SLP Orioles Sting Edina Hornets

 The defending Section 6AAAA Champion Edina Hornets came to Derrick Keller Field Monday night and they ran into the outstanding pitching of Miles Jungroth who recorded 11 strikeouts to help lead the St. Louis Park Orioles to a 4-1 win.  

The Orioles would take the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Edina shortstop Peter Sullivan bobbled a ground ball, allowing Danny Montanez to reach first base. Montanez would advance on a single from Cole Denton and cross the plate on Geiber Silva-Gonzalez's single.  

Jungroth would be in control, striking out the side in the second and third innings after beginning the respective innings with base hits.  St. Louis Park would increase their lead in the bottom of the fifth as Josh Middleton led off with a single and Graham Sullivan's RBI triple off the left field fence would score Middleton.  Sullivan headed home as Alex Hokenson reached base on a throwing error by Hornet second baseman Charlie Carlson.  Montanez would drive Hokenson home on an RBI single.  

It looked like Edina would make a comeback in the top of the sixth.  Charlie Strodl's RBI single brought home Mike Simonson to cut the lead to three.  Marty Hirte, pitching in relief of Jungroth, walked Ben Molitor, son of former Twin Paul Molitor to load the bases but pinch hitter Reid Lafrenz grounded out to Montanez at second to end the rally.  

Things would get interesting for the Hornets in the top of the seventh with two outs.  Jack McCoy and Simonson reached base on singles, putting the tying run at the plate as George McIntyre came up.  There would be no tie game as McIntyre flied out to Sullivan in right field to end the game.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 2-2 and will head to Benilde-St. Margaret's on Tuesday, April 23 at 4:30 PM.  Edina fell to 1-4 and will also return to action on the 23rd as they host the Minnetonka Skippers at 6 PM at Braemar Park.  

The Passing of John Bartz

 He was involved with high school sports for many years as a coach, referee, athletic director and tournament director.  

On April 9, John Bartz passed away at the age of 89.  

Bartz was the athletic director at North St. Paul High School for 16 years before moving within the district to Tartan High School, serving as an assistant principal. 

In 1985, Bartz became an associate director at the Minnesota State High School League.  He served as tournament director for boys and girls hockey, the Prep Bowl and Alpine Skiing.  Bartz was also instrumental in creating adapted athletic opportunities for students with disabilities.  He oversaw adapted athletic tournaments in soccer, floor hockey and softball.  

In addition to his work with the MSHSL, Bartz was a long time hockey official.  He worked 11 state tournaments and was on the ice for seven state championship games.  

Bartz was a pivotal figure in one of the most prestigious high school events in the nation as well as opening the doors for handicapped athletes.  May he rest in peace.

60 Years Ago, Jeopardy Debuts

 Sixty years ago, on March 30, 1964, the first quiz show since the scandals debuted on daytime TV.  It would be the original version of what would be a game show classic Jeopardy. 

The idea came from Merv Griffin's then wife Julann as they were conversing about the absence of quiz shows on TV.  She came up with the idea of giving the contestants the answers.  Merv liked the idea and when they returned to New York after a trip to Michigan, he went to NBC and developed the show.  Network executives felt the show would be too tough but one executive convinced him to but the show.  The man would later become president of NBC, Grant Tinker.  

The show was originally titled What's the Question?  But another NBC executive convinced him that the game needed mor jeopardies.  So it was good bye What's the Question?  Hello Jeopardy.  

As for who would host the show, it would be actor and newscaster Art Fleming.  Fleming also did TV commercials.  The show's announcer would be a familiar voice to game show fans, Don Pardo.  Pardo, an NBC staff announcer was heard on the original version of The Price is Right from 1956 to 1963.  

When Jeopardy debuted on March 30, the show replaced one of the few failures from Mark Goodson and Bill Todman Missing Links, which moved to ABC and got a new host Dick Clark.  As the show became more popular, in September, 1965 Jeopardy moved to the noon timeslot and it would become extremely popular with college students and people on their lunch break.  Even more popular was the Jeopardy home game, which went through 11 editions.  

Though Jeopardy was still popular in the 1970s, it's popularity began to wane when NBC's vice president of daytime programming Lin Bolen moved the show out of it's familiar time period in order to bring more flashier shows to the network.  She moved the show from noon to 10:30 AM in January of 1974 and in July to 1:30 PM.  It was evident that Bolen didn't like Jeopardy because of its older demographics and dated set.  The final blow came on January 3, 1975, when Jeopardy aired it's final show.  There was also a nighttime syndicated version of the show but it only lasted one season.  This version was not shown in the Twin Cities area.  

Jeopardy would return to NBC in October 1978 with Fleming returning as host.  But the game was totally overhauled.  Money amounts increased from $25to $125 in the Jeopardy round and $50 to $250 in Double Jeopardy.  Also, the lowest scoring player after the Jeopardy round was eliminated and the two remaining contestants played Double Jeopardy with the highest scoring contestant playing Super Jeopardy where they could win a minimum of $5000 by getting five correct questions in a row.  This version ran until March 2, 1979 and was replaced by Password Plus.  

Five years later, Jeopardy came back in syndication with Alex Trebek replacing Fleming at the podium.  The show returned to its original format with increased dollar amounts.  After a slow start, the show's ratings skyrocketed when many stations in the Eastern and Pacific time zone aired the show in access time periods, usually paired with Wheel of Fortune.  The show is still going strong to this day with Ken Jennings, the all time leading money winner taking over after Trebek passed away in November 2020.  

Happy 60th anniversary Jeopardy!  

2024 State Girls Basketball Tournament Preview

 Bloggers Note:  This year there will be a new format for state basketball tournament previews.  Instead of writing about the four classes separately, all four classes will be previewed in the same post.  

The 2024 edition of the state high school girls basketball tournament gets underway Wednesday with quarterfinal games at Williams Arena and the Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus.  

Leading off will be the Class AAAA quarterfinals and the top three seeds all come from the Lake Conference.  The top seed is the Hopkins Royals, the second seed is the Minnetonka Skippers and the third seed is the defending Class AAAA champion St. Michael-Albertville Knights.  The two non Lake conference team among the top five seeds are the fourth seeded Maple Grove Crimson and the fifth seeded Lakeville North Panthers.  Will it be an All Lake final or will Maple Grove or Lakeville North pull off an upset?  

The good news for the defending Class AAA champion Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights is that they are the top seed.  BSM has not lost a game since Olivia Olson returned from an injury and enters the state tournament on a 21 game winning streak.  They face the Minneapolis Roosevelt Teddies, playing in their first state tournament.  The fifth seeded Stewartville Trojans battle the fourth seeded St. Peters Saints in the second upper bracket game.  In the lower bracket, the second seeded DeLaSalle Islanders are in their 12th tournament and in the hunt for their fifth state title, the first since 2019.  The Rock Ridge Wolverines are playing in their first state tournament but have a tough matchup against the third seeded Alexandria Cardinals.  Cardinal head coach Wendy Kohler joined the 700 win club in the Section 8 Tournament and looks to add three more toward the program's first state title since 1997.

The last two games at each venue are Class AA games.  At The Barn, the Perham Yellowjackets, entering tournament play on a nine game winning streak, face the top seeded Providence Academy Lions, on a quest for a Class AA threepeat.  But stick around for the nightcap as the fifth seeded Crosby-Ironton Rangers, led by sophomore sensation Tori Oehrlein, battle the perennial power under the veteran leadership of Mike Dreier, the New London-Spicer Wildcats.  Over at the Maturi Pavilion, two perennial powers battle as the Rochester Lourdes Eagles face the second seeded Albany Huskies and the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers face the second seeded Minnehaha Academy Redhawks, led by junior guard Addy Mack.  Could there be an All IMAC Class AA final.  

The next day is the Class A quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion.  The top seeded Goodhue Wildcats head up Highway 52 for the 10th time and face the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders.  Then the SW MN Christian Eagles, who ended Minneota's Section 3 title reign battle the fourth seeded Underwood Rockets.  The Rockets punched their ticket to Minneapolis with a win over the Hancock Owls in the Section 6 final.  Once again, Jeff Buffetta leads the defending Class A champion Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers to their 14th state tournament and they face the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Wolves, playing in their first state tournament.  Five towns.  Two teams.  One winner.  Finally, they're celebrating in the towns of Buffalo Lake, Hector and Stewart as the Mustangs make their first appearance in a state tournament since 1977.  Their opponent is the Fosston Greyhounds, returning to the Twin Cities for their first time since 2006.  

There's plenty of outstanding giels high school basketball coming up this weekend.  

St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders Claim Second Class A Title

Let the celebration begin in The Granite City as Andrew Dwinnell scored two goals to lead the St. Loud Cathedral Crusaders to a 3-1 win over the top seeded Hermantown Hawks in the Class A boys hockey championship game Saturday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.  

It was the second state title for the Crusaders and first since 2019 in 12 trips to state.  

St. Cloud Cathedral scored the lone first period goal when John Hirschfeld fed Dwinnell at the left point and he fired it into the net.  

Neither team would tally in the second period as St. Cloud Cathedral played solid defense.  The Crusaders would solidify the championship, sending two goals past the goal line.  The first came when Dwinnell received a drop pass from Joey Gillespie and he would score his second goal.  It would be Gillespie who found the net for St. Cloud Cathedral's final goal when he got a centering pass from Hirschfeld and he tapped it in.  There would be no shutout for St. Cloud Cathedral as Hawks head coach Pat Andrews pulled goalie Dane Callaway for a sixth attacker and it would pay dividends as AJ Francisco scored off a pass from Drew Nelson.  But that was all the Twin Ports power could do as the Crusaders held on to claim the Class A title trophy.  

St. Cloud Cathedral concluded the season with a record of 26-4-1 and Hermantown ended their season at 20-9-2.  

Defense was a part of the Crusaders success as they blocked 17 Hawks shots.  

Jake Geiger of Northfield was the recipient of the Herb Brooks Award, which is given to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late coach.  

2024 Class AA State Boys Hockey Tournament Preview

 2024 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS AA BOYS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

                                       (Games played Thursday, March 7 at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul)

11:00:  Rochester Century/JM vs. Chanhassen (Seed 2)

  1:00:  Cretin-Derham Hall vs. Centennial (Seed 3)

  6:00:  Elk River/Zimmerman vs. Edina (Seed 1)

  8:00:  Grand Rapids (Seed 5) vs. White Bear Lake (Seed 4)

Examining the field:  Get ready for a packed house at the X as the Class AA teams head into quarterfinal action.  First up is the Rochester Century/JM Panthers facing the second seeded Chanhassen Storm.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.  In 1977, Rochester John Marshall became the first team from southern Minnesota to win a state title.  But due to low numbers, they merged with Century, in their first state tournament since 2009.  The Panthers enter the state tournament on a six game winning streak that includes a 4-1 win over the Lakeville South Cougars in the Section 1 final.  The Storm make their state tournament debut after stunning the unbeaten Minnetonka Skippers 2-1 in the Section 2 final.  Could Carver County sports fans celebrate a possible state title.  

Closing the afternoon session is the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders facing the third seeded Centennial Cougars.  The Raiders make their third straight and sixth overall trip to the X by beating the St. Thomas Academy Cadets in the Section 3 final.  The Cougars are playing in their fifth state tournament and make their first appearance since 2018.  They have a shot to win their first state championship since 2004.  Can Centennial end their title drought?  

The evening session gets underway as Elk River/Zimmerman, in their first state tournament since 2005 have a tough battle ahead as they face the top seeded Edina Hornets, as green. gold and white clad fans will cheer on the Hornets for the 32nd time.  Elk River/Zimmerman was the fourth seed in Section 8, defeating Moorhead and Buffalo to capture the section title trophy.  Edina is back in the field after they were defeated by Lake Conference rival Minnetonka in last year's state Class AA final.  Is Elk River/Zimmerman for real or will the Hornets begin their quest toward a return trip to Saturday's title game?  

Ending Quarterfinal Thursday is the fifth seeded Grand Rapids Thunderhawks and the fourth seeded White Bear Lake Bears.  The Thunderhawks make their 17th trip down Highway 169 and first since bringing the 2017 Class AA championship trophy up north.  The Bears are back after beating the Hill-Murray Pioneers in the Section 4 final and are in their 19th trip to state and first since 2019.  Get ready for a true orange and black battle to close out a sold out Class AA session.  

2024 Class A State Boys Hockey Tournament Preview

 2024 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS A BOYS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

                             (Games played Wednesday, March 6 at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul)  

11:00:  New Ulm vs. Warroad (Seed 2)

  1:00:  Northfield vs. St. Cloud Cathedral (Seed 3)

  6:00:  Alexandria vs. Hermantown (Seed 1)

  8:00:  Orono (Seed 5) vs. Mahtomedi (Seed 4)

Examining the field:  Opening up the 80th edition of the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Tournament as the New Ulm Eagles battle the second seeded Warroad Warriors.  The Eagles beat Marshall in the Section 3 final to advance to their first state tournament since 2019.  They will have their hands full as the Warroad Warriors, last year's Class A runner up are playing in their 25th state tournament. Warroad needed double overtime to beat East Grand Forks in the Section 8 final.  The Warriors are 3-8 in state title games.  Can they advance to number 12?  

Ending the afternoon session is the Northfield Raiders and the third seeded St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders.  Unlike the girls team that advance to the state tournament in Class AA, the boys are in Section 1 and make their second consecutive trip up Highway 3.  The Raiders won five of their last seven regular season games before beating the Dodge County Wildcats in the section final.  There's good news in The Granite City as the St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders head to the X for the 12th time and enter the tournament on a 12 game winning streak.  They have not lost a game since they were defeated by the Hermantown Hawks on January 11.  Could a rematch be possible is they advance to Saturday's title 

The evening session begins with the Alexandria Cardinals making their third straight trip and eighth overall down I-94 to St. Paul.  The Cardinals are 14-2 since they began 2024 on a three game losing streak.  They will have a tough task ahead the top seeded Hermantown Hawks, playing in their 20th state tournament.  Seven of the Hawks eight losses were to Class AA teams.  They are the favorites to take home the Class A title trophy.

Wrapping up the day's festivities is the fifth seeded Orono Spartans and the fourth seeded and defending Class A champion Mahtomedi Zephyrs.  The Spartans are playing in their second straight and 11th overall state tournament.  They will face the fourth seeded and defending champion Mahtomedi Zephyrs, playing in their 15th state tournament.  Following two straight shutouts in Section 4, the Zephyrs beat Southwest Christian/Richfield 3-2 in overtime to keep their title defense alive.  Can the blue and gold add more gold medals?  

Next:  The Class AA preview