A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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After opening the Section 7AAA softball playoffs last Wednesday with a win, the Lumberjacks faced stiff competition Thursday and fell in back-to-back losses at home in the double elimination portion of the tournament. Cloquet, the No. 4 seed, opened at home with No. 5 seed Grand Rapids and parlayed a seven-run fourth inning into a 7-4 come-from-behind victory. "We broke things open in the fourth, which was kickstarted with a double by Brooke Proulx," said Cloquet coach Tyler Korby. "Being down... Full story
First-year Lumberjacks head coach Andrew Miller aims to build a solid girls golf program, much like the Cloquet boys, a perennial frontrunner for the Section 7 championship. This year Miller has been able to double the number of athletes on the team. His group was rewarded on Monday with a third-place finish in the Lumberjack Invite held at the Cloquet Country Club. "The girls played well under some tougher conditions," said Miller. "It was raining as they warmed up, but then the rain stopped,... Full story
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton went 1-1 in the Section 7 boys tennis tournament play last week. The Lumberjacks opened with an impressive 7-0 win over Duluth Marshall before being ousted from tournament play in a 5-2 loss to Hibbing. "Winning 7-0 in our first playoff match at home was great," said CEC head coach Derek Johnson. "Against Hibbing we were the underdogs, and in the regular season we lost a close 4-3 match to them." Against Marshall, the Lumberjacks swept all singles and doubles games. Ethan... Full story
A big third inning helped send the Cloquet softball team to a 9-1 win over Esko Monday afternoon at Braun Park. The Lumberjacks led just 1-0 entering the bottom of third and then blew the game open with five runs in the inning. Cloquet grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, when Blythe Proulx singled and Rylie Goranson laid down a bunt in an attempt to sacrifice Proulx to second base. Instead, Esko misplayed the bunt, which ended up down the right field line, allowing Proulx to...
The 2024 Lake Superior Conference was held Tuesday afternoon in Cloquet under blue skies and sunshine, with a bit of an east wind. When the day came to an end, the Cloquet Lumberjacks nabbed first place in the boys meet while the Cloquet girls took second place at the brand-new Members Cooperative Credit Union athletic complex. The Cloquet boys placed first with 152.5 points. Proctor was second with 135 points and Grand Rapids was third in the eight-team field. Hibbing captured top honors for... Full story
The first season in history of the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys lacrosse program has been nothing short of impressive. The Lumberjacks have displayed massive offensive firepower and a stingy defense, a formula that guided them to an impressive 7-0 record on the season. That changed on Tuesday night when CEC took its first loss of the season by a score of 13-5 to the Proctor/Hermantown Stealth. CEC drew first scoring blood in the game on an impressive individual effort by Logan Dahlman, who weaved... Full story
The Cloquet baseball team is in the midst of the busiest part of its spring schedule. Last Thursday, the Lumberjack fell 7-5 to Proctor, on Monday they lost 5-3 to a tough Superior team. Don't judge the team's ability by its win-loss record (4-8), because all but one loss was by three runs or fewer, head coach Tyler Olin pointed out. Against Superior, Cloquet fell behind 4-0 after the first inning and a half, but then erupted for three runs in the bottom of the second to pull to within 4-3.... Full story
The Minnesota Wilderness rallied Friday only to end the season the next night with a 6-2 loss to the Anchorage Wolverines at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. The Wilderness, which trailed the five-game playoff series 2-0 coming into the weekend, extended the season Friday by beating the Wolverines 4-1, but Anchorage bounced back Saturday to win and take the series 3-1. "After winning on Friday night I think we were maybe emotionally drained," said Wilderness coach Colten St. Clair.... Full story
The Cloquet girls softball team got a little help from Mother Nature Tuesday when rainy weekend skies cleared enough to allow the Lumberjacks a chance to get on their home field for Senior Night. The Lumberjacks didn't disappoint the fans at Braun Park as they rolled to an easy 11-0 win over Duluth Denfeld. "It was a pretty special night for the seniors," said Cloquet coach Tyler Korby. "It was emotional for the seniors, but they all came out to play tonight for us." Cloquet's four seniors... Full story
Esko hosted one of the largest local track meets of the year last Thursday at the Esko track and field complex. Eleven schools competed at the varsity and junior varsity boys and girls divisions at the Esko Showcase meet. "Every year our Esko Sports Alliance puts this meet on as one of our three big fundraisers to go along with the Bob Thompson golf tournament and the Coaches Classic over the holidays," said Esko girls coach Matt Peterson. "Bill Hudspith is the meet manager and Dennis Rengo... Full story
For seven innings the Carlton/Wrenshall and Barnum boys baseball teams battled nose to nose. Then, in the top of the eighth inning, all that changed when the Raptors erupted for eight runs and came away with an explosive 15-8 early season win on the road April 18. "We got down early in the game and then showed a lot of resiliency to come back and win," said Carlton/Wrenshall coach Aaron Lattu. Both teams had offensive success in the first seven innings with each team putting up seven runs... Full story
Cold temperatures and ominous skies greeted the Esko and Barnum softball teams Tuesday afternoon in Esko. Fortunately, the rain held off and both teams did their best to keep warm with temperatures dropping to around 38 degrees by game time. When the final at bat occurred, it was Esko coming away with the 13-3 win. "Our girls were pretty fired up because last year Barnum beat us, so they had a little incentive to come out and play hard," said Esko coach Huff Emanuel. "We came out fast and the... Full story
A new era in Cloquet-Esko-Carlton athletics began last week when the first lacrosse team in school history hit the field April 11 with a home game against Roccori at Members Cooperative Credit Union stadium. When the final horn sounded, the Lumberjacks not only had played the first game in school history, they also had their first win, defeating Roccori 10-7. It was a far cry from playing club games on dirt and grass fields around the Northland, some without a scoreboard. Senior Saige Moran... Full story
Last season, the Cloquet girls softball team got over a big hurdle by winning in the first round of the Section 7AAA tournament. Next, the 'Jacks nearly pulled off the impossible by taking Chisago Lakes, the section's top seed, into extra innings before losing to the team that eventually ended as runner-up in the state tournament. "We beat Hibbing after they had eliminated us the year before, so that was big for this group of girls," said Cloquet coach Tyler Korby. "After we lost to Chisago, we... Full story
It would be an understatement to say Carlton/Wrenshall pitcher Abby Mitchell had a strong start to her season last week against Hinckley-Finlayson. Just how strong has yet to be determined. "We are currently trying to solidify the number of strikeouts she had, but we believe it was 24 in that game," said Raptors head coach Anna George. "If that is true, it would be a national record. In that game we were missing four of our starters. We had three dropped third strikes in which the batter got to... Full story
The Cloquet boys baseball team could have picked a couple of easier opponents to open with this season. Instead, the Lumberjacks opened with a doubleheader against Duluth East and Duluth Marshall at Wade Stadium last Thursday, April 4. The 'Jacks lost the opener to East 7-4 and then fell in the nightcap 8-1 to Marshall. "Both of those teams are going to be awfully good this season," said Cloquet coach Tyler Olin. The Lumberjacks will have to find a way to replace 13 players who graduated last... Full story
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys tennis team was all smiles on Tuesday as the team competed for the first time on the new high school tennis courts. "Everyone was so excited and thrilled with the new facility," said CEC coach Derek Johnson. "With snow last week we just didn't know if we'd get to open today, but we were able to open and they were able to get some of the bleachers in, so it really made for a fantastic night." The new Members Cooperative Credit Union athletic complex features eight... Full story
Just a couple of weeks ago, spring sports teams were licking their chops because there was no snow on the ground. Teams were able to get outside and simulate gamelike conditions. Then Mother Nature decided to throw a curveball at local teams by dumping nearly 2 feet of snow on the region last week. Teams were suddenly pumping the brakes on the upcoming season. The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys tennis team was excited about getting to practice on the new eight-court facility at Members Cooperative... Full story
With a snowstorm looming, the Polar League high school track season kicked off indoors Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Although no team scores were kept, local track and field athletes impressed in both the boys and girls divisions. The boys 60-meter dash featured some of the top local talent in the area. Esko's Koi Perich just nosed out Kaden Robbins of Moose Lake/Willow River to grab the win. Both Perich and Robbins were timed at 7.25 seconds with Jaxsyn Schmidt of ML/WR... Full story
The Esko boys basketball team met its Achilles' heel in the Section 7AA championship Friday, falling to Pequot Lakes, 55-42, at Romano Gym on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth. It was the fourth year in a row Esko met Pequot Lakes in the playoffs, and the fourth year the Patriots came out on top. Esko found itself in a big hole early, falling behind 14-0 after a sluggish start. "We just didn't come out ready," said Esko coach Derek Anderson. "I didn't expect that to happen. There... Full story
The Section 7A boys basketball season came to an end for local teams March 13 in Hibbing, where both Carlton/Wrenshall and Fond du Lac bowed out of the playoffs after semifinal games. In the first semifinal game, Carlton/Wrenshall dropped a tough 79-70 decision to Mountain Iron-Buhl. Playing in their first season as a basketball cooperative, the Raptors ended with an impressive 21-8 record. Carlton/Wrenshall trailed 35-32 at halftime and were still very much in the game. But the Rangers rode a... Full story
Gage Stankiewicz is now an All-American in track and field after the NCAA Division III meet in Virginia Beach, Virginia, earlier this month. A junior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the 2021 Esko High School grad had the longest throw of his career at 57 feet, 5 inches to gain fifth place and All-America status during the March 8-9 meet. "Early in the year I was still overcoming an injury from last year and it affected me along with putting too much pressure on trying to hit 17... Full story
It was a tale of two halves last Saturday when No. 4 seed Moose Lake/Willow River and neighboring No. 5 seed Barnum met in the Section 7AA boys basketball quarterfinals in Hermantown. The Bombers came out on fire and surged to a 15-point halftime lead, only to have the Rebels come storming back to sneak away with a 64-63 win. "The first half we executed everything, we took care of the ball and we played really good defense," said Bomber head coach Rich Newman. While Newman was ecstatic about... Full story
It took a nearly flawless game for the North Branch Vikings to beat the Cloquet in the Section 7AAA boys basketball tournament last week. The game was even at 41-41 at halftime on March 6, but the Vikings managed to finally pull away with a 95-85 win and a chance to move into the semifinals. “They played well and we played well,” said Cloquet coach Steve Battaglia. “It took a heck of game to beat us, but in the end they got 12 more rebounds and they were able to close it out.” The Vikings... Full story
The large Section 7A boys basketball tournament reached a fever pitch Wednesday, with two of the remaining four teams hailing from Carlton County. One of those local teams was expected to be in the mix, while the other has shocked everyone but themselves. On March 7, the No. 1 seed out of the south, Carlton/Wrenshall, easily handled No. 8 south seed South Ridge to the tune of 85-55. "Overall, it was a good team win," said Raptors coach Shawn Filipiak. "We came out a little slow, but we started... Full story
