SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.co— — —
Most of the spring sports have started practice, and we are awaiting the final state winter sports tournament, with Boys Basketball going next week.
This week, we take a look at Red Lake County and their first-round state matchup next week. We also take a look at Gopher Hockey coaching changes, a bunch of All-Conference honors. If you have an all-conference team that I haven’t posted, email it to me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com.
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The Class A Boys Basketball tournament seeds were released following the seeding meeting on Tuesday evening. The tournament will start on Thursday, March 26, at the Target Center. ALL RED LAKE COUNTY GAMES will be on KROX Radio (1260AM), online by clicking on listen live, the KROX app, and your smart speaker by saying “listen to KROX in Crookston.”
Red Lake County earned the #3 seed and will take on the #6 seed Liberty Classical Academy in the first round. Liberty Classical Academy is a Christian School in White Bear Lake.
LCA is 27-2 on the year. The two losses were to Rushford-Peterson 95-59 and to Hiawatha Collegiate 85-66. Liberty Classical averages 90.8 points per game, led by Sam Rupnow, a senior who surpassed 2,000 career points earlier this season and is averaging 29.4 points per game. Ethan Richter is averaging nearly 21 points per game this season. LCA has four players who have played in all 29 games; one has played 28, one has played 27, and two have played 20 and 22. So it looks like they play seven to eight players.
Again, Rupnow leads the way with 29.2 points per game, Ethan Richter averages 20.6 ppg, Cruz Triana averages 13.9, Jimmy Youtsey averages 11.8, William Gilbert has 5.9 ppg, and Caleb Schmidt has 5.1 ppg to lead the way.
Section 4A comprises metro-area private and charter schools. Section 4A is literally a crap shoot every year with kids coming and going in the schools. Heritage Christian is the team they beat to reach the state tournament. Heritage Christian Academy was the section champion last year after beating LCA 98-72 in the championship and finished 6th place with a 23-point loss to Dawson-Boyd in the first round. They beat Goodhue by 2 points in the consolation semifinals and lost to Henning by two points in the consolation championship. This is the first trip to state for LCA.
Red Lake County is looking like a well-oiled machine right now and these guys seem to play better the bigger the game is. It is crazy. It happened in basketball last year and it happened in baseball last spring. I like the Rebels chances of making a run to the championship game as long as they keep playing like they have been. They have as good a shot as anyone.
Comparing the two teams –
| Category | Red Lake County | Liberty Classical |
| Record | 28-3 | 27.2 |
| State ranking | 8th | 9th |
| QRF ranking | 7 (121.7) | 1 (132.3) |
| Points per game | 74.6 | 90.8 |
| Oppents PPG | 51.8 | 55.7 |
| Biggest win (opponent) | Stephen-Argyle and Nevis | Breck/HCA/Hill-Murray |
| State Trips | 2nd | 1st |
TEAM SEEDS
1. Henning (30-0)
2. Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (28-3)
3. Red Lake County (28-3)
4. Southland (28-1)
5. Hills-Beaver Creek (27-3)
6. Liberty Classical Academy (27-2)
7. Cherry (25-5)
8. Upsala (24-6)
QUARTERFINALS – Thursday, March 26 at Target Center
11:00 AM – #1 Henning vs #8 Upsala
1:00 PM – #4 Southland vs #5 Hills-Beaver Creek
3:00 PM – #2 Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton vs #7 Cherry
5:00 PM – #3 Red Lake County vs #6 Liberty Classical Academy
SEMI-FINALS – Friday, March 27 at Williams Arena
Noon – Henning/Upsala winner vs Southland/HBC winner
2:00 PM – JWP/Cherry winner vs Red Lake County/LCA winner
CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS – Friday, March 27 at Concordia-St. Paul
10:00 AM – Henning/Upsala loser vs Southland/HBC loser
NOON – JWP/Cherry loser vs Red Lake County/LCA loser
CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 28 at Williams Arena
11:00 AM –
THIRD PLACE – Saturday, March 28 at Concordia-St. Paul
10:00 AM
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 28 at Williams Arena
8:00 AM
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The Class AA State Boys Basketball seeds have been announced, and the Section 8AA’s Perham Yellowjackets look to continue their run as the #5 seed in the section tournament, knocking off three better seeds in the section tourney. They take on a VERY GOOD Goodhue team, but the good news for Perham is they have been playing some outstanding basketball!
TEAM SEEDS –
1. Goodhue
2. Pequot Lakes
3. Minnehaha Academy
4. Jackson County Central
5. Albany
6. Waseca
7. Blake
8. Perham
FIRST ROUND – Tuesday, March 24 at Target Center
6:00 PM – #1 Goodhue vs #8 Perham
8:00 PM – #4 Jackson County Central vs #5 Albany
FIRST ROUND – Wednesday, March 25 at Williams Arena
6:00 PM – #2 Pequot Lakes vs #7 Blake
8:00 PM – #3 Minnehaha Academy vs #6 Waseca
SEMI-FINALS – Friday, March 27 at Williams Arena
6:00 PM –
8:00 PM
CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS – Thursday, March 26 at Concordia-St. Paul
6:00 PM –
8:00 PM-
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP – Friday, March 27 at Concordia-St. Paul
2:00 PM
THIRD PLACE – Saturday, March 28 at Concordia-St. Paul
2:00 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 28 at Williams Arena at 5:00 PM
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The Crookston High School Triple A Academics, Arts, and Athletics Senior Recognition Banquet will be 6:00 p.m. on Monday April 27 in the CHS Commons. Cost of tickets is $20, no tickets will be sold at the event. Tickets can be purchased at KROX and the high school office. CHS Seniors can pick up their free tickets at the CHS office. Deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, April 20.
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Mark Coyle (U of M Golden Gopher AD) is not messing around, and good (or in men’s hockey this year) bad isn’t good enough. Men’s hockey was a disappointment last year, given the amount of top talent they had, and the team actually had the worst record they have had in decades. What happens when you have been at the helm for eight years, and you have the worst record since 1972? You get fired and/or mutually part ways.
Gopher Men’s Hockey coach Bob Motzko and the Gopher Athletic Department mutually parted ways on Wednesday. Gopher Women’s Coach Brad Frost was fired on Tuesday!
The Frost firing caught people off guard, but I think they announced that first to set up the firing of Motzko.
Motzko had coached for 42 years. He spent 14 years in the Gopher Men’s Hockey program, eight of those as head coach. In the last eight years, the Gophers made it to the Frozen Four twice and the National Championship in 2023. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year three times. He was the 2023 Spencer Penrose Award winner as AHCA/CCM Men’s Hockey Division I Coach of the Year and is the 23rd-winningest coach in men’s college hockey history.
This year, the Gophers were 11-22-3 overall and 7-15-2 in the Big Ten. Granted, the Big Ten is loaded this year, but that is a tough record. They were 6-16-2 on the year against ranked opponents.
2024-25 – 25-11-4 overall and 15-6-3 in the Big Ten
2023-24 – 23-11-5 overall and 13-7-4 in the Big Ten
2022-23 – 29-10-1 overall and 19-4-1 in the Big Ten
Frost’s teams won four national championships (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016). He has a career win percentage of .788 with a record of 554-133-43.
This year, the Gophers were 26-12-1 overall and 18-9-1 in the WCHA. They started the season going 13-3 against ranked teams. In the final four games, they were swept by Ohio State and UM-Duluth. In the first round of the WCHA playoffs they lost to St. Cloud State 1-0 in OT before winning the next two games to advance. In the second round they lost to #2 Ohio State 4-0. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, they lost to #5 Northeastern 4-2.
The Gophers have seen a “slide” in winning percentage over the past four years –
2024-25 – 29-12-1 and 19-8-1
2023-24 – 27-10-2 and 19-7-2
2022-23 – 30-6-3 and 22-3-3
Detroit Lakes native Garrett Raboin (former Gopher Assistant and Current Augustana Head Coach) is in the running to replace Frost, but I am sure there are several others in the mix.
BTW – The University of Minnesota brought in a school record $163.6 million in revenue in the 2024-25 school year with only a $2.4 million profit!!!!! The only sports to make money were football, men’s hockey and men’s basketball.
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The Northwest Conference Girls Basketball has announced the all-conference awards. The award winners are below-
Conference Team Champion: East Grand Forks
ALL-CONFERENCE
Crookston – Chloe Boll and Madi Bruggeman
East Grand Forks – Tatem Votava, Kelsey Spilde, Hayden Berg
Roseau – Brooklyn Hulst, Anna Ulvin
Thief River Falls – Piper Green, Taylor Berg
Warroad – Attlee Larson, Olivia Tessier
HONORABLE MENTION-
Crookston – Grace Boll
East Grand Forks – Kayla Carpenter, Lanee Hams, Lillie Thorvilson, Jerzey Perkerewicz
Thief River Falls – Braylee Wienen, Karena Brekken
Warroad – Natalie Homme
Conference MVP: Tatem Votava (EGF)
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The Northwest Conference Boys Basketball award-winners have been announced. They are below.
Conference Team Champion: East Grand Forks
ALL-CONFERENCE-
Crookston – Reggie Winjum, Carter Fee
East Grand Forks – Chase Lindgren, Brody Knutson, Jezerel Jones
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz, Aiden Evitts
Thief River Falls – Bridger Wilcox, Wyatt Nelson
Warroad – Doot Boucha, Brady Fast
Offensive Player of the Year: Jordan Borowicz
Defensive Player of the Year: Jezerel Jones
MVP: Carson McDonald
Coach of the Year: Michael Mahar
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The North Star Boys Basketball conference held its end-of-the-season banquet on Sunday and handed out the following awards –
Team champions – Stephen-Argyle
All-Conference –
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Ethan Ellerbusch, Kyden Kotrba
Stephen-Argyle – Caden Pagnac, Shay Setterholm, Raydon Woinarowicz
Red Lake County – Connor Duden, Will Gieseke
Northern Freeze – Avynn Ryba, Alex Bray
Clearbrook-Gonvick – Grant Engen
Sacred Heart – Isaac Sundby, Caleb Ihry
Kittson County Central – Brody Scalese, Kellen Johnson
Honorable Mention –
Kittson County Central – Eli Peterson
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River – Adrian Nelson
Coach of the Year – Reece Setterholm (Stephen-Argyle)
North Star Most Outstanding player – Connor Duden (Red Lake County)
Jay Sorenson Memorial Award – Will Gieseke (Red Lake County)
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The Heart O’ Lakes Girls Basketball Conference has announced the award winners for the 2025-26 season.
ALL CONFERENCE –
Breckenridge – Parker Yaggie, Johnica Bernotas, Emily Gowin
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – Aria Garrett, Alyvia Couchman, Ellie Boyd
Frazee – Jayden Sonnenberg, Brynn Larson, Katie Courneya
Hawley – Emily Vettern, Addison Sanvik
Pelican Rapids – Morgan Korf, Kamryn Kirkwood, Ari Hovland
Perham – Kaia Anderson, Regan Hemberger, Sophie Nelson, Lauren Gjerde
HONORABLE MENTION –
Breckenridge – Ava Jaehning, Sienna Fobb, Mariah Koltes
Barnesville – Aubryn Hinsz
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – Greta DeVries
Frazee – Leslie Moore
McKenna Walker – Hawley
Park Rapids – Vivian Shpersky
Pelican Rapids – Megan Guler
Perham – Addy Draeger, Ashtyn Kunza
Staples-Motley – Chloe Larson
Team Champion – Frazee (13-3)
Most Valuable Player – Jayden Sonnenberg (Frazee)
Coach of the Year – Trey Heinsius (Frazee)
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Teams from northwest Minnesota had a lot of success in the Minnesota Hockey Youth State Tournaments.
BANTAM AA –
Moorhead beat Rosemount in the championship 6-1. In the games leading up to the championship they beat Eden Prairie 5-2 and Minnetonka 4-1.
BANTAM A –
Warroad beat Roseau in the championship 4-0 (insert Roseau moved to AA in high school hockey because they couldn’t bear Warroad joke here)
Roseau beat Edina 6-0 and Proctor 1-0
Warroad beat Armstrong Cooper 7-1 and Rock Ridge 4-1.
PEEWEE AA –
East Grand Forks finished fourth place. They beat Andover 6-0, lost to Minnetonka 8-3, and lost to Woodbury 5-4 in OT in the third place game.
PEEWEE A –
Thief River Falls finished second place. They beat Rock Ridge 6-5, beat Hastings 5-2, and lost to Cloquet 5-1 in the championship.
Warroad lost to Cloquet 6-1, and lost to Austin 1-0.
12U GIRLS –
Warroad beat Anoka/Rogers 1-0, lost to Osseo/Maple Grove 3-1, and lost to Centennial/SLP 3-2 to finish fourth place.
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JOKES
A man walking along a California beach was deep in prayer. Suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.”
The man said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over anytime I want.”The Lord said, “Your request is very materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that would honor and glorify me.”
The man thought about it for a long time. Finally he said, “Lord, I wish that I could understand my wife. I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says ‘nothing’s wrong,’ and how I can make a woman truly happy.”
The Lord replied, “You want two lanes or four on that bridge?”
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A lady walks into the drug store and asks the druggist for some arsenic.
The druggist asks, “Ma’am, what do you want with arsenic?”
The lady says, “To kill my husband.”
“I can’t sell you any for that reason,” says the druggist.
The lady then reaches into her purse and pulls out a photo of a man and a woman in a compromising position, the man is her husband and the lady is the druggist’s wife, and shows it to the druggist.
He looks at the photo and says, “Oh I didn’t know you had a prescription!”
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One of the airlines recently introduced a special half-fare rate for wives accompanying their husbands on business trips.
Anticipating some valuable testimonials, the publicity department of the airline sent out letters to all the wives of businessmen who used the special rates, asking how they enjoyed their trip.
Responses are still pouring in asking, “What trip?”
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Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. .
He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?”. .
The operator says “Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” .
There is a silence, then a shot is heard. .
Back on the phone, the guy says “OK, now what?”
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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 playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Parker Kelly is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
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.
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.
Colton Weiland is an assistant Pirate Wrestling Coach
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball 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
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..
