SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
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UMC Golden Eagle Baseball has suffered its first big loss to the transfer portal. After a lot of interest from the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and other programs, Josh Dykhoff has committed to play baseball this upcoming school year at Kansas. Yes, the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12.
Kansas won 20 Big 12 games last year and I am sure a little NIL money was involved. Dykhoff hit over .300 in all three years at UMC and was the NSIC Freshman of the year back in 2023. This past season, he was 6-5 with a 3.27 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP in 13 starts. He has played 30 games for the St. Cloud Rox this summer and is batting over .300 with 10 extra base hits and 22 rbis. He hasn’t pitched and likely won’t this summer.
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All Crookston Boys Soccer Alumni, you are cordially invited to participate in a CHS Alumni Soccer match at the new KROX Stadium on August 16, 10:00 am. Any inquiries, please contact Coach Boike at lonboike@isd593.org.
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The American Legion D2 Northwest Sub-State tournament begins today (Thursday) at Jim Karn Field in Crookston.
Eight teams will participate in the tournament, two of which will advance to the high school season state tournament. Red Lake County won the Class A State Championship.
Frazee (15-10) lost to Parkers Prairie 4-1 in the first round, and their consolation semi-final game was called after four innings.
Fosston finished in fourth place in Section 8A.
In Section 8AA – TRF finished third place and DGF finished “fourth place.”
Thursday, June 24 first round schedule is below. The first round is single-elimination.
11:00 AM – N3 Red Lake County vs S2 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on KROX 10:35 AM
1:30 PM – S4 Hawley vs N1 Warroad
4:00 PM – S3 Frazee vs N2 Fosston
6:30 PM – N4 Thief River Falls vs S1 Wadena
Friday, June 25 schedule is below –
11:00 AM – RLC/DGF winner vs Hawley/Warroad winner
1:30 PM – Frazee/Fosston winner vs TRF/Wadena winner
4:00 PM – 11 AM game loser vs 1:30 PM game loser (loser out game)
6:30 PM – 11:00 AM winner vs 1:30 PM winner
Saturday, June 26 –
2:00 PM – Semi-final
4:00 PM – Championship
Sunday, June 27 –
Noon – 2nd championship if needed
The state tournament will be held in Ely August 1-3.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball team was named a recipient of the 2024-25 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. Additionally, Ben Hoverson (Grand Forks, N.D.), Reid Grant (Johnston, Iowa), and Pedro Rossi (Bahia Blanca, Argentina) were named to the NABC Honors Court for consecutive seasons. The Golden Eagles also received the 2023-24 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize men’s basketball programs that completed the 2024-25 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men’s basketball players who finished the 2024-25 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
The NABC’s academic awards are presented annually to teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball.
Over 2,400 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and nearly 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2024-25. A full list of Honors Court recipients is available by clicking here, and the following programs earned Team Academic Excellence Awards:
Hoverson, Grant, and Rossi all graduated with degrees from the U of M Crookston in Spring 2025. Grant graduated with a degree in applied studies. Hoverson had a degree in exercise science and wellness. Rossi had degrees in international business, and management. Grant finished his collegiate career with a 3.60 GPA, Hoverson notched a 3.90, while Rossi had a 3.47.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball program was named as one of 1,450 collegiate and high school programs across the nation to earn the 2025 AVCA Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT. In order to obtain this high honor, programs must maintain a year-long grade-point average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 GPA scale.
“It is very exciting to see that the record-setting, on-court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom,” says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. “The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes.”
The AVCA also announced their Team Academic Champion for the first time this season and in Division II, that honor went to Concordia-St. Paul.
The Golden Eagles, along with 13 other NSIC schools, were awarded this honor by the AVCA.
Golden Eagle volleyball had four outstanding student-athletes named to the NSIC All-Academic Team this past season; Madison Carsten (Wadena, Minn.), Bailey Schaefer (Brandon, Minn.), Kailee Waasdorp (West Fargo, N.D.) and Emma Malek (Plainfield, Ill.).
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The University of Minnesota Crookston soccer team will host an ID Camp August 9 from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at the Minnesota Crookston Soccer Field. The camp is for grades 9-college. The campers will be able to experience life as a student-athlete at the University of Minnesota Crookston. Participants in the ID Camp will be instructed by the Golden Eagle soccer staff and get a glimpse of campus. The campers will be led through drills and observed by soccer coaches at the U of M Crookston and nearby universities. The camp will include technical training, possession drills, small-sided and 11v11 games. Campers and families will get a tour of campus and have a Q&A session with Minnesota Crookston coaching staff.
Registration for the camp will commence at 9 a.m. A t-shirt is included in registration with an overall cost of $100. Campers should bring appropriate soccer attire, shin guards, socks, cleats, tennis shoes, a water bottle, and sunscreen.
For more information on the camp and to register visit https://register.ryzer.com/camp.cfm?sport=7&id=307710
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The Crookston High School Summer Strength and Conditioning program “Powered by Sanford Sports” will be June 2 through August 8. There will be no sessions June 30-July 4 due to the MSHSL blackout week.
For the registration and sign up info, click the following link – Crookston Weights Summer Sign Up — Signup Sheet | SignUp.com
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JOKES
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a freshman playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a freshman playing football at Minot State.
Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.
Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.
Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com.
