SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
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If you want to give to a great cause and watch the University of North Dakota Men’s Hockey team take on the Hope Inc. Hurricanes Junior Sled Hockey team, we have good news for you.
The teams will play on Wednesday, January 22, at 5:30 p.m. at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The event is open to the public, and there is no entry fee, but there will be a free-will donation. If you are not familiar with the Hope Inc. Hurricane Junior Sled Hockey team, they have Red Lake Falls’ own Alex Gullingsrud playing on the team.
It should be a fun evening, and the free will offering going to the Hope Inc. Hurricane sled hockey team!
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Congratulations to Jason Grandstrand, a Goodridge/Grgyla Charger Assistant Football Coach, for receiving the Buth Nash Award. The award is named after long-time Gopher Football Assistant Coach Butch Nash. The award goes to an assistant coach who displays loyalty, competency, rapport with players and coaches, integrity, and at least 15 years of experience.
Grandstrand will receive the award at the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame banquet on Saturday, March 29 in the Twin Cities.
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We have updated the latest Minnesota WINTER SPORTS Polls. To check them out, CLICK HERE.
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Section 8AA Girls Basketball Standings
The Section 8AA Girls’ basketball standings are starting to take a little better shape, with three teams at the top, four teams in the second tier, three teams in the third tier, and four teams at the bottom.
Pelican Rapids, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, and Barnesville are the top three teams “right now,” according to the QRF, and I would say that is what most people would say. Pelican is playing some great basketball and is a perfect 7-0 in the section with some nice wins. DGF is 9-2 overall and 6-1 in section play and has won NINE games in a row after losing their first two games of the year when they lost to Pelican Rapids and Breckenridge. So they are legit and only a few points behind Pelican Rapids for the top spot as we approach the halfway point of the season. The QRF has Barnesville in solid third place, and they have been playing a little better over the past two weeks with four straight wins. Menahga is in fourth place by less than a point over Thief River Falls. I would put Thief River Falls ahead of them right now. Thief River Falls is 4-1 in section play and has played a tougher schedule so far. I like what Menahga did this year, as they have strengthened their schedule and will have Wadena-Deer Creek twice, East Grand Forks, Thief River Falls, Rock Ridge, Pequot Lakes, Hawley, and Park Rapids in the second half of the schedule. So, kudos to Menahga for doing that. They should be more ready to play in the section tournament this year as they play 10 section games this season.
I would say the section is wide open, and there isn’t a heavy favorite at this point. Don’t sleep on Hawley, Wadena-Deer Creek, and Frazee, either. They are all very good teams, and it just shows how deep Section 8AA girls’ basketball is this year.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelican Rapids | 7-0 | 10-1 | 81.7 | 12 |
| Dilworth-Glyndon-F | 6-1 | 9-2 | 79.7 | 15 |
| Barnesville | 5-2 | 7-3 | 69.8 | 27 |
| Menahga | 1-0 | 8-0 | 57.9 | 41 |
| Thief River Falls | 4-1 | 9-2 | 57.2 | 44 |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | 2-3 | 8-3 | 53.4 | 49 |
| Hawley | 2-4 | 6-6 | 53.1 | 50 |
| Frazee | 4-4 | 8-6 | 44.3 | 70 |
| East Grand Forks | 3-2 | 5-6 | 40.9 | 76 |
| Perham | 2-3 | 4-5 | 40.3 | 77 |
| Park Rapids Area | 0-7 | 3-8 | 32.2 | 88 |
| Crookston | 2-3 | 4-7 | 28.2 | 95 |
| Roseau | 1-3 | 2-8 | 19.6 | 111 |
| Warroad | 0-6 | 1-10 | 17.7 | 117 |
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The Section 8A Girls Basketball standings are taking shape as we get close to the halfway point of the games played season. It comes a no surprise that Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, Sacred Heart and Kittson County Central are at the top in the west and Cass Lake-Bena and Kelliher/Northome are the top two in the east.
The west is stronger again this year, and if Cass Lake-Bena was in the west, they would be in fourth place. Cass Lake-Bena has played some decent competition, but they got beat by 66 points by Minnehaha Academ,y and they just lost to Walker-H-A 71-55 on Tuesday. So they have struggled big time against good teams. On the flip side, WAO got beat by the best team they played, DGF by a 58-25 score.
Section 8A – West Standings
I have personally seen all of the teams in the west subsection play in person, or online and this is my thought. The QRF is pretty much right on.
The top three or no doubt, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, Sacred Heart, and Kittson County Central. Nobody would argue that. What order they are in is where the fun debate comes in. Right now, I am going with WAO as the top team. When they are shooting well, they are very good. They play tough defense. They are scrappy, deceivingly physical, well coached, and love to run and gun and get going. They have one of the premier athletes in northwest Minnesota with Markelle Pederson, and then you have so many other solid players, shooters, and defenders. They built a big lead on Sacred Heart when they played in December and held on for a single-digit victory. The toss-up for me is who is the second-best team in the West. You have Sacred Heart with great post play with Lexi Lawrence at 6 feet tall. You have Lydia Riskey (6 feet), Leah Sundby, Finley Horken (another tremendous athlete and defender), and Izzy Cwkila. Kittson County Central is coming off the state volleyball birth, and they have girls who know how to win and are tremendous athletes. You have Morgan Turn, Kaydence White, Greta Kuznia, McKinley Folland, Lilly Peterson, and others leading the way.
Here are some big games for the top three teams –
WAO will play Kittson County Central on January 27 and February 14. KCC will play Sacred Heart on February 10.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 8-0 | 10-1 | 58.6 | 14 |
| Sacred Heart | 4-1 | 8-2 | 54.9 | 26 |
| Kittson County Central | 6-0 | 8-1 | 54.5 | 28 |
| Red Lake Co. Central | 4-3 | 5-3 | 43.1 | 56 |
| Northern Freeze | 3-3 | 4-4 | 40.5 | 63 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 2-5 | 3-5 | 32.3 | 86 |
| Badger/Greenbush-MR | 3-3 | 4-6 | 32.1 | 87 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 5-6 | 6-8 | 30.6 | 91 |
| Climax/Fisher | 2-5 | 2-7 | 28.5 | 98 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 2-6 | 4-6 | 28.2 | 100 |
Section 8A – East Standings
The East sub-section has two teams at the top with Cass Lake-Bena and Kelliher/Northome. It is a glaring difference in cames played as Cass Lake-Bena has played 12 games, while Kelliher/Northome has only played five games. Fosston has had a pleasantly surprising season after losing a ton to graduation last year, they have come back and gone 6-4 so far and 5-2 in section play. NEVER count Fosston out in the east!
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cass Lake-Bena | 3-0 | 9-3 | 51.5 | 37 |
| Kelliher/Northome | 3-1 | 3-2 | 49.3 | 41 |
| Fosston | 5-2 | 6-4 | 40.8 | 62 |
| Blackduck | 4-5 | 9-6 | 36.6 | 72 |
| Bagley | 3-4 | 6-5 | 34.5 | 79 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 4-2 | 4-7 | 33.7 | 82 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 3-6 | 3-7 | 22.3 | 114 |
| Win-E-Mac | 1-6 | 1-9 | 21.4 | 115 |
| Lake of the Woods | 1-5 | 1-8 | 12.9 | 135 |
| Red Lake | 0-3 | 1-6 | 11.8 | 141 |
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We have more milestones and verbal commitment –
Riley Helgeson of Crookston has verbally committed to play football at Northern State University next year.
Kenzie Dahl of Badger/Greenbush-Middle River scored the 1,000th point of her career last week
Kason Pietruszewski of Warroad scored the 1,000th point of his career last week against Wadena-Deer Creek.
Cadyn Dahl of Ada-Borup-West scored the 1,500 point of his career this week.
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The Knights of Columbus annual Free Throw Contest will be held in Red Lake Falls at the High School gymnasium on Sunday, January 19th, starting at 1:00. This is for any girls and boys from the ages of 9-14 as of January 1. The gym will be open at 12:30 for practice. Ages 9-11 all shoot from 3 feet in front of the regular free throw line with a girls’ size basketball. Ages 12-14 will shoot from the regular free throw line, girls with the girls’ ball and boys with the boys’ ball. This competition on January 19th is the Local competition and participants are only allowed to take part in 1 local competition each year. Winners will advance to the District competition, followed by Regional, State, and International levels. Contact any of the schools in Plummer, Oklee, and Red Lake Falls for a scoresheet. Any questions, contact Steve Philion at 218-686-3608.
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The Crookston Knights of Columbus Council 1216 annual Free Throw contest will on Sunday, January 19 at the Crookston High School gymnasium. Registration will be from Noon to 1:00 p.m. with the contest starting at 1:00 p.m. The contest is for boys and girls ages 9-14. If you have any questions, call John Bjorgo 218-289-2540.
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JOKES
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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
Reese Swanson is a freshman playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a freshman playing football at Minot State.
Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.
Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.
Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman 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 Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate 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 Wyoming.
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
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
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.
