“It’s important to me to make sure it’s a big deal,” coach Dylan Boettcher said. “I’m hoping this can be a jump start for adapted sports in Mankato. I’ve fallen in love with the people involved in activities for special needs kids.”
“We were big rivals, like we almost couldn't stand each other. It's crazy how you can judge someone, then once you get to know them, they're just great people and you're having fun with it.”
Marshall Behrens is one of the most well-known and respected officials in Minnesota high school sports. He officiates football and volleyball in the fall, girls and boys basketball in the winter, and baseball and softball in the spring.
You name the sport and Hastings' Nick Tuckner has been there. He has called approximately 500 hockey games, missing very few. One came on the day he married his wife Erica; the announcement that the Raiders had defeated Bloomington Jefferson drew a big cheer at the wedding reception.
Elissa Reinsma Wieneke would never refer to herself as a pioneer, as others do and will. The 29-year-old, however, feels pride in knowing that the 2022 state wrestling tournament includes a division for girls.
For a dozen years now, I have gone through a summer exercise that is really fun. Once the school year ends I sift through all the John's Journal stories that were posted between the start of fall practices and the end of spring tournaments, and select my personal favorite Top 10.
Jakob McCleary and Finn McCormick ran stride for stride in the 1,600 meters, with McCleary leaning in to finish first and McCormick giving it everything he had before crashing to the track.
The first girls state tennis tournament was held in 1974, and to this day and forevermore, two kids from Virginia – Linda Glavich and Sheila Robinson – remain at the very top of the list as the first doubles state champions.
“I thanked him for making my track seasons memorable. He said, ‘Let’s get connected and you can get officiating.’ I realized there aren’t many females and not many younger female officials."
The 2022 adapted softball state tournament was absolutely normal. And that was everything, since there was no adapted softball season at all in 2020 and a year ago teams played regular-season games but no postseason was conducted.
No matter what happens at the state softball tournament, mementoes and memories will be carried for years by everyone associated with the 2022 Wabasha-Kellogg softball team.
Ever since last year’s section meet, Pine Island,s Jarod White has been thinking about 16 feet, 2 inches. The all-time state record in the pole event was 16-1 ¾ … until Tuesday.
Kasson-Mantorville junior Reese Tripp stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 325 pounds. Tripp’s big-time football future was not a sure thing until he worked hard and did something drastic: he lost nearly 60 pounds. That’s right, Reese weighed around 380 pounds.
Tony Nelson thought about graduating from high school early and moving to the University of Minnesota for the 2022 spring semester, getting a head start on his college education and Gophers football career. But home is important and Nelson had more to accomplish as a three-sport, small-town high school athlete in southwest Minnesota.
News was made when the 48-member Representative Assembly, the legislative body of the MSHSL, voted against making boys volleyball a sanctioned sport. The vote was 31-17 … one short of the 32 votes needed for approval.
In 2018 Maple Lake became the first high school in Minnesota to hold a signing ceremony for future teachers. Burnsville did the same in 2018 and Willmar joined in 2019. The pandemic put a stop to such gatherings but they are back in 2022.
