The first three days of Minnesota State High School League sports practices have been completed and the smiles, excitement, and everything else that goes with it has been fun to see!
The first games can be played on Thursday, January 14 and the next two months will be wild! Good Luck to all athletes, coaches, activity directors, officials, janitors, and everybody else responsible for making sporting events go!
The Crookston Pirate Winter Sports schedules are available by clicking here.
Governor Tim Walz came out with good news on Wednesday with a limited amount of fans allowed in games. It sounds like 150 fans will be allowed. Most tickets would go to parents/family and a few tickets left over for the general public.
We will take a look at high school sports, have Pirate rosters, and more in next weeks column!
— — —
I received this from Brent Epema, owner of B & E Meats in Crookston, and it shows you how special Matt Bishop was to many in Crookston!
I just stumbled upon this! The girls were playing hockey at Gustavus and stopped to spend some time with Matt. This tells you how special this guy was. He was a great guy!
— — —
U-S-A….U-S-A….The United States won the World Junior tournament Gold this week. It was the first time since 2017!! Nice win for USA!
Speaking of hockey….how about those Golden Gophers! Bob Motzko has his team rocking and rolling to an undefeated record so far this season! They are ranked #1 in the polls (doesn’t mean anything until the last rankings, but still nice).
The hockey team isn’t the only team in Dinkytown that is off to a great start. The Gopher Men’s basketball team is 10-2 as they take on Michigan on Wednesday night. The Gophers have three wins over ranked teams, but two ugly losses on the road to Illinois and Wisconsin. They seem to be getting better as the season rolls along and it will be interesting to see what they do the rest of the way.
— — —
You can test for COVID-19 all you want, but it won’t stop the cancelation of games. That is the lesson we have learned in college sports. The Northern Sun Conference, of which the University of Minnesota Crookston is a member of, has protocols in place for regular testing. The players have to get tested one day before the game and are tested three times per week. (I, as a media member, was tested before both games this past weekend.)
Last weekend was the opening weekend for NSIC Men’s and Women’s Basketball and three games were canceled due to COVID. Two more games this weekend were already canceled because of COVID. Part of the issue with the cancelations in the first two weeks is the fact that the student-athletes went home for Christmas break as mandated by NCAA in Division II. So they go home, come back, and now several teams had to cancel the games.
Officials from Southwest Minnesota State University and Northern State University announced on Tuesday that the SMSU and Northern State’s women’s basketball teams will play two games this Friday and Saturday at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
On Tuesday, Northern State had its two-game home scheduled series on Friday and Saturday versus Bemidji State canceled due to COVID-19 testing protocols at BSU. On Monday, SMSU’s two games scheduled to be played this Friday and Saturday at Winona State was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols at WSU.
SMSU and NSU will play on Friday starting at 7 p.m., while Saturday’s game is set to begin at 4 p.m. Both games will be considered non-conference games.
The good news….UMC played all four of their games and are scheduled to play all four this weekend too.
— — —
Former University of Minnesota Crookston Men’s Basketball player Harrison Cleary has signed a temporary contract with CB Almansa of LEB Gold, the second tier of Spanish basketball. The team is based in Almansa, Spain.
Cleary played four games for TAU Castello of LEB Gold before being released December 28. In the four games he averaged 6.8 minutes per game and 2.5 points per game. He shot 44.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. CB Almansa plays their next game Saturday, January 9 against Real Murcia.
Another former UMC’s Men’s Basketball player, Javier Nicolau is also playing professionally in Spain. The Castellon, Spain native is competing for CB Benicarlo, a member of LEB Silver which is the third tier of Spanish professional basketball. Nicolau has started 10 games this season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
— — —
The University of Minnesota Crookston Club Hockey team will have their first game of the season this weekend when they travel to Jamestown, North Dakota to take on the Jamestown Jimmies. The Golden Eagles only have 15 players on the roster for their first game, so playing time won’t be an issue and most names will be familiar to area hockey fans, including three Crookston kids. Four of the UMC Club Hockey players have played other sports previously – Brian Bekkala and Crookston’s Ben Trostad are both on the men’s golf team. Tristan Morneault is a member of the men’s cross country team, while Sam McGregor is on the trapshooting team.
The roster is below –
5 – Austin Ryba – Fr. – F – Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln H.S.
7 – Sam McGregor – Jr. – F – Hastings, Minn./Hastings H.S.
8 – Josh Nelson – Fr. – D – East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks H.S.
9 – Ben Trostad – Jr. – D – Crookston, Minn./Crookston H.S.
10 – Brian Bekkala – Sr. – F – Livonia, Mich./Franklin H.S.
12 – Cam Olstad – So. – F – Grand Forks, N.D./University of Wisconsin-Stout
16 – Brandon Boetcher – So. – F – Crookston, MInn./Crookston H.S.
17 – Tyler Zahradka – Fr. – F – Grand Forks, N.D./Grand Forks Central H.S.
18 – Casey Kallock – Jr. – D – East Grand Forks, Minn./Minot Minotauros (NAHL)
19 – Zach Larson – Fr. – F – Grand Forks, N.D./Grand Forks Central H.S.
20 – Gunner Ferrier – Fr. – D – Baudette, Minn./Lake of the Woods H.S.
21 – Tristan Morneault – Fr. – F – Dieppe, New Brunswick/Mathieu-Martin H.S.
22 – Parker Adair – Fr. – F – Grand Forks, N.D./Thief River Falls Norskies (SIJHL)
25 – Ty Hamre – Fr. – D/F – Crookston, Minn./Crookston H.S.
31 – Jake Sumner – Fr. – G – Alta Loma, Calif./Breezy Point North Stars (NA3HL)
— — —
JOKES
A young New York woman was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the ocean, but just before she could throw herself from the docks, a handsome young man stopped her.
“You have so much to live for,” said the man. “I’m a sailor, and we are off to Italy tomorrow. I can stow you away on my ship. I’ll take care of you, bring you food every day, and keep you happy.”
With nothing to lose, combined with the fact that she had always wanted to go to Italy, the woman accepted. That night the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a small but comfortable compartment in the hold. From then on, every night he would bring her three sandwiches, a bottle of red wine, and make love to her until dawn.
Three weeks later she was discovered by the captain during a routine inspection.
“What are you doing here?” asked the captain.
“I have an arrangement with one of the sailors,” she replied. “He brings me food, and I get a free trip to Italy.”
“I see,” the captain says.
Her conscience got the best of her and she added, “Plus, he’s screwing me.”
“He certainly is,” replied the captain, “This is the Staten Island Ferry.”
— —
— —
— — —
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
Aleece Durbin, is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Brady Butt is a freshman playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Brady Heppner, is playing hockey for the Roanoke Raildogs in the SPHL.
Brita Fagerlund, is a Senior on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.
Ben Trostad, is a Junior member of the University of Minnesota Crookston golf team.
Rachel Hefta, a Sophmore, is playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.
Cade Salentine is a redshirt-Sophomore playing football at the University of North Dakota.
Nick Garmen, is a sophomore playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Caden Osborn, is a freshman playing basketball at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Thea Oman, a sophomore, is swimming at St. Ben’s.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Emily Meyer is a girls hockey and softball assistant coach.
Carrie Clauson is a Junior High girls tennis coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach and assistant volleyball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Cody Brekken is the Head Pirate Girls and Boys Tennis coach and Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach
Mitch Bakken is the head Pirate Baseball coach.
Brock Hanson is the Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant 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 –
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown
Kaylee Desrosier is a softball coach for Fargo Davies Middle School.
Justin Johnson is an assistant softball coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Josh Edlund is an assistant football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach in Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is Head Wrestling coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson, is Head Volleyball coach at Little Falls High School.
Katy Westrom, is Head Girls Tennis Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
Matt Harris, is a Director of Athletics at the British International School of Houston.
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 Minnesota State Mankato Men’s head Hockey coach
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Thief River Falls High School
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football and volleyball and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for the Bison media relations
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College
Chris Myrold is a Tennis Pro on Nevis Island in the West Indies
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
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 also a grad of West Point and is currently is 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.
Scott Riopelle is head of Crookston Parks and Recreation
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
Tags:
