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
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
When AJ Kazel applied the tag on the runner for the final out of the state championship game last week, the Esko senior first baseman knew exactly what his next steps would be. "I put that ball in my back pocket," said Kazel. "And all I wanted to do was go celebrate." Rushing to the mound with his Esko teammates, celebrate they did as the Eskomos earned the school's first ever baseball state title June 16 with a 9-0 shutout over Perham in last Friday's Class AA state championship game at St....
When asked what her three seniors have meant to her and their community's softball squad over the years, an emotional Moose Lake/Willow River head coach Kelley Goeb needed a moment. Rightfully so, as the momentum that Sarah Christy, Alexis Hoffmann and Hannah Roach have brought to the Rebels' program has sent them soaring into the record books. In fact, the trio bookended their prep careers in familiar territory - with a win - as Christy and Hoffmann split duty in the pitcher's circle, spinning...
Since the days of T-ball, Ben Haugen has been coaching his son, Cale, how to throw, catch, hit and run. Tuesday was evidence of just that. Cale, now an Esko senior and do-it-all pitcher, hurled a complete-game two-hitter and struck out 10 batters in leading his Eskomos to a 7-1 victory over Rock Ridge during a Section 7AA baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Wade Stadium in Duluth. Esko was propelled into Thursday's championship against Mora. Not only did the flame throwing righthander deal on...
Cuinn Berger has sunk plenty of hoops as part of his impressive prep basketball career, but the Esko senior shotmaker said Pequot Lakes' percentages last week were hard to think about even for him. Defending their Section 7AA throne, the Patriots made it back-to-back titles after netting an impressive 58-percent of their shot attempts against the Eskomos Friday en route to a 77-59 victory before a standing room only crowd at Hermantown High School. If that weren't enough, Pequot Lakes didn't...
One wouldn't be able to tell by seeing the Cloquet senior's red, teary eyes afterward, but Macie Majerle saved her best basketball game for last. Entering last week scoring just 5 points per contest, Majerle more than tripled that, scoring a team-best 18 points in looking to lead the Lumberjacks to their first state tournament since 2004. "I didn't want it to be over," Majerle said. "I knew I had to step up." Grand Rapids stepped in the way, winning its third consecutive Section 7AAA crown by...
Rayna Klejeski knew she and her Barnum girls basketball teammates had the potential to be successful this winter. But even the Bombers senior superstar was a bit wide-eyed with their results. A 25-win season for the first time in recent memory and a resurgence of the tiny town's rich basketball tradition resulted in bittersweet hardware last Friday when Barnum fell to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 76-50 in the Section 5A championship at St. John's University in Collegeville. Although there was a...
After taking off her sophomore season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Barnum's Allison Marine made the decision to return to the basketball court the following year because of her teammates. And those Bomber mates are glad she did. Marine scored a game-best 17 points and none bigger than when the now 6-foot-3 senior snagged an offensive rebound and made a putback to put Barnum up for good in their wild 44-42 win over Upsala in a Section 5A semifinal Tuesday night before a packed...
Having already sunk five 3-pointers on the night, Cromwell-Wright's Dylan Nyberg was probably the last player Carlton wanted to toss up a potential game-tying triple as the buzzer sounded Friday. Fortunately for the Bulldogs and their frenzied faithful, Nyberg's 25-footer from the right wing bounced off the backboard, the rim and finally fell to the floor before the blue-and-white heaved a collective sigh of relief in Carlton's 53-50 comeback victory. Following a missed free-throw from the...
While it's evident how hard the Esko girls basketball team plays on the court against its opponents, head coach Sue Northey is quick to note her Eskomos don't hold back when it's blue versus gold. "Sometimes we play harder against one another at practice," admitted Northey. "We're all super-competitive," added junior Hannah Swanson. "We all hate losing and just love to win." That winning spirit was on full display earlier this week when Esko earned a 51-43 comeback victory over Cromwell-Wright...
As she warmed up before the girls basketball jug game with rival Wrenshall Monday night, Carlton's Eliza DeCaigny admitted her blood pressure was a little high. "Everyone's on the team was," said DeCaigny, a senior. "It was definitely nerve-wracking." Stress aside, it was the Bulldogs that racked up the points, as DeCaigny scored 14 to follow teammate Megan Matarelli's game-high 20 in their 59-26 win to cap a long-standing rivalry. The two rural Carlton County schools' athletic programs fully...
The Wood City Classic in Cloquet is as traditional as a holiday basketball tournament gets, featuring a warm welcome, picture-perfect venue and action-packed slate of games. And a shot clock, too. In yet another rendition of the annual event at the Cloquet Middle School, the eight teams, both boys and girls, agreed to experiment with the 35-second clock in the invitational, one year prior to shot clocks being mandatory for all prep games statewide in Minnesota. "I think it's cool," said Cloquet...
Buzzing around in her yellow Esko girls basketball sweater Tuesday, Sue Northey greeted fans with hugs as they entered the school, made time for an interview, and eventually coached her Eskomos to victory on Day 1 of the 42nd annual Coaches Classic holiday basketball tournament at Esko High School. Northey, who spent 18 years at the Eskomos' helm before returning this winter after 14 seasons away, thoroughly enjoys the event in honor of the late Jack Johnson and sponsored by the Esko Sports...
Wyatt Hudspith had just booted a careerlong 35-yard field goal to give his Esko football team a 17-14 lead over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton midway through the fourth quarter last weekend, and the boys in blue and gold looked geared to win. The Rebels had other plans. Just 18 seconds later, do-it-all quarterback Owen Leach lofted an 85-yard touchdown toss to teammate Nick Waale one play after Esko scored, as No. 2 DGF downed the top-ranked team in Class AAA 21-17 before a chilly crowd Saturday, Nov....
In his 24th season heading his mighty Moose Lake/Willow River football program, coach Dave Louzek always hopes his Rebels teams set the tone of a game early on. In the Section 7AA championship game, that took only seconds. Crosby-Ironton fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, ML/WR recovered, and two plays later, Jaxsyn Schmidt scored his first of three touchdowns as the Rebels' reign atop 7AA continued, shutting out the Rangers 25-0 on Thursday, Nov. 3, before about 900 fans at a drizzly...
Each season, Cloquet volleyball coach Heidi Anderson has her team take part in a weekly book club, as her players learn life skills they can take with them well beyond the volleyball court. It's clear the Lumberjacks have written in some of their own chapters as well. While it wasn't a storybook ending for Cloquet in another Section 7AAA championship loss to Grand Rapids - an 11-25, 15-25, 18-25 sweep Saturday, Nov. 5 - it's undeniable what the Lumberjacks have accomplished over the past pair...
With wins over a pair of higher seeded teams in the Section 7AA volleyball tournament - and a spirited student section screaming behind them for every point - it'd be easy to call Esko a postseason Cinderella story. Not so fast. "We never felt like we were the underdogs," Eskomos coach Pete Stasiuk said without hesitation. It was Esko that didn't hesitate when trailing by two sets with their season on the line. They came storming back to even the 7AA championship with Rush City, only to fall...
While he decided to try a year as the Barnum football team manager, holding a clipboard wasn't quite then freshman Ryan Manahan's thing. After some convincing from Bombers assistant coach Josh Earlywine, Manahan made a comeback his sophomore season, as the wide receiver ditched his statistics tallying for tallying touchdowns in the end zone instead. Manahan caught his final prep touchdown in helping Barnum battle Deer River, but falling short during a 26-14 loss in the Section 7A championship...
Mankato East sported a pitch-perfect record entering its Thursday, Oct. 27 Class AA girls soccer state quarterfinal against Cloquet. The opposing Lumberjacks found out why. Ella Huettl had the game's only goal and the Cougars defense did what they usually do - give up nothing - in keeping Cloquet off the scoreboard in Mankato East's 1-0 victory on a brisk night at Irondale High School. The Lumberjacks were victim No. 20 in the Cougars' unblemished season, as third-seeded Mankato East (20-0)...
While being a football quarterback bestows extra expectations, the weight of the position doesn't faze Ty Christensen. Literally. When the Esko senior shouldered the hardest of defeats last November - leaving the Eskomos one win shy of a Prep Bowl appearance - the signal-caller didn't need long to get in the weight room with his teammates. "The day after," said Christensen, who put on over 30 pounds of muscle to his now chiseled 5-foot-10-inch, 185-pound frame in the offseason, "we wanted to be...
NEW BRIGHTON - Entering Thursday's Class AA girls soccer state quarterfinal against Cloquet-Carlton, Mankato East sported a pitch-perfect record. The opposing Lumberjacks leaned exactly why. Ella Huettl had the game's only goal and the Cougars' defense did what they usually do – give up nothing – in keeping Cloquet off the scoreboard in Mankato East's 1-0 victory on a brisk night at Irondale High School. The Lumberjacks were victim No. 20 in the Cougars' unblemished season, as third-seeded Manka...
Being best of friends, quarterback Hayden Charboneau and wide receiver Caden Sheff didn't need long to respond when asked what the pair of Barnum football standouts do together outside of the sport. "More football," said Sheff, with a smile. That was evidenced early Tuesday night, as the two needed just 79 seconds to connect when Charboneau slung the ball to Sheff in the end zone to card the first of nine touchdowns the Bombers scored in their 65-6 win over East Central in a Section 7A...
