SPORTS FEEVER – November 7, 2019

We are almost two weeks into the Girls Hockey season and Girls Basketball and Boys Hockey will start on Monday, November 11.  Boys Basketball and Wrestling will start on the 18th.  We still have football, volleyball, and swimming going.  UMC has football, volleyball, soccer and men’s and women’s basketball all playing this weekend.  It is that time of year, but this week has been a welcome sports broadcast free week with our first game broadcast on Friday night when Warren-Alvarado-Oslo plays Win-E-Mac in the first round of the state 9-man Football playoffs.

It is good to get recharged……..We definitely needed it.

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I said last week that I would ask U of M President Gabel about UMC Athletic facilities.  Instead, our news Director Rob Silvers had a session with the President and other media and he asked about facilities.  Here is a portion of the story where it talks about facilities –

Since 2018, UMC has received funding from the system to update the bleachers and sound system in Lysaker Gymnasium totaling about $500,000.  They also received a one-time allotment of $350,000 to start the Trap Shooting Team, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, and Men’s Hockey.  Additionally, Gabel told the faculty, staff, and students that there are additional requests underway for flooring the gymnasium, and requests for the baseball field in addition to the recent press box for bleachers and irrigation.  As for a major investment to bring the facilities up to the standard one would expect from the University of Minnesota, Gabel said he has yet to see all of the facilities on her trip but that continual investment is a need for quality and to attract students, keep them safe, and have a positive fan experience. “I haven’t seen all the facilities,” said Gabel.  “I know over the course of time we’ve made some pretty significant investments into the facilities, close to three-quarters of a million dollars in the last couple years, that doesn’t mean we’re done.  But I wouldn’t want anyone to think that we’re ignoring the fact that all facilities require continual investment in order to maintain their quality, and be suitable for the ability to attract, keep students safe, have a good fan experience, etc.  There are facilities across the Crookston campus that are a part of our request to the legislature this year academic and otherwise.  All of our campuses have different requests like that going at the same time and we take all of them very seriously. We rely very much on our community partners and the Chancellor [Mary Holz-Clause] who have that day in, day out, touch with those facilities to make sure we’re paying attention to the right things.”

 

That is kind of what we expected.  President Gable is new and hasn’t had time to tour the University and hopefully she will while she is in town.  I am reading between the lines and it sounds like she is saying it is up to the Chancellor.  The $350,000 to start cross country, hockey, trap shooting has nothing to do with athletics.  The sports are being added for one reason and ONE reason only.   To boost enrollment.  So I don’t count the money going to athletics because it is to help (save) the on-campus enrollment from dropping again.
The money put into the bleacher project came from the University because the possibility of lawsuits after several senior citizens/older fans have fallen down the bleachers or almost fell down the stairs due to a lack of handles up and down the stairs.

I am hopeful the new President is realizing how important athletics is to a University with the Gopher football team doing what they are doing and giving PJ Fleck almost $5 million dollars a year (the athletic budget is pretty much a separate entity from the U of M budget).  Let’s hope for good things to come!!!   I’m not holding my breath, but slightly optimistic.

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Congratulations to all the Section Champions that were crowned this past week!  There were some pretty neat stories with Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony football, only winning one game last year and now they are in the state tournament this year.
Another story is Fosston making their first trip to state since 2004.  Another interesting story is Ada-Borup/West football getting moved out of Section 6A to 8A the day of their first game of the season.  Ada-Borup/West won the Section 8A Championship and will now play the Section 6A champion, Underwood on Saturday.

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The Section football championships were held last week and there were some great games played.

9-MAN State tournament–
The Section 8 9-Man champions are the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies with a 14-12 victory over North Central (Keliher/Northome/Littlefork).
The Section 6 9-Man champs are the Win-E-Mac Patriots with a 30-18 victory over Fertile-Beltrami.
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo will play Win-E-Mac at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night at Moorhead High School. You can hear the game on KROX Radio.  It is tough for anybody to not root for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo after they won one game last year and now this year they are 8-3 on the year and are in the state tournament.
The first time the teams met, Win-E-Mac beat Warren-A-O 28-6 (it was during the Ponies 3 game losing streak) and in that game Win-E-Mac held Brandon Miller to 36 yards on 15 carries.  The Ponies were a little banged up in that game and I am expecting a closer game on Friday.  If Miller only has 36 yards on Friday it will be tough for the Ponies to win.  He will be the key on the offensive end (Yeah, I know I am a great football mind with that prediction).

The first rounds 9-man games are –
Game 1 – South Ridge vs Mountain Iron-Buhl at Duluth.
Game 2 – Renville County West vs Hancock at Buffalo High School
Game 3 – Win-E-Mac vs Warren-Alvarado-Oslo at Moorhead High School
Game 4 – Grand Meadow vs Mountain Lake Area at Austin

Semifinals – at U.S. Bank Stadium
November 14 (11:30 a.m.) – Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
November 15 (9:00 a.m.) – Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner

CHAMPIONSHIP – November 30 at 10:00 AM – U.S. Bank Stadium

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The Section 8A Champions are the Ada-Borup/West Cougars with a 28-0 victory over the Polk County West Thunder.

The first-round Class A games are –
Game 1 – BOLD vs Deer River at Brainerd High School
Game 2 – G-F-W vs Browerville-Eagle Valley at St. Cloud State
Game 3 – Underwood vs Ada-Borup/West at Moorhead High School
Game 4 – Blooming Prairie vs Springfield at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School

SEMI-FINALS at U.S. Bank Stadium (November 16)
9:00 AM – Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
11:30 AM – Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner

CHAMPIONSHIP – at U.S. Bank Stadium (November 29) 10:00 AM

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The Section 8AA champs are the Barnesville Trojans with a 65-14 victory over Frazee.

The first Class A games are –
Game 1 – Paynesville vs Moose Lake/Willow River at North Branch High School
Game 2 – Blue Earth Area vs Minneapolis North at Kasson-Mantorville High School
Game 3 – Osakis vs Barnesville at Moorhead High School
Game 4 – Caledonia vs Pipestone at Rochester Mayo High School

SEMI-FINALS at U.S. Bank Stadium
November 14 – 2:00 PM – Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
November 15 – 11:30 AM – Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner

CHAMPIONSHIP – at U.S. Bank Stadium (November 29) 1:00 PM

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The Section 8AAA champs are the Perham Yellowjackets with an unbelievable finish and 21-20 victory over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

The first round Class AAA games are –
Game 1 – Annandale vs Esko at Brainerd High School
Game 2 – Dassel-Cokato vs Cannon Falls at Burnsville High School
Game 3 – Pierz vs Perham at Alexandria High School
Game 4 – Waseca vs Jackson County Central at Lakeville South High School

SEMI-FINALS at U.S. Bank Stadium (November 16)
2:00 PM – Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
4:30 PM – Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner

CHAMPIONSHIP – at U.S. Bank Stadium (November 30) 1:00 PM

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The Section 8A Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held this weekend on Friday and Saturday in Grand Rapids.

The Schedule is below –

November 8 Swimming and Diving Prelims
Swim Warm-ups: 4:00-4:30 pm -Grand Rapids, Park Rapids, Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes, Crookston
Swim Warm-ups: 4:30-5:00 pm -Bemidji, Fergus Falls, Perham, Fosston, The North,
General Warm-ups: 5:00-5:20 pm -Lanes 1-2-7-8 General and Lanes 3-4-5-6 One-way starts
Swimming Preliminaries: 5:30 pm
*Diving Warm-ups will take place at the conclusion of the swim meet for 1 hour

November 9th, 2019 Swimming/Diving Finals
Diving Warm-ups: 8 am-10:45 am All Teams Both Boards
Diving Preliminaries: 11 am
Swim Warm-ups (For Finalists only): 1:30-220 Lap Swim only and 2:20 pm-2:45 One- way starts
Swimming and Diving Finals: 3:00 pm

 

We have the Section 8A Swimming and Diving program and it will take a huge effort for any of the Crookston swimmers to make it to state this year and will take some bigtime swims to make the finals.  I looked through the meet program and have how Crookston swimmers are seeded going into the meet.

Top 8 make the finals and 9-16 make the consolation.  Only the top 8 on Friday have a chance to go to state.

200 Medley Relay – Crookston (Mackenzie Aamoth, Madison Hoiland, Claire Oman and Fallon Johnson) are seeded 10th out of 10
200 Freestyle – Fallon Johnson is 24th out of 31
200 IM – Claire Oman is 24th out of 34
50 Freestyle – Madison Hoiland is 10th out of 34
100 Butterfly – Mackenzie Aamoth is 23rd out of 28
100 Freestyle – Claire Oman is 29th out of 33
500 Freestyle – Fallon Johnson is 25th out of 32
200 Freestyle Relay – Nobody
100 Backstroke – Mackenzie Aamoth is 24th out of 34
100 Breaststroke – Madison Hoiland is 8th out of 31
400 Freestyle Relay – Crookston (Fallon Johnson, Mackenzie Aamoth, Claire Oman, Madison Hoiland) is 9th out of 10 teams.

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The Minnesota State High School League Girls Volleyball State Tournament is scheduled for November 7-9 at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. Here is a look at the tournament:

 

FAST FACTS

The schedule:

All quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, Nov. 7. Class AAA matches are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and Class A will follow at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Class AA teams will compete at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Detailed quarterfinal match-ups can be viewed below. Championship and consolation semifinals in all classes are on Friday, Nov. 8 with the consolation final, third-place and championship matches scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9.

Tickets: Single session: $16 for adults and $10 for students. Daily passes: $26 for adults and $17 for students.

Gates open: 8 a.m. each day.

 

THE QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS

Class A

No. 1 Seed Minneota (30-3) vs. Greenway, Coleraine (26-4), 1 p.m. – The defending champions from Minneota return for their third consecutive appearance and 13th overall. The Vikings are in the hunt for their third title. In addition to last year, they also won in 2006. Greenway returns for the first time since 2001. This is the fifth appearance for the Raiders, who won one previous championship in 1985.

No. 4 Seed Mounds Park Academy, St. Paul (25-4) vs. No. 5 Seed Fosston (28-6), 1 p.m. – Mounds Park Academy is making its debut appearance. The Greyhounds of Fosston are making their 12th appearance, but first since 2004. If they win, it would be their fourth title. They won previously in 2001, 2002, and 2004.

No. 2 Seed Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (32-2) vs. Henning (23-5-2), 3 p.m. – Waterville-Elysian- Morristown is making its second appearance, but first since 2015. The Buccaneers also won their only championship in 2015. The Henning Hornets are making their first tournament appearance.

No. 3 Seed Medford (24-8) vs. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (23-8), 3 p.m. – The Medford Tigers are making their second consecutive and overall appearance. They went home with the runner-up hardware last year. The Jaguars of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa return for their second consecutive appearance and sixth overall. They placed fourth in 2018.

 

Class AA

No. 1 Seed Stewartville (27-4) vs. Annandale (27-3), 5 p.m. – The Tigers of Stewartville return for their 24th appearance, but first since 2015. They won previous championships in 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2014. The Annandale Cardinals are making their first tournament appearance.

No. 4 Seed Watertown-Mayer (24-6) vs. No. 5 Seed Concordia Academy-Roseville (25-6), 5 p.m. –The Watertown-Mayer Royals are returning for their third consecutive appearance and fourth overall. They bowed out in the consolation semifinals last year. The Beacons of Concordia-Academy-Roseville return for their second consecutive appearance and 15th overall. They placed fourth in 2018 and won previous championships in 1984 and 1987.

No. 2 Seed Marshall (28-6) vs. Belle Plaine (22-9), 7 p.m. – The Tigers of Marshall return for their third consecutive appearance and 29th overall.  They placed second last year and won previous titles in 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Belle Plaine is making its second consecutive and 11th overall appearance. The Tigers earned consolation honors last year and won their only title in 2015.

No. 3 Seed North Branch (27-4) vs. Pequot Lakes (27-5), 7 p.m. – The defending champions from North Branch return in search of more gold. The Vikings are making their third consecutive and sixth overall appearance. Pequot Lakes returns to the tournament for the first time since 1994. This is the second overall appearance for the Patriots.

 

Class AAA

No. 1 Seed Eagan (28-0) vs. St. Louis Park (24-6), 9 a.m. – Eagan is making its seventh consecutive and 16th overall appearance. The Wildcats placed second last year and are in the hunt for their eighth championship. They won previously in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2015, and 2016. The Orioles of St. Louis Park are making their first tournament appearance.

No. 4 Seed Minnetonka (25-6) vs. No. 5 Seed Moorhead (19-11), 9 a.m. – The Minnetonka Skippers return for second appearance, but first since 1976. They also won their only title that year. The Moorhead Spuds return for their fifth consecutive appearance and 25th overall. They placed sixth last year and won one previous title in 1988.

No. 2 Seed Wayzata (28-3) vs. Elk River (16-15), 11 a.m. – The Wayzata Trojans return to tournament play for the first time since 2010. They are making their seventh appearance overall. The Elks of Elk River are making their debut appearance.

No. 3 Seed Lakeville North (23-8) vs. North, North St. Paul (23-5), 11 a.m. – The Panthers of Lakeville North return after a one-year hiatus to make their eighth appearance. They are looking for their fourth title; they won previously in 2010, 2012, and 2017. The North Polars are making their first tournament appearance.

 

2018 STATE TOURNAMENT RECAP

Class A — Top-seeded Minneota won its second championship after defeating unseeded Medford 3-0. The Vikings won their only other title in 2006. Ada-Borup claimed third-place honors after defeating Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 3-0. Mayer Lutheran went home with the consolation hardware after posting a 3-1 victory over Carlton.

Class AA — North Branch earned its first championship after beating Marshall 3-2. North Branch came in as the No. 4 seed and Marshall was the No. 3 seed. Kasson-Mantorville settled for third place after beating Concordia Academy-Roseville 3-0. Belle Plaine rebounded to claim consolation honors. The Tigers defeated the Crusaders of St. Cloud Cathedral 3-0.

Class AAA — No. 2-seeded Champlin Park upset top-seeded Eagan 3-2 in winning its first title. Lakeville South secured third-place honors after defeating Stillwater Area 3-0. The Shakopee Sabers won the consolation title after notching a 3-2 win over Moorhead.

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The Crookston Pirate Girls Hockey team has 31 girls out 8-12 this year.  Eight of the 31 are from out of town with Mayville having 6 girls, Hatton has 1 and Fisher has 1.
The numbers are less than they anticipated, but every year from 7th thought 9th grade you lose a big chunk of kids, especially in girls hockey.

Crookston will have a different look on the schedule this year with Park Rapids pulling the pin on girls hockey so two of the Pirate wins are gone.  The good news, they have added International Falls and they added Worthington in the Thief River Falls tournament to fill the two-game opening.  The rest of the schedule will be pretty much the same with playing on the road/at home the only difference.

The team’s roster is listed below –

Seniors
Kylee Meier
Kaydin Brule
Breck Fugleberg-Mayville
Taylor Garrett-Mayville

Juniors
Mackenze Epema
Catherine Tiedemann
Nora Peterson-Mayville
Grace Koshney-Mayville

Sophomores
Rylee Solheim
Kendall Bergquist
Aleah Bienek
Clara Meyer
Dana Conley-Fisher
Dillynn Wallace
Samantha Sanders
Jocelyn Brekken
Jacey Larson
Mallorie Sundeen
Brianna Kelly
Cassidy Halvorson

Freshmen
Grace Fischer
Jenna Seaver
Kailee Magsam
Kyrie Schehr

8th Grade
Coral Brekken
Natalie Narvaez
Morgan Nelson
Cassie Solheim
Raina Satrom-Mayville
Saylar Garrett-Mayville
Brynley Coleman-Hatton

The first Pirate girl’s hockey game vs East Grand Forks has been postponed to November 21 because the Mayville girls are playing in their region volleyball tournament on Friday and won’t have the necessary practices in before the first game.

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The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team will open up the season this weekend and they will get to see where they stand in their first game when they take on the defending National Champion Northwest Missouri State.  NW Missouri State is ranked #1 in the nation to start the season and has a pretty talented squad coming back this year.  UMC also has a pretty talented squad coming back this year and have one of the top scorers in Division II, Harrison Cleary.   While Cleary can score with the best of them, NW Missouri State has a big-time player with Ryan Hawkins (6’7 220 Jr from Atlantic, Iowa) who averages 34 points per game and 7 rebounds.  They also have Trevor Hudgins (6’0 180 pound sophomore from Manhattan, Kansas) who averages 22 points and a bunch of assists and rebounds per game.  They also have another sophomore guard, Diego Bernard of St. Josephs, Missouri, who averages 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.  They have complete players and that will be tough for UMC to match up with.
UMC is going to have to play great defense and the question for me….who takes Gable Smith‘s spot as a force inside on the defensive side.
The other question for me….can Malcolm Cohen be the guy to give UMC a nice 1-2 combo at guard.  Cohen is a tough matchup with his size and ability to drive or post-up.  He will be a big guy to how the Golden Eagles go this year.

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It sounds like the next Grand Rapids Boys Hockey coach is going to be former Bemidji Lumberjack’s Boys hockey coach Wade Chiodo. They were supposed to make the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

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KROX has received our Gopher Men’s Basketball season tickets.  If you want to take in a game, we have four tickets to every home game, including the very “tough” non-conference.  The games are listed below.  If you are interested, email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com.

Gopher Tickets –
November 21 vs Central Michigan
December 2 vs Clemson
January 15 vs Penn State
February 19 vs Indiana

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I also have the Gopher Women’s Basketball season tickets (4 tix per game) available for anybody that is interested.  Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com.

Gopher Tickets
Nov. 10 vs Vermont
Nov. 14 vs Milwaukee
Nov. 17 vs Arizona State
Nov. 23 vs Montana State
Nov. 26 vs Bryant
Dec. 15 vs UC Davis
Dec. 21 vs Lehigh
Dec. 31 vs Ohio State
Jan. 9 vs Northwestern
Jan. 16 vs Iowa
Jan. 22 vs Wisconsin
Jan. 30 vs Nebraska
Feb. 2 vs Rutgers
Feb. 10 vs Michigan
Feb. 22 vs Indiana
March 1 vs Maryland

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The first NCAA Volleyball Regional Rankings have been released and the NSIC has six of the top ten teams in the central region. Minnesota Duluth is second followed by Concordia-St. Paul in third, Northern State in fourth and St. Cloud State in fifth.  Wayne State is ninth while Winona State is tenth in the first of three rankings.

The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 39-team NCAA Central Region.   The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on December 5-7.  Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.

The championship quarterfinals, semifinals and final match will take place Thursday-Saturday, December 12-14, at the Auraria Event Center in Denver, hosted by Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Rank	School (Conf)	In-Reg	DII Rec
1	Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA)	23-0	24-0
2	Minnesota Duluth (NSIC)	17-2	20-3
3	Concordia-St. Paul (NSIC)	15-3	19-4
4	Northern State (NSIC)	20-3	20-3
5	St. Cloud State (NSIC)	14-4	19-4
6	Washburn (MIAA)	18-2	22-2
7	Central Missouri (MIAA)	14-5	18-7
8	Northwest Missouri State (MIAA)	16-6	18-6
9	Wayne State (NSIC)	15-5	19-5
10	Winona State (NSIC)	11-5	18-5

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The University of Minnesota Crookston is saddened to learn of the passing of Jim LeClair, who was part of the inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class at Minnesota Crookston in 1999.

LeClair was one of the all-time greats at Minnesota Crookston, as a football player and wrestler from 1968-70. He had an instant impact on the University of Minnesota Crookston Technical College football team, helping lead the Trojans to a 6-2 record as a freshman. LeClair helped his squad to a national ranking during the 1968 season. The Trojans went on win the Northern Conference Title in the Minnesota Junior College League. LeClair went on to earn NJCAA All-Region and All-Minnesota accolades.

As a sophomore for the Trojans, LeClair was a captain and aided the team to a second-place finish in conference. For a second-consecutive season, he was named to the Minnesota Crookston Junior College All-Conference Team.

LeClair also excelled on the wrestling mat, where he finished his final year at Minnesota Crookston with a record of 25-2 in the 190-pound division. In addition to being captain of the wrestling team, LeClair finished his final season ranked fourth in the nation, and first in the state. He was also named outstanding wrestler in three tourneys.

The roots LeClair set at Minnesota Crookston helped to lay the foundation for an illustrious career to follow. He went on the University of North Dakota where he was named to the Little All-America team in 1971. He played two years at UND and was named a two-time North Central All-Conference player and selected as the league’s Most Valuable Defensive Lineman in 1971.

LeClair went on to be drafted into the National Football League by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1972 and went on to play 14 seasons of professional football spending 12 years with the Bengals and two years with the New Jersey Generals. LeClair appeared in Super Bowl XVI on Jan. 24, 1982 with the Bengals against the San Francisco 49ers. LeClair started 128 games in his career for the Bengals from 1972-83, notching 10 career interceptions, 10 fumble recoveries, and 3.5 sacks.

LeClair is a member of the Minnesota Crookston Athletic Hall of Fame, National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, UND Athletic Hall of Fame, South St. Paul High School Hall of Fame, and North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
He went on to serve as head coach at Mayville State University for three seasons and also had an insurance business later in life in Mayville, N.D.

The University of Minnesota Crookston Practice Field was named Jim LeClair Practice Field in 2009 in his honor.
LeClair is survived by his wife, Betty, and three children. Funeral services will be held Fri., Nov. 8 in Mayville, N.D.

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The Crookston Wrestling Club is holding a FREE 4-day introduction clinic for all Pre-K through 6th-grade kids that are interested in learning more about wrestling and trying it out. Wrestling is one of the least expensive sports programs and has been proven to help kids gain an advantage in all other sports. Wrestling is not just a physical sport but also a mental sport. It helps develop muscle, stamina, mental toughness, and confidence.

WHEN:  November 18, 20, 25, & 26
SESSION 1: Pre-K – 2nd Grade 6:00-7:00 p.m.  (Coach Chris Dufault)
SESSION 2: 3rd – 6th Grade 7:00-8:00 p.m. (Coach Corey Petersen)
WHERE: Crookston High School Wrestling Room

A brief parent meeting will be held on November 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School commons to provide further information about the 2019-2020 season. Wrestling registration will also be available at that time. For further information about registration, please see the Park and Rec 2019 Fall/Winter FunFinder or contact the Crookston Park and Rec Department.

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JOKES

Three men stand before St. Peter awaiting admission into Heaven. However, St. Peter has been informed that Heaven will only admit 33% of applicants today. The admissions standard: Who died the worst death? So, St. Peter takes each of the three men aside in turn and asks them about how they died.

First man: “I’d been suspecting for a long time that my wife was cheating on me. I decided to come home early from work one afternoon and check to see if I could catch her in the act. When I got back to my apartment, I heard the water running. My wife was in the shower. I looked everywhere for the guy, but couldn’t find anyone or any trace that he had been there. The last place I looked was out on the balcony.
I found the guy hanging from the edge, trying to get back in! So I started jumping up and down on his hands, and he yelled, but he didn’t fall. So I ran inside and got a hammer, and crushed his fingers with it until he fell twenty-five floors screaming in agony. But the fall didn’t kill the jerk. He landed in some bushes! So I dragged the refrigerator from the kitchen (it weighed about a ton), pulled it to the balcony, and hurled it over the edge. It landed right on the guy and killed him. But then I felt so horrible about what I had done, I went back into the bedroom and shot myself.”

St. Peter nodded slowly as the man recounted the story. Then, telling the first man to wait, he took the second aside.

Second man: “I lived on the twenty-seventh floor of this apartment building. I had just purchased this book on morning exercises and was practicing them on my balcony, enjoying the sunshine, when I lost my balance and fell off the edge. Luckily, I only fell about two floors before grabbing another balcony and holding on for dear life. I was trying to pull myself up when this guy came running onto what must have been his balcony and started jumping up and down on my hands. I screamed in pain, but he seemed really irate. When he finally stopped, I tried to pull myself up again, but he came out with a hammer and smashed my fingers to a pulp! I fell, and I thought I was dead, but I landed in some bushes. I couldn’t believe my second stroke of luck, but it didn’t last. The last thing I saw was this enormous refrigerator falling from the building down on top of me and crushing me.”

St. Peter comforted the man, who seemed to have several broken bones. Then he told him to wait, and turned to the third man.

Third man: “Picture this. You’re hiding, naked, in a refrigerator…”

— — —

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy scout, and a pastor were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane.
Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down.
Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute, yelled to the passengers that they had better jump, and bailed out.
Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining.
The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out.
The lawyer then said, “I’m the smartest man in the world, I deserve to live!” He grabbed a parachute and jumped, also.
The pastor looked at the little boy scout and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.”
The little boy scout handed the parachute back to the pastor and said “Not to worry, Preacher. ‘The smartest man in the world’ just jumped out with my backpack.”

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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

Paul Bittner is playing for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Bluejacket.  Paul didn’t score but he had three shots on goal in a 2-1 overtime win over Charlotte last Friday.  He scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-1 victory over Charlotte on Sunday.  He had two shots on goal in a 5-3 victory over Grand Rapids on Wednesday.  The Monsters will host Laval on Friday and Saturday.  They will host Grand Rapids on Tuesday.

Cade Salentine is a redshirt Freshman playing football at the University of North Dakota.  UND was off this past weekend and will travel to Weber State on Saturday, November 9.

Rachel Hefta, a freshman, is playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.  Rachel is playing on the J.V. team.  The varsity team is 10-15 on the year.

Thea Oman, a freshman, is swimming at St. Ben’s.  St. Bens beat Macalaster 158-85 in a dual on Saturday.  Thea was on the first place 200 Medley Relay team with a time of 1:55.73, she was on the first place 200 Freestyle relay team with a time of 1:44.60 and she finished second place in the 100 Freestyle.  St. Bens will host St. Thomas on Friday.

Brady Heppner, is a Senior, playing hockey at St. Johns University in Collegeville.  St. Johns and Eau Claire played to a 1-1 tie on Saturday.  Brady scored the game-tying goal in the second period while getting four shots on goal in the game.  St. Johns will host Bethel on Friday and travel to Bethel on Saturday.

Nick Garmen, is a freshman playing basketball and tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.  The first game of the season will be at Concordia College on November 8.

Aleece Durbin, is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.

Brita Fagerlund, is a Junior on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.

Ben Trostad is a sophomore member of the University of Minnesota Crookston golf team.  The Golden Eagles will be off until the spring.

Isaac Westlake, is a Senior on the Winona State Warrior Men’s Golf team.  Winona State will be off until the spring.

Elise Tangquist, is a Junior golfer for the University of Northwestern in St. Paul.  Northwestern will be off until the spring.

Mason LaPlante, a freshman, is playing soccer at the University of Jamestown.

Crookston School District Coaches –
Brody Davidson is an Assistant Pirate Football 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
Wade Hanson is the 8th grade boys basketball 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 an Assistant Wrestling Coach
Nate Merten is an Assistant Wrestling Coach

Non-Crookston High School coaching –

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