It was a night of taking care of business for the Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys Friday (3/1). While the MACA girls were underway with their post-season play, the boys were wrapping up regular season business.
Now the Tigers under coach Mark Torgerson are rolling up their sleeves for the next chapter. It's March so guess what that means? Yes, it means we can hope for the temperature to crawl up a bit. (As I get older I seem to savor this transition more.)
Click on the permalink below to read about Katie Holzheimer's three freethrows at the end to bring victory for the MACA girls in their post-season debut. Also included in this post: a review of the MACA boys' loss to NL-Spicer on 2/26; and a re-cap of the girls' setback vs. Sauk Centre on 2/23. This post is on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.
Boys appear in sync
March spells the climax for prep sports. The Tigers have their goals set high. They affirmed those high goals with how they performed Friday. They visited Benson and came away with a 55-42 win. They outscored the Braves 26-20 in the first half.
Logan Manska showed a sharp eye shooting the ball from long distance. If he can stay in this kind of groove, the Tigers' stock for post-season will undoubtedly be high. Manska connected four times from three-point range. The success lifted him to the team-best position in points scored. His 15 points made him the only double figures scorer. Chandler Erickson had the other three-pointer as MACA put up five of 18 numbers in that department.
The Tigers were 21 of 52 in total field goals. In freethrows they were eight of 15.
Austin Dierks scored nine points and collected a team-best seven rebounds. Jacob Torgerson and Erickson each had two assists. Dierks stole the ball four times.
Benson had a rough night at the freethrow line with one of seven numbers. Colin Ose was Benson's leading scorer with 15 points. He was one of three Braves making a three-pointer, joined by Aaron Ahrndt and Tyler Krienke. Ose had eight rebounds and Ahrndt had four assists.
Let's complete the MACA scoring list. Behind Manska and Dierks we had three Tigers each with six points: Nic Vipond, Lincoln Berget and John Tiernan. Torgerson added five points to the mix. Erickson and Tyler Henrichs each scored three points and Dillon McNally had two.
Bring on the tournament!
Wrestling: Two Tigers earn state
Wrestling has come to the forefront recently with the section and state tournaments - always riveting affairs. There's something unique about a high-level wrestling tournament. You can forget all your problems and the weather outside as you take in all the action. Time can seem suspended.
The destination was Redwood Valley for the Tiger wrestlers for section-time. Dillan Johnson shone by surpassing his No. 3-seeded position at his weight. Making the top two is what vaults you into state.
Dillan edged up, not to No. 2 but to No. 1! Yes, he was the section champion at 138 pounds.
Meanwhile teammate Connor Metzger was carving out his own state meet qualification. In the process, Connor had to deal with a "true second" match. He survived that challenge to finish No. 2 and earn that state berth.
Alas, there were two other Tigers who didn't fare so well in their true second matches. They came within a hair's breadth of state but were denied. These student athletes: Travis Ostby, the 132-pounder; and Joel Harrison who vied at 220 (the "big guy").
Eight Tigers total earned place finishes in section.
Dillan Johnson's success came as no surprise to the coaching braintrust. Coaches could see this grappler was "having things come together" for the post-season. Dillan began by beating a Fulda-Murry County Central foe, by pin. Next his foe was Kirby Winson of Quad County, who had beaten him previously. Dillan turned the tables in overtime.
Now the finals have arrived for Dillan. He triumphed vs. the No. 1 seed, name of Hunter Heitkamp of Adrian.
Connor Metzger began his section conquests seeded No. 2. First he beat a Fairmont-Martin County West foe, pin-style. The semis saw Metzger win by major decision over a Worthington foe. The finals matched Connor against top-seeded Jesse Slater of Adrian. Connor was defeated.
Connor then faced a Lac qui Parle Valley foe in the critical "true second" match. Metzger beat Joe Weeding in a 9-3 decision.
Travis Ostby lost his true second match but he's a freshman who can contemplate many more wrestling pursuits. "Big guy" Joel Harrison isn't so fortunate as he's an MAHACA senior. (These cumbersome initials stand for "Morris Area Hancock Chokio Alberta." I hope it's not pronounced "mahaca.")
The other place winners for the Tigers were: Mitchell Ascheman (sixth), Evan Nelson (fourth), Myles Smith (fourth) and Seth Nelson (fifth). Other Tigers seeing action on the mat were: Matthew Munsterman, Philip Messner, Jerid Berning, Matt Vinson, Alec Gausman and Jacob Sperr.
By coincidence, I watched the great wrestling movie "Win Win" last night (Sunday). I checked out the DVD. I recommend it to all. The actor playing the wrestling hero is so genuine. The movie captures the flavor of youth and high school wrestling wonderfully. "Three thumbs up."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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