SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Happy 2024! I hope the first few days of the new year have treated you well and the rest of the year is fabulous!
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We start off the column with a huge congratulations to Eric Schmidt, current special teams coordinator and Defensive Ends coach for the University of Washington Huskies Football team that beat Texas on Monday and will play Michigan for the NCAA College Football National Championship game on Monday.
Schmidty is a 2001 graduate of the University of North Dakota, where he won a NCAA D-2 National Championship as a captain and linebacker on the Fighting Sioux football team. After graduation from college, Crookston High School Activities Director (late interim superintendent) Dave Kuehn was looking for a coach to replace Gary Haugo. Kuehn played college football with Bubba Schweigert (who was Defensive Coordinator at UND at the time) at Jamestown and had a connection with him when he was at UND back in 2002. Bubba got Dave connected with Eric, who came to Crookston to teach social studies and Coach Football and Girls Basketball from 2002 to the 2005-06 school year.
In 2003, he led the Pirate Football team to a Section 8AAA championship and the sixth state tournament in school history.
In the 2005-06 basketball season, he brought the Girls basketball team to the Minnesota Class AA state championship, where they lost to Cannon Falls.
I had a chance to talk with Eric, and we will have that interview on Friday at 2:04 p.m. We will also post the interview online after Friday afternoon.
COACHING HISTORY
San Diego State
2024 – ? – Defensive Coordinator
Washington
2022-23: Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Ends
Fresno State
2020-21: Defensive Line/Special Teams Coordinator
North Dakota
2019: Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line
2018: Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
2014-17: Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Southern Illinois
2012-13: Inside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator
2010-11: Defensive Line
2008-09: Outside Linebackers
North Dakota
2006-07: Linebackers
Crookston H.S. (Minn.)
2002-06: Head Coach
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SECTION 8AA GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Girl’s Basketball season is almost at the halfway point with most teams playing around 10 games with a maximum of 26. January is always an important month with all the games that are played.
Here is a look at the QRF in Section 8AA Girls Basketball –
1. Perham 10-2 (77.1)
2. Barnesville 7-2 (75.0)
3. Pelican Rapids 9-0 (69.2)
4. Menahga 6-1 (62.8)
5. East Grand Forks 8-3 (61.2)
6. Hawley 6-4 (50.7)
7. Wadena-Deer Creek 5-5 (40.1)
8. Park Rapids 3-7 (35.8)
9. Roseau 5-5 (33.7)
10. Frazee 3-4 (31.7)
11. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 2-6 (31.7)
12. Thief River Falls 2-7 (27.5)
13. Crookston 2-7 (23.1)
14. Warroad 3-6 (22.9)
Looking at the rankings so far, Barnesville is technically the top seed right now because they beat Perham earlier this season and have the tie-breaker on the Yellowjackets. Pelican Rapids is going to be battling for the top seed also. Menahga doesn’t play as tough of a schedule as the top 3, so it might be difficult to move in front of them, but one thing we know is the QRF rewards wins, and if Menahga keeps winning, they will be within striking distance of a top seed.
It is safe to say the section isn’t as top-heavy as far as top-notch talent goes. With that being said, the section is wide open with a lot of good teams. January will be important for seeding purposes, with a lot of big games coming up.
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SECTION 8A GIRLS BASKETBALL –
The Section 8A Girls sub-sections have Fosston leading the way in the east and Sacred Heart leading the West. The QRF rankings so far are below –
WEST SUBSECTION
1. Sacred Heart 8-1 (55.8)
2. Kittson Co. Central 5-1 (49.5)
3. Northern Freeze 6-2 (45.9)
4. Stephen-Argyle 4-2 (45.5)
5. Warren-A-O 7-4 (36.8)
6. Fertile-Beltrami 5-3 (34.7)
7. BGMR 4-3 (32.9)
8. Goodridge/Grygla 2-4 (25.7)
9. Climax-Fisher 3-6 (24.6)
10. Red Lake Co. Central 1-8 (15.9)
11. Red Lake Falls 0-8 (10.0)
EAST SUBSECTION
1. Fosston 9-0 (62.5)
2. Kelliher/Northome 6-1 (54.6)
3. Cass Lake-Bena 7-1 (54.4)
4. Blackduck 7-3 (38.2)
5. Mahnomen/Waubun 3-7 (21.2)
6. Clearbrook-Gonvick 3-6 (20.8)
7. Red Lake 2-5 (18.6)
8. Bagley 2-7 (16.5)
9. Win-E-Mac 1-9 (13.6)
10. Lake of the Woods 1-8 (12.7)
The West is the stronger of the two sub-sections once again this year. But the top three teams in the East are legit top three teams in the section.
The West has seven teams over 500, while the East only has four. Fosston is the only undefeated team in the section, but there are eight to 10 teams that I wouldn’t be surprised if they won the section tournament. Of course, the next two months will tell us a lot more, but so far this season, the section is very competitive.
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SECTION 8A GIRLS HOCKEY
The battle for the top seed took an interesting and more complicated turn over the holiday break. Warroad had a 4-0 lead over Crookston, and it didn’t look good for the Pirates. In the third period, Crookston scored some goals but lost 4-3. Crookston owned a victory over Warroad in Crookston earlier in December and now the two teams are 1-1 against each other.
I don’t see either team losing a section game so that leaves us down to who the coaches want to seed 1 and 2.
I have always believed the second game (if you play two) always has more importance. As I said in an earlier column, it really doesn’t matter if you are one or two.
I am guessing Warroad will be the top seed. But there is a month left in the season before playoffs start, and the only thing that will matter is how the teams are playing going into the playoffs.
Hockey doesn’t use QRF, but I included it below.
1. Warroad 10-4 (84.4 – #1 QRF in Class A)
2. Crookston 11-4-1 (62.7 – #10 QRF in Class A)
3. East Grand Forks 7-8-1 (39.1)
4. Thief River Falls 4-9 (31.3)
5. Detroit Lakes 5-7-1 (26.7)
6. International Falls 0-13 (11.8)
The Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches and MSHSL will have to figure something out for their postseason in the future.
There are only 47 Class A teams in the state and there are only FOUR teams in Section 6A!!!!!
Section 6A has the following teams, and none of them are in the top 15!
1. Fergus Falls 8-6-1 (54.9 – 17th in Class A, would be third in Section 8A)
2. Northern Lakes 2-11 (25.0)
3. Prairie Centre 3-7-2 (22.6)
4. Morris/Benson 4-9 (21.5)
I still think girls hockey needs to go to four sections (back like it was in the early days of Pirate Girls Hockey. Crookston played Hibbing in the section tournament. You would have at least 8 to 10 teams in each section, and it would be a lot of fun. I think it would be great and only makes sense. The status quo is easier because nobody in Minnesota likes change!
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The Mahnomen/Waubun Wrestling Dual schedule for Friday has been announced –
5:00 pm round 1
Mahnomen/Waubun vs Crookston
Wadena-Deer Creek vs Pelican Rapids
Round 2
Mahnomen/Waubun vs Wadena-Deer Creek
Crookston vs Pelican Rapids
Round 3
Mahnomen/Waubun vs Pelican Rapids
Wadena-Deer Creek vs Crookston
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The latest Minnesota High School sports rankings are available by clicking the link below.
Minnesota High School Rankings – KROX (kroxam.com)
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The Crookston Pirate Winter Sports Schedules are available on our website. Click on the link below –
CROOKSTON PIRATE WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULES – KROX (kroxam.com)
JOKES
A duck is standing next to a busy road, cars are zooming past while he waits for a break in traffic. A chicken walks up to him and says, “Don’t do it, man. You’ll never hear the end of it.”
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Two friends are walking down the street, trying to think of something to do. One turned to the other and said, “Hey there’s this new place that has the best punch you’ll ever drink.”
They head to the bar, and the first man yells, “Bartender, to glasses of your best punch.”
Grumbling, the bartender replies, “If you want some punch, you’re gonna have to get in line like everybody else.”
The friends turn and look around, but there’s no punch line……
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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
Halle Bruggeman is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Tennis team.
Grace Fischer is a freshman on the Concordia College (Moorhead) Women’s Golf team.
Ethan Boll is a Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Sophomore on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Sophomore playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Sophomore playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND..
Kaleb Thingelstad is a junior playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan.
Joslynn Leach is a sophomore playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Aleece Durbin is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Womens Track and Field team.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Todd Miner is a Pirate Football assistant coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach and assistant girls golf coach
Jeff Perreault is the Pirate Girls Golf head coach
Wes Hanson is the Pirate Wrestling Head Coach and assistant boys golf coach
Kevin Weber is a Pirate Boys Basketball volunteer assistant coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Sam Melbye is the Pirate Boys J.V. Hockey coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Colton Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
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.
Katy (Westrom) Horgen is the Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
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.
Erik Ellingson is serving our country with the U.S. Air Force at Minot.
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.
