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MSHSL Minute: Celebrating national champions, a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' and a remarkable state qualifier

Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - 3:25 PM

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League News

MSHSL Minute

Welcome to the MSHSL Minute, a sampling of stories involving Minnesota State High School League Member Schools, students, coaches, directors, administrators, officials, alumni and more. Have a story that belongs here? Email [email protected].

ONE BIG STORY

Pat Ferschweiler “has always kind of been an under-the-radar guy,” former Rochester John Marshall Boys Hockey teammate Eric Means told the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

Not so much anymore.

A 1988 John Marshall graduate, Ferschweiler last week received the Spencer Penrose Award as the top NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey coach, then steered Western Michigan University to its first national championship. Broncos goalie Hampton Slukynsky (Warroad) was named to the all-tournament team.

The Post-Bulletin caught up with Ferschweiler’s former teammates to explain his rise.

“The bond between us Rochester boys who grew up together, our biggest hope was to one day play for the John Marshall Rockets varsity team,” Shjon Podein told the Post-Bulletin. “That was our goal, all we wanted to do, when we were young.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“It was like watching a prodigy play Mozart. She looked like an adult out there.”

—  KARE 11 photojournalist Gary Knox recalls what led to his now-viral tweet predicting future basketball stardom for a sixth-grade Paige Bueckers, the Hopkins grad who on Monday night became the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA Draft. Eight days earlier, Bueckers led the University of Connecticut to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball national championship.

“Don’t worry about how it turns out; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the first of hopefully many seasons."

— Richfield senior Evan Gardner describes his message before the school’s first Boys Volleyball home match. Read more about the team's "infectious positivity” from the Sun Current. 

"We build a better connection with each other every time we go out there. We have a great connection as sisters, but building a relationship in sports is a whole different thing."

— Mankato East freshman Harper Stangl on catching her sister, all-state pitcher and University of Minnesota commit Kylinn Stangl. The Mankato Free Press has more on the Stangls and the two-time reigning state champion Cougars, who are ranked No. 1 in the Class AAA coaches poll.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

5 – Regular-season games between MSHSL Baseball teams at Target Field this season, including Byron’s 5-4 win over Stewartville on Saturday, April 12. Here’s the full schedule via KARE 11.

23 – Win streak for Springfield Baseball, the longest active in the state. The Tigers are ranked third in the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association preseason Class A rankings, behind No. 1 Cherry and No. 2 Parkers Prairie.

631 – Career victories for Brian Cosgriff, who announced his retirement as Minnetonka Girls Basketball coach. Cosgriff coached seven state championship teams at Hopkins and one at Minnetonka. “’Legend’ and ‘great’ are often overused. Not here,” wrote Howard Sinker in his Sports Take newsletter.

706 – Career victories for retiring Lakeville North Boys Basketball Coach John Oxton, including a state championship in 2014. 

1,026 – Career strikeouts for United South Central pitcher Mariah Anderson as of Friday, April 11, ranking her fifth on the MSHSL Softball all-time chart. John’s Journal has the story of the 5-foot-3 junior who is making history that stands tall.

ALUMNI REPORT

  • Jason Bonde (Rochester Lourdes) was named National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year after leading Rochester Community and Technical College to the national title. Kara Goetzinger (Chatfield) scored 19 points in the Yellowjackets’ 73-37 victory over Joliet Community College in the final. Also named to the all-tournament team were Macaya Copeland (Hopkins) and Nyomi Crushshon (Park Center).
  • Bryn Greenwaldt (Foley) competed for Augustana University in both the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field and Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday, March 15 in Indianapolis. The website Swim Swam documented her busy day with a series of videos as she earned All-America recognition in the high jump and the 100-meter freestyle. “Today was like the coolest day in the whole world,” she said. Greenwaldt won the 50 freestyle national title three days before and finished the week with five All-America honors in the pool. She has committed to compete at the NCAA Division I level for the University of Virginia next season.
  • Bailey Olson (Willmar) was named most outstanding player of the tournament as the University of Wisconsin-River Falls claimed the NCAA Division III Women’s Hockey national title. She scored once and had two assists in the title game, a 3-1 victory over Amherst. Madison Kadrlik (Farmington) and MaKenna Aure (Alexandria Area) were also named to the all-tournament team.

FINAL WORD OF WISDOM

Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Speech Coach Annette Hystad brings us "a story of perseverance, resilience, and the quiet strength of never giving up" ahead of the Speech State Tournament next Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26 at Shakopee High School.