Saturday, Feb. 22nd:
Gymnastics:
Lauren Hanson took home the Class 1A State All Around Championship, with a score of 37.47. It was the second straight year a Wright County Area athlete won the All-Around Championship. Last year, Jackie Bergeron from STMA won it all in Class AA. Keatyn Nowacki from Monticello finished 5th in the All Around in Class A, while Avery LeMonds from STMA finished 7th in the All Around for Class AA.
Lauren Hanson, above, performs her floor routine on her way to a state championship.
Boys Hockey:
Section 2A Semifinals:
#3 Orono 4, #2 Delano 3. Bryce Peterson tied the game at three in the third period for the Tigers, but at the 2:50 mark of overtime, Ethan Pagel scored on a one timer to give the Spartans the win and end the Tigers season.
Section 5A Semifinals:
#1 Monticello 3, #4 Pine City 2. Landon Scherber scored 4:10 into overtime to lift the Moose over the Dragons, to advance Monticello to the Section finals. It was one of two goals on the night for Scherber. Aaron Rotkie stopped 54 of 57 shots for Pine City in the loss.
Landon Scherber, above, scored twice, including the game winning goal in OT for Monticello on Saturday.
Boys Basketball (regular season)
Watertown-Mayer 64, Howard Lake WW 54. Cody Stapel scored 20 points for the Lakers in the loss.
Delano 79, St. Francis 43.
Tuesday, Feb. 25th:
Boys Basketball (regular season)
Minnetonka 81, Buffalo 74. Isa El Amin scored 26 points as the Skippers held off the Bison on Senior night at Buffalo on Tuesday. Sr. Jordy Sorenson hit a game tying three at the buzzer for Buffalo to force overtime and Matthew Jordan led the Bison with 19 points.
Jordy Sorenson, above, hits the tying three at the buzzer for Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Monticello 65, Zimmerman 59. Rhys Nebben was the Magic high scorer with 23 points.
Annandale 83, Legacy 70. The Cards picked up a big section win on Tuesday night as Colton Purcell scored 31 for Annandale and Ben Walter caught fire in the second half, scoring 14 of his 16 points.
Rockford 64, Howard Lake WW 53. Mason Mooney netted 18 for the Rockets in the win, while Cody Stapel was the top scorer for the Lakers with 22.
Glencoe SL 84, Dassel-Cokato 64. Jackson Yanke had 17 in the loss for the Chargers.
Girls Basketball:
Section 6AA Play in Round
Howard Lake WW 65, Metro Prep 37. Abby Bloch and Tori Thorson combined for 37 points in the Lakers win.
Thursday, Feb. 27th.
Wrestling.
Class AAA Team State Tournament.
The STMA Knights took home their 11th state championship and their second straight, blowing through the competition with remarkable ease. In the quarterfinal round they got revenge on Hastings, who stunned them two years ago with an amazing comeback to steal state from them, but not this time, it was all Knights, 60-8. In the semifinals it was the same story as the Knights rolled, 54-8 over Albert Lea. In the finals the Knights took on Shakopee, who slipped past Stillwater, 27-26, but once again the Knights rolled to the 40-18 win and collected another state championship in Class AAA.
Above, action from STMA’s state championship win over Shakopee on Thursday night.
Girls Basketball.
Section 6AA First Round.
#4 Annandale 49, #13 St. Cloud Cathedral 25. Julia Bishop scored 15 as the Cards advanced.
Above, both teams head to the bench after an early timeout in the Cards win over SCC.
Section 5AA 2nd Round.
Dassel-Cokato 77, Rockford 52.
Southwest Christian 57, Howard Lake WW 25.
Section 5AAA Quarterfinals.
#1 Monticello 71, #8 Zimmerman 40. Aubrey Kreinke led the Magic with 17 points as they advanced with ease to the Section semifinals.
Boys Basketball. (Still regular season.)
Rockford 59, Norwood YA 57. Four players scored in double figures for the Rockets, led by Harrison Edwards with 15, as Rockford pulled out the close win.
STMA 61, Sartell 53. Jordan Holm, poured in 22 points in the Knights win.
Friday, Feb. 28th.
Boys Basketball. (Still Regular season.)
Annandale 66, Becker 58. Colton Purcell hit a three pointer with one minute left to give the Cards a 60-58 lead that they never lost in their non conference win over Becker on Senior night. Purcell at So. led the Cards with 20 points, including 16 in the second half.
Spectrum 74, Howard Lake WW 68. Brandon Nelson scored 22 in the Fire win.
Hopkins 90, Buffalo 77. Anthony Smith one of the top leading scorers in the state poured in 40 points in the Royals win.
Dassel-Cokato 84, Providence 77.
Mound 79, Delano 73.
Saturday, March 1st.
Wrestling.
Individual State Tournament State Championship Matches involving Wright County Area Athletes. from the Xcel Energy Center.
Boys AA.
127: Titan Friedrichs (Watertown-Mayer) won by tech fall (17-1) over Raydon Graham (HLWW).
145: Landon Kujawa (Becker) over Aiden Grainer (PEM), 8-1.
152: Kaden Nicolas (Becker) over Raydon Bipes (Hutch), 12-8.
Boys AAA.
107: Landon Thoennes (STMA) over Ethan Phanmanivong(Shakopee), 1-0.
114: Dylan St. Germain (Eagan) over Eli Schultz, (STMA), 7-4.
121: Lawson Eller (New Prague) over Grant Bergeron (STMA), 7-0.
133: Lincoln Robideau (STMA) over Trey Beissel (Hastings), SV, 4-1.
160: Landon Robideau (STMA) over Kyle Walters (Shakopee), Tech Fall, 21-6.
Landon Robideau(STMA), above, celebrates his fourth straight championship on Saturday.
172: Jackson Barron, (Shakopee), over Jarrett Wadsen(STMA), 4-3.
189: John Murphy (STMA), over Sutton Kenning (St. Cloud Tech), 13-11.
285: Cole Will (Eagan), over Ryan Babatz(Buffalo), 7-5.
Girls Wrestling.
106: Azalea Kallal (New Prague) over Ava Schultz (STMA), 4-1.
136: Emma Antoni (STMA) by Fall over Hattie Mathre (Byron).
Ava Schultz(STMA), above, finished second at 106.
Girls Basketball.
Section 6AA Quarterfinals.
#4 Annandale 58, #12 Osakis 57. The Cards survived the upset bid by #12 Osakis and advanced to the section semifinals with the win at St. Ben’s on Saturday.
Section 5AAA Semifinals.
#1 Monticello 63, #4 St. Francis 24. Samantha Voll scored more points (14), then the Saints scored in the first half as the Magic cruised to the semifinal win.
The Monticello bench, above, celebrates their win over St. Francis on Saturday.
Section 8AAAA Semifinals.
#1 STMA 74, #4 Sartell 42. Cail Jahnke (20) and Abby Hoselton (13), combined for 33 points in the Knights win.
Section 6AAA Semifinals.
#2 BSM 87, #3 Delano 48. Caitlin Champeau, and Abbie Pietilla each scored 10 points in the season ending loss for the Tigers.
