BROOKLYN CENTER — The Willmar, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and Team United wrestling teams know their postseason paths.
Seeds were announced for the state team wrestling tournament Tuesday morning. The team tournament takes place Thursday, March 2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Willmar is unseeded and will take on No. 3 Hastings at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals. The Cardinals advanced to state for the third straight season after beating Bemidji 33-25 in the Section 8AAA championship. The Raiders will be in their fourth straight state tournament after winning the Section 3AAA tournament with a 50-20 win over Park of Cottage Grove.
Other Class AAA quarterfinal matchups: Rochester Mayo vs. No. 2 Waconia, Anoka vs. No. 1 St. Michael-Albertville and No. 5 Apple Valley vs. No. 4 Stillwater.
Also making state for the third straight year is BBE. The Jaguars earned the No. 3 seed in the Class A tournament. They face unseeded Medford at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals. The Jaguars made state following a 36-25 win against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the Section 5A championship. Back at state for the first time since 2009, Medford qualified after winning the Section 2A championship over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 33-30.
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Other Class A quarterfinal matchups: United North Central vs. No. 2 Caledonia/Houston, West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville vs. No. 1 Jackson County Central and No. 5 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted vs. No. 4 Royalton/Upsala.
Team United — Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley/Montevideo — is back at state for the first time since 2014. It is unseeded in the Class AA tournament and faces No. 3 Kasson-Mantorville at 11 a.m. United is the Section 3AA champion after a 37-22 victory over Marshall. Kasson-Mantorville was the Class AA runner-up last season. The KoMets return to state after beating Zumbrota-Mazeppa in the Section 1AA championship, 34-23.
Other Class AA quarterfinal matchups: Mora vs. No. 2 New Prague, Totino-Grace vs. No. 1 Simley and No. 5 Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus vs. No. 4 Becker.
Lange, Beier earn CLC nods
Two Willmar athletes — Telilie Lange and Mallory Beier — were named Central Lakes Conference Performers of the Week.
Lange, a freshman guard, was named the girls basketball defensive performer of the week after collecting seven rebounds and four steals over two games: a 64-49 win over the St. Cloud Crush on Feb 13 and a 64-56 win at Fergus Falls on Feb. 16. The Cardinals wrap up the regular season Friday at home against Sauk Rapids.
Beier is a freshman on the Willmar gymnastics team. She was named one of the gymnastics performers of the week after qualifying for the Class A state tournament on the vault. She placed sixth in the Section 6A championship with a vault score of 9.225. She, along with teammates Lyndi Koosman and Kim Joneson, compete in the Class A state individual championships at 6 p.m. Saturday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.
Other CLC performers of the week include:
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- From Alexandria, boys hockey player Gavin Olson, girls basketball player Chloe Scholl, and boys swimmer Eric Peterson;
- From Brainerd, boys hockey player Brady Johnson, boys Nordic skiers Lance Hastings and Taite Knapp, and girls Nordic skiers Cally Robertson and Issabelle Smith;
- From Fergus Falls, boys swimmer Matthew Tuel;
- From Sartell, gymnast Makenna Hauk; and
- From Sauk Rapids, boys basketball player Max Loesch.
Bisek thriving with Cobbers
Former New London-Spicer wrestler Ty Bisek has been dominant on the mat this season for Concordia-Moorhead.
The Cobbers sophomore is currently ranked fifth at 133 pounds in the National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings of Feb. 15.
Bisek is Concordia-Moorhead’s top wrestler with a 25-1 record. Fourteen of his wins have come by fall. His career record is 52-7.
Other area wrestlers on Concordia-Moorhead’s roster include:
- Senior AJ Backes (Willmar) is 5-12 with two falls at 149.
- Senior Tyler Bents (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) is 16-7 with three falls at 157.
- Senior Ayden Friese (Yellow Medicine East) is 9-4 with one fall at 184.
- Freshman Mason Swanson (Willmar) is 15-10 with eight falls at 285.
Bisek and the rest of the Cobbers are scheduled to compete in the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional on Friday and Saturday at Concordia University-Wisconsin in Mequon, Wisconsin.
Area trio help Bethany secure UMAC
Three former West Central Tribune-area players helped Bethany Lutheran College lock up the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular-season men’s basketball championship on Friday.
The Vikings (21-4) clinched the conference title with an 87-73 victory over Northwestern-St. Paul in Mankato. It is Bethany’s third conference title and the first since 2017-18.
Drew Sagedahl, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from BOLD, has started 25 games for the Vikings. He leads the team with 16.8 points per game along with 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
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Justin Schrupp, a 6-3 senior forward from Renville County West, has started 17 games. He’s putting up averages of 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Riley Ashburn, a 6-4 sophomore forward from RCW, is averaging 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 12.9 minutes a game.
Boerema gets opening-day start for KSU
Litchfield’s Owen Boerema took the mound for the first game of the season for the Kansas State University baseball team.
Boerema tossed the first three innings of the Wildcats’ 7-6 win over Stephen F. Austin Friday at Jaycees Field at Nacogdoches, Texas. He allowed five runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in a no-decision.
A senior at KSU, Boerema transferred from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul after going 16-4 with 240 strikeouts and a 1.88 ERA over 28 career games.
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