SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
We are now in the second week of January, usually the toughest month of the winter sports season and girls hockey has less than a month left before playoffs.
Winter is flying by. This week we have the Section 8AA basketball playoff dates, and Section 8A Girls and Boys Hockey, Wrestling, and Girls and Boys Basketball playoff dates. I take a look at Section 8A and 8AA boys basketball and 8A Boys Hockey.
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I 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 transfered electronically.
MENS TICKETS
January 9 vs USC – 7:30PM
February 21 vs Rutgers – 11AM
February 28 vs UCLA – 1PM
WOMENS TICKETS
January 8 vs Northwestern- 7PM
January 11 vs USC – 2PM
January 14 vs UCLA – 7PM
January 25 vs Wisconsin – 2PM
February 1 vs Purdue – 2PM
February 12 vs Nebraska – 7PM
February 18 vs Ohio State – 7PM
February 22 vs Michigan State – 5PM
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The Section 8AA Girls and Boys Basketball tournament schedule for 2026 is below.
GIRLS –
February 26 – First round at high seed (7:00 p.m.) (Top 2 teams get a bye)
February 28 – Quarterfinals at high seed (7:00 p.m.)
March 3 – Semi-finals at Concordia College (6:00 and 7:45 p.m.)
March 6 – Champsionship at Concordia College (8:00 p.m.)
BOYS –
March 5 – First round at high seed (7:00 p.m.) (Top 2 teams get a bye)
March 7 – Quarterfinals at high seed (7:00 p.m.)
March 11 – Semi-finals at Concordia College (6:00 and 7:45 p.m.)
March 13 – Championship at Concordia College (8:00 p.m.)
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I will post this again this week –
The Region 8A tournament and post-season competition schedule is below. The first playoff game is a month away with girls hockey starting on February 5!!!!
| Winter | Tourney Round | Date | Location | Time |
| 8A Girls Hockey | Section 1/4 | 2/5/26 | High Seed | 7:00 |
| 8A Girls Hockey | Section Semis | 2/7/26 | EGF | 1:00/3:30 PM |
| 8A Girls Hockey | Section Finals | 2/12/26 | EGF | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Boys Hockey | Section Play in | 2/14/26 | High Seed | TBD |
| 8A Boys Hockey | Section 1/4 | 2/17/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Boys Hockey | Section Semis | 2/21/26 | TRF | 1:00/3:30 PM |
| 8A Boys Hockey | Section Final | 2/26/26 | TRF | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Girls Basketball | Section Pigtail | 2/23/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Girls Basketball | Section Play in | 2/26/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Girls Basketball | Section 1/4 | 2/28/26 | REA | 12/1:45/3:30/5:15 |
| 8A Girls Basketball | Section Semis | 3/3/26 | REA | 6:00/7:30 |
| 8A Girls Basketball | Section Final | 3/6/26 | REA | 7:00 |
| 8A Boys Basketball | Section Pigtail | 3/2/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Boys Basketball | Section Play in | 3/5/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Boys Basketball | Section 1/4 | 3/7/26 | REA | 12/1:45/3:30/5:15 |
| 8A Boys Basketball | Section Semis | 3/11/26 | REA | 6:00/7:30 |
| 8A Boys Basketball | Section Final | 3/13/26 | REA | 7:00 |
| 8A Wrestling | Team 1/4 | 2/10/26 | High Seed | 7:00 PM |
| 8A Wrestling | Team Semis/Final | 2/13/26 | Fertile | 6:00/7:30 PM |
| 8A Wrestling | Individuals | 2/20/26 | Crookston | TBD |
| AAA | All Region Event | 2/4/26 | Mahnomen | 12:00 noon |
| One Act Play | SS 29 Contest | 1/23/26 | RLCC | TBA |
| One Act Play | SS 30 Contest | 1/24/26 | EGF | TBA |
| One Act Play | SS 31 Contest | 1/23/26 | WAO | TBA |
| One Act Play | SS 32 Contest | 1/24/26 | LOW | TBA |
| One Act Play | Section 8A Contest | 1/31/26 | Bagley | TBA |
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The Section 8AA Boys Basketball season ia about one-third of the way through the season and the one thing the QRF is telling us is that the section is down this year as the best QRF ranking is 32 and the lowest QRF (127) belongs to Crookston. So with that said, there are some pretty solid teams this year and they are all at the top of the section, as you would expect. East Grand Forks, Thief River Falls, and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton lead the way. I guess having three letters in your teams initials (EGF, TRF, DGF) is good this year. It is still too early and there is no favorite at this point and it should be a fun rest of the season with teams fighting to get a first round home playoff game and the top two teams get first round byes.
Section 8AA Boys Basketball Standings
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Grand Forks | 5-0 | 7-2 | 55.4 | 32 |
| Thief River Falls | 3-1 | 6-2 | 54.9 | 35 |
| Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton | 3-1 | 6-3 | 53.0 | 39 |
| Staples-Motley | 3-1 | 5-3 | 50.1 | 48 |
| Osakis | 0-0 | 5-3 | 50.0 | 50 |
| Perham | 2-1 | 5-3 | 49.0 | 55 |
| Barnesville | 2-2 | 5-5 | 46.5 | 59 |
| Warroad | 4-1 | 7-6 | 39.8 | 72 |
| Hawley | 0-3 | 2-7 | 28.8 | 96 |
| Roseau | 2-4 | 2-7 | 24.5 | 108 |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | 1-2 | 2-5 | 23.8 | 109 |
| Menahga | 0-2 | 3-6 | 22.7 | 112 |
| Park Rapids Area | 0-3 | 1-5 | 17.5 | 120 |
| Crookston | 0-4 | 0-6 | 10.5 | 127 |
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The Section 8A Boys Basketball standings show the West sub-section is again the power. Win-E-Mac is the top team in the East and they would be in seventh place in the West!!!!
Section 8A – West Standings
The West sub-section is led by defending section champion Red Lake County who is 8-0 and playing some solid basketball. They have the best player in the section with Connor Duden. In my eyes the best all-around player and one of the top players in the state. He can do it all, score, create, dish, rebound, defend, and I think I saw him sell popcorn at the concession stand one game at halftime! Red Lake County is solid again this year, but Stephen-Argyle, Northern Freeze, Kittson County Central, Fertile-Beltrami, and Sacred Heart are all fighting for second place right now. All the teams I mentioned are all very good teams and don’t forget that Warren-Alvarado-Oslo is a ways behind in the QRF, but has the talent to get in the mix too. The final three teams, Climax-Fisher, Goodridge/Grygla, and BGMR are all teams that are solid teams and are teams that have shown signs of being a tough team to beat so it will be an interesting final two-thirds of the season.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lake County | 6-0 | 8-0 | 62.0 | 6 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 5-0 | 6-1 | 50.3 | 28 |
| Northern Freeze | 2-3 | 5-3 | 47.5 | 30 |
| Kittson County Central | 4-1 | 5-2 | 46.3 | 32 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 3-1 | 5-1 | 44.0 | 35 |
| Sacred Heart | 5-3 | 6-3 | 43.3 | 36 |
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 3-4 | 4-6 | 32.3 | 68 |
| Climax/Fisher | 3-3 | 3-5 | 25.8 | 86 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 3-5 | 3-6 | 25.2 | 88 |
| BGMR | 0-8 | 2-8 | 22.9 | 101 |
Section 8A – East Standings
Win-E-Mac, Bagley, and Mahnomen/Waubun are in a tight three-way race for the top spot at this point in the season. Not far behind are four more teams with Northome/Kelliher, Red Lake, Clearbrook-Gonvick, and Lake of the Woods. The sub-section is wide-open and every game will be important the rest of the way since they are so close this far into the season.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win-E-Mac | 5-1 | 5-3 | 36.1 | 53 |
| Bagley | 3-1 | 6-3 | 35.2 | 56 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 2-1 | 5-4 | 34.6 | 60 |
| Northome/Kelliher | 1-3 | 4-4 | 27.7 | 79 |
| Red Lake | 2-3 | 3-4 | 27.6 | 80 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 3-4 | 3-5 | 26.9 | 83 |
| Lake of the Woods | 0-2 | 3-5 | 25.5 | 87 |
| Fosston | 1-5 | 1-6 | 16.9 | 122 |
| Blackduck | 2-5 | 2-6 | 16.5 | 126 |
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Section 8A Boys Hockey Standings
I don’t care what the QRF says but it is Warroad and East Grand Forks at the top again. Everybody else is fighting for the third seed.
REMEMBER – QRF is NOT used to seed 8A Boys Hockey. I post it for fun. At the bottom of the QRF, I will put the World Infamous Chris Fee rankings.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warroad | 2-0-0 | 11-3-0 | 71.5 | 4 |
| Detroit Lakes | 2-1-0 | 7-7-0 | 51.2 | 16 |
| Red Lake Falls | 5-1-0 | 10-3-0 | 48.5 | 21 |
| Bagley/Fosston | 3-2-0 | 9-3-0 | 45.0 | 25 |
| Crookston | 4-2-0 | 8-3-1 | 42.4 | 29 |
| Thief River Falls | 2-2-0 | 7-6-0 | 42.4 | 29 |
| Kittson Central | 3-4-0 | 5-9-0 | 26.3 | 56 |
| East Grand Forks | 1-2-0 | 5-7-1 | 25.3 | 57 |
| Park Rapids Area | 0-4-0 | 1-9-0 | 18.5 | 69 |
| Lake of the Woods | 1-5-0 | 1-12-0 | 18.2 | 70 |
The Chris Fee rankings – (subject to change by Thursday evening before all the games!!!)
1. Warroad (the top team and they are playing some great hockey again)
2. East Grand Forks (they are the second best team right now)
3. Detroit Lakes (I see them as the third team in the section at this point)
4. Thief River Falls (They seem to be playing a little better as the season progresses)
5. Crookston (they have lost twice to TRF, but have beaten most the teams below them)
6. Red Lake Falls (they lost in OT to Crookston and have beaten everybody below)
7. Bagley/Fosston (They are 9-3, and have lost to Crookston and RLF, and beat Park Rapids, LOW, and KCC)
8. Kittson County Central is a pretty solid at eight with three section victories (Park Rapids, LOW twice), but they had one loss to Lake of the Woods.
9. Lake of the Woods because they beat KCC
10. Park Rapids (the only team that hasn’t won a section game so far)
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The University of Minnesota Crookston tennis team announced the signing of two student-athletes for their 2026 signing class. The Golden Eagles added Nahomy Alarcon (Bogota, Colombia/Calvert Preparatory School) and Kyllie Fettig (Minot, N.D./Our Redeemer’s Christian School).
Nahomy Alarcon (Bogota, Colombia/Calvert Preparatory School)
Alarcon is ranked 24th in Colombia as a tennis player. She represented Colombia on a national level competing against four continents, and also earned the Sportsmanship Award.
She is the youngest of six siblings, education is very valued to her as many of her family had not been able to finish school or attend college, which feeds a commitment to excellence both in the classroom and on the tennis court. Alarcon is the daughter of Marco Alarcon and Francia Bernal. She plans to major in international business at Minnesota Crookston.
Kyllie Fettig (Minot, N.D./Our Redeemer’s Christian School)
Fettig is a three-time All-Conference pick. She was All-State in North Dakota in 2023 and 2025. She competed in tennis for Minot High School.
She is the daughter of Barry and Tiffanie Fettig. Fettig plans to major in marketing at Minnesota Crookston.
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JOKES
A young man watched as an elderly couple sat down to lunch at McDonald’s. He noticed that they had ordered just one meal, and an extra drink cup. As he watched, the old gentleman carefully divided the hamburger in half, then counted out the fries, one for him, one for her, etc, until each had exactly half.
Then the old man poured half of the soft drink into the extra cup and set that in front of his wife. The old man then began to eat, but his wife just sat watching him.
The young man felt sorry for them and asked “I’m sorry to intrude, but would you allow me to purchase another meal for your wife so that you don’t have to split your food?”
The old gentleman said, “Oh, no, thank you. But you see, we’ve been married a long time, and everything has always been shared, 50/50.”
The young man said, “Wow! That’s commendable.” He then turned to the wife and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat your share?”
The wife replied “Not yet. It’s his turn to use the teeth.”
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One day the teacher decides to play an animal game. She holds up a picture of a giraffe and asks if anyone knows what it is. No one raises his/her hand. The teacher says “See it’s long neck? What animal has a long neck?”
Sally holds up her hand and asks if it is a giraffe.
“Very good Sally,” the teacher replies. Next she holds up a picture of a zebra. None of the students holds up his/her hands. “See the stripes on this animal? What animal has stripes?”
Billy holds up his hand and says it is a zebra. “Very good Billy,” the teacher replies. Next she holds up a picture of a deer. None of the students recognized the animal.
“See the big antlers on this animal. What animal has horns like this?”
Still no one guesses. “Let me give you another hint, it’s something your mother calls your father.”
Johnny shouts out “I know what it is, it’s a horny bastard.”
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Told my wife I was going to start smoking pot.
She said if I did she was going to leave me.
That’s proof that it gets rid of aches and pains!
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A man wakes up one morning to find a bear on his roof. So he looks in the yellow pages and sure enough, there’s an ad for “Bear Removers.”
He calls the number, and the bear remover says he’ll be over in 30 minutes. The bear remover arrives, and gets out of his van. He’s got a ladder, a baseball bat, a shotgun and a mean old pit bull.
“What are you going to do,” the homeowner asks?
“I’m going to put this ladder up against the roof, then I’m going to go up there and knock the bear off the roof with this baseball bat. When the bear falls off, the pit bull is trained to grab his testicles and not let go. The bear will then be subdued enough for me to put him in the cage in the back of the van.”
He hands the shotgun to the homeowner.
“What’s the shotgun for?” asks the homeowner.
“If the bear knocks me off the roof, shoot the dog.”
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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..
