SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.co— — —
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We are officially into the midst of playoff time as we have state girls hockey going, section boys hockey playoffs, and wrestling sections happening. We also have girls’ basketball playoffs starting next week, followed by boys’ basketball.
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There are a lot of area teams ranked in the latest state basketball, hockey, and wrestling rankings! Check out this weeks rankings by clicking the following link – Minnesota High School Rankings – KROX
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MILESTONES
Roseau’s Jordan Borowicz scored 70 points on Tuesday night. Only the fifth player in Minnesota High School Boys Basketball history to score 70 or more points in a game. To top it off, Jordan also recorded the 3,000th point of his career in the same game. He is averaging just shy of 36 points per game, leading the state in that category.
Climax-Fisher’s Peyton Hoffman scored her 2,000th career point as a sophomore. (Remember she missed her freshman year because of an ACL injury) Hoffman grabbed the 1,000th rebound of her career earlier this season.
East Grand Forks’ Tatem Votava grabbed the 1,000th rebound of her career this week.
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The Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association has announced the 2026 McDonald Award semi-finalists. The McDonald Award is presented annually to the outstanding Senior Player of the Year. Finalists will be selected and announced early in March.
There were 30 players named as semi-finalists, including Red Lake County’s Connor Duden. The rest of the players named to the list are below-
Nolen Anderson (Wayzata), AJ Bessler (Nevis), Jaxon Boschee (Bemidji), Tian Chatman (Totino-Grace), Lucas Gustafson (Mankato East), Dothan Ijadambola (Totino-Grace), Max Iversen (Maple Grove), Duke King (Tartan), Will Kirsch (Waconia), Ryan Kreager (Fafibault), Ethan Martin (Belle Plaine), Stephen McGee (Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin), Ethan Miller (Zumbrota-Mazeppa), Kale Misegades (Henning), Joseph Mitchell III (Cretin-Derham Hall), Jayden Moore (Hopkins), Nolen Myren (Spring Lake Park), Kayden Oakland (Northfield), Isaac Olmstead (Wayzata), Pierce Petersohn (Triton), Luke Roschen (Goodhue), Deron Russell (Waseca), Alex Schroepeer (Eagan), Cedric Tomes (East Ridge), Jack Welch (Pelican Rapids), Christian Wiggins (Wayzata), Mason Witt (Alexandria), Camare Young (Apple Valley), Hamze Yusef (Eden Prairie).
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The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s Basketball team is down to its last game of the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Bemidji State. If UMC wins, they are in the postseason. If they lose, there is a chance they wouldn’t make it, but Augustana would have to beat SW Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. So a UMC win means they are in and they will be going to Winona State or Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday.
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The Section 8A Boys Wrestling Tournament will take place on Friday at the Crookston High School. KROX will be video streaming all the action from the first match to the final match again this year.
Taking a look at the ranked wrestlers in each weight –
107 pounds – Nobody
114 pounds – 8. Chase Hauck, Barnesville
121 pounds – 7. Kiptyn Thompson, Fosston/Bagley
127 pounds – 7. Keegan VonEnde, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
133 pounds – 6. Ian Phrakonkham, Fosston/Bagley
139 pounds – Nobody
145 pounds – 8. Shane Thompson, Fosston/Bagley
152 pounds – 4. Gavyn Hlucny, Crookston and 10. Manny Johnson, Mahnomen/Waubun
160 pounds – 8. Creed Koll, United North Central
172 pounds – 1. Cameron Halverson, Barnesville
189 pounds – Nobody
215 pounds – 8. Blake McMullen, Mahnomen/Waubun
HWT – 3. Ryan Peterson, United North Central
The video stream link is below –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2TXkMaaMR0
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Things are getting interesting, especially with the head to head tie-breaker being doubled! The Girls Basketball tie-breaker numbers are below-
Girls Basketball tie-breaker – thru 2/17/26
| Class | Current TM | Projected TM | Projected 2xTM |
| A | 4.5 | 4.6 | 9.2 |
| AA | 6.1 | 6.3 | 12.5 |
| AAA | 7.4 | 7.7 | 15.3 |
| AAAA | 10.6 | 11.0 | 22.0 |
Section 8AA Girls Basketball Standings
QRF Seeded – February 21
The seeding will take place this weekend and there are some huge games as three teams are fighting for the top seed. Perham, DGF, and Frazee are fighting for the top seed.
Perham plays at EGF on Thursday and DGF on Friday. EGF and DGF only game remaining is against Perham.
If Perham wins both they are the top seed, no question. If they lose to EGF and beat DGF they will likely be the top seed. If they lose both, Frazee would likely be the top seed. There is a lot at stake in the final games this week. I don’t see DGF being the top seed just by the numbers.
Menahga looks to have the fourth seed, while Pelican Rapids and East Grand Forks are battling for the fifth seed.
Roseau and Barnesville are battling for the ninth seed.
The fight for the 11th seed is between Park Rapids, Thief River Falls, and Crookston. If Park Rapids beats TRF on Thursday they will be the 11th seed with wins over TRF and Crookston. I don’t see a way Crookston can move in front of Park Rapids, but Thief River Falls can with a win over Park Rapids.
I would say there are six teams that could all win the section tournament. It should be a good one.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham | 10-3 | 20-3 | 133.0 | 16 |
| Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton | 12-3 | 21-4 | 127.6 | 20 |
| Frazee | 10-3 | 20-4 | 122.4 | 21 |
| Menahga | 8-0 | 24-0 | 114.4 | 27 |
| Pelican Rapids | 6-7 | 14-9 | 105.4 | 34 |
| East Grand Forks | 10-3 | 16-9 | 102.9 | 38 |
| Hawley | 8-6 | 14-10 | 95.8 | 48 |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | 5-6 | 18-7 | 88.1 | 55 |
| Roseau | 6-3 | 18-6 | 75.1 | 75 |
| Barnesville | 4-10 | 8-14 | 73.6 | 76 |
| Park Rapids Area | 1-14 | 7-17 | 58.1 | 90 |
| Thief River Falls | 2-10 | 5-18 | 53.5 | 99 |
| Crookston | 3-10 | 7-17 | 52.9 | 100 |
| Warroad | 0-7 | 2-22 | 31.3 | 123 |
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Section 8A Girls Basketball- West Standings
QRF Seeded – February 21
It looks like no matter what happens, Warren-A-O will be the top team in the west. They have the cofnerence tie-breaker and will be the top seed.
Sacred Heart will be the second seed, KCC looks like they will be third. Fertile-Beltrami is fourth. The fifth seed will be decided on Friday when RLCC takes on Climax-Fisher. The winner will be the fifth seed and the loser the sixth seed.
It is looking like BGMR will be the seventh seed if they beat Goodridge/Grygla in their last game. BUT, if Goodridge/Grygla beats BGMR it is a toss up for the final four spots! It really is up in the air.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart | 16-1 | 22-4 | 105.3 | 12 |
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 16-2 | 21-3 | 100.4 | 16 |
| Kittson County Central | 12-5 | 16-8 | 82.2 | 27 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 16-4 | 18-8 | 75.0 | 42 |
| Red Lake County Central | 17-7 | 18-7 | 68.2 | 54 |
| Climax/Fisher | 12-6 | 15-10 | 67.9 | 55 |
| Badger/Greenbush-Middle River | 6-11 | 8-16 | 50.6 | 85 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 5-13 | 6-17 | 45.2 | 95 |
| Northern Freeze | 2-16 | 4-20 | 41.1 | 106 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 4-17 | 6-19 | 39.9 | 109 |
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Section 8A Girls Basketball – East Standings
QRF Seeded – February 21
Kelliher/Northome is the top team, almost doubling the next QRF value. They are averaging 87 points per game. They are ranked second in the state.
Lake of the Woods looks to have the second seed at this point. The rest of the seeds are really up for grabs depending on tie-breakers.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelliher/Northome | 13-0 | 24-1 | 111.7 | 8 |
| Lake of the Woods | 7-3 | 15-7 | 65.6 | 61 |
| Blackduck | 9-6 | 14-10 | 57.1 | 73 |
| Fosston | 9-7 | 11-11 | 52.4 | 83 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 5-8 | 9-16 | 46.6 | 91 |
| Red Lake | 0-11 | 5-17 | 36.1 | 112 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 2-12 | 3-19 | 35.0 | 117 |
| Bagley | 4-11 | 6-18 | 34.1 | 118 |
| Win-E-Mac | 2-17 | 5-20 | 33.9 | 121 |
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University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball’s Spencer Swenson (Fr., Sauk Rapids) has been named the Northern Sun Conference North Division Player of the Week and the NABC/D2CIDA National Player of the Week after leading his team to wins over Minot State and the University of Mary last week.
Swenson averaged 28 points and 10 rebounds per game while adding three blocked shots, two assists and a steal. He made 23 of his 35 shots from the floor (66 percent) and nine-of-11 at the free throw line (82 percent) in the victories.
Swenson made nine of his 15 field goal attempts, including one from three-point range and six-of-eight at the line in Minnesota Crookston’s 72-69 win over Minot State, adding seven rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal along the way.
Two days later, Swenson posted a career-high 31 points and matched his season-best with 13 rebounds to help the Golden Eagles down UMary 71-66. He went 14-of-20 from the floor and made all three of his free throws to become the first player in UMC history with five consecutive games with 20 or more points.
The double-double was the fifth of the season for Swenson, who was selected as Player of the Week in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Club Hockey team is heading to Hammond, Indiana for the Central Regional Tournament this weekend. It will be a single-elimination tournament, and UMC must win two games to advance to the National Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Golden Eagles are the #5 seed and will play #12 seed Sault College of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Sault College was 16-11-0 this season and finished the regular season on a four-game win streak. UMC has a 22-5-0 record,
If UMC wins the first round, they would likely face their big brother, the University of Minnesota Club Hockey team, who beat them in the conference semi-finals.
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The Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association has released the Senior All-Star game roster and information. The game will be held on Saturday, April 11 at Carlton College with games at 1:00 and 2:30 p.m.
Players from the area playing in the game are –
Morgan Korf (Pelican Rapids)
Jayden Sonnenberg (Frazee)
Kaia Anderson (Perham)
Kate Thayer (Kelliher/Northome)
Kylee Binkley (Kelliher/Northome)
Parker Yaggie (Breckenridge)
Rest of the roster –
Maddyn Greenway (Providence Academy)
Tori Oehrlein (Crosby-Ironton)
Madison Gothmann (Milaca)
Madison Ohm (Byron)
Marta Forsline (Mesabi East)
Mia Banks (Rochester Mayo)
Mya Moore (Orono)
Olivia Lanari (Maranatha Christian Academy)
Quinn Vanmaldeghem (NRHEG)
Reese Drake (Marshall)
Taleigha Bigler (Marshall)
Livi Downs (Mankato East)
Vienna Murray (Eastridge)
Deborah Ayeni (Anoka)
Emma Hanson (Waconia)
Jayci Rath (Stewartville)
Jensyn Storhoff (lansboro)
Joanna Talso (Elk River)
Kate Amelotte (Wayzata)
Kate Holmquist (Maple Grove)
Lanelle Wright (Minnetonka)
Le’Sendra Williams (Minnetonka)
Lily Hubin (Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart)
Abbie Pietila (Delano)
Abby Ruda (Monticello)
Addi Schneider (Chaska)
Amaya Pahl (Lakeville South)
Aubree Hultman (Forest Lake)
Audrey Shindelar (Stewartville)
Brielle Janssen (MACCRAY)
Brooklyn Lewis (New Ulm)
Brylee Miller (Fairmont)
Cail Jahnke ((STMA)
Camryn Vanmaldeghen (NRHEG)
Chloe Carlson (Proctor)
Clara Goodman (Eastview)
Clara Keaveny (Mayer Lutheran)
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JOKES
A guy and a girl meet at a bar. They get along so well that they decide to go to the girl’s place.
A few drinks later, the guy takes off his shirt and then washes his hands.
He then takes of his trousers and washes his hands again.
The girl has been watching him and says, “You must be a dentist.”
The guy, surprised, says “Yes! How did you figure that out?”
“Easy,” she replied, “you keep washing your hands.”
One thing led to another and they make love.
After they have done, the girl says, “You must be a good dentist.”
The guy, now with a boosted ego says, “Sure, I’m a good dentist, How did you figure that out?”
“Didn’t feel a thing!”
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During English class, the teacher asks Little Johnny, “Have you ever heard of the word contagious before?”
“Of course, miss,” Johnny replies, “my father actually said it when we were talking yesterday”.
“Can you repeat it for the class and tell us how he used it in a sentence?”
“Yes, miss. We were watching the neighbor take his garbage out when his bin tipped over spilling rubbish all over the driveway, dad said ‘it’s going to take the contagious to pick all that up
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The Sunday school teacher is a little concerned that his kids might be a little confused about Jesus, so he asks his class, “Where is Jesus today?”
Suzy replies, “He’s in heaven.”
Mary replies, “He’s in my heart.”
Little Johnny says, “He’s in the bathroom!”
The teacher says, “How do you know this?”
Then Little Johnny says, “Well, every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells, ‘Jesus Christ are you still in there!?’”
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Teacher: “Johnny can you use a sentence with ‘definitely’ in it?”
Little Johnny: “Do farts have lumps in them?”
Teacher: “Of course not Johnny?”
Little Johnny: “Then I’ve definitely shat myself!”
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Teagen Lubinski is a freshman playing football at St. Scholastica
Addie Fee is a freshman playing tennis and hockey at Wisconsin-Superior.
Kambelle Freije is a freshman playing hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Riley Helgeson is a freshman playing football at Northern State.
Emily Bowman is a freshman playing Softball at North Dakota State College of Science.
Halle Winjum is a sophomore playing basketball at Minnesota Crookston.
Blake Melsa is a sophomore playing soccer and baseball at Alexandria Tech
Jackson Reese is a sophomore playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College.
Naomi Johnson is a freshman playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a sophomore playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a sophomore playing football at Minot State.
Isaac Thomforde is a sophomore playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Halle Bruggeman is a Junior on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Junior playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Senior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Ty Hamre is Senior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Seth Heppner – Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf at Jessup University
Brady Heppner – Head Coach of Women’s Golf at UMC and Assistant Hockey Coach
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com..
