Cougars’ Ruegsegger, Akpan, Franco advance to state girls wrestling

Centennial’s Jaden Ruegsegger and Nora Akpan were champions in the Section 3 and 4 tournament Saturday and will advance to the state tournament, along with Alaina Franco, a runner-up, in action at Hastings.

Ruegsegger, a senior, captured the 132-pound title among five contestants, earning her second state trip. She pinned Natalie Diaz of Sibley East in 4:11 in the finals, after getting a 45-second pin in the semifinals. Akpan, a freshman, was 138-pound champion among six contestants, beating Luverne’s Cece Rock 8-4 in the finals after getting a 56-second pin in the semifinals.

Boys Hockey

Peyton Blair’s hat trick helped Centennial defeat Mounds View 4-0 last Tuesday, after which the Cougars lost a pair of high-scoring games in a busy week. The Cougars are 13-9-1 with two regular-season games left. Blair, who has 33 goals, scored even strength, short-handed, and on a power play against Mounds View (10-11-1). Casey Coenen had the other goal, Harper Searles made three assists and Easton Cody 17 saves. Elk River (10-14) outgunned Centennial out on a turn during his second run and made a quick recovery to finish. Luke Lofgren, a senior in his first year, placed 30th. Senior Owen Crandell placed 35th and junior Tyler McGrew 44th.

7-5 on Thursday evening, led by Kole Mears with three goals. Scoring for the Cougars, who had a 3-1 lead, were Blair twice, Heyden Frank, Drake Ramirez, and Heath Nelson. Two goalies played, with Gavin Schahn nicked for four goals and Cody for two. Rosemount (12-9-1) got five goals from sophomore Christian Garrity (who has 21 for the season) and defeated the Cougar 6-4 on Saturday. Centennial had power play goals by Blair, Searles and Ramirez. Searles had two goals and two assists.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Centennial pulled off an upset against Maple Grove 37-36 at home on Tuesday, Feb. 7, beating the same team to whom they lost 63-35 on Jan. 12. “We played outstanding defense,” coach Spencer Waldvogel said. “We switched up our defense, based on if we scored or not, and it caught Maple Grove off guard all night.” Ty Burgoon led the Cougars (4-15) with 16 points. Timmy Ball added eight. Edwin Dorbor and Gannon McGuire scored nine each for Maple Grove (14-5), whose previous low was 54 points. “There was not a game-winning shot. We had to make a stop at the end and we did,” Wadvogel said. “We believed we could do it, and we executed from start to finish.” Spring Lake Park (6-13) tripped the Cougars 81-70 there

Franco, sophomore, was second of four contestants at 145 pounds as she won by pin and lost by pin in her only two matches.

Lucy Dropps, a junior, placed third of eight contestants at 126 pounds, winning three of four matches, all by pin. Ade Flaschberger, a senior, placed sixth of 13 contestants at 120 with a 3-3 record including two pins. Sophie Nurka, sophomore, was 1-2 with a pin at 235 and placed fourth among five contestants.

Thursday with Brayden Talso hitting 17 points and Kyrie Shaw and Beau Johnson 16 each. Jackson Driessen tallied 26 points and Burgoon 22 for the Cougars.

Girls Basketball

Centennial lost to conference leader Maple Grove last week, then defeated Spring Lake Park, giving the Cougars a 13-9 record, 11-4 in the conference. Maple Grove (18-3, 15-0) edged the Cougars 54-49 on Tuesday, powered by Kennedy Klick with 21 points and Audrey Kormann with 15. Marisa Frost had 18 points (shooting 8-for-14) and Jordan Metz 17 (shooting 7-for-10) for Centennial. The Cougars had some foul trouble and shot just 1-for-11 on three’s, but gave the Crimson a much better game than their first meeting (77-50). Centennial topped Spring Lake Park 62-44 at home Thursday, led by Frost with 20 points. Jordan Metz added 12 points (4-for-6 on three’s), Autumn McCall 11 points and eight rebounds, and Macey Littlefield eight. The Cougars were 15-for-18 on free shots. Bella Sutch had 14 and Taylor Bergstrom 11 for the Panthers (9-12).

Wrestling

Centennial finished the regular season with a 15-14 record (4-4 in the conference). Seeded No. 4 in the Section

4AAA dual meet tournament on Friday at Mounds View, the Cougars face No. 5 Irondale/Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony at 5:30, with the winner most likely taking on undefeated, top-seeded Mounds View in the second round. All three rounds will be held Friday evening. The Cougars closed the regular season on Tuesday at White Bear Lake, where they defeated Mahtomedi 48-15 and Tartan 66-11, and lost to the host Bears 42-33.

Girls Hockey

Centennial/Spring Lake Park won its Section 5AA opener against Mounds View/Irondale 8-0 on Saturday. Noelle Hemr notched three goals, Lauren O’Hara two, Ella O’Hearn two, and Grace Laager one, for the Cougars (196-1). Kaitlin Groess stopped 14 shots by the Mustangs (6-18-2). The No. 2 seeded Cougars face No. 3 North Wright County in the semifinals Tuesday, 7 p.m., at Roseville Ice Arena. Top-seeded Maple Grove takes on No. 4 Champlin Park/ Coon Rapids at 5 p.m. The championship will be held Friday, 7 p.m., at the same site.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Ty Burgoon Cougar Basketball

Ty Burgoon leads the Cougar basketball team (4-15) in all categories — 15.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 steals, and three-pointers (31 made, 37-percent). The 5-foot-11 junior guard led a 37-36 upset of Maple Grove last week, scoring 16 points, and followed with 22 in an 81-70 loss to Spring Lake Park. Coach Spencer Waldvogel cites Burgoon as the floor general on offense and vocal leader on defense. “Ty plays with so much energy on both ends,” Waldvogel said. “He’s one of those players that makes everyone around him better.” Burgoon plays most of each game, yet consistently at a high level, said the coach: “Thats a hard thing to do.” On Centennial’s 8-3 football team, Burgoon gained 305 yards rushing and 210 passing.