SPORTS WRAP
A season that started on a somber note ended as one of the best in Owatonna High School boys’ hockey history.
Second-year head coach Dave Fromm passed away just before school started. The team pulled together through that and several season-ending injuries to turn in a top-five all-time performance.
An 18-6-3 record included a third-place finish in the Big Nine Conference. After earning a home playoff game, the Huskies beat Lakeville North for their first win over the Panthers in more than 20 years. Coach Dennis Will highlighted those accomplishments at their recent awards banquet. OHS handed Northfield their only conference loss, an overtime thriller at Dudley Otto Rink.
Owatonna picked up a team academic award from the hockey coaches’ association. Junior Blake Davison is the school’s ExCEL Award nominee. Will said it was one of the most fun teams he’s had the chance to coach.
Leading scorer Owen Beyer won the Lee Harra Most Valuable Senior Award. Senior Brody Goodnature took home the Ken Austin and Hobey Baker Awards. Others honored included senior Brandon Schulz (Ken Austin Hard Worker Award) and freshman Zach Klecker (Dudley Otto Most Improved).
Beyer, Goodnature, and senior Joseph Webster are All-Conference selections. Senior Mark Spurgeon and juniors Andrew Mitchell and Seth Johnson are honorable mentions. Big Nine Scholar Athletes include seniors Goodnature, Lucas Mazariego, Evan Padgett, Brennan Sletten, Jack Strom, and Quinn Thompson.
Girls hockey
Huskies’ girls hockey award winners are senior Samantha Bogen (Offensive Player of the Year), junior Alia Kubicek (Defensive Player of the Year), junior Leah Spencer (Most Improved), freshman Grace Mitchell (Rookie of the Year), senior Molly Achterkirch (Husky Award), and senior Izzy Radel and Bogen (Most Valuable Players and Academic All-Conference).
Bogen, Achterkirch, Radel, Kubicek, and sophomore Kendra Bogen earned All-Big Nine Conference recognition. Mitchell and junior Averi Vetsch are honorable mentions. Radel earned Academic All-State and the Hobey Baker Character Award.
OHS went 14-12-1 and will graduate four. Late in the season, coach Tony Cloud told the Owatonna Live Coaches Show he liked the squad’s depth.
“I feel very confident in the three lines that we have. Our third line, technically, is our youngest line with two sophomores and a freshman. They’ve gone up against other team’s top lines in Albert Lea. They’ve gone up against Mankato East. Did well against Blake and have really been outperforming my own expectations of where they’re at currently in their development,” said Cloud.
In the pool
Huskies boys swimming had a historic season. Three school records were set, and Owatonna had a swimmer – in fact, four with a relay – at state for the first time in 15 years. Seniors David Rhodes, Carter Quam, and Matthew Larson, and sophomore Isaiah Smith set the mark in the 200 free relay – which went to state – as well as setting the record in the 400 free. Larson also broke the record for the 100 fly.
“It was an amazing season. Our previous best season was 4-4. This season we were 6-2. In the 11 years I’ve coached, it’s really been one of the best. It was a very senior-heavy team. We had 10 seniors. A lot of those guys are going to be hard to replace next year. We do need more people. So, recruiting will be big this year. We have a very large sophomore group,” said Owatonna head coach Peter Rhodes.
Larson, Quam, and Rhodes are All-Conference selections. Smith and senior diver Henry Hilgendorf are honorable mentions. Big Nine Scholar Athletes include Hilgendorf, Larson, Rhodes, and Carsen Phelps.
20th anniversary
Through the years of interviewing Wendy Schultz about NRHEG softball, I also enjoyed chatting about our shared passion for running. She coached her final season last spring but is still teaching, running, and running a business. Lerberg’s Fitness Center in Ellendale marked its 20th anniversary last month. She and her husband John purchased it from her parents in 2017.
“I can still remember back when – before it was a fitness center – my mom and dad, mainly my mom, ran the variety or gift store on this side. And she said, ‘I think it would be kind of cool if we could open up a fitness center in town,’” Schultz told Owatonna Live’s Business Talk.
Both were high school athletes and John played college football. They met while on the same coaching staff.
“We both enjoy continuing to work out. When we started having kids, I think they probably saw us doing that or we’d drag them along if we went for walks or runs or worked out. All three of the kids really enjoy continuing to work out,” she said.
The Schultz’s 30th wedding anniversary is this July. She updated a couple of areas of the center to mark the anniversary, working with local businesses on the job.
“We’re so lucky to live in a community where people support small businesses because we know that they could definitely go somewhere else,” said Schultz.
One change expanded the free weight area. Tanning is also available. Membership prices remain the same as when the center first opened. Schultz says they add new equipment periodically, but also have a couple of pieces that were around on day one.
John helps with some maintenance.
“If there’s anything that’s making a squeak or something’s not working right, he’s great at coming in and getting it figured out,” said Schultz.
The facility is open 24 hours for members to come in whenever they feel inspired.
“I think sometimes people think that it has to be where you come in for an hour or more, or that it has to be four or five times a week. Whatever you do is better than doing nothing,” said Schultz.
Watch the full interview with Schultz at OwatonnaLive.com.
Hoop it up
I had the pleasure of covering the state high school boys basketball tournament for KDHL radio/Faribault, a tradition on their airwaves for 76 years. Sitting courtside at Williams Arena, I watched future Golden Gopher Isaac Asuma of Cherry win a state title with his younger brother and cousin. Six-foot-nine Wayzata phenom Jackson McAndrew was denied a championship repeat by an inspired Minnetonka team that had lost to the Trojans twice during the regular season.
West Central Area drilled a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to send a Class A semifinal into what would be a triple-overtime excursion. Lake City rallied from five points down in the final minute of their first-round game to win in overtime, eventually making it to the state title tilt where they fell to the Breck School, led by Wisconsin commit Daniel Freitag.
Mankato East came back from a 13-point second-half deficit to pull within six of Totino-Grace in the AAA final before succumbing to the Eagles, led by Miami recruit Isaiah Johnson. The Cougars were down 14-0 to Alexandria in their semifinal before storming back for the win.
The final horn on Saturday marked the end of the high school winter sports season, just as a major winter storm was brewing. My thanks to Brad Prestemon and Derek Thada, who called games, and the Townsquare Media staff.