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The Carlton/Wrenshall girls volleyball team is moving along heading into the final few matches of the regular season. At the .500-mark, the Raptors are hoping to make some noise in the section playoffs. The team is coming off a weekend tournament in Burnsville against much larger schools and have a tough schedule before the section tournament. "We were the only single A school in the Burnsville tournament," said head coach Barb Soukkala. "We played some great teams and most were AAA schools... Full story
Dwight Cadwell [email protected] Making their third trip to the Minnesota State High School League state girls softball tournament last week, the Rebels were hoping to make a run at the state title after being close the previous two years. Those hopes were dashed in the state quarterfinals by Russell-Tyler- Ruthton. In their first-ever state tournament appearance, the Knights shut down the Rebels in a 10-0 10-run victory last Wednesday night in Mankato. RTR scored four runs in the bottom... Full story
Team makes third straight appearance Dwight Cadwell [email protected] The third time may be the charm for the Moose Lake/Willow River girls softball team as the team captured its third straight section 7A title and advanced to the state girls softball tournament in Mankato this week, June 5-7. The Rebels season was different from the past two seasons. "We may have flown under the radar some as we played a tough schedule and had more losses than people were accustomed to," head coach Kelly... Full story
Moose Lake/Willow River is the only local team left as the Section 7 girls softball tournaments are winding down to state tournament time. After beating Cherry in a semifinal Tuesday, the Rebels advanced to the Section 7A championship for the third consecutive season. ML/WR opened the section tournament May 23 in Grand Rapids with an 8-0 victory over North Woods following a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. After the win over the Grizzlies, the Rebels topped Ely, 5-1. ML/WR had defeated... Full story
The Section 7 boys baseball playoffs got into full swing Tuesday. Lots of local eyes were focused on defending Class AA state champion Esko as they opened 7AA play with victories over Two Harbors and Greenway-Nashwauk/Keewatin (GNK), scoring 25 runs in two shutout victories. Esko rolled through the regular season, dropping only two contests: one to section rival Duluth Marshall and the other to Grand Rapids. Jackson Peterson stuck out six batters in the 12-0 win over the Agates. Jamis Halverson... Full story
With rain looming Tuesday, proactive school officials rescheduled Section 7 softball action for Monday afternoon to keep things set for semifinal action on Thursday. Several local teams had byes in the opening round of action in both sections 7A and 7AA. In Class AA, Moose Lake/Willow River, South Ridge and Proctor had byes as the top teams in their respective sections, while Esko, Carlton/Wrenshall, Cromwell-Wright, and Barnum all opened victoriously on Monday afternoon. Section playoffs contin... Full story
The Raptors softball team has submitted paperwork to the state association and national federation for pitcher Abby Mitchell to be enshrined as the state record holder and shared national record holder for strikeouts in a seven-inning game at 24. Mitchell recorded 24 strikeouts in a 3-0 loss against Hinkley-Finlayson April 12 at Chub Lake Park in Carlton. Every out achieved by the Raptors in the game was by strikeout. (Three batters reached first base on passed ball strikeouts.) The team is... Full story
A controversial split with Two Harbors Monday saw the Cromwell-Wright boys baseball team end on a high note, defeating the Agates 21-1 in five innings after dropping the first contest 10-9. "The first game I thought the game was tied," head coach Dean Levinski said. "Our book and the umpire I thought had us tied, but their book gave them a one-run victory. "It was two bizarre games against Two Harbors." Two Harbors jumped out to an early 9-1 lead through five innings, but the Cardinals rallied b... Full story
The No. 1 seeded Esko boys basketball team continues to cruise through the Section 7AA playoffs following an 84-47 victory over No. 8 seed Duluth Marshall Saturday at Hermantown High School. Esko struck fast and furiously and used a pressure defense to slow down and frustrate the Hilltoppers top scorer Brooks Johnson, as Esko ran out to a 41-22 lead at halftime of the quarterfinal. "I told the guys not to overlook anyone in the playoffs; we have done that before and it cost us," said Esko head... Full story
The Cardinals had a chance when they faced Mountain Iron-Buhl in the Section 7A championship game, but the Cromwell-Wright girls basketball team would have had to play a near perfect game to beat the defending state champions. In the end, that game didn't materialize, and the Cardinals fell, 76-35, at Romano Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth on March 8. "We picked a bad time to not play our best game of the season, while they played the best game I have seen them... Full story
Aiden Theisen and Warren Hietala held the Lumberjack banner high as the two Lumberjacks wrestlers competed at the state wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul last week. Theisen, wrestling in the 114-pound weight class, was hoping to pick up one win at the state meet after losing two matches at the state tournament last season. He got three. Theisen claimed a sixth-place finish out of the field of 16. Theisen won his opening- round match over Samuel Moore from... Full story
Leilani Fonoti poured in 27 points Saturday afternoon to lead all scorers as the Lumberjacks got the monkey off their back against Grand Rapids, with a 74-60 win at Cloquet Middle School. Fonoti kept Cloquet alive in the first half as the 'Jacks struggled mightily from the floor, making only four field goals in the first half with three of those four coming within 5 feet of the basket. Cloquet's only other first-half field goal was by Quinn Danielson, who nailed a three-pointer. Fonoti hit two... Full story
The 7AA girls basketball season came to an end for local teams last week as Esko, Barnum and Moose Lake / Willow River bowed out of the tournament. Trailing 53-52, Esko had a chance to advance to the semifinals but was unable to capitalize, then a late foul gave the Rails the 3-point win Saturday at Duluth Denfeld. "We had the ball trailing by one point as time was fading down," Esko head coach Sue Northey said. "We wanted the opportunity to come away with the victory, but it didn't happen."... Full story
Two Lumberjack wrestlers qualified for the state boys wrestling tournament this week in St. Paul: freshman Aiden Theisen and senior Warren Heitala. Theisen will make his second straight state tournament appearance after defeating Roman McKinney of Pine City/Hinckley Finlayson to capture the 114-pound weight class Saturday in Grand Rapids. It is the first section title in several years for Cloquet-Esko-Carlton. Heitala won with a true second victory in the 160-pound weight class Saturday and... Full story
Izzy Fairchild helped the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage jump out to an early lead in the first period and go on to a 4-0 win Tuesday night over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. Fairchild finished with a four-point night, including two goals and two assists to take over the Mirage team scoring lead. Hannah Graves started the scoring for the Mirage. Fairchild made a centering pass to Grace Nichols, who slid the puck through the crease to Graves on a power play... Full story
With the holidays on the near horizon, so too is the long-standing tradition of holiday sports tournaments between Christmas and New Years. Hockey and basketball take center stage over the break, but there are also scattered wrestling meets and a few ski meets — weather permitting — during the break. Following are some of the holiday highlights: Hockey The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team will open play in the Heritage Holiday Classic in Duluth against Apple Valley at 11:30 a.m. Wed... Full story
It may have started in northern Minnesota, but Jamie Langenbrunner's hockey career has taken him across the country and around the world. But Wednesday, Dec. 6 brought him right back to northern Minnesota, even though he was standing in a hotel in Boston. That's when the former standout Lumberjacks hockey player was enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame - located in Eveleth, Minnesota - along with four others in Boston. "It was an amazing honor to be elected to the Hall of Fame,"... Full story
The Cloquet boys basketball team played tough Tuesday, but ultimately fell to North Branch 73-69 in this season's home opener at Cloquet Middle School. Head coach Steve Battaglia isn't worried. "We are going to have some bumps and bruises along the way, but when the section playoffs start next March, this will be a team that [others] are not going to want to play," Battaglia said. "We have six seniors and not a lot of experience, but we have some players that will move into new roles. This is a... Full story
The Cloquet and Esko girls basketball teams battled for the first time Tuesday with more than just bragging rights on the line. The Lumberjacks prevailed to win the first "Battle for the Paddle." Esko head coach Sue Northey came up with the idea. "We were looking to come up with a trophy game, as we have met each other 30 times dating back to 1987," Northey said, pointing out that since Carlton and Wrenshall have merged sports programs, that left no local girls teams playing for jugs or other... Full story
The Moose Lake/Willow River boys football team entered last week's Class AA quarterfinals confident after a section victory over Barnum and how well the defense had played all season long, but Eden Valley-Watkins brought weapons the Rebels had not faced much this season. The game ended with a 60-0 shutout victory for the Eagles in Forest Lake Thursday night. The Eagles' high-octane offense started on the second play from scrimmage when EVW's quarterback Nolan Geislinger took the snap from the... Full story
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team evened its season record at 1-1 Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over the Moose Lake Area Rebels at Riverside Arena in Moose Lake. Lumberjacks junior defender Sarah Blais scored with one second left in the first period for the only goal of the game. The game marked the first win and shutout for Lumberjacks eighth grade goaltender, Izzy Strang, as part of the CEC varsity. With only five seniors on the CEC roster this season, underclassmen are expected to... Full story
All season long, the Moose Lake/Willow River defense has played like a unit possessed by protecting the endzone. The Rebels entered the playoffs allowing an average of a little over 8 points per game defensively with most opponents scoring late in games when the Rebels' second or third units were on the field. The Rebels defense played a starring role in the 13-0 win over Barnum Thursday, Nov. 2, in the Section 7AA championship game at Esko. "All season long the defense played so well, this is... Full story
For the third consecutive season, Rush City ended the Esko girls volleyball season in the 7AA playoffs. Last year, a late comeback by Esko in the section final forced a deciding fifth set for the Tigers before 700 fans. In 2021, the Tigers ended the Esko season in the section quarterfinals. On Saturday, Rush City swept Esko 3-0 to advance back to the state girls volleyball tournament this week in St. Paul. "They are a very good team with so many great players," said Esko head coach Pete Stasiuk.... Full story
When they met for the season opener, Barnum's first victory over Moose Lake/Willow River came only after two overtimes. This week, the neighboring football teams will play again, with the Section 7AA title and a trip to State on the line. The Bombers remain undefeated after overwhelming the Aitkin Gobblers, 41-0, in one section semifinal at Barnum Saturday, while the Rebels topped Mesabi East, 28-14, in Willow River Saturday to advance to the section championship contest Thursday night in Esko.... Full story
In the Section 7A championship game on Tuesday, Esko scored early and often for a decisive 4-0 victory over Marshall, eclipsing a September tie between the teams and sending Esko to state. Esko's Britta Koski scored on a penalty kick just 1 minute, 51 seconds into the match. The goal by Koski set the mood and momentum for Esko. Koski scored again in the eighth minute when a brilliant pass from Gwen Lilly allowed Koski to split two defenders and beat Hilltoppers goalkeeper Seva Gustafson. "We... Full story