SPORTS WRAP
Norrid
Owatonna senior football captain Trever Schirmer has taken on the reluctant role of volunteer coach, as a knee injury early this summer forced him to the sidelines.
He told the Owatonna Live Coaches Show, “My thought process was I’m gonna do whatever I can. Be here every day to make other players better and really just fill in the gap that I left.”
He said his recovery is going well, and he’s eyeing a return to track and field where he is a contender to advance to state in shot put and discus. Seeing him move on the sidelines tossing a football around during the pregame in jersey and sweatpants, you wouldn’t know he is injured.
On Senior Night, football coach Jeff Williams said, “Schirmer is one of our guys. He’s a kid we leaned on very heavily last year at the left tackle position and the defensive line. He was a big-time performer for us. It was really a gut-punch when we found out right at the end of the school year that we were not going to have him for the season. But he’s done a good job. He’s at every practice. He’s there to help out. He’s kind of a young coach. He’s able to pass on tips to the kids and is excited to do it…He’s handled it as a class act.”
Williams credited the other captains as well for a positive season, “Collin Vick, Mikah Elstad, and Drew Kretlow have really set the tone. So, our practices have gone great. We haven’t had a lot of problems, knock on wood. And that’s really due to the tone that those guys and the rest of the senior class have set.
“We always talk about the fact that tradition never graduates. It’s really incumbent upon the seniors to transmit to the younger kids how do we operate, how do we go about our business. What does Owatonna football look like. What does it look like the locker room. What does it look in the classroom. What does it look like in the hallways. How do we practice.”
Twenty-three seniors fill the Huskies roster.
Division One for swimmer
Owatonna senior Logan Norrid announced via Twitter that she will swim for Division I University of Rhode Island. During her junior year, she placed 10th at state in the 100 butterfly and 12th in the breaststroke. She set six school records last season while earning team MVP and Big Nine All Conference awards. Norrid first qualified for state as an eighth grader. She is swimming on a club team this season.
The Huskies list of Division I commitments includes Ezra Oien (hockey at University of New Hampshire) and Ava Stanchina (soccer at North Dakota State University).
Head of the class
Semifinal: Owatonna 1, Rochester John Marshall 0, overtime on Oct. 13. Blake Burmeister scored on a header off a free kick by Ty Svenby 45 seconds into overtime to lift the Huskies into the section final against Rochester Mayo. It was Burmeister’s fourth goal, three off his head.
On a chilly night at Lincoln School, JM had a strong start forcing Owatonna’s Nils Gantert to make some early saves. Meanwhile, the Huskies’ Rolando Maya had a header stopped by Rockets’ keeper Camden Williams on a diving stop. OHS dialed up the pressure at the end of the first half but a scoreless tie remained at the break.
Owatonna’s pressure continued into the second. Benny Bangs put a good scoring chance high and wide, and Williams made a couple of saves. JM nearly scored on a buzzer beater as Gantert slipped but the ball rolled wide with 10 seconds to go. (Report from Owatonna Live’s Brad Betterman)
Quarterfinal: Owatonna 1, Northfield 0 on Oct. 11. Ashton Kraus’ goal 10 minutes into the second half lifted Owatonna to the win. Benny Bangs played the ball forward on the right side to Rolando Maya who advanced it to Kraus for his fourth goal of the season. Bangs had a breakaway chance early in the game, but the Raider keeper got his leg on the shot. Bangs hit the crossbar late in the second half.
Girls soccer ends
Semifinal: Lakeville North 2, Owatonna 0 on Oct. 14. A dozen OHS seniors played their final high school soccer match in a loss at Lakeville. The Huskies kept the defending section champs scoreless for over 50 minutes. The Panthers converted a corner kick 12 minutes into the second half and added another ten minutes later on a quick transition play. The Huskies end the season at 10-8.
Quarterfinal: Owatonna 1, Rochester Century 0 (overtime) on Oct. 11. Ava Stanchina used her head to redirect a free kick by Ezra Oien to set off the victory celebration in the seventh minute of overtime. The Huskies controlled most of the possession in the extra session and had several excellent opportunities before scoring the golden goal. A Century player skimmed a shot off the top of the crossbar late in regulation.
Up for award—again
Sam Henson (OHS ’20) is up for the Fred Mitchell Award, which honors college football kickers on their community service in addition to their success on the field. The Concordia-St. Paul sophomore also made the list last year. Henson volunteers as a youth soccer coach in Owatonna over the summer. He’s taken part in football and baseball camps. He participates in Feed My Starving Children, St. Paul Community Clean-up and is a security volunteer for various events at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Henson was perfect on PATs in his freshman season, going 18-for-18. He connected on 10 of 11 field goal tries with a long of 48. He earned CSP Special Teams Player of the Week three times. This season he’s hit 9-of-10 PATs and three field goals for the Golden Bears. Henson’s online bio on the Concordia website states he is “A finance major with a minor in sport management…interested in a career in sports law…a consistent Dean’s List student.”
Spikers fall to West
OHS volleyball dropped a three-set match to Mankato West on Oct. 11. Despite an early 8-4 Owatonna lead in the opening game, the Scarlets rallied for a 25-15 win. West continued to play good defense in the second set. The Huskies hung with them, but the Scarlets won 25-22.
The third set was a spirited back-and-forth battle with some lead changes as Mehsa Krause, Samantha Bogen, and Brooke Miles turned in nice plays. West won 25-23 to close out the sweep. Krause had 12 kills. Bogen added seven. West was led by Ella Olson with 15 kills.
The volleyball playoffs begin on Thursday, Oct. 27.
New golf coach
Mother Nature is forcing us to put golf on the back burner. But even the pending winter will come to an end and spring will begin anew, with a new coach leading the Owatonna High School girls. Longtime assistant Jason Kaytor was just named as the new varsity coach, “Obviously I’m excited to be in the position. After 17 years as an assistant, I’m excited and ready to go,” he quipped.
In a news release, OHS Activities Director Marc Achterkirch stated, “Coach Kaytor is bringing a wealth of golf knowledge and coaching experience to our girls’ golf program. He has built great relationships with our student-athletes for many years in the Owatonna golf and volleyball programs and will continue to bring his consistency and excitement.”
Kaytor feels the golf program has good depth, but isn’t afraid to look for more players, “Our numbers are pretty good, but of course, we would love to have more girls out for the game. I would like to promote it more as a lifelong game that can still be very competitive.”
He also has spent 17 years coaching volleyball at OHS, including nine as head coach. Kaytor now assists first-year head coach Rachel Malo, who was a player when Kaytor was the head coach, “It’s so nice to have her passion and excitement in the program. Working with her has been fun as well.”