Bulldogs, Saints crush opposition

The Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team chalked up a solid NSIC road win on Friday night, while the Saints women downed Crown in record-setting fashion. The UMD men, meanwhile, will continue to struggle. It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back today.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Booker leads UMD to rout
Jheri Booker had 24 points and nine rebounds to lead Minnesota Duluth to a 82-55 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rout on Friday at Minnesota-Crookston.
Crookston (8-14, 6-10) scored the first eight points before UMD (15-8, 10-6) took command with a 12-2 run just before halftime.
Sophomore guard Lindsay Miller added 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Katie Haas had a career-high 11 points. The Bulldogs player at Minnesota-Moorhead (17-6, 11-5) at 6 p.m. today in a key conference matchup.
* Kirsten Haukom had six points and a career-high 12 rebounds as St. Scholastica (10-12, 5-6) set a program-record with 74 rebounds in rolling past Crown 61-23 on Friday for an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference home victory.
Haukom is now six rebounds from becoming the first St. Scholastica women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists. The Saints’ previous record for rebounds was 61. They led 30-8 at the half and set a school-record by holding Crown (1-16, 0-11) to nine field goals.

COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Crookston tops UMD
Matthew Heier scored 18 points as Minnesota-Crookston beat Minnesota Duluth 78-64 on Friday for the Golden Eagles’ first NSIC victory of the season Friday in Crookston, Minn.
Jason Servaty added 16 points as Crookston (4-18, 1-15) had five players reach double figures in scoring.
Dylan Rodriguez had 18 points, while Ryan Rasmussen chipped in with 13 for the Bulldogs, who trailed 42-22 at the break and were outrebounded 35-26.
* Brett Tester made two free throws with three seconds remaining to lift St. Scholastica to a 73-71 UMAC victory over Crown College on Saturday in Duluth.
Chris Hamers had 18 points to lead the Saints, including 4-for-9 from 3-point range, while Logan Schultz had 14 points. Danny Schmitz (13) and Tester (12) were also in double figures for St. Scholastica (8-14, 5-6).
Jake Jarvis had 12 points to lead Crown (3-19, 3-8).

COLLEGE HOCKEY
Saints’ title hopes vanish
St. Scholastica’s chances for a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association men’s title vanished Friday night in a 3-2 loss to Wisconsin-Eau Claire in front of 742 fans at Mars Lakeview Arena.
The No. 4-ranked Saints (17-4-4, 11-3-4 NCHA) had an eight-game unbeaten streak broken and finished the regular season in second place. No. 3 St. Norbert defeated Wisconsin-Stout 6-1 Friday in DePere, Wis., to clinch the NCHA regular-season championship, and plays Wisconsin-River Falls today. St. Scholastica is two points behind.
Jeremy Dawes gave the Saints a 1-0 lead after one period and Aaron Spotts put St. Scholastica up 2-1 nine minutes into the third period.
But Eau Claire (8-13-3, 4-10-3) rallied to tie the game just 10 seconds after the Spotts goal, on a score by Isaiah Bennis. Ross Janecyk provided the winning goal with 7:04 to play. Eau Claire led in total shots on goal 24-23.
* Wisconsin-Superior scored three goals in the first period and three in the second, and led in shots on goal 53-8 Friday night, on the way to beating Marian College 6-0 in an NCHA women’s game in Fond du Lac, Wis.
Forwards Jasmine Pollack, Jodi Holland, Brittany Bembeneck and Teagan Cassan each had a goal and an assist for UWS (12-8-2, 6-5-2). Marian (2-18, 1-12) used two goalies, who combined for 47 saves.

FREESTYLE SKIING
USSA event at Spirit Mountain
The U.S. Ski Association Central Division Freestyle Championships are today and Sunday at Spirit Mountain for skiers from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada.
Slopestyle skiing begins at 10 a.m. today, followed by aerials competition. Half-pipe competition is 10 a.m. Sunday followed by single and dual moguls.
Qualifiers advance to the U.S. Junior Olympics in March in Waterville Valley, N.H.
r To salute the 2010 Winter Olympics, which began Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia, a smaller scale opening ceremony will be held at noon today at Spirit Mountain with a flag demonstration and the United States and Canadian national anthems. A ceremonial Olympic torch will be lit and carried down the Gandy Dancer hill by Mark Lind.
NEWS TRIBUNE

Posted by: Jon Nowacki on 2/13/2010 at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: college basketball, college hockey, css, skiing, sports, umd, uws

More honors for Bulldog football

The season has been over for two months, but the awards keep coming in for Minnesota Duluth football (I've attached the briefs running in today's paper below). The best thing for Bulldogs fans is that Odim and Aurich are just juniors, and UMD only lost 11 players to graduation. UMD could be scary again next season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
More honors for UMD’s Odim and Aurich
Minnesota Duluth junior running back Isaac Odim and junior linebacker Robbie Aurich have earned All-American honors by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette.
For Odim, it is the fifth All-American first-team honors he has earned for 2009, a first in the 77-year history of the UMD football program. The Harlon Hill Trophy finalist from Rochester, Minn., set single-season records for rushing yards (1,808), touchdowns (33) and 100-yard rushing games (12).
Aurich, of Spring Lake, Mich., earned third-team honors after leading one of the top defensive units in NCAA Division II with 93 tackles.

COLLEGE HOCKEY
UMD men fall to No. 7, women move to No. 2
The Minnesota Duluth men's and women's teams remained among the top 10 in Division I in U.S. College Hockey Online poll voting Monday.
The UMD men (18-11-1) split games at Michigan Tech and dropped one spot to No. 7. The Bulldogs are off this week before resuming play Feb. 19-20 at No. 11 North Dakota.
The UMD women (21-7-2) swept Minnesota at the DECC to move into a tie at No. 2 with the Gophers. The Bulldogs are home Friday and Saturday against Ohio State.
r In Division III men, St. Scholastica remained at No. 4 after a tie with No. 3 St. Norbert and a win over Wisconsin-Stout. The Saints (16-3-4) are at Wisconsin-Superior on Thursday and finish the regular season Friday at home with Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

SNOCROSS
Hibbert finishes season in style
Tucker Hibbert closed out his 2009-10 snocross racing season in style, sweeping the professional classes this past weekend at the Eastern Nationals in Farmington, N.Y.
After being challenged in his heats, it was all Hibbert in the finals as the rider from Goodridge, Minn., beat Ross Martin in Pro Open and Tim Tremblay in Pro Stock for his 54th and 55th career victories. The eight-time Amsoil Duluth National Snocross champion will now focus on motocross and cross-country mountain bike racing rather than completing the snocross season.
Duluth rider Carl Schubitzke, who now races out of Madison, was the top Northland finisher in Farmington, taking 11th in Pro Stock.

COLLEGE TENNIS
Saints get season started
St. Scholastica’s tennis teams began the season Saturday and split their first two matches.
The St. Scholastica women opened by edging St. Thomas 5-4 on Saturday at Arrowhead Tennis Center as Callee Conda, Danni Sonnenfeld, Katie Motley and Angela Shields all won in singles play. The St. Scholastica men fell 8-1, with sophomore Jacob Engelstad being the lone winner for the Saints.
The Saints then hit the road, with the women winning 8-1 over Hamline University on Sunday in Lakeville, Minn., as Conda teamed with Milly Che Leon, a freshman from Lima, Peru, to win in No. 1 doubles. The St. Scholastica men, meanwhile, were edged 5-4 as the team of Kevin Hilpert and Tim Dean were the lone doubles team to win for the Saints.
NEWS TRIBUNE

Posted by: Jon Nowacki on 2/9/2010 at 12:04 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: college football, college hockey, college tennis, css, snocross, sports, umd

Bulldogs lose heartbreaker

Minnesota Duluth is having one of those years where nothing is going right, but Bulldogs coach Gary Holquist saw progress on Saturday night despite a tough loss (see below).
 

COLLEGE MEN
Golden Bears rally to stun Bulldogs
Junior guard Courtney Tyler converted a 3-point play in the closing seconds as Concordia-St. Paul rallied to beat Minnesota Duluth 86-85 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game on Saturday at Romano Gymnasium.
Ryan Rasmussen got UMD (7-15, 4-11) off to a great start with 16 points in the first half, while freshman forward Dylan Rodriguez had 15 points and five rebounds before fouling out. UMD led by five points with about 40 seconds left before Concordia (12-10, 9-6) rallied.
“This team is coming together,” said UMD coach Gary Holquist. “We played hard, and I’m proud of our effort. We did everything we needed to do — except win.”

COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
First-place Golden Bears hold off Bulldogs
Maurika Hickman scored 18 points and Concordia-St. Paul used a 16-4 run in the second half to beat Minnesota Duluth 83-72 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game on Saturday at Romano Gymnasium.
With the win, the 23rd-ranked Golden Bears (18-4, 12-3) maintained first-place in conference play.
Jheri Booker had 18 points to lead UMD (14-8, 9-6). Starters Monica Mayry (12), Kelsey Hewitt (12), Shelly Stemper (11) and Lindsay Miller (11) were also in double figures as the Bulldogs shortened their bench.
* Laura Amys had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and St. Scholastica outscored Presentation 45-21 in the second half en route to a 70-46 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference victory on Saturday in Aberdeen, S.D.
Kirsten Haukom added 14 points, and Kelly Cinquegrani added 10 points and five assists for the Saints (9-12, 4-6).
Chelsey Stanley had 11 points to lead Presentation (7-13, 3-7).
* Kelly Hams of Littlefork had 24 points to lead Hibbing Community College to a 72-40 victory over Fond du Lac in Minnesota College Athletic Conference play Saturday in Cloquet.
The Cardinals improved to 10-13 overall and 6-4 in the MCAC.
Darian Bushey of Barnum had 23 points to lead the Thunder.

COLLEGE HOCKEY
Saints roll past Stevens Point
Senior goalie Zach Kleiman continued his stellar play with 39 saves to lead St. Scholastica to a 6-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Wisconsin-Stevens Point, helping the Saints close the gap with St. Norbert in league play.
Six players scored for the St. Scholastica while Tyler Miller had three assists.
Jon Madden and Kent Detlefsen had goals for Stevens Point (10-12-1, 5-11)
Fourth-ranked St. Scholastica (16-3-4, 10-2-4) is now just two points behind third-ranked St. Norbert in the league standings with two games to play.
* Justin Faryna’s goal with 2:07 left in the third period sent the game into overtime and goaltender Bryan Dalbec made three of his 21 saves in the extra session to preserve Wisconsin-Superior’s 1-1 tie against third-ranked St. Norbert in an NCHA men’s game at Wessman Arena.
Peter Fylling’s goal 3:30 into the game gave the league-leading Green Knights (17-3-3, 12-2-2) the advantage and B.J. O’Brien’s goaltending kept the Yellowjackets (9-10-4, 3-10-3) off the scoreboard until Faryna’s game-tying goal.
* Melissa Kunzelman had a 14-save shutout to lead Wisconsin-Superior to a 2-0 NCHA women’s victory over Finlandia on Saturday in Hancock, Mich.
Ashley Martin and Shana Katz had goals for the Yellowjackets (10-7-2, 4-5-2).
Stephanie LaMore stopped 27 shots for Finlandia (5-15-0, 1-10).

COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD
Local runners victorious
St. Scholastica’s Jake Turman won the 600-meter run and Tyler Rien captured the high jump, while the Saints women won three relays and Tara Connolly took first in the 800-meter run at the Border Battle indoor track and field meet Saturday in Superior.
Randy Khieu of Wisconsin-Superior was victorious in the men’s long jump.
NEWS TRIBUNE

Posted by: Jon Nowacki on 2/7/2010 at 12:04 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: college basketball, college hockey, college track, css, sports, umd, uws

UMD men lose, women win

After a rough week, the Minnesota Duluth women's basketball victory over St. Cloud has the Bulldogs back on the right path toward securing an NCAA Division II playoff berth. In other news, the UMD baseball team began its season on Friday (yes, in February!!!). Below are our local names and news briefs from today's paper.

COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Rasmussen scores 41 in UMD loss
Buoyed by big nights from star junior guard Taylor Witt and senior center Matt Schneck, St. Cloud State handed Minnesota Duluth its fifth straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference loss 83-68 Saturday at Romano Gym.
Witt scored 23, and Schneck had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies (17-4 overall, 11-3 NSIC) to offset a career-high 41 points by UMD’s Ryan Rasmussen, who was responsible for more than 60 percent of the Bulldogs’ scoring output. Rasmussen, who made 17 of 18 free throws and was 6-for-10 from 3-point range, has averaged 22.7 points per game the last six contests.
The Bulldogs (7-14, 4-10) fell behind by a dozen points early and trailed 46-26 at halftime.
“I thought we played terrible in the first half, and in the second half we battled back,” said Bulldogs coach Gary Holquist, whose team committed 11 of its 16 turnovers in the first half. “There’s always one aspect where we fall apart.”
* Eric Dalbey scored 25 points to lead Minnesota-Morris to a 71-57 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference victory over St. Scholastica on Friday night in Morris, Minn.
The Cougars (9-10, 6-3) made eight 3-pointers compared to one for St. Scholastica, and they outscored the Saints bench 28-7.
Brett Tester had 18 points to lead St. Scholastica (7-13, 4-5), while Jonah Dahlman added 10.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UMD cruises past St. Cloud
Minnesota Duluth held St. Cloud State to five field goals in the first half Friday night, coming away with a 79-51 NSIC victory at Romano Gym. The 28-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Bulldogs.
UMD (14-7, 9-5) led the Huskies (8-13, 3-11) by 22 points at halftime. Senior forward Jheri Booker scored 18 of her 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting in the opening half. She added seven rebounds and two of UMD’s 12 steals.
Talisha Barlow, St. Cloud’s leading scorer, was held to two points. She entered the game ranked fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game.
UMD continues its homestand at 6 p.m. today against Concordia-St. Paul.
* Senior guard Kirsten Haukom scored 12 points and became the 11th St. Scholastica women’s player to top 1,000 career points, but the Saints lost 58-51 at Minnesota-Morris in a UMAC game.
Haukom, who has 1,002 points, is 24 rebounds from becoming the first women’s player in school history to score more than 1,000 points, grab 500 rebounds and have more than 200 assists.
The Saints (8-12, 3-6) shot 21 percent in the first half and fell behind 16-2 en route to setting a school record for fewest first-half points with 10.
Katie Christensen (Sr.-Elk River, Minn.) led the Saints with 13 points. Laura Amys had 11 points and nine rebounds. Steph Roggenbuck led all scorers with 18 points for the Cougars (13-6, 8-1).

COLLEGE HOCKEY
UWS ends drought
Jesse Junkermeier scored two goals and Bryan Dalbec stopped 24 shots as Wisconsin-Superior upended Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5-2 in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game Friday night at Wessman Arena.
Junkemeier’s goals were part of a four-goal third period for the Yellowjackets (9-10-3, 3-10-2). Braden Desmet broke a 1-1 tie with an unassisted goal 1:18 into the third period and Talon Berlando added an empty-net goal — his 12th of the season — in the final minute.

COLLEGE BASEBALL
UMD falls to Mustangs, clock
Minnesota Duluth (1-2) battled time as well as Southwest Minnesota State on Friday, and were bested by both. UMD dropped the first of two scheduled nonconference matchups 5-1, before time negated the second contest at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Cody Curry’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the first inning scored a pair of runs to give the Mustangs (2-1) all the offense they needed.
Bulldogs sophomore Collin Stinogel took the loss, giving up five runs on seven hits. Junior Josh Taran and sophomore Mark Shaver held the Mustangs hitless over the final three innings.
UMD was three outs from earning a split for the second straight day — the Bulldogs won 7-2 and lost 5-2 to Southwest on Thursday’s opening day — in the nightcap. The time limit, strictly enforced by Metrodome staff, came before the last out with the Bulldogs holding a 9-1 lead. NCAA rules stipulate that a contest must complete seven innings to count as an official game.
The Bulldogs resume play March 12 in Winter Haven, Fla.

BOXING
Kolle wins by TKO
Andy “Kaos” Kolle defeated Pat “The Cat” Coleman Friday with a sixth-round TKO at First Avenue night club in Minneapolis, the main event of a card dubbed “Fight Night at First Avenue.”
Kolle (20-2, 15 KOs), a 27-year-old Minnesota middleweight champion from Horton’s Gym in Duluth, has won 11 of his past 12 bouts.
Coleman (29-16, 20 KOs), a 39-year-old from San Diego, has lost eight straight and hasn’t won since 2002.

NEWS TRIBUNE

Posted by: Jon Nowacki on 2/6/2010 at 12:32 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: boxing, college baseball, college basketball, sports, umd, uws

Horton's boxers have busy weekend

Once in awhile I deviate from the college scene to highlight an item from my other beats (for folks not familiar with the journalism lingo, by "beats" I don't mean music but the areas we cover and specialize in for the paper). I've attached a boxing release below.

Busy Weekend on the Road for local Horton’s Gym fighters

What do Silver Glove fighter Dawson Wrazidlo, Golden Glove fighters Trevor Marmon and Will Matthews, and professional Minnesota Middleweight Champion Andy “Kaos” Kolle have in common?: They all train out of Horton’s Gym and will be fighting on the road this weekend.
Minnesota State and Region Silver Glove Champion Dawson Wrazidlo of Horton’s Gym in Duluth competes at the National Silver Gloves Tournament in Independence, MO. Fast hands, swift feet, quick minds and thunderous power will prevail when the opening bell rings at the 2010 National Silver Gloves Amateur Boxing Tournament. The three-day event will run from February 4th - February 6th and will match-up the top 350, 10-15 year old amateur boxers in the country. The result is unparalleled competition that showcases the sport’s best young athletes from across the nation.
Horton’s Gym Golden Glove fighters, Trevor Marmon and Will Matthews, fight on February 6, 2010 at Eastview Recreation Center in St. Paul. Gates open at 6 p.m. and Fights start at 7:30 p.m.
MN middleweight champ Andy "Kaos" Kolle (19-2, 14 KO's) will headline against veteran Pat “The Cat” Coleman (29-15 20 ko’s) on the earlier mentioned fight card being held at First Avenue in Minneapolis on February 5th. " I don't really know much about my opponent but I know that he is a vet with over 40 fights so he knows what he's doing in the ring" said Kolle. In a recent interview with Minnesota boxing.com Kolle remarked " As with all my fights, I don't really worry to much about what they are going to do. Just like always, I have been in the gym 5 days a week since my last fight, doing a lot of sparring and working on some different things so I know I won't have to worry about any ring rust. I am as hungry as I have ever been so I just can't wait to get back in the ring and hit somebody!

Posted by: Jon Nowacki on 2/5/2010 at 12:04 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Tags: boxing, sports