen, “We were playing well defensively, but just couldn’t get it going on the other side of the ball when we needed to. Hitting any shots from the outside would have helped, but Carter had the only three, otherwise we had to work for everything, even in close.”  Crookston finishes the season at 12-15 and graduates Josh Baldock, Shane Chapman, Ben Curran, Carter Denison, and Brandon Lyczewski. “I thought they all worked hard tonight,” said Garmen and I know the season was a little disappointing, but they didn’t give up and kept battling.”
Crookston will also lose their veteran assistant and JV coach Ed Nelson who will retire after nine years of assisting Coach Garmen and Coach Nelson has coached for 41 years in the Crookston School System. “We counted them up,” said Garmen, “1269 games on the bench for the Silver Fox at some level and Pirate Hoops is going to miss him, as he has had a big influence in the boy’s and girl’s basketball programs in Crookston. We are going to miss him a lot and he will be taking his last bus ride back home tonight!!!!”
Thief River Falls was led by Langevin with 12 points and improve to 15-11 and will now advance to a Section 8AA Quarterfinal game on Saturday night at Red Lake, who beat Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 87-66.

 
Josh Baldock pulls up for a shot in the paint   Ben Curran with a shot over a Prowler
                         (Pictures by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)
 

Ed Nelson helps William Pankow on the bench in the "Silver Fox's" last game as a Pirate coach
        (Picture by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)

WEDNESDAY -  MARCH 10, 2010

FORMER UMC BASEBALL PLAYER, PAUL KREBS SIGNS WITH FARGO REDHAWKS

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks have re-acquired RHP Matt Mossey from the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League for two players to be named later and have signed INF Paul Krebs to a contract, the Northern League club announced

Krebs, 23, completed his college career last spring at the University of Minnesota-Crookston (UMC).  In 2009, Krebs batted .305 with four doubles, two triples, three home runs, 27 RBIs and 34 runs scored in 48 games for the Golden Eagles.  In 2008, he batted .267 with seven doubles, one triple, three home runs, 11 RBIs and 25 runs scored in 35 games. Krebs is a graduate from Little Falls High School in Minnesota where he was all conference and captain of the baseball team. He attended Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Mn and a year at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, Mn, where he played baseball for both before he came to UMC for the past two years and he is currently finishing up his degree at UMC.

STATE TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANTS HONORED AT CHS WEDNESDAY

Swimmers Luke and Isaac Loegering and Pirate wrestlers Brody Davidson, Mariano Portillo, Anthony Caputo, Javier Portillo and Nate Merten were recognized for their accomplishments representing CHS at state tournaments this past weekend.

 
  Isaac and Luke Loegering and coach Brent Newman    Brody Davidson, Mariano Portillo, Anthony Caputo, Javier Portillo and Nate Merten.
                                               

TUESDAY -  MARCH 9, 2010

BIERMAIER, BITTNER AND TERPSTRA NAMED TO ALL CONFERENCE BOY'S HOCKEY TEAMS

The Crookston Pirate Boy's Hockey team had three players named to post-season teams that were announced today.
Mark Bittner (Junior-defenseman) and Morgan Terpstra (Sr-Center) were named to the Section 8A All Section team, while Pirate senior goalie Nick Biermaier was named the the All Mariucci Conference team.

8A All Section Team as voted on by the Section Coaches:
Goalie:
Zane Gothberg                      Thief River Falls
Alex Lyon                              Lake of The Woods

Defense:
Carson Gray                          Warroad
Kevin McMorrow                 Park Rapids
Matt Audette                         Thief River Falls
Garrett Schmitz                     Red Lake Falls
Mark Bittner                         Crookston
Jacob Malwitz                       Thief River Falls

Forwards:
Brock Nelson                         Warroad
Jake Useldinger                     East Grand Forks
Craig Lindegard                   Kittson County Central
Brett Hebel                             Warroad
Tucker Coborn                     Park Rapids
Micah Ranum                        Thief River Falls
Sam Coborn                          Park Rapids
Morgan Terpstra                  Crookston
Matt Lindquist                      Thief River Falls

Coach of the Year:  Scott Klein-Kittson County Central
Assistant Coach of the Year:  Jacob Sobolik-Kittson County Central

All Mariucci Conference Team, as selected on a vote from the Conference Coaches
Conference Champions:  Roseau Rams

Goalies
Zane Gothberg                      Thief River Falls
Nick Biermaier                      Crookston

Defense:
Carson Gray              Warroad
Matt Audette             Thief River Falls
Nate Thompson         Moorhead
Joseph Welle              Bemidji
Jacob Malwitz           Thief River Falls

Forwards:
Brock Nelson             Warroad
Shane Omdahl           Roseau
Adam Knockenmus  Roseau
Jake Useldinger         East Grand Forks
Brett Hebel                 Warroad
Micah Ranum            Thief River Falls

Coach of the Year:  Andy Lundbohm - Roseau
Assistant Coach of the Year:   Aaron Broten/Bryan Erickson-Roseau

All Northwest Conference Team, as selected on a vote from the Conference Coaches

The 2009-10 Northwest Conference Co Champions are the Park Rapids Panthers and the Kittson Central Bearcats

Goalies
Alex Lyon                              LOW
Alex Chaput                          Kittson Central

Defense
Kevin McMorrow                 Park Rapids
Jeff Bergh                              Kittson Central
Jake Pelach                            LOW
Garrett Schmitz                     RLF

Forwards
Craig Lindegard                   Kittson Central
Sam Coborn                          Park Rapids
Tucker Coborn                     Park Rapids
Joncarlo Westerlund             LOW
Dylan Zutz                             RLF
Dillon Spray                           Bagley

Coach of the Year:  Scott Klein- Kittson Central
Assist. Coach of the Year:  Jason Sobolik- Kittson Central

MONDAY - MARCH 8,  2010

CROOKSTON 7TH GRADE GIRLS BASKETBALL CROWNED CHAMPIONS AT TRF TOURNAMENT

The 7^th Grade Girls CYBA Basketball team won the championship at the Thief River Falls Tournament this past weekend.   
In the first round Crookston beat Warroad 32-17.
In the second round they beat the Grand Forks Wildcats 34-11.
In the Championship they beat Thief River Falls 39-19.

Members of the team are Mercedes Aponte, Kenzie Klatt, Shelby Solheim, Taylor Bushaw and Lysette Aponte , Brooke Panzer, Sydney Boike, Danica Brekken Brooke Heggie and Amber Froeber.
The team is coached by Dylane Klatt and Brenda Froeber.

  The 7th grade girls basketball team with their first place trophies
                         (Picture submitted by Jeanne Klatt)

CROOKSTON 3RD GRADE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM ALSO WIN TRF TOURNAMENT

The Crookston 3^rd grade Boys CYBA Basketball team participated in the Thief River Falls tournament this past weekend and won the Championship.

In the first round Crookston beat Bemidji White 39-14.
In the second round Crookston beat Bemidji Blue 26-9.
In the third round Crookston beat Thief River Falls 24-12.

Members of the team are Nick Garmen, Blake Fee, Noah Danielson, Grant Parrish, Shaun Nelson, Mike Gonzalez, Chris Kazmierczak, Jaden Lubarksi, Tanner Janorschke, Joey Bushaw, Bobby Jonorschke and Lucas Meier.
The team is coached by Greg Garmen and Nate Lubarski.

The Crookston 3rd grade boys basketball team with their 1st place trophies
 

CROOKSTON SPORTS CENTER WAS SITE OF  PEANUT AND PEEWEE B HOCKEY TOURNAMENTS

The Crookston Sports Center was the site of two large events this past weekend.   A 17 team Peanut Jamboree (7-8 year olds) was held with 1st and 2nd year teams participating on both Saturday and Sunday.  Teams from the area included: Roseau (2),  Thief River Falls (3), East Grand Forks (4), Bemidji (2), Grafton (1), Hallock (1), Red Lake Falls (1) and Crookston (2).  All Peanut events were held on the Blue and Gold for the two day event.

Parents and fans cheer on two teams during a game during the Peanut Jamboree

 
The West Regional Pee Wee B Tourney was held this weekend in the Event Arena.   Teams qualifying from their District play and participating included Little Falls, Elk River, Anoka, Brainerd, Sauk Rapids, East Grand Forks, Moorhead and Crookston.  Two teams advanced from this Regional to the State Tournament to be held in Roseau March 19-21. Elk River defeated Sauk Rapids 2-1 to advance as well as Little Falls who defeated EGF 1-0.

Two teams playing in the event arena during the Pee Wee B tournament this past weekend

Weekend results are as follows:

FRIDAY, MARCH 5 
Little Falls 8,  Crookston  3
Anoka  11,  Crookston  1
Elk River  3,  Anoka  1
Brainerd  2,  EGF  1
Sauk Rapids  7,  Moorhead Black  3
Little Falls  3,  Elk River  2

SATURDAY, MARCH 6 
Elk River  9,  Crookston  0
Sauk Rapids  9,  EGF  0
Moorhead Black 4,  Brainerd  2
Little Falls  4,  Anoka  0
Sauk Rapids  7,  Brainerd  2
EGF 4,  Moorhead Black  2

SUNDAY, MARCH 7
State Qualifying Games:
Game #1    Little Falls  1,  EGF  0     Little Falls advances to State Tourney in Roseau March 19-21
Game #2    Elk River  2,  Sauk Rapids  1  Elk River advances to State Tourney in Roseau March 19-21

UMC BASEBALL'S JORDAN TRIESTRAM NAMES NSIC PITCHER OF THE WEEK

SATURDAY -  MARCH 6, 2010
 

MARIANO PORTILLO FINISHED SECOND AND ANTHONY CAPUTO FOURTH IN STATE WRESTLING

The Crookston Pirate senior Mariano Portillo lost a 4-2 decision to Curt Maas of Medford this afternoon for the Championship of 135 pounds, while his teammate Anthony Caputo also lost a close 8-5 decision for third place at 145 pounds on the final day of the Minnesota State Class A Wrestling Tournament in St. Paul.

Mariano Portillo entered the championship match with three impressive early matches and took his 34-1 record against Maas, who even though a sophomore was a state runner up last year and came into today's match with Portillo with a 36-2 mark on the season. Maas started quickly with a take down in the first 10 seconds of the match to take a 2-0 lead and that was the score after the first two minutes. Maas showed he was a very strong wrestler, who managed a reversal in the second period and then rode Portillo the rest of the second period and was up 4-0 after two periods. The third period, Portillo threw everything he had in his arsenal, cross body rides, a grandby, but Maas who has low balance countered everything, but Mariano was able to use a grandby roll for a reversal with about 25 seconds left in the match to make it 4-2, but Portillo couldn't get anything else and Maas held on to the 4-2 win and a State Championship at 135 pounds.

Crookston's Anthony Caputo lost in the third place match this afternoon to Kole Kavitz of Medford 8-5 and finishes fourth in the 145 pound weight class and the Pirate junior's only two tournament losses were to Kavitz as the two wrestlers had met on Thursday in a Quarterfinal match and the Medford senior won a 9-7 match.
This afternoon Kavitz had a quick take down in the first 10 seconds to take a 2-0 lead, but Caputo was able to get an escape to make it 2-1 and the two wrestlers knowing moves from their previous match and countering moves were in order during the first period.
Kavitz deferred and Anthony took the down position to start the second period and a quick escape for Caputo to tie it 2-2. Kavitz was able to get a huge double leg take down with a minute left in the second period to take a 4-2 lead. Caputo would get his third escape of the match with about 38 seconds left in the second period to make it 4-3 and Kavitz would get his third takedown just as the buzzer went off and Kavitz led 6-3 going into the third period. After 30 seconds Caputo let Kavitz go to work from their feet and Kavitz now led 7-3. Caputo finally managed a take down with 15 seconds to go to make it 7-5, Caputo let him go and it was 8-5, but Caputo could not get any more points and it was 8-5 win for Kavitz who takes third place at 145 pounds, while the Pirates Anthony Caputo, a junior’s only two losses in the state were to Kavitz.


Some emails:

Just want to point out that Kevin Morlan was also in the state finals in 1996 placing 2nd, also Jason Perala was in the finals in 1999 also placing 2nd.   Before that, yes Lenny was in the finals and won in 1989 & 1990 &  Paul Kuznik won in 1985 & 1986.
Chris Stroot

Just read on the sports page that you have Lenny Meine listed as the last Pirate wrestler to be in a state championship. That is incorrect. The last Pirate was Jason Perala in 1999, who went 34-1 his senior year, his only loss being in the state championship, which if my memory is correct he lost 3-2, to the #2 ranked wrestler (Jason was #1).
I just needed to clarify that since I was there.  Thanks for all the wonderful coverage on wrestling!
Thanks,
Juanita Lopez

 
                 Mariano Portillo in the championship match against Curt Maas of Medford  (Pictures by Rick Meine)

 
               Anthony Caputo wrestling in the 3rd place match against Cole Kavitz of Medford  (Pictures by Rick Meine)

Eliminated Pirate Wrestlers
 

CROOKSTON GIRL’S BASKETBALL GO ON A 15 MINUTE SCORING DROUGHT IN LOSS AT EAST GRAND FORKS

The Crookston Pirates didn’t score a point in the last 12:23 of the first half and the first 2:18 of the second half as East Grand Forks scored 19 points during that time and the 19-0 run blew open the game and the Green Wave defeated Crookston 55-34 to win the Section tournament game in East Grand Forks.

The Crookston Pirates knew they had to get off to a good start, stop Chelsea Frydenlund and try to get Kate Warmack, the 6’2 Green Wave center in foul trouble if they wanted to stay in the game with East Grand Forks, who had beaten them three times this season, but tonight was a Section 8AA Quarterfinal game at East Grand Forks. For the most part, other than a couple turnovers underneath the EGF basket that the Green Wave turned into lay ups,  Crookston did what they wanted to, getting a foul on Warmack 40 seconds into the game, they didn’t let Frydenlund go off and then Warmack picked up her second foul with 12:49 left in the half  and after the Pirates leading scorer, Lauren Graham made two free throws with 12:23 to go in the half and the Pirates trailing 13-10. Warmack didn’t play the rest of the half, but the problem for Crookston was they could not find any way to score a basket, nothing, nada, shots half-way down and out, lay ups missed, any way you could imagine, the Pirates missed and give some credit to East Grand Forks and their defense, but Crookston did not score in the last 12:23 of the first half and East Grand Forks did 15 times and the 15-0 run gave the number one seed in the North a 28-10 lead. “We probably left 10 or 12 points on the court in the first half,” said Crookston head coach Lon Boike, “just lay ups or an offensive rebound and hit the bottom of the rim or bounce off the rim, something, but not in the net. It was frustrating for the girl’s to not hit those easy shots, but seriously, if we get those eight or 10 points and get it to a six point game at half time it could have been a different story, but give East Grand Forks credit, as they also had us rattled during that time too.”
Warmack started the second half for East Grand Forks and unfortunately for the Pirates she was rested and scored eight straight points on some nice soft turnaround shots in the lane to start the second half to give the Green Wave a 36-13 lead with 14 minutes left in the game. The first basket the 6’2 senior scored in the second half enabled the Bemidji State recruit to become the All Time Career scorer in East Grand Forks Girl’s Basketball. The Pirates still couldn’t find the range in the second half and although no shooting percentages were available it had to be in the teens for Crookston, who trailed 47-17 with seven minutes left and senior Kristin Remick hit a three point shot as did Kellee Koenig, but the Green Wave advance with the 55-34 win to end Crookston’s season. “The Green Wave is a good ball club and very good defensively,” said Boike,  “and maybe we were intimidated by the basket with Warmack there and changed our shots a little bit or whatever, it was a very frustrating night for all of us. Defensively I thought we played fairly well, but couldn’t muster any offense. We tried different things and different sets, but we couldn’t get anything going and I guess that was the story.”
Crookston finishes the season 15-13 and have four seniors that will graduate, Sara Bjerk, Ashleigh Erdmann, Kristin Remick and Rachel Wold. “We asked them toward the end of the game as they were on the bench how they wanted to end their career and they all said they wanted to finish on the floor,” said Boike, “so we put them out there for the last minute or so to end their career.” Crookston had nobody in double figures as Graham had eight points. “We will miss the seniors,” said Boike, “and they really contributed to this program and wish them well and now the underclassmen have work to do to stop this streak against East Grand Forks particularly.”  East Grand Forks, 21-7 on the year, have beaten Crookston eight times in the last two season. The Green Wave will now play Warroad in a Section semi-final game on Tuesday night at a site to still be determined.

   
     Sara Bjerk with a baseline jump shot              Ashleigh Erdmann with a short jump shot     Rachel Wold goes in for a lay up in the first half
                                                                    (Pictures by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)

CROOKSTON'S ISAAC LOEGERING WINS A STATE TITLE IN NORTH DAKOTA STATE BOY'S SWIMMING MEET

The youthful Grand Forks KnightRiders Boy's Swimming team might have finished last as a team, but they had a state champion when Isaac Loegering (pictured to the lower right receiving his first place award) won the 50 free style race to end the season on a high note. Loegering is a freshman from Crookston High School, which is part of a cooperative effort between the two schools and he continued his outstanding effort from Friday, where he had the best preliminary time in the 50 at 22.44 seconds and topped that with a 22.14 to win the event on Saturday in Mandan, North Dakota. Loegering, who was named to the All State team was fourth in the 100 free style race with a time of 49.33. Luke Loegering, Isaac's brother was also a member of the KnightRiders tournament team and finished 13th in the 100 back stroke with a time of 1:01.08.  Isaac was a member of the Grand Forks 400 free relay team that took sixth and Luke was on the 200 medley relay that finished ninth. Mandan won the meet as far as the team totals edging West Fargo. Crookston had three members on the Grand Forks team during the year and besides the Loegering brothers, Jacob Lutz competed all season long, but did not qualify for the state.
We had an excellent State meet this weekend and all of our hard work over the past season paid off and we couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” said Grand Forks Head Coach Brent Newman, “We had more time drops today and we had several guys move up from their seeded places.  Keelan Murphy finished 16^th in his 500 freestyle with another substantial time drop.  We had a 16^th and a 12^th place finish from Tyler Folkedahl in the 200 IM and the 100 Backstroke respectively.  John Schindler finished 14^th in the 100 Butterfly.  Luke Loegering finished 13 in the 100 Backstroke. Beau Simon finished 9^th and 4^th in the 200 and 500 Freestyle to top off an excellent weekend for him.  Finally, Isaac Loegering finished 4^th in his 100 Freestyle and is the new ND State Champion in the 50 Freestyle. Beau Simon swam his way onto the All State 2^nd Team with his performance in the 500 Free yesterday and Isaac finished the season on the 1^st Team All State. We witnessed the state record held by team alum Matt Bonzer, broken in the 100 Backstroke this weekend.  It is disappointing historically, but it is also great to see North Dakota swimming getting stronger and faster every year.  A relatively long-standing record in diving was broken this year. We have finished another very hard season of training and competition.  These guys are all physically and mentally stronger individuals for making it through the season.  We are constantly talking to these guys about taking care of their job before we worry about anything else.  We finished last, but as a team I’m confident that we had the greatest percentage of individual time drop when compared to other teams.  I’m looking forward to the coming years.  We have a young team, graduate no seniors, and had a great group of new guys come out this season.  We had a lot of individual success that we are extremely proud of.”
NORTH DAKOTA STATE MEET FINAL RESULTS

  
                    Luke and Isaac Loegering after the state meet                Luke Loegering receiving a ribbon after one of his races
                                                                            (Pictures submitted by John Loegering)



UMC WOMEN'S TENNIS LOSES TWICE IN CONFERENCE PLAY IN DULUTH

The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s Tennis team lost a pair of Northern Sun Conference matches in the Arrowhead Tennis Center in Duluth on Saturday, falling 8-0 to Augustana College, as one match was declared unfinished because of court time and then the Golden Eagles lost a 9-0 match to the host Minnesota-Duluth. UMC’s Melissa Mackedanze (Jr-New London-Spicer, Mn) had the best chance for a UMC win, when she lost a 7-10 tie-break at #6 singles in the Augustana match.  UMC is 0-9 on the season and also in the Northern Sun Conference, while Augustana was undefeated and Minnesota-Duluth is 4-3. UMC will now make a trip to Orlando, Florida, March 16-19 where they will play four matches against non conference teams.

Augustana (S.D.) 8, Minnesota, Crookston 0

 
Minnesota Duluth 9, Minnesota Crookston 0

FRIDAY - MARCH 5,  2010

CROOKSTON'S MARIANO PORTILLO WILL WRESTLE FOR STATE CHAMPIONSHIP AND ANTHONY CAPUTO FOR THIRD

The Crookston Pirates Mariano Portillo will be wrestling for a State Championship at 135 pounds on Saturday after he defeated Jordan Novak of New York Mills 12-6 in a semi-final match tonight at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament in the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center. It will be the first Pirate to be in a state championship match since 1990 when Lenny Meine was his second state championship. Ironically, Meine's nephew, Anthony Caputo will also be wrestling on Saturday and for third place at 145 pounds after two wins in the wrestle backs, defeating Adam Bates of Sibley East 16-3 and in a quick turnaround kept the momentum going in an 8-4 win over Alex Cooling of Madelia.

Novak was the number one ranked 135 pound wrestler in Minnesota Class A and he was the state runner up at this weight last year and a very physically built individual. Mariano came out with a take down just 25 seconds into the match to take a 2-0 lead with Novak getting a quick escape to make it 2-1, but just seconds later, Mariano shot in and had a beautiful low single leg and came around and grabbed the head of Novak and the take down for a 4-1 lead after the first period. “Mariano dominated the match,” said the Crookston head coach Chad Hitchen, “Novak might have been stronger, but Mariano had more quickness and the desire, whether it was from the pushing and coaxing from his brother Javier or not, Mariano wrestled his style and was tough on his feet.”  Mariano continued to dominate Novak and really never looked back with three more take downs and a 12-6 convincing win in a semi-final match.  Novak used his strength to ride Mariano and one big point in the second period, it appeared that Novak was going to get a take down and maybe some near fall points, but not only did he get neither, but the quickness of Mariano to not only get out of that situation, but turn it into a take down and the senior, who finished sixth at state finds himself in the Class A 135 State Championship match against Curt Maas of Medford. “We didn’t see a lot of Maas, as he was wrestling at the same time a Mariano,” said Hitchen, “but he is a solid kid with a low stance and actually touches his hand to the mat from that stance. The way Mariano is wrestling right now, if he comes out right away, he’ll be fine.”
The championship matches of all three classes start at 3:30 PM, so Mariano’s match should be in the 4:00-4:30 PM area and will be reported live on KROX RADIO with former Pirate wrestling coach Rodd Olson.

Olson was the head coach when the last Crookston Pirate was a state champ and that was Lenny Meine, who will be watching his nephew, Anthony Caputo wrestle for third place on Saturday after the two wins tonight at 145 pounds.
Anthony’s first match was against Adam Bates of Sibley East and the two spent most of the first period with mainly tie ups and it was 0-0 after the first period, which is one minute in the wrestle backs, with the second and third periods going two minutes each. Bates took down to start the second period and got an escape to take a 1-0 lead, but Caputo made a quick aggressive move for a take down and a 2-1 lead for the Pirate.  Bates did get another escape with 25 seconds left in the period to tie it 2-2 and then a late take down for Anthony and he led 4-2 lead. The third period was all Anthony Caputo, who had a quick escape to build up the lead to 5-2 and then an explosion with power moves and 10 points in a short period of time and an impressive 16-3 win. “Anthony was very disappointed when he lost in the quarterfinal because his goal was to get a state championship like his uncle,” said Hitchen, “but the coaches told him to re-set his goal and work his way back to get a third place and he took that to heart today, as he went right after Bates. Anthony is a grinder and he will wear you out, which he did in this match and he is so physical and it showed in that third period.”

With the win, Anthony Caputo, a junior  had to come back in about an hour and took on Alex Cooling of Madelia, a senior who is 36-8 coming into the match and it appeared that Caputo’s momentum was all on his side and had a quick duck under move to come around for the two point take down and Caputo had a 2-1 lead after the first period as Cooling had an escape with two seconds left in the first period.
The second period started with Cooling in the down position with Caputo tying up the arms, but Cooling did get a reversal about half-way through the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Cooling was trying a tilt move, which has been a mistake for many wrestlers against Caputo as they become greedy and Caputo came around with a reversal with 25 seconds and Caputo regained a 4-3 lead after two periods.
Anthony took the down position for the third period and Cooling needed to turn Caputo for a chance to win and was trying some Turk action, but Caputo countered nicely, “The guy (Cooling) was struggling in the third period,” said Hitchen, “Anthony does so well on the mat and on his feet and his style is tough for the other wrestlers and he is so tough late in the matches.” Caputo continued that trait as he managed a reversal on Cooling and then also got two near fall points to take an 8-3 lead with 25 seconds left and a late escape for Cooling made it an 8-4 final victory for Caputo and a berth into the third place match on Saturday where he will have a rematch with Kole Kavitz of Medford, who beat Anthony in the quarterfinals on Thursday 9-7. “This would be a match that Anthony would want,” said Hitchen, “I mean, you are wrestling for third place and your only loss in the State Tournament is to Kavitz and you have a chance to get back at him, particularly after losing a heart-breaker before. This is where he is suppose to be and I know the determination we see on Anthony right now, he is going to be hard to beat. It should be quite a Saturday for the Pirates, as both our wrestlers are going against wrestlers from Medford!!”
Coach Hitchen said his highest place winner  that he has coaches has been fifth place, so he is assured of having a higher place than that and nothing the Pirates would like better then to bring home a champion and third place finisher from State.  The third place matches start at NOON, so Caputo’s match should go off about the 12:15-12:30 PM area and will be carried live with Rodd Olson on KROX RADIO.

 
Mariano Portillo goes for a throw in the semi-final match     Mariano gets his hand raised after he won the match
 

  
Anthony Caputo gets his opponent in the air in his 1st match Friday   Anthony in control in the second match on Friday
                                                       (All wrestling pictures submitted by Rick Meine)

Eliminated Pirate Wrestlers

CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY'S BASKETBALL SEEDED SIXTH IN NORTH SUB-SECTION OF 8AA AND OPEN AT THIEF RIVER FALLS

The Crookston Pirates found out tonight that they will indeed be the sixth seed in the North Half of Section 8AA and will travel for a first round game on Thursday, May 11th to Thief River Falls and a fourth meeting with the Prowlers who have won the three previous games. Game time on Thursday will be 7:00 PM.  East Grand Forks is the number one seed in the North and Crosby-Ironton is the number one seed in the South.
FOR THE TOURNAMENT BRACKET,  CLICK HERE

 

CASS LAKE-BENA AND KITTSON COUNTY CENTRAL BOY'S BASKETBALL TOP SEEDS FOR SECTION 8A TOURNAMENT

The defending Section 8A Champion, Cass Lake-Bena is the number one seed in the East Sub-Section and Mahnomen number two, while the Kittson County Central Bearcats are the number one seed in the West and Grygla is number two.  There will be five play-in games on Monday to be played at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls and Bemidji State and the first round will start on Thursday, March 11th at Bemidji State, Bemidji High School, the University of Minnesota, Crookston and Northland CC.  FOR THE BRACKET, CLICK HERE.



GRAND FORKS KNIGHTRIDERS BOY'S SWIM TEAM COMPETES AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE MEET

The Grand Forks Knightriders Boy's Swimming team that also has three members of Crookston High School in a cooperative sport between the two schools had a good first day at the North Dakota State Swimming and Diving Meet in Mandan, N.D. Isaac Loegering, a freshman from Crookston is ranked first after the prelims of the 50 freestyle and Loegering is also seeded fifth in the 100 freestyle after the preliminaries on Friday. Luke Loegering, also a Crookston High School student had the 13th best time in the 100 backstroke in the pre-lims. "We are in a great position to do well," said the Grand Forks head coach Brent Newman, "We had a cumulative time drop that was a result of a tremendous season effort. I'm looking forward to the finals on Saturday."  Today was an amazing day for our athletes.  We had a cumulative time drop that was a result of a tremendous season effort.  We talk all season long about working hard and being focused on our final meet of the year.  Today was a perfect example of what we expect to happen when the guys do this.  Now, tomorrow, we have to do it again as today’s effort doesn’t earn us any points.  It puts us in the position to do really well again tomorrow. Many of the guys swam personal best times today with some considerable drops in time.  The other notable performances came from the guys that are in a position to score points tomorrow.  Isaac Loegering swam well enough in the 50 Free to secure the top seed along with the 5^th seed in the 100 Freestyle.  Beau Simon had an amazing race in the 500 Freestyle coming out 3^rd right now.  He is also seeded 9^th in the 200 Free.  Our backstrokers, Tyler Folkedahl and Luke Loegering, did well together putting themselves in the consolation finals with 11^th and 13^th place finishes respectively.  Tyler also did well in the 200 Individual Medley with a 14^th place seed.  Lastly we have Jon Schindler seeded 14^th in the 100 Fly and Keelan Murphy in the 500 Free with 16^th. We are in a great position to do well tomorrow.  The guys are rested.  They are focused.  I think their determination to reach personal goals will put them in the right frame of mind to finish the weekend with great performances."   PRE-LIM RESULTS

UMC WOMEN'S TENNIS SHUTOUT 9-0 AT BEMIDJI STATE

The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) Women's Tennis team won the most number of games in a match this season, including two tie-breakers, but they lost all nine matches as Bemidji State defeated UMC 9-0 in a Northern Sun Conference match at Bemidji. UMC is 0-7 on the season and in the conference and will be in Duluth for two matches on Saturday, against Augustana College at 11:00 AM and Minnesota-Duluth at 2:00 PM. Bemidji State improves to 2-3 on the season with the win.
 

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