SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
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I still have the following University of Minnesota Gopher Men’s and Women’s Basketball tickets to give away. The first ones to email chrisjfee@yahoo.com with the game you want to go to will get them. I have four tickets for each game, and they will be transferred electronically.
WOMENS TICKETS
February 1 vs Purdue – 2PM
February 18 vs Ohio State – 7PM
February 22 vs Michigan State – 5PM
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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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Section 8A Girls Hockey
We now know how the seeding will go, and I am 99 percent sure this is how it will go unless a coach does something crazy in the seeding meeting (which is possible).
1. Warroad is the top team.
2. East Grand Forks (They beat TRF on Tuesday and won 2 of the 3 games between the two)
3. Thief River Falls
4. Crookston
5. Detroit Lakes
6. International Falls
The first round (Quarter-finals) will be on Thursday, February 5 at the high seed.
#5 Detroit Lakes at #4 Crookston – 7:00 PM
#6 International Falls at #3 Thief River Falls – TBD
#1 Warroad and #2 East Grand Forks get byes
Semi-finals at East Grand Forks on Saturday, February 7
1:00 PM Crookston/DL winner vs Warroad
3:00 PM TRF/IFalls winner vs EGF
Championship at East Grand Forks on Thursday, February 12
7:00 PM –
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Section 8AA Girls Basketball Standings
The Section seems to have two teams battling for the top spot and then another two teams with a shot to get into the conversation with a strong finish to the season.
There are some big matchups that will affect seeding. Perham hosts Frazee on February 6 and they are at DGF on February 20. Those will be important games for all three teams.
Perham beat Frazee and lost to DGF already. They both teams one more time. They play East Grand Forks on February 19 also.
DGF lost to Frazee on Saturday (January 24) and lost to them earlier in the year so Frazee has the tie-breaker with DGF! DGF only has two games that should be a game and that is the Perham game at the end of the season and East Grand Forks on February 12.
Frazee has Perham, East Grand Forks, and Pelican Rapids left on the schedule.
Menagha has games with East Grand Forks and that is really the only big game they have left. I guess we could say Hawley and Wadena-Deer Creek are important games too. Big wins so far have been the biggest win by far was the first game when they beat Pequot Lakes 57-55. They also beat Wadena-Deer Creek, and Pelican Rapids.
Those are the top four teams.
Pelican Rapids has three important games left as they play at Hawley, host Frazee, and play at Wadena-Deer Creek and three wins in those games will bump them up a few spots too.
East Grand Forks could make a run if they finish strong as they have games against Frazee, DGF, Sacred Heart, and Perham. If they win all four of those, they could possibly move into the top spot!!
There are a lot of big games for those teams and there is a lot of important games for the rest of the teams as they try to move up in the rankings and get a home playoff game in the first round.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham | 8-2 | 16-2 | 106.6 | 16 |
| Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton | 8-3 | 15-4 | 101.3 | 20 |
| Menahga | 4-0 | 16-0 | 93.9 | 22 |
| Frazee | 7-2 | 14-2 | 91.2 | 25 |
| Pelican Rapids | 4-5 | 10-7 | 81.1 | 36 |
| East Grand Forks | 6-1 | 11-5 | 80.2 | 38 |
| Hawley | 5-4 | 10-7 | 74.0 | 49 |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | 2-3 | 12-4 | 68.3 | 59 |
| Roseau | 5-2 | 12-4 | 60.1 | 67 |
| Barnesville | 1-7 | 3-9 | 47.4 | 84 |
| Park Rapids Area | 1-7 | 5-9 | 41.9 | 93 |
| Thief River Falls | 1-6 | 4-13 | 41.5 | 95 |
| Crookston | 2-7 | 4-13 | 37.9 | 105 |
| Warroad | 0-5 | 2-15 | 22.7 | 121 |
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Section 8A Girls Basketball – West Standings
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo has a leg up on the top seed. If WAO and Sacred Heart both win out, I am thinking WAO will get the top seed. WAO and Sacred Heart split the two games, so the first tie-breaker of head-to-head is not going to decide. The next tie-breaker is conference record, and the two teams (if they both win their final conference games) would be tied. So you go to the overall record, and WAO would have that if both teams win out.
So if WAO wins out, they will be the top seed. Does it matter who the first and second seeds are? We will find out in March.
Kittson County Central is in the running for the second seed, and they have a lot of big games where they could really move up and possibly even get a top seed. KCC plays RLCC, Sacred Heart, Fertile-Beltrami, WAO, and Kelliher/Northome, to name a few of the games left. They could get a lot of points, that is for sure.
Red Lake County Central, Fertile-Beltrami, and Climax-Fisher are fighting for the fourth spot in the west. RLCC plays Fertile-Beltrami and Climax-Fisher in their last two games of the season, so that will be a pair of big-time games for the teams playing.
The final four seeds (play-in teams) are up for grabs as Stephen-Argyle, BGMR, Goodridge/Grygla, and the Northern Freeze are all close and the rest of the games are important as the teams fight for the 7 and 8 seed so they can host a play-in game.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 9-1 | 13-2 | 82.7 | 10 |
| Sacred Heart | 12-1 | 15-4 | 72.6 | 20 |
| Kittson County Central | 8-2 | 12-5 | 65.8 | 30 |
| Red Lake County Central | 11-4 | 12-4 | 57.7 | 44 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 9-3 | 11-5 | 53.8 | 53 |
| Climax/Fisher | 10-4 | 11-8 | 51.9 | 60 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 3-9 | 4-11 | 34.9 | 92 |
| Badger/Greenbush-Middle River | 3-8 | 4-12 | 33.6 | 95 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 3-10 | 4-12 | 29.9 | 107 |
| Northern Freeze | 1-11 | 3-14 | 29.9 | 107 |
Section 8A Girls Basketball- East Standings
Kelliher/Northome will be the top seed unless something really crazy happens. They lead the way with nobody close. But, they would be the third seed in the west!
The rest of the seeding in the sub-section isn’t as easy. Lake of the Woods, Blackduck, and Fosston are in good position to battle for the third seed.
Mahnomen/Waubun could make a run into the top four with some wins and then after that, it looks like Red Lake, Win-E-Mac, Clearbrook-Gonvick, and Bagley are battling to stay out of a play-in game.
| Team | Section | Overall | For | Agst | QRF Value | QRF Rank | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelliher/Northome | 9-0 | 14-1 | 88.3 | 38.6 | 72.5 | 21 | Won 7 |
| Lake of the Woods | 3-3 | 7-7 | 51.4 | 57.1 | 49.3 | 64 | Lost 1 |
| Blackduck | 7-3 | 10-6 | 60.6 | 52.6 | 45.3 | 69 | Won 2 |
| Fosston | 7-5 | 9-7 | 53.6 | 49.5 | 43.7 | 73 | Lost 1 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 3-5 | 6-11 | 50.3 | 54.1 | 35.4 | 91 | Won 1 |
| Red Lake | 0-7 | 4-11 | 39.9 | 67.3 | 29.6 | 109 | Lost 3 |
| Win-E-Mac | 2-11 | 4-14 | 35.3 | 55.4 | 27.0 | 115 | Lost 2 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 1-8 | 2-12 | 29.9 | 65.6 | 23.9 | 124 | Lost 6 |
| Bagley | 2-8 | 3-13 | 39.9 | 61.3 | 21.6 | 128 | Won 1 |
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MILESTONES –
Sacred Heart’s Finley Horken scored the 1,000th point of her career on Monday.
Sacred Heart’s Leah Sundby scored the 1,000th point of her career on Tuesday. That makes four juniors on the Sacred Heart team (Lexi Lawrence and Lydia Riskey) who have reached 1,000 points!!!!
Frazee’s Jayden Sonnenberg grabbed the 1,000th rebound of her career on Tuesday night. The University of North Dakota commit scored the 2,000th point of her career in December. (She is averaging 28 points per game for the 14-2 Hornets)
BGMR’s Owen Lund earned his 100th career victory this week.
BGMR’s Keegan VonEnde also recorded the 100th victory of his career recently.
SIGNINGS –
Crookston High School’s Emma LaPlante has signed to play tennis and hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
East Grand Forks’ Carson McDonald has signed to play basketball at Minnesota State Fergus Falls.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball program was selected to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches’ Poll released by the conference office. Minnesota State Mankato was picked to win the conference with eight first place votes and Augustana was picked second with seven first place votes.
Minnesota Crookston finished last season in a tie for seventh in the NSIC standings with a 23-29 (20-20 NSIC) mark. They have made seven NSIC Tournament appearances since 2016. Head Coach Steve Gust is the all-time winningest coach in any sport in Minnesota Crookston history with 263 victories.
The Golden Eagles are led by a pair of brothers. Aaron Wensloff (Jr., IF/OF, Roseau) was selected as the Player to Watch for the Golden Eagles after a breakout season as a sophomore. Wensloff can play all over the diamond, and is expected to play mostly at first base and third base in 2026. He hit .308, with 34 runs scored, 13 doubles, eight home runs, and 36 RBI last season. His older brother Isaac Wensloff (Sr., RHP, Roseau) was picked as the Pitcher to Watch for Minnesota Crookston. Wensloff has been reliable as an arm throughout his career. He was 4-2 with a 4.81 ERA in 58 innings pitched as a junior, with 10 starts, 40 strikeouts, and 20 walks.
As a team, Minnesota Crookston returns four starters in the field, including Aaron Wensloff. Americo Sculati (Sr., OF, Golden Valley) hit .273 in 2025, with 34 runs scored, seven home runs, and 32 RBI. Connor Bushbaum (Sr., OF, Saginaw) returns after swinging .250, with 19 runs scored, six doubles, and 18 RBI. Kyler Miller (So., SS, Grand Rapids) had a successful freshman season, hitting .250, with 23 runs scored, three doubles, three home runs, and 14 RBI. Caden Kappes (Jr., IF, Wahpeton, N.D.) is also back after making 22 starts last season.
At pitcher, Isaac Wensloff leads the way for the staff. Nate Benning (Jr., LHP, Browerville) has been a reliable starter in his career, going 3-4 with a 6.59 ERA as a sophomore with 42 strikeouts, and 26 walks. Kyle Odenbach (Sr., LHP, Thompson, N.D.) made 12 starts as a junior, while Isaac Roers (Sr., RHP, Stacy) has been a consistent presence in the staff. Roers made 27 appearances last season, going 6-4 with a 5.77 ERA.
POLL RESULTS –
1. Minnesota State Mankato (8) 190
2. Augustana (7) 189
3. St. Cloud State 163
4. Wayne State 154
5. Sioux Falls 144
6. Minnesota Duluth 116
7. University of Mary 115
8. Minnesota Crookston 112
9. SW Minnesota State 90
10. Winona State 89
11. Concordia-St. Paul 76
12. Jamestown 48
13. Minot State 44
14. Northern State 29
15. Bemidji State 16
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The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team was picked to finish 14th in the annual NSIC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Augustana was picked to be the top team with 12 first place votes, Winona State was second with four first place votes.
Minnesota Crookston finished a program best 12th in the NSIC in 2025.
A season ago, Hannah Trzinski (So., P/1B, Stevens Point, Wis.) hit a team-high .327 on the season, while driving in 19 runs and had an OPS of over .750. Trzinski had eight multi-hit games, including a career-high 3-3 in a win over Ursuline College.
In the circle, Delaney Penner (So., P/OF, Winkler, Manitoba) had a solid freshman seasons. Penner finished the season with a 6-9 record in 17 appearances, all starts. The sophomore led the Golden Eagles pitching staff in innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA, wins and complete games.
TEAM POLL
1. Augustana (12) 221
2. Winona State (4) 202
3. Minnesota State Mankato 197
4. Minnesota Duluth 183
5. St. Cloud State 175
6. Concordia-St. Paul 148
7. Wayne State 138
8. Minot State 133
9. SW Minnesota State 111
10. Sioux Falls 96
11. MSU-Moorhead 80
12. Bemidji State 68
13. Northern State 56
14. Minnesota Crookston 43
15. Jamestown 42
16. University of Mary 27
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The Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Hockey today announced thatHockey Day Minnesota 2028, presented by UnitedHealthcare, will take place at Central Park inMaple Grove.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Experience Maple Grove, alongside the Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association and Maple Grove High School teams, to bring Hockey Day Minnesota 2028 to Maple Grove,” said Minnesota Wild Chief Executive Officer Matt Majka. “We’re looking forward to creating an unforgettable Hockey Day Minnesota experience for players, families, and fans in Maple Grove.”
“We’re incredibly excited to be selected as the host site for Hockey Day Minnesota 2028,” said Experience Maple Grove Executive Director Greg Anzelc. “We look forward to building on our strong hockey legacy and showcasing the great City of Maple Grove, our business community, and the awesome Hockey Day Minnesota venue at Central Park.”
The festivities in Maple Grove will be part of a day-long television event designed as a celebration of the game from peewees to pros. Proceeds from the 22nd annual statewide hockey celebration will be used to grow the game of hockey in the Maple Grove community.
Additional details, including the dates, matchups and the official schedule for Hockey Day Minnesota 2028 at Maple Grove will be announced at a later date. Hockey Day Minnesota 2027 will take place at the Brainerd International Raceway.
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JOKES
After a particularly poor game of golf, a popular club member skipped the clubhouse and started to go home. As he was walking to the parking lot to get his car, a policeman stopped him and asked, “Did you tee off on the sixteenth hole about 20 minutes ago?”
“Yes,” the golfer responded.
“Did you happen to hook your ball so that it went over the trees and off the course?”
“Yes, I did. How did you know?” he asked.
“Well,” said the policeman very seriously, “Your ball flew out onto the highway and crashed through a driver’s windshield. The car went out of control, crashing into five other cars and a fire truck. The fire truck couldn’t make it to the fire, and the building burned down. So, what are you going to do about it?”
The golfer thought it over carefully and responded… “I think I’ll close my stance a little bit, tighten my grip and lower my right thumb.”
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A very shy guy goes into a pub on Valentine’s Day night and sees a beautiful woman sitting alone at the bar.
After an hour of gathering up his courage he finally goes over to her and asks tentatively, “Um, would you mind if I brought you a drink?”
She responds by yelling, at the top of her lungs, “No, I won’t sleep with you tonight!”
Everyone in the pub is now staring at them. Naturally, the guy is hopelessly and completely embarrassed and he slinks back to his table totally red faced.
After a few minutes, the woman walks over to him and apologizes. She smiles at him and says, “I’m really sorry if I embarrassed you just then. You see, I’m a graduate student in psychology and I’m studying how people respond to embarrassing situations.”
The man responds, at the top of his lungs, “No I will not pay $200!”
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This guy walks into a bank and says to the teller at the window, “I want to open a freakin’ checking account.”
To which the lady replied, “I beg your pardon, what did you say?”
“Listen up dammit, I said I want to open a freakin’ checking account right now.”
“Sir, I’m sorry but we do not tolerate that kind of language in this bank!” The teller left the window and went over to the bank manager and told him about her situation.
They both returned and the manager asked, “What seems to be the problem here?”
“There’s no damn problem,” the man says, “I just won $50 million in the lottery and I want to open a freakin checking account in this damn bank!”
“I see sir,” the manager said, “and this bitch is giving you a hard time?”
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A guy decides to take off work early from work and go drinking. He stays in the bar until it closes at 2 a.m. By then, he is extremely drunk.
When he gets back to his house, he doesn’t want to wake anyone up, so he takes off his shoes and starts tiptoeing up the stairs.
Halfway up the stairs, he loses his balance, falls over backwards, and lands flat on his rear end.
That wouldn’t have been so bad, except that he had a couple of empty pint bottles in his back pockets and they broke, carving up his rear end terribly. But he was so drunk he didn’t know he was hurt.
A few minutes later, as he was undressing, he saw some blood. He checked himself out in the mirror and, sure enough, his rear end is cut up something terrible. He repaired the damage as best he could under the circumstances and went to bed.
The next morning, his head was hurting and his rear was hurting, and he was lying under the covers trying to think up a good story, when his wife came into the bedroom.
“Well, you really tied one on last night,” she said. “Where’d you go?”
“I worked late,” he said, “and I stopped off for a couple of beers.”
“A couple of beers? That’s a laugh!” she replied. “You were plastered last night, and you know it! Where’d you go?”
“What makes you so sure I got drunk last night, anyway?”
“Well,” she replied, “my first big clue was when I got up this morning and found a bunch of band-aids stuck to the mirror.”
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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..
