2016-2017
W inter
Sports Frazee ¡ Detroit Lakes Lake Park-Audubon
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
2
Wittner takes over Hornet basketball program By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
New Head Coach Chad Wittner made his debut at the helm of the Hornets’ boys basketball team in early December taking over for Brian Tangen after a 2-23 campaign in 2016. Wittner is a recent Minnesota State University Moorhead graduate who accepted a fifth grade teaching position and brings a coaching family experience to combat tough competition in Section 8AA and the Heart O’ Lakes Conference. Wittner has an extensive background in coaching growing up and playing basketball in Cass Lake where his father and brother coached him, as well as an uncle. “I grew up in a family of coaches so it was one of those things as I was playing from seventh grade on - you’re kind of a coach on the floor,” Wittner said. Wittner played point guard during his time on the court and that experience of floor leadership combined with his surroundings growing up made coaching an easy next step. “Trying to direct traffic and your players, in where you want them to go, as a point guard and now coaching is something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. Being close to home allowed his mother, grandmother and aunt to be in attendance for the Hornets’ home opener. Wittner wants his team to get up the floor and use the transitional game to attack defenses in motion rather than set up in a chess match against the opposition. “One thing I want is playing half the game in transition in a semi-transition where the defense isn’t set,” he said. “Right now, with where we’re at, playing five on five against a set defense is not going to be successful.” Scoring was a hindrance for last year’s Hornets topping the 50-point mark in only six of 25 games, including both victories. “We might give up more points, but hopefully we’re growing offensively,” he said. “I want to improve the offense first before we get focused on the defensive end.” Defensively, the Hornets started off in a man-to-man defense but were able to play some zone and test out both sets against the Sebeka Trojans in game one. “I hope to be able to mix up defenses a little bit; we can’t sit in one defense all game long,” he said. “We’ve got to try and catch the other team by surprise.” Seniors Jon Hoffmann and Dustin Parsons captain this team; Parsons was last season’s most valuable player voted upon by the team and heads up the point for the Hornets this year. “We also have Anthony Santos; through his play and his hustle is a leader,” said Wittner. “Henry, through his effort and hustle on the perimeter leads by example there.” Henry Kellerhuis is a five-foot, nineinch sophomore guard who led all scorers in the opener with 23 points and proved to be a sharpshooter from outside
The FrAzee Boys Basketball Team, photo by Caufield Studios
sinking six three-point baskets. If Frazee can get some quality offensive input from the post, the Hornets have shown the are strong in the backcourt one game into the season. “I’ve kept it simple with our goals; I think results are going to come from our effort and hard work,” Wittner said. “Our goals aren’t the results. They’re the effort and the daily grind that we need to be putting in. The results will come if we’re putting in the work and time.” Frazee opened the season with an 18-point loss at home to Sebeka. The Trojans took advantage of costly turnovers indicative of an early-season game. “I thought we would box out a bit better; we have some big bodies,” said Wittner. “As far as jitters early, I expected those. We’re not really making up our mind what we’re going to do with the ball.” Frazee has lost seven straight going back to 2015-16. The last Frazee victory came over Pelican Rapids February 5 and the Vikings come to Frazee Thursday, Dec. 8 in a doubleheader with the girls teams. Pelican Rapids struggled through a 4-23 season last year and both teams will be gunning for each other to get that first notch in the win column. “We want to be competitive and be able to score on every team we play,” said Wittner. “Really, right now, we’re not going to be able to hold teams to 30-40
points. We have to score if we want to win.” Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton defends the Section 8AA championship this season after knocking off top-seeded Perham in the final. The Yellowjackets and Head Coach Dave Cresap will certainly be in the mix and made a statement opening the season in a rout over Crookston. The Yellowjackets shot 70 percent from behind the arc, connecting on a whopping 19 threes. Jenson Beachy led the way with 31 points. Perham won 11 of 12 HOL games to take sole possession of the conference finishing a game up on D-G-F (10-2) before getting stung by the Rebels at Concordia. Both Perham and D-G-F are coming off 20+ win seasons. Barnesville and Breckenridge both
boys basketball roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
2
Chris Hughes
G
11
10 14 21 22 23 24 30 32 33 34 40 42
Cole Fleisher Dustin Parsons Joby Geifer Christian Weldon Nathaniel Nolan Henry Kellerhuis Vincent Helmers Jonathon Hoffmann Anthony Santos Isaac Courneya Brandon Woody Ryan Roble
G G F F G G F F C C C F
9 12 10 10 11 10 10 12 12 12 10 11
won 19 games overall making it a difficult charge to move up the HOL standings this season. Frazee finished a game up on last place Pelican Rapids and a game back of Hawley.
boyS basketball SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
12/1
7:30 PM
Sebeka (5A)
Frazee H.S.
SITE
12/6
7:30 PM
12/8 12/9 12/15 12/20 12/29
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 4:00 PM
1/3 1/10
8:00 PM 7:15 PM
Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8AA) Pelican Rapids (8AA) Roseau (8AA) Perham (8AA) Menahga (5A) Wadena-Deer Creek (8AA) Barnesville (8AA) Staples Motley (8AA)
1/12 1/20 1/24 1/26
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:00 PM 7:30 PM
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Menahga H.S. Wadena-Deer Creek H.S. Barnesville H.S. Staples-Motley H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Ashby H.S. Frazee H.S.
2/21
Hawley (8AA) Breckenridge (8AA) Ashby H.S. (6A) Lake Park-Audubon (6A) 7:30 PM Dilworth-GlyndonFrazee H.S. Felton H.S. (8AA) 7:30 PM Park Rapids Area Frazee H.S. (8AA) 7:30 PM Pelican Rapids (8AA) Pelican Rapids H.S. 7:30 PM Perham (8AA) Perham H.S. 11:45 AM Bagley (8AA) Frazee H.S. 7:30 PM Hawley (8AA) Hawley H.S. 7:30 PM Barnesville (8AA) Concordia College 6:00 PM Battle Lake (6A) Frazee H.S.
2/24 2/28
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
1/31 2/2 2/3 2/9 2/11 2/17 2/18
Breckenridge (8AA) NCE/UH Titans (6A)
Breckenridge H.S. Norman County East H.S.
Please check www.frazee.k12.mn.us for schedule changes
Education matters.
School Partnership Program
001518780r1
Rita StelzeR, CISR, CIC
If you’re an Internet customer and sign up, Arvig® will donate $1.00 each month to the local school of your choice.
Agent, License #20057738 Phone 218/334-6551 Fax 218/334-5500 e-Mail: ucinS@loRetel.net
Choose a school online at arvig.com/supportyourschool. 001405178r1
122 WeSt Main FRazee, Mn 56544 001354010r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
3
The FrAzee girls Basketball Team, photo by Caufield Studios
Frazee playing without floor leader By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Typically, when a team is missing a key player she is a junior or senior, but the Frazee girls basketball team is one person short this season and that essential player is freshman point guard Paige Oswald. “We definitely miss her,” head coach Dave Conzemius said. Oswald was diagnosed with a stress reaction in her back and may be out the entire season. She has been playing with the injury for a calendar year leading up to the basketball season. Initial reports indicate there is hope she could return by mid-January and even then, not at 100 percent. “If things go well, she could come back and play limited minutes,” Conzemius said. Oswald’s absence is compounded by a short bench this year for the Hornets.
Frazee has started the season 2-4 with three of those losses with a differential of one to three baskets. That bodes well as the team members get more comfortable in their roles. The Hornets are a few made baskets away from being a 5-1 team. Oswald is not the only freshman making an impact. Paige Ziegler has proven an effective weapon moving in and out of the paint and can handle the ball in transition also. “She’s an amazing athlete,” Conzemius said. Frazee also has a trio of seniors in Ana Fleisher, Hailey Ellingson-Wirth and Shania Lehman. With 20 games to go, Frazee can be successful with or without Oswald and have rematches further up the schedule with conference opponents like Pelican Rapids and Perham to turn around early season disappointments. “We’ve been doing a lot of work on defense,” said Conzemius. Frazee had a chance at the buzzer to defeat Pelican Rapids and lost in double overtime at Perham - both games where the roll of the dice on the offensive or defensive end could have tipped the game in Frazee’s favor. The Hornet girls are not far away from being a successful team. Someone needs to take the helm, whether that be a midseason return from Oswald or one of the current players stepping into a bigger role. Frazee has plenty of potential to better last season’s 10-17 mark. The Hornets were bounced in the first round of Section 8AA playoffs by East Grand Forks 50-34 in the only meeting between the two teams.
“ We’ve struggled at times to get into our offense.” Coach, Dave Conzemius Six games into the season, Conzemius is working seven players into games and of those six games, the Hornets have been in the mix in all but one. Frazee is running point guard by committee without Oswald and her absence is showing in crunch time as Frazee’s ball handlers learn how to operate in the clutch. “She’s the general out there,” Conzemius said of Oswald. “You can tell. We’ve struggled at times to get into our offense.”
Frazee duplicates the trip up north Friday, Dec. 16 to battle the Green Wave who have started the season 3-0 with a pair of blowouts before a matchup with the defending section champions Roseau. The 5-0 Rams are the team to beat in Section 8AA. They are averaging 77.2 points per game and winning by nearly 30 points per game early in the season. While a section title is a ways off for Frazee; the Hornets can be in the mix for a home game to start the playoffs. They will have an interesting path to get there when the games start to pick up intensity in the New Year.
girls basketball roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
1
Taylor Wilkowski
G
10
2 10 12 14 20 22 24 30 32 52 54
Audreana Fleisher Paige Oswald Shania Lehman Paige Ziegler Mackenzie Wutzke Hailey Ellingson-Wirth Harley Stroburg Carly Mahoney Natalie Nudell Aina Olson Bailey Aho
G G G F G G G F F F F
12 9 12 9 10 12 11 11 11 11 11
girlS basketball SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
11/29
7:30 PM
Lake Park-Audubon (6A) Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8AA) Crookston (8AA) Park Rapids Area (8AA) Pelican Rapids (8AA) Park Christian (6A)
12/1
7:30 PM
12/3 12/6
2:30 PM 7:30 PM
12/8 12/10
6:00 PM 3:00 PM
12/13 12/16
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
12/20 12/29
7:30 PM 2:30 PM
1/3 1/5 1/10 1/13 1/19 1/23 1/27
6:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM
2/3
6:00 PM
2/7 2/9 2/13
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:15 PM
Pelican Rapids H.S. Perham (8AA) Frazee H.S. Staples Motley (8AA) Frazee H.S. Battle Lake (6A) Frazee H.S.
2/16 2/18 2/21 2/23
7:30 PM 6:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM
Hawley (8AA) Barnesville (8AA) Breckenridge (8AA) Ada-Borup (6A)
Perham (8AA) East Grand Forks (8AA) Menahga (5A) Wadena-Deer Creek (8AA) Barnesville (8AA) NCE/UH Titans (6A) Hawley (8AA) Breckenridge (8AA) Verndale (5A) Henning (6A) Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8AA) Pelican Rapids (8AA)
Lake ParkAudubon Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton H.S. Crookston H.S. Park Rapids Area H.S. Frazee H.S. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton H.S. Perham H.S. East Grand Forks H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Barnesville H.S. Frazee H.S. Hawley H.S. Breckenridge H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S.
Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S.
Please check www.frazee.k12.mn.us for schedule changes
Make Your Hometown Goal the…
PIZZA CORNER
detroit lakes newspapers
001354211r1
FROZEN PIZZA
www.otpco.com ••1-800-257-4044 www.otpco.com 800-257-4044
800-666-9455
001351726r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
4
The FrAzee wrestling Team, photo by Caufield Studios
Hornets historically in running at state No area team has been more consistent at the state level than Frazee wrestling and there is little to negate that from continuing into the 2017 postseason. While the state team title has eluded the Hornets recently, Frazee has been a mainstay at the tournament for the past four years. Frazee entered last season’s state tournament as the three-seed and finished state runners-up after a two-point loss to Kenyon-Wanamingo in the finals. The Hornets knocked off defending champions Minneota in the semifinals. “We weren’t supposed to be in the finals to begin with,” head coach Clay Nagel told Forum’s Chris Murphy after the match at Xcel Energy Center. “We overachieved as far as I’m concerned.” Nagel is top 10 all-time in coaching win percentage, according to the Guillotine record book, along with top 10 rankings in state individual state champions coached (19) and state placewinners (73). Nagel’s record of 353-73-2 ranks 38th all-time in Minnesota. He is the second coach in the top 40 with Hornet ties behind Jeff Lamphere in 20th at 414-225-4. Lamphere started in Frazee before coaching in Wayzata and Minnetonka up to his retirement in 2012. Nagel’s numbers would be more inflated, but he left the Hornet program in 2004 to take the head job at Concordia College, where he was head coach for seven seasons. He coached Perham’s Phil Moenkedick to back-to-back national titles at Concordia and was an assistant for an eighth season before handing the head duties to his son Matt Nagel. Matt’s record in the sport is equally as impressive. His record of 217-18 is second
to only Adam Aho (225-36) in Frazee history. His 1,447.5 career team points is second all-time in Minnesota. He was a fivetime state champion from 1997-2001 and an All-American at the University of Minnesota. Matt left the Cobbers this season as a two-time NCAA Division III West Region Coach of the Year at Concordia in 2014 and 2016. He accepted an assistant position at North Dakota State University, making way for Moenkedick to take over at Concordia. Frazee Elementary Principal Travis Nagel, an outstanding wrestler at Frazee and Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and also one of six assistant coaches for the Hornets, was inducted into the Dragons’ hall of fame this year. The name Nagel is synonymous with Frazee wrestling success and history and it continued even in Clay’s absence when coaching at the collegiate level. In 2014 and 2015, the Hornets were state semifinalists finishing in fourth place; they were state runners-up in 2013. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River kept the Hornets out in 2012 stealing the Section 8A team championship from Frazee’s grip a year after the school’s last state title in 2011 shared in a 28-all championship tie with Jackson County Central. The Hornets were again state runners-up in 2010. The list of team achievements goes on and on and is one of the big reasons Frazee is mentioned near the top of the list each preseason. Plus, the Hornets are coming off a postseason where an impressive 10 wrestlers qualified for the state individual tournament coming home with a state 195-pound champion in Jonah Lange and two runners-up in Tanner Reetz and Grant Jepson. Frazee was the preseason-ranked No. 2 team in Class A behind only the defending champions. Leading the way this year is 2015 state
Live sporting event coverage FOLLOW @DLAKESSPORTS FOR EXTENDED SPORTS coverage!
champion and 2016 runner-up Tanner Reetz. Frazee’s lone nominee for the alltournament team last year begins 2017 as the top-ranked Class A 132-pounder. Seven Hornet wrestlers are stateranked individually: junior Landon Byer ninth at 106-pounds; junior Michael Miller ranked eighth at 113; Tanner Schermerhorn fourth at 120; Reetz wrestling 132 in his senior season at No. 1. Teams wrestling Frazee could face four state-ranked wrestlers in the first five weights. Tanner Eischens continues the recognition given to Frazee’s strong junior
wrestling roster No.
name
grade
26 220
Christianson, Robert Krupuenske, Wesley Nolan, Brendan Barlund, Brock Byer, Landon Miller, Michael Pikula, Jack Drescher, Caleb Newling, Mason Schermerhorn, Tanner Volstad, Lucas Hiemenz, Kaden Reetz, Tanner Beaty, Blaine Shipman, Carter Borah, Coleton Eischens, Tanner Heimenz, Hudson Roforth, Ricky Pikula, Sam Drewes, Gabe Graham, Brett Wake, Charlton Wacker, Logan Drewes, Rory Solem, Howard Norstad, Lars Splonkowski, Alexander Tweeton, Luke Malikowski, Anthony Zick, Cole
9 9 11 8 11 11 9 11 9 11 9 8 12 12 11 9 11 11 10 11 10 9 12 11 12 8 12 12 9 10 12
106 106 106 106 120 120 120 120 126 132 138 138 145 145 145 145 152 160 160 160 170 182 182 195 195 195 285 285
class ranked ninth at 145 and senior Rory Drewes is the sixth-ranked 220-pounder. Frazee flexed their communal muscles early in the season defending their title and winning the Dan Unruh tournament in Wahpeton to open the season. Byer and Miller both reached the 113-pound finals; Tanner Schermerhorn was the 126 champion; Reetz dominated the 138-pound bracket winning the title in a 16-1 tech fall; Eischens and Drewes had runner-up finishes. Hornet fans will have only three opportunities to see the team at home after an early December dual with West Fargo was canceled due to weather. Frazee hosts a six-team jamboree Saturday, Dec. 17; United North Central Jan 10 and Bemidji Jan. 17.
wrestling SCHEDULE Date
Time
12/4
10:30 AM Brainerd H.S. (8AAA)
Opponent
12/9 4:30 PM Brainerd H.S. (8AAA) 12/10 10:30 AM Brainerd H.S. (8AAA) 12/13 5:00 PM Pelican Rapids (6A) 12/17 12/17 12/17 12/17 12/17 1/7 1/13 1/14 1/17 1/24 1/28
0:00 AM Perham (8AA) 11:00 AM Cambridge-Isanti (7AAA) 11:00 AM Minneota (3A) 11:00 AM Perham (8AA) 11:00 AM Pierz (7A) 10:30 AM Perham (8AA) 9:30 AM Bemidji (8AA) 9:30 AM Bemidji (8AA) 7:30 PM Bemidji (8AA) 7:30 PM Barnesville (6A) 10:00 AM Pelican Rapids (6A)
1/31
7:30 PM
2/3 2/3
5:00 PM 8:00 PM
2/9
7:00 PM
SITE Brainerd H.S. Brainerd H.S. Brainerd H.S. Pelican Rapids H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S.
Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Perham H.S. Bemidji H.S. Bemidji H.S. Frazee H.S. Barnesville H.S. Pelican Rapids H.S. West Central Area/ West Central Area Ashby/Brandon-Evans- School ville (6A) Perham (8AA) Perham H.S. St. Michael-Albertville Frazee H.S. H.S. (5AAA) Detroit Lakes (8AA) Detroit Lakes H.S.
Please check www.frazee.k12.mn.us for schedule changes
Get Friendly Hometown Service At
OK LUMBER & HARDWARE ~WE DELIVER~
Your Complete Building Materials Dealer 203 East Main, Frazee • 334-2961
DL 3.458x.1.5.indd 1
Detroit Lakes • 847-9292 800-908-BANK (2265) • Bremer.com Member FDIC
001350114r1
rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
001405432r1
By ROBERT WILLIAMS
4/7/14 11:14 AM
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
5
The FrAzee Fly Girls Dance Team, photo by Stacy Moe
Fly Girls to defend state Jazz championship By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
After competing for a Class A state dance championship in recent years, the Frazee Fly girls broke through last season bringing a winter sports state title back from Minneapolis that was not a wrestling championship. The Fly Girls cemented a run that has been building over the past decade by winning the Jazz championship and were runners-up by the smallest of margins, a half-point in rank to perennial power Aitkin in the High Kick competition. Head Coach Ta Fett alluded to the wealth of former dances and the coaching staff finding success the past few seasons paving the way for last year’s team to grow in the program. That growth paid off in 2015-16. A third of both teams were comprised of seventh and eighth-graders last season bringing back plenty of talent. The team successfully integrated those young dancers with the senior leadership last year and that team unity was essential in finishing the season strong. This year’s team has openings for new leaders as the Fly Girls lost all four dancers
dance SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
12/3
11:00 AM Detroit Lakes Invite
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/8
6:00 PM
12/10 12/16
1/7 1/14 1/21
11:00 AM Albany Invite TBD Wadena-Deer Creek (4A) 6:00 PM Frazee Invitational 6:30 PM Crookston (4A) 6:00 PM Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (4A) 11:00 AM Alexandria Invite 11:00 AM Hawley Invitational 11:00 AM Pelican Rapids Invite
Pelican Rapids H.S. Albany H.S. Frazee H.S.
1/27
6:00 PM
2/4
HOL Conference Tournament 12:00 PM Sections 4A
Frazee H.S. Frazee H.S. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton H.S. Alexandria H.S. Hawley H.S. Pelican Rapids H.S. Hawley H.S.
2/17 2/18
11:00 AM State Tournament 11:00 AM State Tournament
Wadena-Deer Creek H.S. State Tournament State Tournament
12/16 12/16 1/6
Pelican Rapids H.S.
dance roster name
grade
Abby Voss
10
Alexis Bauer Angela Kilde Ashley Johnson Autumn Moe Bailey Tinjum Breanna Sazama Brenna Mahoney Brittany Lormis Calla Belle Nundahl Cassidy Nelson Cassidy Shipman Cecilia George Delaney Matejka Greta Nelson Hannah Conway Isabella Matejka Juliana Diemert Kailei Johnson Kaitlin Wake Kaitlyn Bruns Kiara Dekarske Lori Glander Maddie Matejka Mattison Grant Megan Borah Sabrina Ruiz Sophie Nelson
9 9 9 8 11 12 9 12 8 11 10 9 10 9 9 10 11 8 9 11 12 9 7 9 8 8 7
and have been in the mix with the AllStarz many of those season. After breaking through last year, the Fly Girls proved they have what it takes to make a run again this year in the high hopes of securing the school’s first-ever Kick title and to defend their Jazz championship. Frazee is off to a fast start in 2016. The Fly Girls began this season where they left off sweeping both first place awards at the season-opening Detroit Lakes Invitational. They did so by scoring three rank
points in each category and were awarded top marks in all 10 categories for both teams. They matched that effort at the first Heart O’ Lakes Conference meet in Pelican Rapids and placed first in both Kick and Jazz at the Albany Invitational. There is only one home invitational on the schedule this season Friday, Dec. 16 when Frazee hosts Crookston, Crosby-Ironton, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Hawley, Mahnomen, Pelican Rapids, and Wadena-Deer Creek.
TWEETON REFRIGERATION AND HEATING SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION Residential Heating & Air Conditioning Commercial Refrigeration, Heating & Air Conditioning Specialists 24 HOUR SERVICE FREE ESTIMATES Complete Heating Systems • Repairs and Replacements Hydronic Infloor Heating • Ventilation Boilers • Gas Heat • Fuel Oil Heat • Gas Piping Geo Thermal • Air Conditioning and MORE 001352880r1
Please check www.frazee.k12.mn.us for schedule changes
named to last year’s all-state tournament teams. Justice Gustafson and Sarah Wendt were all-tourney Kick. Jaden Ketter and Faith Conway were named to the Class A Jazz All-Tournament Dance Team. Brittany Lormis, Breanna Sazama, and Kiara Dekarske are the three lone seniors on this year’s team. Frazee has four juniors in Kaitlyn Bruns, Juliana Diemert, Cassidy Nelson and Bailey Tinjun. That youth movement, which is typical in dance, is showcased in 10 freshman, five eighth-graders and a pair of seventhgraders on the varsity roster. The Fly Girls will defend both Section 4A titles this season. Frazee was the Conference Kick champions last year and runners-up in Jazz to Aitkin, two results that switched at state. Frazee has a ways to go to catch up to Aitkin’s eight state championships
detroit lakes newspapers
218-334-2131 • Frazee, MN Heath & Cindy Peterson, Owners
001350145r1
1106 8th Street SE Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 www.tweetoninc.com
218.847.7537 TOLL FREE: 888.847.7537
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
6
The Laker Boys Hockey team, photo by Caufield Studios
Unified Lakers looking to take next step rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
The Detroit Lakes boys hockey team is coming off a 14-11-2 season of mopping up the Mid-State Conference (8-0), winning seven of 10 Section 8A regular season games only to see the season end with the section final one game away. Thief River Falls blanked DL in the section semis, 4-0 on the way to a third place finish at the state tournament. Like any team, graduation took its toll in scoring for the Lakers, who will need to make up for more than 130 points missing on the stat sheet from an offense spearheaded by leading scorer and current Austin Bruins (NAHL) forward Jon Richards. This year’s team will attack the ice wanting to maintain more puck possession in the offensive end as the major priority. “We definitely need to be playing in the other team’s end more,” said Laker head coach Todd Dwyer. “Jon was good for a point or two a night on a rush by himself, where we have to do it more as a team and create more chances together.” This year’s squad has a unified front and are a cohesive group, which has made the opening fortnight of practice a successful prep for the season and home opener on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. versus rivals Fergus Falls. “It’s a real tight group; they like each other and they’re not worried about stats,” Dwyer said. “They support each other’s success and that’s awesome to see,” Dwyer said. “It’s been a real fun start and I’m excited to get going.” Senior Jack DeConcini, one of six players from the co-op with Perham, will wear the captain’s C this year, with junior Ryan Paskey as assistant captain. DeConcini will head up the top
defensive pairing with Adam Gotchie his likely counterpart, along with either Jace Kovash or Cam Gilbertson. “They’re great players and I think they’ll step up to the plate,” said Dwyer. Paskey joins Collin Ginnaty and Ben Unruh on the top skating line for the Lakers and the three are expected to find success in the opponent’s net, according to Dwyer. “They’ve got some speed, they’ve got some smarts and a guy who can really shoot the puck in Ginnaty,” Dwyer said. “Last year, he had a lot of ups and downs, we’re hoping this year he’ll be a little more consistent.” The job in net is between goalies with contrasting styles in Ben Boomgarden and Tristan Wimmer. As of Wednesday of game week, Dwyer had not named a starter. “They both do other things really well,” he said. It may take a few games to see who has the hot hand before a full-time starter is named, or duels in practice and games might set up a working duo between the pipes. The two have a handful of varsity games in experience, with Wimmer seeing time late last season after recovering from an injury during football, and the job in net is likely open until filled for a reason. Austin Fritz, a 2016 graduate, saw nearly all the time in net last year, with a 2.43 goals against average and .910 with three shutouts. New faces in net is thematic for many teams in the section, as seven of the 11 teams in Section 8A have lost their starting goalie to graduation, according to Frank Fee’s KROX radio Section 8 season preview. Warroad suffered a big blow in net. Senior Noah Harren has been battling an injury for over a year and surgery is going to wipe out his final season for the Warriors.
The remainder of the 2017 Laker squad is junior heavy, and those players and incoming sophomores are going to be counted on as much as the core senior group. “The junior class and sophomores played such a large amount of ice time – they have so much experience coming in with more energy,” said Dwyer. “We’re really relying on them; it’s a big class and we don’t have very many seniors. They are our core group.” The main goal remains the same – to take the next step in the postseason. “Our goal is going to state; it always is,” Dwyer said. “We’ve got to get by that semifinal game, that’s a hard game to get past. Section 8 is a hard tournament. We think we can do it; we just have to keep building year after year to get the confidence and get that win.” East Grand Forks garnered seven of 10 first place votes in the KROX Section 8A preseason poll, with Warroad and Thief
Boys Hockey roster
River Falls in second and third place. The Lakers are back where they finished last season in the four spot.
Section 8A Coaches Poll - courtesy KROX Radio, Crookston Poll - (First Place Votes) - Total Points 1. East Grand Forks (7) 88 2. Warroad (1) 80 3. Thief River Falls (2) 75 4. Detroit Lakes 65 5. Crookston 58 6. Northern Lakes 54 7. Park Rapids 45 8. Lake of the Woods 29 T9. Kittson County Central 23 t9. Red Lake Falls 23 11. Bagley-Fosston 10
Boys Hockey SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
12/6
7:15 PM
Northern Lakes Lightning (8A) Park Rapids-MenahgaNevis-Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (8A) St. Paul Johnson (4A)
Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/13 7:30 PM 12/17
3:00 PM
No.
name
Pos.
grade
12/30
2:30 PM
4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 28 28 30 35 38
Jace Engelstad Jeric Giwoyna Will Stowman Jace Kovash Collin Ginnaty Anthony Dahl Ryan Paskey Jack Deconcini Bailey Tulius Ben Unruh Adam Gotchie Trey Seebold Will Green Cam Gilbertson Jackson Carlblom Brady Morris Braedon Davidson Braedon Davidson Tristan Wimmer Ben Boomgaarden Nick Meier
W W C D W D W D C W D W C D W W D D G G C
12 12 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 11 11 10 10 11 10 10 11 11 11 10 12
1/3
7:30 PM
1/7 1/10
3:00 PM 7:30 PM
1/17
5:15 PM
1/20
3:00 PM
1/26
5:15 PM
1/28
3:00 PM
1/31
7:00 PM
2/2
7:00 PM
2/7
7:00 PM
2/14
7:30 PM
2/16
7:15 PM
• BOYS & GIRLS CLUB •
001518387r1
Thrift Store and MORE
605 Hwy 10 East • Detroit Lakes
705 Hwy 10 E Detroit Lakes
a Jeric Giwoyn
Donations accepted Mon-Sat 9am-5:30pm • Sun 12:00pm-4:00pm
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
844-6556 Pick-up HOTLINE
www.boysandgirlsclubofdetroitlakes.org
218-850-9952
001350859r1
Saint Paul Johnson H.S. Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato Fergus Falls (3A) H.S. East Grand Forks (8A) Detroit Lakes H.S. Crookston Pirates (8A) Crookston H.S. Wadena-Deer Creek Detroit Lakes (6A) H.S. Prairie Centre Area (6A) Long Prairie Expo Arena Lake of the Woods H.S. East Grand (8A) Forks H.S. Prairie Centre Area (6A) Detroit Lakes H.S. Kittson County Central Detroit Lakes (8A) H.S. Red Lake Falls (8A) Detroit Lakes H.S. Wadena-Deer Creek Wadena-Deer (6A) Creek H.S. Northern Lakes Lightning Breezy Point (8A) Hockey Arena Park Rapids-Menahga- Park Rapids Nevis-Walker-HackenArea H.S. sack-Akeley (8A) Little Falls (6A) Detroit Lakes H.S.
Hours of Operation: Mon.-Sat.: 6am-9pm Sunday: 7am-9pm
Ph: 218-847-0472
001352545r1
By ROBERT WILLIAMS
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
7 Left: The Laker Girls Basketball team, photo by Caufield Studios
girls basketball roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
1
Emily Larson
G
10
3
Lauryn Manning
G
10
5
Naomi Larson
G
12
11
Courtney Brodsho
G
11
13
Macy Kirchner
G
12
15
Lauren Tschider
G
11
21
Kendra Kvebak
C
12
23
Ellie Lunde
F
10
25
Mikayla Markuson
C
12
31
Brianna Clem
F
10
33
Taylor Block
G
11
35
Matteya Borah
G
10
41
Breanna Price
C
10
43
Abby Schramel
F
12
45
McKinna Greggersen
C
10
girls basketball SCHEDULE Date
Laker girls pick up the pace under Keeler-Johnson By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Vanessa Keeler-Johnson takes over the Laker girls basketball program and leads the Lakers into the season with a new strategy on both ends of the floor Tuesday, Nov. 29 in the home-opener against Little Falls. Keeler-Johnson is a South Dakota native from Hartford. She played Division I basketball at South Dakota State University before transferring to the University of Sioux Falls, a Division II program in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. She coached four years at Minnesota State University Moorhead in the NSIC under head coach Karla Nelson before taking the head coaching job in Detroit Lakes. Keeler-Johnson was a finalist for the Moorhead boys basketball head job. The Spuds made public who was interviewing, which led to the Detroit Lakes administration reaching out to her to lead the girl’s program here after former Laker Tyler Bormann was hired by the Spuds. “I was kind of on the fence about staying in college coaching or going to the high school side of it,” said Keeler-Johnson. One big reason of accepting the commute from Moorhead and a position at the high school level was an intention to build up fundamentals at the high school level. “At the college level, as the years went on, I saw the fundamentals going down - as far as what a flare screen is and all the little things like that were leaving the game,” she said. “I wanted to get into the high school game to hammer in those fundamentals and make basketball fun again.” Providing a fun atmosphere for her players to practice and play in is part of a directive to make the girls’ game in DL more fun to watch for fans also. “I think that girls basketball doesn’t get the fanbase that boys do because it’s not as fun to watch and I get that,” she said. “I like to play at a faster pace and
get the game moving. That’s my goal and that’s why I want to be at the high school level.” The 2017 Lakers have a varied and talented group and should be able to distribute scoring rather than having to rely on one or two players to handle the offensive load, as has been the case in recent seasons. “We have a very talented group that works hard - the energy is there,” she said. “It’s fun group to be around.” This year’s Lakers have nice size on the front line with sophomore Bre Price in the middle, senior Mikayla Markuson at the post and Abby Schramel playing a versatile role down low and shooting from the field. Price was strong in the paint last season in a limited role as a freshman. Schramel scored 182 points and had 110 rebounds. She was third on the team behind Lauren Tschider (39.7) and Halle Jordan (38.0) in three-point shooting percentage at 34.1 percent. Markuson is the leading returning scorer (217 points) with Grace Swenson (426) graduating and playing at MSUM. Part of Keeler-Johnson’s familiarity with the Laker program started last season when she recruited Swenson to the Dragons’ program. The Lakers will have a sisterly duo in the backcourt with senior Naomi Larson running the point and sophomore Emily Larson at the two-spot. Emily led the DL defense with 38 steals and both sisters have speed to aid in getting the ball up the floor and into motion in Keeler-Johnson’s new offense while applying pressure defensively. First off the bench will be Macy Kirchner and Tschider in the backcourt and another six-footer Kendra Kvebak down low. “She has a nose for the ball,” said Keeler-Johnson. “She is one of our senior leaders. She might not say a whole lot, but her work ethic is there.” Kirchner has returned to the program after a couple years away and is expected
to use her athleticism and quick thinking to aid defensively with Tschider’s speed. DL has four captains in seniors Schramel, Markuson, Kvebak and Naomi Larson. The Lakers are the defending MidState champions after winning seven of eight conference games last year and finished the season 18-9 overall. The Lakers have been eliminated in the Section 8AAA semifinals two straight seasons by Jeff Loe’s Thief River Falls Prowlers. Thief River Falls returns most of last year’s team that finished fifth in the state after losing to eventual champions Holy Angels in the semifinals. “We set goals and one of ours is to get to the state tournament and that means getting through Thief River,” KeelerJohnson said. “I think everyone knows it.” The Prowlers swept all three games against the Lakers last year. Wendy Kohler’s Alexandria Cardinals will be on the path of revenge against the Prowlers as well after losing the section final by two points in overtime last season Laker Girls Basketball to page 10 »
Time
Opponent
SITE
11/29
7:30 PM
Little Falls (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/2
7:30 PM
Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8AA)
None Selected
12/9
7:30 PM
Pelican Rapids (8AA) Pelican Rapids H.S.
12/10
2:30 PM
Fergus Falls (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/13
7:30 PM
Thief River Falls (8AAA)
Thief River Falls H.S.
12/15
7:30 PM
Alexandria Area (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/16
6:00 PM
Park Rapids Area (8AA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/20
6:00 PM
Bemidji (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
12/27
4:30 PM
Sauk Centre (6AA)
None Selected
12/28
1:00 PM
St. Cloud Tech (8AAAA)
Saint Cloud Tech H.S.
1/5
TBD
Fergus Falls (8AAA)
None Selected
1/10
7:15 PM
Park Rapids Area (8AA)
Park Rapids Area H.S.
1/13
7:15 PM
Crosby-Ironton (7AA) Detroit Lakes H.S.
1/20
7:30 PM
Sauk Rapids-Rice (8AAA)
1/21
2:30 PM
Sartell-Saint Stephen Sartell-Saint (8AAA) Stephen H.S.
1/24
6:15 PM
Staples Motley (8AA) Staples-Motley H.S.
1/26
7:30 PM
Thief River Falls (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
1/31
7:15 PM
Pequot Lakes (7AA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
2/7
7:15 PM
Staples Motley (8AA) Detroit Lakes H.S.
Sauk RapidsRice H.S.
2/9
7:30 PM
Bemidji (8AAA)
Bemidji H.S.
2/14
6:00 PM
Moorhead (8AAAA)
Moorhead H.S.
2/17
7:30 PM
Albany (6AA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
2/21
7:15 PM
Pequot Lakes (7AA)
Pequot Lakes H.S.
2/24
7:15 PM
Crosby-Ironton (7AA) Crosby-Ironton H.S.
2/28
7:30 PM
Perham (8AA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
QUALITY TOYOTA BEST OF LUCK TO ALL AREA OF LUCK TO 1125 West Lincoln Avenue, ATHLETES BEST FROM QUALITY TOYOTA, YOUR Fergus Falls, MN
ALL AREA ATHLETES 218-998-1900 “Quality FROM QUALITY TOYOTA, YOUR
Player of the Game” 800-666-0952
“Qualitywww.qualitytoyota.net Player of the Game” SPONSOR!
SPONSOR!
001350880r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
8
Strong rookie class mixing with Laker dance veterans By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Four seniors does not seem like a lot, but in Detroit Lakes dance team history it is. “All these young kids we’ve had are finally getting older,” head coach Britton Ramsey said. “We’ve always been really young, but we have a big upper class of four seniors and six juniors.” Two of those seniors Abigayle Skinner and Maddie Ramsey were named captains for this year’s team and will be competing on both the high kick and jazz teams. “They’re a great duo, very hard working and dedicated to the sport,” Coach Ramsey said. Maddie Ramsey is a two-year captain having led last year’s team with Sadie Boeckel. This year, she and Skinner hope to share their level of dedication and both captains have fostered a strong sense of team unity in the preseason. Another part of leading the team is getting the youngest dancers up to speed and integrated. Along with the core group of upperclassmen, DL has an unusually talented group of rookies. “They’re phenomenal; I have a group of five to six first-year dancers,” Ramsey said. “They’re fitting in well and blending well.” Ramsey has never put a seventh-grader on either varsity team before, but this year’s squad will have three in Brittany Stearns, Marit Engum and Tori LaFriniere. Weather and snow days have taken away some early practice time compounding less practice time with the difficulty of timing and precision needed to be successful. “Our jazz this year is pretty hardcore; it may take a while to click right,” said Ramsey. This year marks a big change from last season for the jazz dancers. In 2015-16, the jazz team performed a more interpretive style dance and is getting away from that. “Last year that was just kind of off the wall,” said Ramsey. “I think we can see success if and when we get it clean and execute well. The tools are there and it’s a very difficult dance.” As was last season’s effort where the Lakers had a more team-centric mindset rather than trying to please the judges. In dance, that is far more of a guess than a certainty and changes with each location and new set of judges. “It’s very subjective and it’s tough,” Ramsey said. “You’re trying to guess what the judges are looking for. For those of us
girlS dance Varsity SCHEDULE Date 12/3
Time
Opponent
TBD
Foley (4AA)
12/3
11:00 AM
12/10 12/17
1:00 PM 11:00 AM
1/7 1/12 1/14 1/20 1/21
TBD 6:00 PM 12:00 PM 6:00 PM 11:00 AM
Dr. Larry Morrison Optometrist
Alexandria Area (4AA) Albany (4AA) Melrose Area (4AA) Alexandria Invite Crosby Ironton Hawley H.S. (Hawley Tournament) Pequot Lakes Pelican Rapids (4A)
Dr. Michael Dr. Becky Morrison Vandeberg Optometrist
Optometrist
SITE Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Albany H.S. Melrose Area H.S. Alexandria Invite Crosby Ironton Hawley H.S. (Hawley Tournament) Pequot Lakes Pelican Rapids H.S.
the Laker High Kick Dance Team, photo by Caufield Studios
who have done this forever, we get it. For people who haven’t, it seems very confusing. We know what needs to happen and what they’re looking for.” There is a lot of planning prior to the season to perfect a strategy and choreography of what the team will perform during the season. Much of that is assessing the team’s strengths and weaknesses and finding a way to score the most between those two extremes. “You have to be really knowledgeable on the scoresheet and know your maximum amount of points in each category,” said Ramsey. “If we know we’re going to max out with a score of seven, we have to see where we can make up those points. We have to figure out where our strengths
are. I think, this year, we can compensate with choreography.” The Lakers will have plenty of competition in Section 4AA. “Our section is so tough,” Ramsey said. Section 4AA includes 14 schools, many of which are larger in enrollment size than Detroit Lakes and the list includes three co-ops, one with a similar school size in Fergus Falls that now includes Underwood and Breckenridge.
Smaller schools like Pequot Lakes have been on the upswing and will present a challenge in the section race as well. The first home invitational is this Saturday, Dec. 3 and begins at 11 a.m., with junior varsity teams up first and runs all afternoon until the awards ceremony at 4 p.m. A dozen schools will be in attendance. Ralph Anderson Gymnasium will be packed for the best attended indoor high school sporting event of the season in Detroit Lakes.
girlS dance Roster name
grade
Abigayle Skinner
12
Alexis VanMaldegham
9
Bella Steffl
9
Brittany Stearns
7
Cassandra Jenson
12
Chenoa Vizenor
11
Cherish Johnson
11
Elle Seaberg
10
Emma Ortloff
9
Hope Hansen
9
Leiana Lavette-Woodard
11
Maci Bellefeuille
9
Maddie Ramsey
12
Maddy Lewis
12
Marit Engum
7
McKenna Ruchti
11
Megan Gilsdorf
11
Natalie Nelmark
11
Sammy Maier
10
Tori LaFriniere
7
General Optometry • Contact Lenses Pediatrics • LASIK Consultant Diseases of the Eye
www.morrisoneyecare.com
1244 Washington Ave. • Detroit Lakes, MN • 218.847.2020 • 800.441.2020 Manitok Mall • Mahnomen, MN • 218.936.2020 • 800.696.2312 001520301r1
The Laker JAZZ Dance Team, photo by Caufield Studios
P.O. BOX 1467 DETROIT LAKES, MN 56502 www.teamlab.net TOLL FREE 1-800-522-8326
"Good Luck Lakers"
001351576r1
For All Your Land Surveying Needs www.meadowlandsurveying.com Scott Walz, PLS 1118 Hwy 59 S • Detroit Lakes, MN
218.847.4289
Surveying The Lakes Country Since 1946 001361057r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
9
The Laker Girls hockey team, photo by Caufield Studios
Laker girls emphasize a need for goal scoring By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
The winter season begins Saturday, Nov. 12 when the Detroit Lakes girls hockey team faces the Otters in Fergus Falls in the season opener for both teams. “The biggest thing is we have to score goals and that’s something we worked on all week,” Laker head coach Gretchen Norby said. “It’s not a lack of skill there, we just haven’t figured out how to get the shot off quickly and crash the net for rebounds. We’re going to continue to work on that.” The Lakers will see a new leader at the top of the scoresheet this year after last season’s leading scorer Hailey Sonstegard graduated. The next four top scorers in Karrigan Hallisey (12-6-18), Hannah Rhodes (6-8-14), Abagail King (4-913) and Jamie Bollig (7-6-13) all return. Hallisey, Bollig, and Rhodes will make up the Lakers’ top line. Bollig moves up from defense and will definitely benefit her linemates with her speed. “She’ll create some offense up there and works well with Hannah,” Norby said.
girlS HOCKEY roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 22 33 35
Sydney Brininger Sallee Stowman Emily Schiltz Makehna Beck Willa Larsen Kiley Pederson Josey Allen Lily Burnside Madyson Melgard Hannah Rhodes Abagail King Anna Payne Payton Carlblom Jamie Bollig Karrigan Hallisey Taylor Soland Annie Campbell Kyndra McDougall Shannara Wheeler
D F D F F F F F F F F F D D F F D G G
10 12 12 11 11 10 9 10 9 12 10 11 10 12 10 12 9 10 12
Driving
“Watching the three together this week, they have some good chemistry.” “We just want to get better every game and see what we can do,” said Rhodes. Perham’s Madyson Melgard and DL junior Anna Payne will play on opposing wings to King at center on the second line. Melgard is one of two Perham players on the squad; the other is Leah Honer, a junior varsity goaltender. The Lakers finished 9-18 last year picking
girlS HOCKEY SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
11/12
6:00 PM
Fergus Falls (6A)
11/15
7:30 PM
Thief River Falls (8A)
11/17
7:15 PM
11/19
1:00 PM
11/22
7:00 PM
Crookston High School Pirates (8A) East Grand Forks (8A) Pequot Lakes
11/22
7:00 PM
Fergus Falls H.S. Ralph Engelstad Arena - TRF Detroit Lakes H.S. East Grand Forks H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes
11/25
3:00 PM
11/26
12:00 PM
11/29
7:00 PM
11/29
7:00 PM
12/1 12/3
7:15 PM 2:00 PM
12/8
5:15 PM
12/9
7:30 PM
12/13
7:00 PM
12/13
7:00 PM
12/15 12/20
7:15 PM 7:00 PM
12/22
7:00 PM
1/3 1/3
7:00 PM 7:00 PM
1/12
5:15 PM
1/27
7:00 PM
Northern Lakes Lightning (6A) Rogers (5AA)
Fergus Falls H.S. Bismarck Fergus Falls H.S. Park Rapids High Detroit Lakes School (8A) Community Center Park Rapids High Detroit Lakes School (8A) H.S. Alexandria Area (6A) Alexandria H.S. Sartell/Sauk Rapids Bernick’s Pepsi Stormin Sabres (8AA) Arena Prairie Centre Blue Wadena-Deer Devils (6A) Creek H.S. Thief River Falls (8A) Detroit Lakes H.S. Park Rapids High Park Rapids School (8A) Area H.S. Park Rapids High Park Rapids School (8A) Area H.S. Bemidji (8AA) Bemidji H.S. Morris/Benson Area Detroit Lakes Storm (6A) H.S. Fargo Davies Fargo Davies H.S. Pequot Lakes Pequot Lakes Northern Lakes Breezy Point Lightning (6A) Hockey Arena Prairie Centre Blue Detroit Lakes Devils (6A) H.S. Moorhead (8AA) Detroit Lakes H.S.
up a 6-3 home victory in the opening round of the Section 8A playoffs before being eliminated 10-1 by eventual section champions Warroad. “We’re certainly going to have to battle to be .500; we’re in a tough section,” said Norby. “I would expect us to be right in the middle of the pack there.” Sophomore Kyndra McDougall gets the starting nod in goal. “She’s looked really confident these last
• World-class safety • Competitive prices • Guaranteed price programs • Automatic delivery • 24-hour emergency service • Visa/MasterCard accepted • Online and automatic payments • Dedicated, experienced & knowledgeable staff
RELIABLE, SAFE, RESPONSIVE 1602 Dan Street, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
218-847-1133 • 1-888-757-1133 The most reliable, the safest and the most responsive propane company. 24 hour Customer Care and Payment Plans Available
With Minnesota locations in Audubon, Bagley, Cambridge, Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids and also located in Andrews, NC.
001388027r1
Providing advanced drive-train and custom manufacturing solutions since 1967.
detroit lakes newspapers
Laker Girls hockey to page 10 »
Make the switch to Amerigas
Innovation
Check out our employment opportunities at www.TEAM-IND.com
two weeks,” said Norby. “She thrives under the pressure and wants that challenge.” McDougall will be backed up by senior Shannara Wheeler, who will be counted on for key starts this season. “Wheeler, she’s in there and played some nice games for us, as well,” Norby said. “I’m glad that I have to make a tough decision on which goaltender will start.”
001518960r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
10 » Laker Girls hockey from page 9 Emily Schiltz and Annie Campbell will make up the top defensive pair with Payton Carlblom and Lily Burnside first off the bench. Burnside has predominantly played forward but steps back to the blue line early this season. “She’s a strong skater and I think she’ll be just fine with Payton,” said Norby. “We also have a lot of new faces,” said Schiltz. “Getting our chemistry back will take some time,” Rhodes said. The Lakers have a strong team bond and know it takes more work than flash to tally in the win column. “We are always going to work hard and hopefully be the first one to the puck and win the little battles,” Schiltz said. “We have to work hard, every period, every shift,” said Bollig. The Lakers will open the season without sophomore defenseman Sydney Brininger who is out with an ankle injury. Fergus Falls won last year’s opener in DL 8-3 and swept the season series with the Lakers winning 5-1 at home in
early January. The Otters returned the favor from 2014 when the Lakers won both games. Fergus Falls will be led by Lydia Mann, Abby Hobbs and Sheri Johnson under third-year head coach Tim Lill. DL will be road warriors to begin the season with five of the first seven games away from Kent Freeman Arena. The home opener will be Thursday, Nov. 17 against Crookston. Participation numbers are good for the program after a bit of juggling to get specific teams situated in the preseason. The youth hockey association board voted last week to absorb the U15 program into the high school program creating a junior varsity squad. The U15s were not seeing enough games and a junior varsity schedule will resolve that issue and get JV players a better look at competition and more of it. “I think it’s a good thing,” said Norby. Some Lake Park players were on the U15 team and negotiations are underway to figure out how they can participate on the JV team. “We’ll figure out; it might just take a little bit,” said Norby.
» Laker Girls Basketball from page 7 and by one point in 2015. The Cardinals have a senior-heavy lineup with 11 upperclassmen that will play fast and apply a lot of pressure defensively. That is the same perspective KeelerJohnson has of her defensive expectations. The Lakers will play a lot of match-up, manto-man defense, in hopes of making opposing offenses uncomfortable with the ball. “Overall, I’m much more of a fastpaced coach,” she said. “Get the ball out; if we don’t have anything in transition we’ll set up offensively, but we’re not going to run a lot of set plays, at least to start, because everything is new. Our high-low offense is coming and it looks really good. Defense and rebounding are huge to me.” It may take a few games for the Laker offense to hit full stride as players adapt to the new read and react offense. “It’s going to be huge if our guards can step up,” Keeler-Johnson said. As a former guard, Keeler-Johnson sees the potential impact consistent guard play can have as a benefit to the Lakers’ front line, even if it does take some time to be effective. “We’re definitely going to muddle
Make Your American Dream Come True
through it at the beginning; I guarantee that,” she said. “You want to hit your stride at the end of the year. That’s what we’re looking for. It’s when you hit your stride.” DL will deploy their new tactics live for the first time in the home opener against the Flyers. Little Falls was 18-10 last year and picked up a 66-53 home victory over the Lakers in mid-February. “We didn’t scrimmage this year in the beginning of the season because everything is going to be new,” Keeler-Johnson said. “We hammered out all the little things and it will be fun to see a new opponent, where we’re at, and what we need to work on.” Keeler-Johnson will be assisted by coaches Rachel Shane, Chelsey VanRaiden and Heather Strese, a former MSUM post player. Strese was brought on by KeelerJohnson to specifically work with the Laker frontcourt players as a coaching combination with her speciality in the backcourt. The Lakers and Flyers tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Ralph Anderson Gymnasium. “I would like the whole community behind us and to get the fanbase there and get everyone excited about girls basketball,” Keeler-Johnson said.
No matter what the home of your dreams looks like, we can help make it a reality. Options, options, options! American National Bank can help you with your home ownership needs. We offer fixed or variable rate long-term mortgages and refinance options. Residential, vacation, and investment real estate mortgages are all available at American National Bank! We also provide special mortgages for individuals buying a home for the first time, and take the time to help you every step of the way.
Raising The Standard! 325 Highway 10 West Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 Phone: 218.847.1383 Main Fax: 218.847.1384 Lobby & Bank Hours Monday - Friday: 8 AM to 5 PM 001518967r1
WE’RE ALL EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing.
Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call us today 218.847.3151
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
11
Two-time defending champs heavy favorites in Class A By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Detroit Lakes has owned the past two Class A state gymnastics team titles and returns the entire lineup, plus some new faces that will aid in defending the section championship and making a big run back to Minneapolis in late February. The Lakers have 27 gymnasts on the roster and have plenty of talent to run two varsity teams and have scheduled meets on the same day to allow all the competitors to get some consistent varsity experience. “We got a couple opportunities to do that now, so we’ll get those kids a lot of varsity experience, which will be necessary in the year coming up,” head coach Steve Zamzo said. With a loaded and experienced lineup, the goal for this team is easier said than done, but the Lakers will head into the season the top-ranked team in the state and are likely to finish that way. “That’s the ultimate goal and we are returning everyone who was there; that helps a lot,” Zamzo said. Key additions to the team are Emily Smith, a high-level sophomore from the USAG Flyers team and sophomore Anneka Lindstrom, a transfer student from the metro, who specialized in trampoline. “She’ll be a nice addition, she’s tall and has great body awareness,” Zamzo said. “She’ll be good on vault and we’re working on getting her a floor routine.” Junior Alexis Ostlie is back from a foot injury last year and Katrina Okeson battled an Achilles tendon issue last year and begins this season healthy. Senior Molly Lyngaas, the 2015 state all-around champion, will return this year to compete on bars after missing all of last season due to injury. Due to the extent of the injury to her foot, competing in any of the other three events is unlikely, but she cannot be counted out as the season wears on. Lyngaas bounced back from an injury late in the season in 2015 and went on to capture the state championship as a sophomore. Senior Leah Chavez will be out a few weeks after having an ankle scoped. Her expected return is near Christmas. Fresh off a top four finish in state diving, junior Emma Disse returns as the reigning floor exercise state champion and leads a group that holds the state record on floor, including fellow state diver Lexi Yliniemi, who was a top 20 finisher on floor at state - a result that was lowered after she injured an ankle during day two of the tournament. Sophomore Peyton Jernberg placed seventh on floor in the individual tournament. Sophomore Cora Okeson had a huge performance to finish as the state allaround silver medalist nearly making it two seasons in a row for DL gymnasts. She finished behind only Maddie Mullenbach of Austin, a senior this year. Okeson’s top mark was a runner-up beam performance. Senior Mathia Olds and freshman
The Laker Gymnastics Team, photo by Caufield Studios.
Jackson Hegg both had top 10 performances on uneven parallel bars. The Lakers hit their target score of 150 to win the team championship scoring 150.225 to 147.025 from runner-up Melrose. DL outscored all seven teams on each of the four events after starting on the balance beam. DL and Melrose finished in the same order in 2015 with DL winning with 150.025. Melrose scored 149.200. The Dutchmen were the last team to win the state title prior to the Lakers’ two straight championships. Melrose scored 149.575 to defeat New Prague (149.050) in 2014. DL scored 148.450 and finished third that year. Head Coach Katie Masog’s Melrose team returns three seniors and one junior on a roster of 21 gymnasts which includes two of the top gymnasts in Class A in seniors Mady Brinkman (3rd all-around) and Kayla Austing (4th all-around). Last season, DL just missed breaking the Class A state team scoring record of 150.400, set by Perham in 2005. DL finished 0.175 points off the mark. Captains for this year’s squad are the four seniors: Johanna Jernberg, Olds, Chavez and Lyngaas. DL opens the season this Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Jackie Mann Invitational in Perham. The meet is held at the Perham Middle School’s Prairie Wind Gymnasium
1123 HWY. 10 EAST SUITE 1
R001952272
FAX: 218-846-1493
GOOD LUC!K LAKERS
Matt Hedstrom Cell: 218-841-9791 mhedstro@amfam.com
GYMNASTICS roster name
grade
Alexis Ostlie
11
Alivia Harris-Meyers
8
Anneka Lindstrom
10
Autumn Kulik
8
Cora Okeson
10
Emily Smith
10
Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
Emma Disse
11
12/3
8:00 AM
Perham (8A)
Perham H.S.
Hailey Smith
8
12/3
11:00 AM
Morris Area
Morris Area H.S.
Harper Bellefeuille
7
12/16
6:00 PM
Park Rapids/Menahga/Nevis (8A)
Park Rapids Area H.S.
Jackson Hegg
9
Johanna Jernberg
12
Justine Lawerence
10
Katrina Okeson
11
12/17
10:00 AM
Brainerd H.S. (8AA)
Brainerd H.S.
12/20
6:00 PM
Perham (8A)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
1/5
6:00 PM
Little Falls (8A)
Little Falls Cont. Education Center
Kaylee Smith
8
Kennedy Bridgeman
8
1/10
6:30 PM
Moorhead (8AA)
H.S. Training Facility
Leah Chavez
12
Lexi Yliniemi
10
Lydia Gag
9
Mathia Olds
12
McKenna Mallow
7
1/14
10:00 AM
Lakeville North (2AA) Lakeville North H.S.
1/19
6:00 PM
Park Rapids/Menahga/Nevis (8A)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
1/20
6:00 PM
Perham (8A)
Perham H.S.
Molly Lyngaas
12
1/27
6:00 PM
Bemidji (8AA)
Bemidji H.S.
Peyton Jernberg
10
1/31
6:00 PM
Park Rapids/Menahga/Nevis (8A)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
Priska Greer
7
Bemidji (8AA)
Detroit Lakes H.S.
Shaylee Hanson
8
Sidney Lundberg
10
2/4
2:00 PM
Monday-Friday 7am to 4:45pm Saturday 7-3:45 • Sunday 8am to 1:45pm 900 Washington Ave. Detroit Lakes • 847-3344
Jim Hedstrom Cell: 218-841-7405 Jim Hedstrom Cell: 218-841-7405 jhedstro@amfam.com jhedstro@amfam.com
GOOD LUCK LAKERS!
GYMNASTICS SCHEDULE
fifth place. The Lakers’ second varsity team also competes Saturday at Morris.
Main Street Restaurant GOOD LUCK TEAMS!
Matt Hedstrom Cell: 218-841-9791 mhedstro@amfam.com 1123 HWY. 10DETROIT EAST SUITE 1 56501 LAKES, MN DETROIT LAKES, MN 56501 OFFICE: 218-847-5796 TOLL FREE: 800-750-9004 OFFICE: 218-847-5796 FAX: 218-846-1493 TOLL FREE: 800-750-9004
and competition begins at 10 a.m. “We’re taking off where we ended last year and the same group of girls will compete there,” said Zamzo. Sophomore Justine Lawrence is the defending all-around champion at the Perham Invite and is coming off a run to the USAG Western Nationals after the high school season last spring where she placed 11th overall with a top finish on bars scoring 9.525 to reach the podium in
001354677r1
Full Breakfast, Lunch, Homemade Pies & Desserts
www.mmcdc.com • 218-847-3191
001351383r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
12
Teiken lone state returner for DL ski team By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
The Laker nordic ski team, photo by Robert Williams/Tribune
Lindquist, Jordan Ryan, Mason Sampson and Zach Buboltz. Four of the five are fresh from the cross country running team with Johnson coming off a second consecutive state meet appearance to lead the way. Jack Richards is the lone junior on the varsity roster and has plenty of familiarity with last season’s section course at
Maplelag to use to his advantage. Aaron Oakes heads up the sophomore class. Despite the snowfall in December, the ski teams have suffered a similar fate to past seasons in having to wait to get competition started. Meets at Grand Rapids and two at Bemidji were both postponed in early December. DL will likely begin the year at
Maplelag Dec. 22 at their home invitational. The Lakers will also host a race at Detroit Mountain Jan. 10. Sections this year are scheduled for Camp Ripley in Little Falls Feb. 7, but that was the case last season and a lack of snow there moved the race back to Maplelag. The state meet returns at Giants Ridge in mid-February.
Wishing All The Laker Athletes a Great Winter Season Winter Build Discounts Available Dynamic Homes is an Energy Star Partner
525 Roosevelt Avenue • Detroit Lakes, MN
1-800-492-4833
www.dynamichomes.com
001350418r1
Senior Ellen Teiken surprised everyone, including herself, last season in making a big push at the section meet at Maplelag to qualify for her first state Nordic Ski appearance and returns as the leading Laker on this year’s squad. Teiken skated her way to 12th place after the opening race with a time of 17:00.67 and secured a 14th overall place with her classic pursuit finish. She improved from a 30th place finish the prior year and was hoping to bump up to a spot in the 20’s at best. She got more than that with a solid effort in what could have been her last race of the season knocking nearly four minutes off her best time. She qualified for state in what was literally the best race of her life. Teiken placed 146th at a challenging state meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik in a field of 160 racers and will look to improve on that mark in her senior season. She will be joined by two other seniors on the girls’ team in Anna Schumacher and Anna Hokanson. The Lakers need four racers to score in team results and will be looking for contributions from younger skiers to get in the mix. The boys team lost two-time state entrant Austin Askelson to graduation and have room at the top of the lineup for a new leader. Askelson placed 123rd last season in a field of 159 improving one place for a 124th finish his junior season. The Laker boys have five seniors on the team in Aaron Johnson, Axel
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
13
Wrestlers looking to jump back in section mix By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
BURGERS & GRINDERS
is your Lak Vikings, Bison & Wild game Come watch your favorite headquarters! team on our FOOD AND
75" BIG SCREEN
BLEACHERS...Your LAKER Sports Bar & Grill!
218-844-6820 • 25807 Cty Hwy 22 • Detroit Lakes
DRINK
SPECIALS during the games!
South of the General Store & Just North of WE Fest on Cty Hwy 22
Find us on
lone member of the Football Showcase all-star game that was played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis the first weekend of December. He had one solo and an assisted tackle in the game and brings a lot of leadership to the wrestling team, even as a first-year wrestler. “We’re very optimistic; we have to keep getting better,” said Ullyott. “Part of our task this year is these young kids. If we can get them to focus on getting better all the time I think we can be in the mix. I don’t know that we can win the thing, but I think we can be in there rubbing elbows with somebody
Date 12/6 12/8 12/13 12/16 12/22 12/22 1/10 1/12 1/12 1/13 1/17 1/17 1/17 1/19 1/21 1/28 1/31 2/2 2/2 2/9
at the end. I don’t think anyone else in the section feels that way, but I feel that way, just based on what I’ve seen. We’re ahead of our game just a little bit. If we can make those weight adjustments after Christmas and slide in another experienced guy that can make a big difference for us.”
wrestling roster No.
name
Grove, Joe 106 Andreson, Clint 106 Ehnert, Jacob 106 Henderson, Blaine 106 Morrison, Isaac 106 Swiers, Bradley wrestling SCHEDULE 106 Trickey, Niimay Time Opponent SITE 106 Ullyott, Brody 6:30 PM Staples Motley (6A) None Selected 106 Weber, Blake 6:00 PM Mahnomen/Waubun Mahnomen H.S. 106 Weber, Cole (8A) 106 Wold, Carson 5:00 PM Bemidji (8AA) Bemidji H.S. 106 Wolf, Caleb 9:00 AM Big Bear Tournament Cass Lake 113 Compson, Jayden Bena H.S. 5:00 PM Pequot Lks/Pine Pine River120 Eckman, Joseph River-B (8AA) Backus H.S. 120 Schlauderaff, Thad 5:00 PM Pierz (7A) Pierz H.S. 126 Jackson, Payton 6:00 PM Park Rapids Area Detroit Lakes 126 Mann, Nolan (8A) H.S. 132 Greer, Fabyon 5:00 PM Dilworth-GlyndonDilworthFelton H.S. (8A) Glyndon-Felton 132 Nelson, Garett H.S. 138 Baker, Austin 5:00 PM West Fargo West Fargo 138 Heinecke, Scott 3:00 PM Bemidji Invite Bemidji Invite 145 Jasken, Marcus 0:00 AM LPGE-Browerville Detroit Lakes 145 Ortloff, Braydon Wolves (5A) H.S. 145 Sather, Brennen 5:00 PM Ottertail Central Detroit Lakes Bulldogs (8AA) H.S. 152 Andresen, Matt 5:00 PM Fergus Falls (8AA) Detroit Lakes 152 Lundeen, Sean H.S. 152 Thompson, Isaiah 6:00 PM Perham (8AA) Detroit Lakes 160 Grant, Isaiah H.S. 10:00 AM Thief River Falls Thief River Falls 160 Skadem, Jordan (8AA) H.S. 170 Freindshuh, Mike 10:00 AM Midstate Conference Pelican Rapids 170 Olds, Noah H.S. 182 Annette, Andrew 7:00 PM United Clay Becker Lake ParkBadgers (8AA) Audubon 182 Hanson, Jacob Residential 5:00 PM Thief River Falls Thief River Falls 182 Schmoll, Dylan Commercial (8AA) H.S. 195 Barnett, Charles 5:00 PM Fosston/Bagley (8AA) Fosston H.S. New Construction 220 Barnett, Andreas 7:00 PM Frazee (8A) Detroit Lakes & Installation Service 285 Tunheim, Carson H.S.
We Provide Peace of Mind!
24 Hour Service - 7 Days a Week Guaranteed Satisfaction
License #BC002500
BLEACHERS
• Engineered, Designed Post Frame Buildings • Crews with over 30 years experience • Engineered, Designed Post Frame Buildings • Machine• Completely & Boat Storage • Completely Erected WithWithWarranty Erected Warranty • Garages• Crews • Shopswith • Commercial 30 yearsexperience experience • Crews• Models withOpen over 30over years 7 Days A Week www.foltzbuildings.com Machine & Boat Storage • Machine & ••Boat Storage Garages • Shops • Commercial • Garages • Shops • Commercial • Models Open 7 Days A Week 800-255-9981 www.foltzbuildings.com • Models Open 7 Days A Week www.foltzbuildings.com
SERVING MINNESOTA AND THE DAKOTAS.
grade 0 7 7 0 8 7 7 8 0 7 0 0 8 10 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 12 0 10 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 8 0 0 12
NEVER AN OVERTIME CHARGE!
• Engineered, Designed Post Frame Buildings • Completely Erected With Warranty
001518978r1
The plac
e to go for
ers!
Eighth graders Brody Ullyott and Blaine Henderson will start off for the Lakers this year at 106 and 113-pounds, respectively. Blake Weber was the starter at 106 last season and is working into shape to take his place in one of those low weights also. Fabyon Greer is an exciting and athletic wrestler and can be tough to beat. He joins Payton Jackson at 132 and Austin Baker at 145, followed by Ortloff at 152 and sophomore Brennen Sather at 160. While the Lakers are young, many of the names in the lineup are familiar as they have all found time on the varsity mat in recent seasons. Jasken is hovering in the mix looking for a spot and a tough freshman Isaiah Thompson joins Jasken in the 152 and 160 mix, especially after the Christmas holiday adjustments when weights are more settled. Lundeen will see action at 170 as the lone senior with a solid spot in the lineup so far this early in the season. Freshman Jordan Skadsem and sophomore Noah Olds lead up to Jacob Hanson and Charles Barnett in the upper weights. “Noah came on strong at the end of last year; if we can get another spurt like that this year, he’ll be another top three kid in the section,” said Ullyott. One wild card at heavyweight is senior Carson Tunheim making his debut on the wrestling team. Tunheim will have to battle more experienced wrestlers but makes up for that with toughness and athleticism. “When he learns a little more he’ll be very helpful for us,” said Ullyott. “He’s very athletic, quick and strong.” Tunheim comes in a 240 pounds and has gone toe-to-toe with tough section competition early this year. His preseason was also interrupted as Detroit Lakes’
Plumbing • Heating • Air Conditioning Plumbing - Heating - Air Conditioning Fireplaces • Water Treatment • 24 Hour Service
Water Treatment - Duct Cleaning - Fireplaces
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL Detroit Lakes Full Service Contractor
847-1309
1034 Hwy. 59 S. • Detroit Lakes • 218-847-1309 NEVER AN OVERTIME CHARGE! Come visit our showroom at 1034 Hwy 59 South, Detroit Lakes
001410267r1
GO
The Laker Wrestling team, photo by Robert Williams/Tribune
001351192r1
Rob Ullyott’s Detroit Lakes wrestling team takes on a different look after graduating two-time heavyweight finalist James Huwe as a spot opens up for new leadership team-wide. Junior Braydon Ortloff and seniors Sean Lundeen and Marcus Jasken head up that potential role as tri-captains this season. “We’ve got a little bit of depth at the bottom,” Ullyott said. “They’re all young, but it’s youth with a little bit of experience. I think we’ll be okay. We had a lot of kids participate in freestyle greco in the offseason here and we’ve grown into weights.” Ullyott has switched the tournament schedule, especially, early in the season, choosing tournaments that allow the junior varsity wrestlers to get more experience. Out are a pair of big tournaments: the Dan Unruh Invite in Wahpeton to start the year and the Perham Invitational at the beginning of January. “We couldn’t get those kids any matches and you’re in this game long enough you appreciate how important those JV matches are,” said Ullyott. DL opened with a win at the FosstonBagley Invite and will compete at Bemidji in place of Perham’s varsity-only format. The Lakers had one senior in the lineup for the victory at Fosston showcasing this team’s youth movement. Ortloff has had the most postseason success qualifying for state in 2014 at 106 pounds. He became the youngest Laker wrestler to ever place at state taking sixth. He qualified last season as the Section 8AA runner-up at 138-pounds to Ottertail Central senior Sam Naddy. Naddy defeated Ortloff 13-6 to claim the section title leaving some work for Ortloff to punch a ticket to state. He earned that bid with a 9-7 true second place decision victory over Bemidji’s Chance Hinrichs. As a team, the Lakers were eliminated in the section quarterfinals last year by Bemidji after an opening-round victory over United Clay Becker. “I don’t think we can run with the big dogs in the section but I think we can give them a rub,” Ullyott said. “We should be a mid-tier team with a bunch of hard work we could be a section final four team.” DL cracked the final four in 8AA two seasons ago before being eliminated in the semifinals by Perham. Perham has won for of the last five 8AA team championships. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus broke up the streak with a win in 2014. Pushing back to the section semifinals is an early target for late in the year for this DL team that was 10-9 in duals last season. “We were there two years ago; for the youth we have it would be a very good goal and a good accomplishment,” said Ullyott. “We’re going to have to work our butts off.” Young wrestlers will be at the front of the Laker lineup this season.
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
14
Freeman taking the lead for DL swimming and diving By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Senior Zane Freeman has stood out as an underclassmen on the Detroit Lakes swimming and diving team and enters his final year in pursuit of the ultimate goal in his sport. Freeman is the returning section diver of the year, the two-time defending section champion and is coming off his best finish with a fifth place podium performance at state last year. “I look at it as stepping stones,” he said. “You start with low goals and then they turn into bigger goals. There are some dives that I want to learn this year that there are a very select few people doing them in the state. That also helps me.” Basically, Freeman’s season goals are to repeat at the section and make a push for higher up on the podium with a state title potentially in reach. “Those are definitely the goals again,” he said. “If I can do it, I’ll certainly shoot to the top. Last year really opened up my eyes.” Freeman made a huge jump at last year’s meet after sitting in 16th place at the conclusion of the preliminary round. “That was the worst I’ve ever dove in my life,” he said. His fortune changed in the semifinals where he moved up to eighth place and jumped another three spots in the finals to crack the top five. “If I can channel those second dives I might have been able to do it last year but that’s the glory of this sport,” said Freeman. “Just keep an open mind.” For Freeman, he enjoys the personal aspect of diving in that it is simply a battle between diver and the board. Also making a huge difference in last year’s effort and his three consecutive trips to Minneapolis is the leadership provided by Diving Coach Bobbi Jo Koons. Under Koons’ tutelage, Freeman has made three state finals appearances placing 14th as a sophomore and reaching the podium for the first time in sixth place in 2015. “She’s an unbelievable woman,” said Freeman. “She cares for us like we’re her kids. The time she puts in...and it helps that I’ve known Bobbi since I was in second grade. I’ve grown up with her and done her programs.” Koons brings a collegiate level training to Laker divers that has helped the girls team send four different divers to state the past two seasons in the fall and Freeman’s familiarity with her process allows him to be successful. “She knows what you’re capable of and is not going to push you out of that until you’re ready,” he said. “That means all the
The Laker boys swimming and diving team, photo by Caufield Studios.
world. Then you want to be there. Sometimes you get that coach that you’re not on good terms with and you don’t care what they say. The way I am now is because of Bobbi and doing what she says.” Early season time with Koons is about getting as much board time as possible mixed in with weight lifting and consistent yoga classes for flexibility and mastering body control. Freeman’s schedule for the season consists of mastering the dives currently in his arsenal before Christmas and working on new dives over the holiday to use in meets leading up to the break before sections and state when mastering the degrees of difficulty will be necessary to make a run to the top of the podium. “That’s when you go back and sharpen the new ones and the old ones and put them together,” he said. Freeman has junior teammate Edward Johnson to practice with and help on the diving board. “He’s getting there and learning new stuff; he’s a lot more open this year, which is good,” Freeman said. “Plus, practices go faster because you have someone to talk to and someone to hang with. If I was there alone or Edward was there alone, days get long.” Competing for the top of the section with Freeman will be sophomore Spencer Fritze of Park Rapids, junior Haakan Thorsgard from Bemidji and Fergus Falls sophomore Caleb Neubauer. Thorsgard and Freeman have a friendly rivalry as acquaintances from soccer and have done some training together. Freeman also kicks on the football team during the soccer season. In addition to diving, he is a sprinter and pole vaulter on the track and field team. He is
on pace to finish his senior season surpassing the varsity record for lettering in sports. After track and field, he will set a new boys’ mark of 14 letters. Kyley Foster owns the overall mark with 17. Freeman is joined by four other seniors on the team in Elliott Musielewicz, Quinn Bakken, Spencer Heimark and Connor Haugrud. Overall participation numbers are down on this year’s team with 17 swimmers currently on the varsity roster. Last year’s team had almost double that number. “It’s a tough sport,” said Freeman. “The pool is cold and practices are long.” Head Coach Rian Heimark is in a wait and see mode on who is going to join Freeman as leaders on the team. While Freeman was DL’s lone entrant to state last year, Heimark had his team in top form when it counted as each Laker swimmer recorded personal bests at the section meet. The 10-team Section 5A has become very competitive and some state
boys swim roster name
grade
Allen Holzgrove Connor Haugrud Edward Johnson Elijah Kitzmann Elliot Musielewicz Gabe Kitzmann Garrett Bakken Isaac Howard Josten Bellefeuille Lance Parzyck Landon Lindsey Quinn Bakken Simon Steinke Spencer Heimark Tanner Olson Tucker Strawsell Zane Freeman
10 12 11 9 12 11 9 11 10 11 11 12 11 12 10 10 12
spots are not all up for grabs. The Lakers opened their season with a third place finish at the Fergus Falls Invitational where DL earned 16 medals and got victories from Freeman in diving, Tanner Olson in the 50-free and a second place finish to teammate Josten Bellefeuille in the 100-free. Lance Parzyck and Landon Lindsey were battling for top spots as well. Impressively, seven Lakers swam section qualifying times in the first meet of the year. DL opens the home season Friday, Dec. 16 hosting the Moorhead Spuds.
boys swim SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
12/10
11:00 AM
12/16
6:00 PM
12/20 1/7
6:00 PM 9:00 AM
1/10
6:00 PM
1/10
6:00 PM
1/13 1/17
5:00 PM 6:00 PM
1/21 1/24
TBD 6:00 PM
1/31
6:00 PM
2/4
TBD
2/7
6:00 PM
2/7
6:00 PM
2/10
3:30 PM
Fergus Falls Invitation Fergus Falls Invitation Moorhead (8AA) Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center Bemidji (5A) Bemidji H.S. DL Invite Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center Thief River Falls H.S. Detroit Lakes (5A) Community Center Morris Area/Chokio- Detroit Lakes Alberta (5A) Community & Cultural Center Bemidji Invitational Bemidji H.S. Park Rapids Area Park Rapids (5A) Area H.S. Section 5A True Team Bemidji H.S. Moorhead/Fergus Fergus Falls Falls Tri-Meet H.S. Perham (5A) Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center Panther Invite Park Rapids Area H.S. Morris Area University of Minnesota Morris Morris Area/Chokio- UMM Alberta (5A) Midstate Conference Detroit Lakes Championship Community & Cultural Center
SITE
YOU AND YOUR DENTIST: PARTNERS FOR A
HEALTHY SMILE WE Provide:
• Family Dental Care • Whitening • Implant Tooth Replacement & Denture Stabilization • Same Day Porcelain Bonded Restorations (CEREC) • Cosmetic Smile Design & Restorations Family and Cosmetic
John R. Jordan D.D.S. Mark Runyan D.D.S.
218-847-1126
1106 West River Road, Detroit Lakes
www.walmart.com
218-846-1900 • 877-508-1900
001520257r1
001353484r1
1583 Hwy 10 West • Detroit Lakes
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
15 Left: The Laker boys basketball Team, photo by Caufield Studios
BOYS BASKETBALL roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
0 1 2 4 5 10 12 13 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 30 31 32
Isaac Cihak Jackson Haire Tanner Doppler Adam Daggett Wyatt Blomseth Connor Froke Ethan Schweigert Nathan Johnson Mason Blank Jacob Bettcher Kelvin Price Cody Ulschmid Isaac Gloege Kai McLeod Logan Pratt Braden Heinecke Jake Kerzman Gabe Anderson
G F F G G G G F G G C C G G C F F C
12 11 11 12 11 11 11 12 11 10 12 11 11 12 11 11 11 11
BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Laker boys start season with big home stand and new coaching staff By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
Aaron Swenson takes over the head coaching duties for the Detroit Lakes boys basketball team and is bringing his former experience as an assistant and his own take to this year’s squad as they prepare to open the 2017 campaign. “I’m comfortable with the motion offense we’ve put in and how well these kids are paying attention and listening,” said Swenson. “It’ll be a slight adjustment because we’re doing things that are a little bit different than they’ve done in the past. To their credit, a lot of that stuff is really good. I learned a ton from Hogie (Mike Hoganson) and Robb Flint and we’re putting that stuff in, and of course, when you take over you’re going to put your own spin on things too.” Flint resigned last season as the head boys coach due to health reasons. Hoganson also resigned as the head girls coach last year. Swenson previously taught at DLHS from 2001-2004 and was an assistant to Hoganson for 10 years from 2000-10. Swenson inherits two starters from last year in seniors Isaac Cihak and Adam Daggett. Cihak was a workhorse in the paint leading the team in rebounds and played a punishing style of ball in the paint and around the hoop. “He’s a bull; my challenge to my team is he doesn’t lead us in rebounding,” Swenson said. “There are four to five guys bigger than him that should get more. I don’t know if they’re going to outwork him.” Daggett was a streaky shooter in 2016 who could go on a tear from the three-point line and was solid around the perimeter. He also had games where the opposition found ways to shut him down. For this year’s club,
Brian Andring DETROIT LAKES, MN 001518973r1
Daggett is going to be an essential part of the offense and the Lakers will need consistent scoring from him. “He is Mr. Fundamental; he does everything well,” said Swenson. “We want to look to get him rolling.” Junior Tanner Doppler found his groove late in the season earning more playing time from Flint at the end of the year. He showed he could drive the paint and slash into opposing defenses and has rounded out his game since then. “He’s a sneaky, sneaky good athlete,” Swenson said. “He slashed last year; he’ll score this year. His shot’s gotten better; he’s got good hops and filled out a little bit more. I like the way he’s looking right now. I think he’s going to sneak up on a lot of teams first time around. He could be a lockdown defender and is going to play a lot of roles for us. He handles the ball well enough to handle it on the perimeter and he’s tough enough to go down on the post and mix it up down there. He’ll be a wild card for us.” Junior Jackson Haire and senior Nathan Johnson are likely candidates to fill out the starting quintet for the season opener, but the lineup is still up for grabs with a few days of practice before Park Rapids Area comes to town Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a Mid-State Conference season-opener. The Lakers scrimmaged in the preseason against Burnsville and that helped get a sense of where the team was in learning the new system. “We’re literally a different team five days later than we were then and that’s what you should be,” said Swenson. “We were still learning at that point, so it was good to get beat up a little bit and realize we’ve got some work to do. To their credit, we’ve had a really solid three days of practice here and they’ve gotten better in the
Carpet UpholsteryCleaning Fire • Water Restoration Commercial Residential
218-847-8982
last three than they did in the first five.” Detroit Lakes begins the season with a couple contributors out for the first two months. Six-foot, six-inch junior center Logan Pratt and junior forward Jake Kerzman will miss the beginning of the season due to injuries with expected returns in January. Depending on the effectiveness of their insertion into the lineup, the DL scheme on both ends of the floor could morph mid-season. “Defensively, it will help us do some things because there will be more size there,” said Swenson. “Offensively, if they prove to me that they can score in the paint, we may have to adjust some things, but even in our secondary transition, first post down gets the chance to score. Every single offensive possession we start with has a chance to enter the ball in the post.” The Lakers will likely face height mismatches as a whole, especially with Pratt out. He is DL’s tallest player. Swenson plans to counter by getting his players up the court quickly in transition. “We’re going to get out and run and push and score in a hurry,” Swenson said. “We’ll have some transitional stuff that we’re going to push. We’re going to try to go with a secondary break. If it’s there, we’ll score quick. I want to make sure we push and get good, quick shots, not just quick shots. That’s important for us.” Much of the preseason has been spent getting accustomed to more than half the starting lineup needing to be replaced and working a new strategy into place with an entirely new coaching staff. “We have work to do and it’s a progression, especially year one,” said Swenson. “We’re learning and that progression is coming and it’s not going to happen December 10th. We want to be peaking and
Open Monday through Friday for Detroit Lakes and the surrounding area
Brent Smith
B.S.R.T. (R)(MR)(ARRT) MRI Technologist
1252 Washington Avenue Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 (218) 847-6300 001350902r1
Time
Opponent
SITE
12/6
7:15 PM
12/9
7:30 PM
12/13
7:15 PM
12/16
7:45 PM
Park Rapids Area (8AA) Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8AA) Thief River Falls (8AAA) Pequot Lakes (7AA)
12/17
7:30 PM
12/20
7:30 PM
Alexandria H.S. (8AAA) Bemidji (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Alexandria H.S.
12/22
7:30 PM
Little Falls (8AAA)
12/28
6:00 PM
Becker (5AAA)
1/5
7:15 PM
1/7
7:30 PM
Park Rapids Area (8AA) Fergus Falls
1/12
7:30 PM
Perham (8AA)
1/13
7:15 PM
Crosby-Ironton (7AA)
1/17
7:15 PM
Pequot Lakes (7AA)
1/19
7:15 PM
Staples Motley (8AA)
1/20
7:15 PM
Staples Motley (8AA)
1/24
7:30 PM
Hawley (8AA)
2/2
7:30 PM
Perham (8AA)
2/3
7:00 PM
2/4
2:00 PM
2/7
7:30 PM
2/14 2/17 2/21
6:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:15 PM
Sauk Rapids-Rice (8AAA) Sartell-Saint Stephen (8AAA) Thief River Falls (8AAA) Moorhead (8AAAA) Albany (6AA) Crosby-Ironton (7AA)
2/23
7:30 PM
2/25
2:30 PM
2/28
7:15 PM
Alexandria H.S. (8AAA) Grand Rapids (7AAA) Staples Motley (8AA)
3/2
7:30 PM
Bemidji (8AAA)
Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Sauk RapidsRice H.S. Park Rapids Area H.S. Fergus Falls H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Crosby-Ironton H.S. Pequot Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Thief River Falls H.S. Moorhead H.S. Albany H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Detroit Lakes H.S. Staples-Motley H.S. Bemidji H.S.
playing our best basketball in February and March.” Swenson will be assisted by Laker coaching legend Flint Motschenbacher, Kris Smith and Tucker Bergmann. The Lakers will work out the kinks in front of the home crowd with a schedule that features seven of the first eight games at home. DL will take on a pair of conference foes in Park Rapids and Pequot Lakes, an always tough Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton club, and four section opponents in Thief River Falls, Bemidji, Alexandria and Little Falls. The lone road game of the first eight is in Alex Friday, Dec. 16. Laker boys basketball to page 16 »
Kristine M. Riewer, DDS Donald L. Steinmetz, DDS Ryan R. Manke, DDS
701 Hwy 10 E Detroit Lakes, MN (218) 847-9214 "New Patients Welcome"
001353600r1
The Laker boys basketball Team, photo by Caufield Studios
Date
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
16 » Laker boys basketball from page 15 “We play a lot of different levels of competition and hopefully, that will get us ready for the section,” said Swenson. The Lakers finished last season 20-8 overall with a share of the Mid-State Conference championship (6-2) with Crosby-Ironton before losing in the Section 8AAA semifinals to Fergus Falls. The Otters swept the two-game series winning at the buzzer in the regular season on a
half-court heave and by 18 points blowing up a close game in the second half of the playoff game at St. Cloud State University. Fergus went on to reach the state final before losing to five-time defending champions DeLaSalle. The Islanders have 10 state championships and became the first Minnesota team to win five in a row. The home opener for the Lakers versus the Panthers is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Ralph Anderson Gymnasium.
@dlakessports
Cell: 218-849-5564 Office: 218-847-9900
Toll Free: 888-856-5676 Mahnomen: 218-936-5220
001350661r1
LICENSED - INSURED - BONDED
• Commercial • Residential • Farm • Industrial SERVING THE LAKES AREA
i’m lovin’ it
®
001518958r1
BUSES WELCOME • CALL AHEAD FOR EVEN FASTER SERVICE • 218-847-3558 415 Frazee Street E. • Detroit Lakes, MN
001351072r1
try!
Sam Rufer
Charlie Seuntjens
Together they practice • Estate Planning • Real Estate Law
• Civil Litigation • Probate & Trusts
• Personal Injury • Business Formation
903 Washington Avenue • Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 • 218-847-4858
www.pemlaw.com 001520253r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
17
Section champs hungry for deeper run By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
The Lake Park-Audubon Raiders boys basketball team is coming off a first-ever section championship and trip to the state tournament, after winning 22 consecutive games down the stretch to finish 26-5 with a state quarterfinal loss to Class A runners-up Goodhue. The loss snapped the Raider win streak and left players with a sense of urgency to make a deeper run this year. “We’re not trying to listen to anyone outside,” senior captain Mitch Hall said. “We’re just trying to achieve our goals. We’re not going to win 22 straight again, we just have to fight through the good times and play through the bad times.” Hall and six-foot, 10-inch center Jesse Bergh led the Raider offense last season and both will have more versatile roles in their senior years. “We want to win; the goal is to get there and there are many goals on the way,” said third-year head coach Kyle Haberman. Even with the win streak, the Raiders (13-3) placed second in the Pine to Prairie South Conference to 15-2 Waubun. The three conference losses came early, after a 4-4 start to the season. A conference championship is the first of the banners the Raiders are chasing. “We think we have a chance to get back to the state tournament; we’re going to get everybody’s best,” Haberman said. For Haberman, coaching techniques get a twist this year as the Raiders go from Cinderella story to defending 6A champions with targets on their backs. “Teams are going to try to speed us up,” he said. “Are we going to be the strongwilled team to not get out of our game? You’re not going to speed us up. What you strive to be is hunted. Last year it was a business trip. We wanted to go out there and take care of business. This year, it’s the opposite; we have to accept every challenge.” Junior Grant Pederson was primarily an outside threat last year and will still be counted upon from long range. He has added some versatility to his game and the coaching staff and teammates have urged him to be more aggressive with the ball. “We finally got him to be aggressive,” said Hall. “We’ll have two drivers, Jesse in the middle, Carter (Raaen) who is crazy on rebounds and Mikey (Vohnoutka) who is crazy on defense.” Vohnoutka, a senior, was a defensive leader last year and picked his spots offensively, some games taking only three shots. Those three shots typically were good from the field. Raaen, a junior, adds a threat both on the boards and sharing the point with Hall. Hall gave up points last year averaging 8.5 assists per game and will look to balance scoring compared to last year, where much of the burden on the offensive end hung on Bergh’s production. “He’s (Hall) going to have a scoring mentality night in and night out,” Haberman said. The team had a busy summer schedule to find cohesion prior to the season.
The Lpa boys basketball Team, photo by Robert Williams/Tribune
“We played a lot of tournaments at NDSU and MSUM and got as many reps as we can,” said Hall. The Raider senior ran captain’s practice in the week leading up to the start of the official season, as well. “It was very intense; we didn’t just play around,” Hall said. “We did drills and stuff and it went really good.” The state quarterfinals are a thing of the past and the perspective of the program is to take advantage now. “Our goal last year was to win games; this year it’s no different,” Hall said. “We can’t worry about the future, we have to win games now.” Plenty of responsibility is going to remain on the shoulders of Raider big man Bergh, who has a load of suitors offering him a roster spot at the next level. Bergh has garnered the attention of 35 colleges. “We’re going to play out the year and he just wants to play basketball,” Haberman said. “It’s an interesting way to do it, but we’ll decide in March at the end of the year.” Both Bergh and Haberman’s fluid approach to the recruiting process mirrors the sense of what LP-A is trying to accomplish on the court this season. The Raiders want to be smoother and more efficient with the rock. “We need to have more flow and we’re going to move Jesse around more,” Haberman said. Bergh will flash high out of his strong side block position and play more on the weak side, as well. Haberman wants Bergh out of the back-to-the-basket offensive routine to provide scoring from around the hoop. The big man can also shoot consistently from outside. In the end, putting more points up this year is a mandate for the offense. “Last year we averaged 60 points per game and this year we want to average 70,” said Haberman. “Somehow, some way, we have to get 10 more points, which makes us harder to beat and we can win a lot more comfortably.” The Raiders should not need a 20+ win streak to get the attention of fans this year.
Last year, the Audubon gymnasium went from moderately filled to standing-roomonly by the stretch run. LP-A set a school record with 900 people in attendance at a game in the Lake Park gym last season, and earned an upgrade in reputation. “Definitely a different feel; the coolest thing was the fans,” said Hall. “My sophomore year, we had no one there. The support was what I noticed.” Participation numbers are at an alltime high in the younger grades, as well. There are 57 third through sixth grade players, up from 40 the prior season. They practice Tuesday, and Thursdays and play games on Saturdays. “That’s been a lot of fun to watch it; young boys seem to come out of the woodwork now to play basketball,” said Haberman. “They’ve got the bug and that’s what we wanted.” LP-A should be challenged by Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Section 6A. The Comets return their starters, who suffered one loss in a 26-1 season that ended at Concordia at the hands of the Raiders 8063 in the section semifinals. In the conference, defending South champion Waubun returns plenty of speed and shooters, while Brett Maass’ Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal Spartans bring a host of shooting guards and a junior varsity team that went undefeated last year. “They match up with us better than anyone else,” said Haberman. LP-A has plenty of good to build upon after the most successful season in school
BOYS BASKETBALL roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
3 5 11 13 15 20 21 23 24 25 31 35 41 45
Mike Vohnoutka Garret Frank Jacob Anderson Parker Weyer Ryan Voge Tyler Svare Grant Pederson Carter Raaen Tyler Bjerke Mitch Hall Anthony Lage Will Hannesson Nick Donovan Jesse Bergh
G G G G G G G F F F C F F C
12 11 11 11 10 10 11 11 9 12 12 10 10 12
218-238-5974 • 1-888-232-7166 Lake Park Insurance Agency, Inc. LICENSED IN MINNESOTA & NORTH DAKOTA
Polaris Sales, Parts & Service OPEN MON-FRI 8:30-5:30 • SAT 8:30-1:00
The “No Problem” People!
24360 Cty. Rd. 113, Detroit Lakes (6 Miles North on Richwood Road, Then 1 1/2 Miles East on #32 Then 1 1/2 Miles North On #113)
847-9304 or 847-3997
001520296r1
Debra Nelson - Lic. 43687 Jane Mattson - Lic. 20295735 Paulette Opatril - Lic. 20325900
history. This team can use that to even better the mark and get past the opening round at state. They earned that lesson the hard way. “It was good that we were there; it wasn’t great to lose,” said Hall. “We know what it’s like now. It makes a big difference.” “I feel four of them have a really big chip on their shoulders, so now you want to get those two or three others and your bench too,” said Haberman. They’re hungry, which is good.” LP-A opens the season with Class 2A Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Friday, Dec. 2 in Audubon. The Rebels were 25-6 last season and were also knocked out of the state quarterfinals. D-G-F was a 10-point victor against LP-A in last season’s opener in Glyndon.
boys basketball SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
12/2
7:30 PM
12/5
7:30 PM
12/8 12/9 12/13
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM
12/15
5:00 PM
12/22
7:30 PM
1/5
7:30 PM
1/9
7:30 PM
1/13 1/14
7:30 PM 5:30 PM
1/17
7:30 PM
1/20 1/24
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
1/26 1/27
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
1/31 2/3
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
Dilworth-GlyndonLake ParkFelton H.S. (8AA) Audubon Fertile-Beltrami (8A) Lake ParkAudubon Blackduck (8A) Fosston H.S. Fosston (8A) Fosston H.S. Waubun (6A) Lake ParkAudubon NCE/UH Titans (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Park Christian (6A) Park Christian H.S. Ada-Borup (8A) Lake ParkAudubon Norman County West Lake Park(8A) Audubon Waubun (6A) Waubun H.S. Rothsay (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Hawley (8AA) Lake ParkAudubon Win-E-Mac (8A) Win-E-Mac H.S. Bagley (8AA) Lake ParkAudubon Frazee (8AA) Frazee H.S. Mahnomen (8A) Lake ParkAudubon Fosston (8A) Fosston H.S. NCE/UH Titans (6A) Norman County East H.S.
SITE
2/6
7:30 PM
2/10 2/10 2/14
6:00 PM 6:00 PM 7:30 PM
2/16 2/21
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
Park Christian (6A)
Lake ParkAudubon Ada-Borup (8A) Ada-Borup H.S. Ada-Borup (8A) Ada-Borup H.S. Norman County West Norman County (8A) West H.S. Climax/Fisher (8A) Climax H.S. Rothsay (6A) Rothsay H.S.
STATE BANK OF LAKE PARK YOUR HOMETOWN BANK Serving the area since 1926
001393601r1
Lake Park Office: 238-5955 • 1-888-228-1381 Hitterdal Office: 962-3246
A FULL SERVICE BANK 001393606r1
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
18
New coach a perfect fit for LP-A girls hoops By ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
The Lpa gIRLS basketball Team, photo by Robert Williams/Tribune
younger kids who look up to them. It is not difficult to see the impact that success has had on the boys side with a huge pool of underclassmen and youth players joining the program. That success only benefits both programs. “We’re trying to make hay with that too,” he said. “With what coach Haberman has done and how great those guys are it’s transferring over to the girl’s side. We’re still a little light on numbers for sophomores on up, maybe five to six per class playing basketball.” The youth programs have upwards of 14-16 girls per class involved in hoops this year. “Just about every girl, in some classes, is playing basketball, which is really neat,” Peterson said. Peterson is big on promoting multisport athletes and encourages players to concentrate on their other sports, while putting in extra effort during the basketball season. The Raider varsity team wants to put together a better effort this year. Last season, playing in front of a boys team that strung together 22 consecutive wins, the Raider girls felt those losses in front of a packed gym gearing up for the Raider boys. This season, they want those fans in-house for their success. “When you’re getting six to 700 fans, it’s a lot of fun,” Peterson said. “These girls are excited too. There’s no magic switch to flip. It’s hard work and it’s a process. These seniors are kind of a lead group whose legacy will be what kind of program were we able to build? They’re building that foundation.” The starting five for this year’s Raider girls begin with two senior captains, Sam Dahlgren and returning starter Cassidy Holmstrom. Dahlgren returns after missing last season with a knee injury. “She’s a wonderful leader and player and it’s nice to have her back,” Peterson said.
KEVIN LEFEBVRE
C ONSTRUCTIO N LLC 218-530-0238
Residential Construction New and Remodeling Skidsteer Work Kitchen Bathrooms
Holmstrom will be big in the paint, coming off a season where she was dominant on the boards, pulling down 184 rebounds. The next highest total on the team was 59 from Rileigh Leininger. Junior Maria Miosek will start this season, and sophomores Carlie Ecker and Maria Schauer will bump up to the starting quintet from last year’s junior varsity team. Sophomore Grace Bowers leads a number of younger players who will be contributing off the bench and vying for starting roles. “She may be starting in the next game or two,” said Peterson. Bowers was the team’s leading scorer last season as a freshman, and only played about half the season. She scored 149 points, averaging 8.3 ppg and led the team with 37 three-point baskets. LP-A needs one win to be a better club than last season and have been working hard to get over that hump. “They’re looking for leadership and they want opportunities,” said Peterson. “We had some girls who really took a step up this summer. They realize what my expectations are and I had to play catch-up not being a coach the past 20 years. I’m learning from Kyle and Ashley as well as mentors and guys I grew up playing against: Steve Sundby, Bob Gorden and Jeff Skogmo.”
girls basketball roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
2 4 5 11 14 15 20 21 22 23 40 42 44
Maria Schauer Carlie Ecker Grace Bowers Alexa Carlson Elise Whitehead Maria Miosek Kay Pederson Sam Dahlgren Brianne Huesman Kailee Lefebvre Rileigh Leininger Etta Miosek Cassidy Holmstrom
F G G G G F G G G F C C F
10 10 10 12 12 11 9 12 11 10 12 9 12
AUDUBON NORTHSIDE AUTO BODY SHOP SPECIALIZING IN BIG TRUCK REPAIR
MN license #BC635703 ND License #44571
001350888r1
North End of Audubon
218-439-6050
001520399r1
Sundby and Gorden are former Detroit Lakes basketball coaches; Skogmo coached in Frazee. Having extra time with retirement and golf course time with former area coaches this past summer, Peterson has been able to give Raider girls basketball a needed bump in leadership as well as time, which is a crucial factor for a system that needs rebuilding. “Given this situation, it was a good fit to have someone to dedicate a lot of time,” Peterson said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make the program successful. To me, it is a perfect fit.”
GIRLS basketball SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
11/28
7:30 PM
Rothsay (6A)
Rothsay H.S.
11/29
7:30 PM
Frazee (8AA)
12/2 12/9 12/13
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 6:00 PM
12/16
7:30 PM
12/19
7:30 PM
12/22
7:30 PM
1/3
7:30 PM
1/6
7:30 PM
1/13 1/14
6:00 PM 4:00 PM
1/16
7:30 PM
1/19 1/24
7:30 PM 6:00 PM
1/26
7:30 PM
1/30 2/2
7:30 PM 7:30 PM
2/3
7:30 PM
2/6
6:00 PM
2/9 2/9 2/14
7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM
Lake ParkAudubon Mahnomen (8A) Mahnomen H.S. Climax-Fisher (8A) Climax H.S. Waubun (6A) Lake ParkAudubon NCE/UH Titans (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Henning (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Fertile-Beltrami (8A) Lake ParkAudubon Ashby H.S./Destiny Lake ParkAcademy (6A) Audubon Ada-Borup (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Waubun (6A) Waubun H.S. Rothsay (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Park Christian (6A) Park Christian H.S. Win-E-Mac (8A) Win-E-Mac H.S. Bagley (8AA) Lake ParkAudubon Mahnomen (8A) Lake ParkAudubon Fosston (8A) Fosston H.S. NCE/UH Titans (6A) Ulen-Hitterdal H.S. Brandon-Evansville Lake Park(6A) Audubon Park Christian (6A) Lake ParkAudubon Ada-Borup (6A) Ada-Borup H.S. Ada-Borup (6A) Ada-Borup H.S. Pelican Rapids (8AA) Lake ParkAudubon
800.439.6038 218.439.6037
windsor@loretel.net
19694 Morton Oaks Rd. Audubon, MN 56511
Kris Eiter, Larry and Jodi Stockert
001354890r1
Jay Peterson takes over as the new head girls basketball coach at Lake Park-Audubon, joining assistant and former Raider star Ashley Tingelstad in her second season leading the junior varsity. Peterson was a 1986 graduate of Audubon High School and the former Zephyr and Tingelstad bring some of the old and some of the new in their tag-team effort and have a clean slate to start the 2017 season after a winless varsity campaign last year. Peterson retired a couple years ago from a medical device sales career and was involved in the youth basketball program at Elk River when his sons were in high school. Getting back to the lakes area and having a chance to build a program from the ground up were ideal for the Peterson family plans. “Our plan was always to move back home and get out of the cities,” said Peterson. “It was an opportunity and we were able to do it a couple years earlier than we planned.” The Raider varsity went 0-27 last year, falling in the opening round of the playoffs to Rothsay. The Tigers handed LP-A three losses last season and the Raiders and Tigers met Monday, Nov. 24 in the season opener for both clubs in Rothsay. While the varsity team was in need of a change, Peterson’s five-year plan to build the program from the ground up combined with his experience with youth basketball combined with an influx of players of both genders following the boys’ varsity program’s run to the state tournament last year set him apart in the hiring process. “It was good introduction last year to see what had been done here at the elementary level; there just hadn’t been a lot of leadership down at that level,” he said. Today’s elementary players are seeing far more fundamental work and much more game action than the 2017 seniors did in their youth. For example, the fifth and sixth grade teams logged more than 30 games played last season. Ramping up basketball from the youngest players to the varsity is going to be key for the evolution of the girls’ program under Peterson’s direction. “We’ve got some really good coaches down at the elementary and our K-6 program is running three to four months and we’re getting more aggressive with our seventh and eighth grade kids, as well,” he said. Peterson credits head boys coach Kyle Haberman for creating a youth program that has attracted both boys and girls players. Another piece that is evolving is an offensive system that players can grow into over their career. “When you’re in kindergarten you’re going to be doing one action and by the time you’re a senior you’re going to be doing 20-30 actions, but it’s all a product of the same system,” Peterson said. In essence, it keeps the senior class and varsity players accountable for their play in front of their teammates, peers, and
Windsor Sales was founded in 1987 and since 1990 has focused primarily on hospitality industry. Windsor Sales also specializes in lighting of retail spaces, multi-family housing, manufacturing, and other institutional areas.
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
19
The Lpa WRESTLING Team, photo by Robert Williams/Tribune
Growing youth program starting to show up on UCB varsity rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com
A strong youth program continues to develop for United Clay Becker wrestling and the Badgers have a trio of seniors for team leadership. The Badgers remain a fairly young team comprised with only five upperclassmen in returning captains from last year’s team Ryley Byklum and Alec Korby, along with fellow senior Sam Wamre. UCB has only two juniors on the roster in Elijah Noel and Seth Felker. A strong sophomore class of 10 wrestlers is where the Badger’s youth movement is starting to show, complimented by a pair of eighth graders and three freshmen who have made the varsity team under Head Coach Nick Paur. Paul will be assisted by coaches Cole Wixo, Bick Birchem and Troy Speer. Byklum was the top finisher last season placing sixth at 138-pounds at the Section 8AA championships in Fergus Falls. The Badgers are two seasons away from their last state individual competitors in when Nick Wamre (28-11) qualified at 195 pounds. The Badgers were the No. 10-seed at last year’s section tournament and were escorted out quickly in the first round by Detroit Lakes 67-9 behind an eight-pin Lakers’ performance. Having United Clay Becker represented in St. Paul this March, along with picking Up to 3400 Gallon Capacity
3 Trucks To Serve You
up a win in the section duals remain on the platform for end of the season goals. Byklum will be in the running if he stays at 138 pounds with defending champion Sam Naddy of Ottertail Central graduated. Detroit Lakes’ Braydon Ortloff is the top returner at 138. He was last year’s runner-up. So far early in the year, Byklum has been wrestling at 145. The Badgers started the season 1-2 in duals and opened the year with a seventh place finish at Crookston’s Rodd Olson Invitational. Wamre led the way pinning his way to the 220-pound finals and giving the Badgers a champion with a 7-3 victory over Park Rapids Jacob Bittmann. BIttmann is ranked No. 9 in Class A at 220 pounds. Wamre is 4-1 on the young season. His only loss coming by one point to No. 5A Kieran Johnson of Barnesville. FIve other UCB wrestlers placed at Crookston with Byklum taking third (145), Sam Helgeson third (120), Garrett Peterson fourth (113), Braden Boe fourth (152), Nathan Sperr fifth (106). With a competitive core of young wrestlers and some hungry veterans leading the team, UCB should be a more competitive team than the 2015-16 squad. The annual highlight on the regular season schedule is the 40th Terry Teiken Invitational tournament scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30. Teams competing this year are Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Fergus Falls, Fosston, Mahnomen/Waubun, Osakis, Pelican Rapids and Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus.
TIM SMITH
LICENSED • INSURED • BONDED
218.532.2516
Cormorant DEWEY’S SEPTIC SERVICE
001351627r1
wrestling roster No.
name
Pos.
grade
wrestling SCHEDULE Date
Time
Opponent
SITE
12/2
5:00 PM
New York Mills (6A)
12/2
6:00 PM
Staples Motley (6A)
12/8
6:00 PM
Breckenridge (6A)
12/16
0:00 AM
12/16
10:45 AM
12/17
0:00 AM
12/20
7:00 PM
Blackduck/Cass Lake Bena Bears (7A) Blackduck/Cass Lake Bena Bears (7A) Blackduck/Cass Lake Bena Bears (7A) Pelican Rapids (6A)
12/20
7:30 PM
Pelican Rapids (6A)
New York Mills H.S. New York Mills H.S. Lake ParkAudubon Cass Lake-Bena H.S. Cass Lake-Bena H.S. Cass Lake-Bena H.S. Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Perham H.S. Red Lake County Central Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon Lake ParkAudubon None Selected
Groeneweg, Dillon
8
1/7 1/17
0:00 AM 5:00 PM
126
O’Connell, Sanden
10
1/20
0:00 AM
Perham (8AA) Red Lake County Central (8A) Breckenridge (6A)
132
Flores, Brendon
10
170
Noel, Elijah
11
1/20
0:00 AM
Fergus Falls (8AA)
106
Rosing, Jace
0
1/20
0:00 AM
Fosston/Bagley (8AA)
106
Sperr, Nathan
9
113
Peterson, Garrett
10
1/20
0:00 AM
120
Helgeson, Sam
8
1/20
0:00 AM
Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8A) Pelican Rapids (6A)
138
Beaudine-Schlick, Jacob
9
1/20
1:00 PM
Breckenridge (6A)
138
Byklum, Ryley
12
138
Magnuson, Hunter
10
1/20
1:00 PM
145
Boe, Bradyn
10
1/20
3:00 PM
152
Osborne, Jack
10
1/26
6:00 PM
160
Hines, TJ
10
United Clay Becker Badgers (8AA) Pequot Lks/Pine River-B (8AA) Walker-Hack-Akeley/ Nevis (7A)
160
Johnson, Baily
10
1/28
10:00 AM
Pelican Rapids (6A)
160
Korby, Alec
12
170
Mattson, Jack
10
1/31
7:00 PM
Detroit Lakes (8AA)
170
Stuhaug, Joey
10
2/2
7:00 PM
Walker-Hack-Akeley/ Nevis (7A)
182
Felker, Seth
11
182
Wamre, Sam
11
2/10
7:00 PM
Dilworth-GlyndonFelton H.S. (8A)
Hawley CO-OP Elevator
Owner-Operator
Year-Around Pumping • Farm • Residential • Commercial • Lift Pump Replacement • Portable Restroom Rental & Service • Sewer Line Jetting & Thawing • Sewer Line Camera Inspection
UCB wrestled the first home meet of the season in Hawley and will host D-GF in the Nuggets’ gymnasium Jan. 5. The Badgers have two home meets in Lake Park, aside from the Teiken, when Pelican Rapids comes to town Dec. 20 and on Jan. 31 the Lakers appear for a section rematch from last year. United Clay Becker is a co-op between Hawley and Lake Park-Audubon wrestling programs.
First A
For peace of mind…
W agner
Insurance Agency
W agner 218-483-3351 Insurance Agency 001351251r1
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley H.S. Pelican Rapids H.S. Lake ParkAudubon Walker-Hackensack-Akeley H.S. Lake ParkAudubon
First Hawley Agency
001350895r1
By ROBERT WILLIAMS
Life • Health • Home • Auto • Commercial • Crop • Farm 1018 Hobart St. • PO Box 579 710 South Ten Dr. • PO Box 256 Hawley, MN 56549 Lake Park, MN 56554 Ph. (218) 483-3526 Ph. (218) 238-5696 firsthawleyagency@arvig.net wagneria123@yahoo.com
Winter sports preview 2016-2017
20
Proud Supporter of Our Athletes
We are dedicated to cheering on your children while they grow, shine and win. Sanford Health Detroit Lakes Clinic provides quality local health care backed by a system of specialists to serve your sports medicine and family health care needs. Clinic Hours Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday, 8:30 a.m.–Noon
Call (218) 846-2000 to schedule an appointment.
sanfordhealth.org
038003-00035 8/15