SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
A big Congratulations to Fosston Greyhound Baseball Coach Ryan Hanlon on being named the Class A Baseball coach of the year. Ryan is not only an awesome coach, but he is an even better person. He genuinely cares about his players and the program. The amount of time and effort he puts into the Fosston Baseball program and field is unbelievable.
Congrats to Coach Hanson on the well-deserved award.
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Congratulations to the Roseau Rams Boys Golf Coaches on being named the Class AA head coach and assistant coach of the year. Mike Lundbohm was named the head coach of the year, and Paul Grafstrom was named the assistant coach of the year and received their awards this past weekend.
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How about that Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team winning the Section 8A Championship by dominating the tournament with three 5-2 victories, including the beating of #7 ranked Thief River Falls, and #5 ranked Staples-Motley.
Crookston came into the season knowing they wouldn’t have the services of their top player, Halle Winjum. Halle tore her ACL this summer and will miss the tennis and basketball seasons. So Crookston comes into the season, knowing they have great depth and were going to need to get deeper quickly.
Crookston plays a very competitive schedule with the likes of outstanding teams like Thief River Falls, East Grand Forks, Osakis, Alexandria, Staples-Motley, and many others. They usually play in the Litchfield tournament that has four or five ranked teams every year, the Alexandria Quad is always competitive, and they also play Moorhead, Roseau, Park Rapids, Pequot Lakes, Mound Westonka to name a few. Crookston IS one of the top Public School programs in the state, along with Staples-Motley, Thief River Falls, Pequot Lakes, and others EVERY year.
You have a lot of girls who have mothers who played in state team and individual tennis tournaments for the Pirates. Most of the Pirates will be playing hockey and basketball this winter and will be in track, softball, golf, etc in the spring. They are multi-sport athletes, and that is why you see Crookston make big improvements every tennis season. They don’t play tennis year-round. They will play once and a while, but they play other sports, and that is what makes them so good.
A few things that weren’t fun about the Section Tennis tournament.
- Playing seven matches in one day. I called it a debacle, and that is exactly what it was. The tournament manager, WDC Activities Director Norm Gallant, rested my case when he said it wasn’t good for the kids, which tells me they didn’t do what is best for the kids, which is what the MSHSL prides itself on.
The Crookston vs Thief River Falls semi-final match didn’t get over until around 10 p.m. So Crookston players get to their homes around 11:45 to midnight. They have to turn around and play in Fargo at 9:00 a.m. That means Crookston had to leave around 6:30 a.m. for Fargo. So, a maximum of 5 to 6 hours of sleep after playing two hard-fought matches and getting ready for the biggest match of the year. If it were Thief River Falls, they would have had 90 minutes less sleep. No matter who it is, it isn’t fair to the girls to have that turnaround. - The problem started with the schedule of the play-in match to start the day. That should have been played on Tuesday or Wednesday at the top seed or neutral site. Tennis has no time limit, and giving only 90 minutes per match for seven matches will never have matches starting at the scheduled starting time, which I predicted live on the Noon News, from which we have a recording. I said Crookston would be lucky to start the semi-final match at 8 p.m., and that is about when they started. I was told the coaches came up with the schedule and are the experts. Well, the “experts” either didn’t care that the play-in winner could possibly play three matches in the day, or the second semi-final would get done around 10 p.m.
Thankfully Crookston doesn’t need much sleep and cruised to the victory, but no team should ever have that turnaround. A mistake was made, and how you learn from a mistake is what makes you successful. Hopefully the “experts” and the MSHSL region committee learn before next year’s tournament.
Section 8A tennis has some of the best programs in the state, with Crookston, Staples-Motley, and Thief River Falls. They also have other top-notch programs with EGF, Perham, and Wadena-Deer Creek. Roseau and Park Rapids are always solid programs, and the section is ALWAYS going to have competitive matches.
Let’s do what is best for the kids.
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The Class A State Girls Tennis Team tournament seeds and bracket has been released. Rochester Lourdes received the top seed, Blake School the second. Crookston received the fifth seed. The seeds and schedule are below.
SEEDS –
1. Rochester Lourdes
2. Blake
3. Pine City
4. St. James
5. Crookston
Random seeds Luverne, Providence Academy, and New London-Spicer.
SCHEDULE
First round – Tuesday, October 24 at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis
8:00 AM – #1 Rochester Lourdes vs Luverne
10:00 AM – #4 St. James vs #5 Crookston
NOON – #2 Blake vs Providence Academy
2:00 PM – #3 Pine City vs New London-Spicer
CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS – Tuesday, October 24
4:00 PM – Lourdes/Luverne loser vs St. James/Crookston loser
6:00 PM – Blake/Providence loser vs Pine City/NLS loser
SEMI-FINALS – Wednesday, October 25
8:00 AM – Lourdes/Luverne winner vs St. James/Crookston winner
10:00 AM – Blake/Providence winner vs Pine City/NLS winner
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP – Wednesday, October 25 at NOON
THIRD PLACE – Wednesday, October 25 at 2:00 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP – Wednesday, October 25 at 4:00 PM
INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT INFO-
Section 8A will have six individuals competing in the State Class A Individual Girls Tennis tournament on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27.
SINGLES-
Avery Skaar of Thief River Falls received the #5 seed and will play Livia Tennessen of Cannon Falls in the first round.
Braylee Wienen of Thief River Falls was unseeded and plays #2 seed Annika Harberts Ott of Providence Academy in the first round.
DOUBLES-
Lauren Rutten/Ronnie Noska of Staples-Motley were the #4 seed and play Hannah Oie/Kayla Jahn of Lac Qui Parle Valley in the first round.
Emma Gunderson/Isabelle Smith of Crookston were unseeded and play #3 seed Elyse Palen/Caroline Daly of Rochester Lourdes in the first round.
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The Section 6 9-Man Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
The defending champion Fertile-Beltrami is the top seed after beating Clearbrook-Gonvick on Wednesday night. The seeds and schedule are below.
1.Fertile-Beltrami
2. Clearbrook-Gonvick
3. Park Christian
4. Blackduck
5. Fosston
6. Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
7. Cass Lake-Bena
8. Laporte
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#8 Laporte at #1 Fertile-Beltrami
#5 Fosston at #4 Blackduck
#6 NCE/UH at #3 Park Christian
#7 Cass Lake-Bena at #2 Clearbrook-Gonvick
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 4:30 PM
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The Section 8 9-Man Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
Goodridge-Grygla will be the top seed. The seeds and schedule are below.
1. Goodridge-Grygla
2. Stephen-Argyle
3. Kittson County Central
4. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
5. Win-E-Mac
6. Northern Freeze
7. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
8. Lake of the Woods
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#8 Lake of the Woods at #1 Goodridge-Grygla
#5 Win-E-Mac at #4 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
#6 Northern Freeze at #3 Kittson County Central
#7 BGMR at #2 Stephen-Argyle
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 2:00 PM
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The Section 8A Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
The seeds went as expected with Mahnomen-Waubun getting the top seed. The seeds and schedule are below.
1. Mahnomen-Waubun
2. Ada-Borup-West
3. Red Lake County
4. Polk County West
5. Bagley
6. Red Lake
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#1 Mahnomen-Waubun and #2 Ada-Borup-West have byes
#6 Red Lake at #3 Red Lake County
#5 Bagley at #4 Polk County West
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
Bagley/Polk County West winner at Mahnomen-Waubun 2:00 PM
Red Lake/Red Lake County winner at Ada-Borup-West TBD
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 7:00 PM
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The Section 8AA Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
The seeds went as expected with Barnesville getting the top seed. The seeds and schedule are below.
1. Barnesville
2. Pelican Rapids
3. Park Rapids
4. Frazee
5. Warroad
6. Hawley
7. Roseau
8. Crookston
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24) at 6:00 PM
#8 Crookston at #1 Barnesville – ON KROX Radio
#5 Warroad at #4 Frazee
#6 Hawley at #3 Park Rapids
#7 Roseau at #2 Pelican Rapids
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed at 2:00 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP (Friday, November 3) at Fargodome 5:30 PM
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The Section 8AAA Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
The seeds went as expected with Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton getting the top seed. The seeds and schedule are below.
1. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
2. Perham
3. Morris Area
4. East Grand Forks
5. Thief River Falls
6. Fergus Falls
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24) at 6:00 PM
#1 DGF and #2 Perham have byes
#5 Thief River Falls at #4 East Grand Forks
#6 Fergus Falls at #3 Morris Area
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed at 2:00 PM
TRF/EGF winner at #1 DGF
Fergus Falls/Morris winner at #2 Perham
CHAMPIONSHIP (Friday, November 3) at Fargodome 8:00 PM
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The Section 8A Volleyball tournament seeds have been announced with Ada-Borup-West and Kittson County Central receiving the top seeds in their sub-section. All the seeds and bracket are below.
WEST SUB-SECTION SEEDS-
1. Kittson County Central
2. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
3. Lake of the Woods
4. Stephen-Argyle
5. Sacred Heart
6. Northern Freeze
7. Climax-Fisher
8. Goodridge/Grygla
9. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
10. Red Lake Falls
EAST SUB=SECTION SEEDS
1. Ada-Borup-West
2. Fosston
3. Blackduck
4. Fertile-Beltrami
5. Clearbrook-Gonvick
6. Bagley
7. Northome/Kelliher
8. Win-E-Mac
9. Mahnomen/Waubun
10. Red Lake County Central
11. Red Lake
PLAY-IN MATCHES (Monday, October 23) at high seed 7:00PM
WEST-
#10 Red Lake Falls at #7 Climax-Fisher (Fisher) 7:00 PM ON KROX RADIO
#9 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo at #8 Goodridge/Grygla 7:00 PM
EAST-
#11 Red Lake at #6 Bagley
#10 Red Lake County Central at #7 Northome/Kelliher
#9 Mahnomen/Waubun at #8 Win-E-Mac
FIRST ROUND – Thursday, October 26 at 7:00 PM (at high seeds)
QUARTERFINALS- Friday, October 27 at 7:00 PM (at high seeds)
SEMIFINALS – Tuesday, October 31 at Crookston High School (6:00 PM and 30 minutes after the first match is over)
CHAMPIONSHIP – Friday, November 3 at University of Minnesota Crookston 7:00 PM
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It has been a rough fall for UMC fall sports.
UMC Women’s Soccer is on its way to having its worst year in program history. They have been outscored 45-0. All but one game has been against conference opponents. The only game not against a conference team was Upper Iowa, who left the conference this year.
To make it worse, UMC has been out-shot (shots on goal) by an astounding 160 to 34. To make matters worse, the easiest part of the schedule is over, and in their final five games, they play the first, second, fourth, fifth, and seventh-place teams in the 15-team conference. It only gets harder for UMC.
The UMC Volleyball team is also having one of its worst seasons in program history. They are tied for last place in the NSIC with a 1-9 record. They are tied with Mary and Minot State, who are 1-10. They have been outscored 26-6 in the 10 conference matches this season. Half of the six wins came in a 3-2 victory over win over Mary, and two of the remaining three came in a 3-2 loss to Minot State. UMC has been beaten 3-0 in seven of their 10 NSIC matches.
UMC hasn’t played the top three teams in the conference with Wayne State, Concordia-St. Paul, or Southwest Minnesota State. The good news, the final two matches will be against fellow cellar dwellers, with matches on the road against Minot State and Mary.
This only solidifies my call for UMC to drop to D-3. The football team was cut because it couldn’t be competitive in the NSIC. Well, Volleyball and Soccer haven’t been competitive many years. Do you cut those two programs as well?
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One of the biggest things in college sports right now is Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeye Women’s Basketball team. The Hawkeyes had an intrasquad scrimmage at the Hawkeye Football Stadium and drew a total of 55,646.
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The Minnesota Wild today announced it will host the 7th Annual Girls Hockey Weekend, presented by Red Baron® pizza and in conjunction with Minnesota Hockey at Xcel Energy Center on Dec. 2-3. Clinics will be conducted by Minnesota Hockey certified coaches for 6U, 8U, 10U, and 12U girls.
The Wild will dedicate several elements of its game to celebrating girls’ and women’s hockey when it hosts the Chicago Blackhawks at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3. Girls’ and women’s hockey players will participate in various in-game and intermission activities including the “Let’s Play Hockey!” call. Proceeds from the “Split the Pot Raffle” on Dec. 3 will benefit the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota (WHAM).
The Wild will host dryland training sessions and on-ice clinics for 8U, 10U and 12 U girls’ hockey players on Dec. 2 at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota Hockey personnel and WCHA players will help lead the clinics.
Registration for the girls’ hockey clinics will open at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at https://wild.formstack.com/forms/2023_girls_hockey_weekend. In addition to the on-ice and dryland training sessions, the registration fee of $89 includes a Wild-branded jersey, a post-clinic pizza party with Red Baron® pizza and a ticket to a Wild game on either Sunday, Dec. 3 vs the Blackhawks at 1 p.m. or Saturday, Dec. 16 vs the Canucks at 1 p.m. Participants in the girls’ hockey clinics will also receive an exclusive ticket offer for additional ticket purchases for the game on Dec. 3 or Dec. 16. Tickets are limited and subject to availability. You are not guaranteed tickets to the December 3rd game. Tickets are first come, first served.
The 6U and 8U on-ice clinics will be held on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 10:00 a.m. and 11:15 p.m. (60 girls in each session). These will be followed by the 10U and 12U on- and off-ice sessions. The 10U girls (50 girls) will be on the ice from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. followed by a dryland training session from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. The 12U girls (50 girls) will have a dryland training session from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. followed by an on-ice session from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.
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JOKES
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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 sophomore playing golf at Dakota 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.
Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Norway.
Kate MacGregor is senior swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.
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.
