SPORTS FEEVER – April 10, 2025

SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com

We have had some baseball and softball games played this week and spring sports are officially underway!

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The top two teams in Section 8A Baseball, Sacred Heart and Red Lake County have had a great start to the season. Red Lake County beat Warroad 7-0 while no-hitting the Warriors. Will Gieseke and Bo Nelson teamed up for the no-hitter. Sacred Heart started off the season with a 10-run rule victory in their first game of the season. Those two teams will be the heavy favorites to be in the championship for the second straight season.

— — —

The Minnesota State High School League released the 2025-26 &2026-27 Section Alignments and I have put together the list of the area sections below. There were a few changes in most sports.

The lists are below –

SECTION 8 9-PLAYER FOOTBALL (7 teams – Lake of the Woods out)
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Goodridge/Grygla
Kittson County Central
Northern Freeze
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8A FOOTBALL (8 teams – Park Christian in)
Ada-Borup-West
Bagley
Cass Lake-Bena
Mahnomen/Waubun
Park Christian
Polk County West
Red Lake County
Red Lake

SECTION 8AA FOOTBALL (7 teams – Park Rapids out)
Barnesville
Crookston
Frazee
Hawley
Pelican Rapids
Roseau
Warroad

SECTION 8AAA FOOTBALL (7 teams – Park Rapids in)
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Minnewaska Area
Morris/Chokio-Alberta
Park Rapids
Perham
Thief River Falls

SECTION 6 9-PLAYER FOOTBALL (6 teams – Park Christian out)
Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Kelliher/Northome
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal

SECTION 8A VOLLEYBALL (20 teams – Red Lake out, Northome/Kelliher in)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Climax-Fisher
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Goodridge/Grygla
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Northome/Kelliher
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Sacred Heart
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA VOLLEYBALL (14 teams – Pelican Rapids out, Red Lake in)
Barnesville
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Frazee
Hawley
Menahga
Park Rapids
Perham
Red Lake
Roseau
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
Warroad

SECTION 8A BOYS SOCCER (12 teams – Fergus Falls out, Long Prairie/Grey Eagle in)
Albany
Central Minnesota Christian
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy
Long Prairie/Grey Eagle
Melrose
Minnewaska Area
Morris
Pelican Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. John’s Prep

SECTION 8A GIRLS SOCCER (9 teams)
Albany
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy
Melrose
Pelican Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. John’s Prep
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley

SECTION 8A GIRLS TENNIS (8 teams – Perham out – to 8AA!)
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Park Rapids
Parkers Prairie
Roseau
Staples-Motley
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek

SECTION 8A GIRLS SWIMMING (8 teams – Alexandria out)
Detroit Lakes
Fergus Falls
Fosston/Bagley
Morris Area/Minnewaska
Park Rapids
Perham/New York Mills/Henning
Thief River Falls
Warroad/Roseau/BGMR

SECTION 8A BOYS CROSS COUNTRY (Boys – 23 teams, Girls – 24 teams – No change)
Ada-Borup-West
Bagley/Fosston
Barnesville
Cass Lake-Bena
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
Fertile-Beltrami
Frazee
Hawley
Lake Park-Audubon
Lake of the Woods/Rainy River
Northern Freeze
Nevis
New York Mills
New York Mills Homeschool (Girls Only)
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Red Lake County
Riverside Christian School
Roseau
TrekNorth
United North Central
Warroad
West Marshall

SECTION 8A BOYS BASKETBALL (19 teams – Lost Cass Lake-Bean and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig)
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Climax-Fisher
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Goodridge/Grygla
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Northome/Kelliher
Red Lake County
Red Lake
Sacred Heart
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA BOYS BASKETBALL (14 teams- Osakis and Staples-Motley in, Pelican Rapids out)
Barnesville
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Hawley
Menahga
Osakis
Park Rapids
Perham
Roseau
Staples-Motley
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
Warroad

SECTION 8A GIRLS BASKETBALL (20 teams – Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig and Cass Lake-Bena out)
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Climax-Fisher
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Goodridge/Grygla
Kelliher/Northome
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Red Lake
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Sacred Heart
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA GIRLS BASKETBALL (14 teams-No change)
Barnesville
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Frazee
Hawley
Menahga
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Perham
Roseau
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
Warroad

SECTION 8A BOYS HOCKEY (10 teams – No change)
Bagley/Fosston
Crookston
Detroit Lakes
East Grand Forks
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Park Rapids
Red Lake Falls
Thief River Falls
Warroad

SECTION 8AA BOYS HOCKEY (8 teams – Alexandria in, Buffalo and Sartell out)
Alexandria
Bemidji
Brainerd
Elk River
Moorhead
Roseau
St. Cloud
St. Michael-Albertville

SECTION 8A GIRLS HOCKEY (6 teams – No change)
Crookston
Detroit Lakes
East Grand Forks
International Falls
Thief River Falls
Warroad

SECTION 8AA GIRLS HOCKEY (6 teams – Sartell/Sauk Rapids-Rice and St. Cloud out)
Alexandria
Bemidji
Brainerd
Buffalo
Moorhead
Roseau

SECTION 8A WRESTLING (9 teams – Roseau in)
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Barnesville
Crookston
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston/Bagley
Frazee
Mahnomen/Waubun
Roseau
United North Central

SECTION 8AA WRESTLING (12 teams – Roseau out)
Alexandria
Detroit Lakes
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
Fergus Falls
Minnewaska Area
Park Rapids
Perham
Pequot Lakes
Sauk Centre/Melrose
Thief River Falls
United Clay Becker

SECTION 4A DANCE (12 teams – Pierz in)
Aitkin
Bagley
Crookston
Crosby-Ironton
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
Ely
Frazee
Hawley
Mahnomen/Waubun
Pelican Rapids
Pierz
Wadena-Deer Creek

SECTION 8A BASEBALL (17 teams – Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal out)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Northome/Kelliher
Red Lake County
Red Lake
Sacred Heart
West Marshall
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA BASEBALL (13 teams- Pelican Rapids out)
Barnesville
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Hawley
Menahga
Ottertail Central
Park Rapids
Perham
Roseau
Thief River Falls
Warroad

SECTION 8A SOFTBALL (16 teams – No change)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Clearbrook-Gonvick
East Polk
Fertile-Beltrami
Lake Park-Audubon
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
Northern Freeze
Red Lake
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Sacred Heart
West Marshall

SECTION 8AA SOFTBALL (15 teams – Frazee in)
Barnesville
Breckenridge-Wahpeton
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Frazee
Hawley
Menahga
Ottertail Central
Park Rapids
Perham
Roseau
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
Warroad

SECTION 8A BOYS GOLF (14 teams – No change)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Fertile-Beltrami
FHL Academy (in Bagley)
Fosston
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Red Lake County
Sacred Heart
West Marshall
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA BOYS GOLF (15 teams – Morris/Chokio-Alberta in, Pelican Rapids out)
Barnesville
Crookston
Detroit Lakes
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls
Hawley
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta
Park Rapids
Perham
Red Lake
Roseau
Thief River Falls
United North Central
Warroad

SECTION 8A GIRLS GOLF (13 teams – No change)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Red Lake County
Sacred Heart
West Marshall
Win-E-Mac

SECTION 8AA GIRLS GOLF (15 teams – Frazee and Pelican rapids out, Morris in)
Barnesville
Crookston
Detroit Lakes
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls
Hawley
Morris Area
Park Rapids
Perham
Red Lake
Roseau
Thief River Falls
United North Central
Warroad

SECTION 8A BOYS TENNIS (9 teams – New London-Spicer out)
Crookston
Detroit Lakes
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls
Minnewaska Area
Osakis
Perham
Riverside Christian School (in EGF)
Thief River Falls

SECTION 8A BOYS AND GIRLS TRACK (25 boys teams – 26 girls teams – No changes)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley/Fosston
Cass Lake-Bena
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Climax-Fisher-Sacred Heart
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
Fertile-Beltrami
Goodridge/Grygla
Kittson County Central (Girls only)
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Nevis
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
Northome/Kelliher
Park Christian
Park Rapids
Red Lake County
Roseau
TrekNorth (in Bemidji)
United Clay Becker
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
Warroad
West Marshall
Win-E-Mac

— — —

The Northern Sun Conference baseball teams are a little over halfway through the conference season.
All teams have played 21 or 22 conference games, and UMC has 18 games remaining in the season. If the season ended today, UMC would not make the playoffs. The good news is that it doesn’t end today, and there are 18 more games to be played.

The Golden Eagles have games against the following teams remaining –
at Southwest Minnesota State (3 games) in 3rd place
at Bemidji State (2 games) in second to last place
host MSU-Mankato (3 games) in first place and ranked #4 in the nation
host St. Cloud State (2 games) in fifth place but have won five in a row
at Minnesota-Duluth (3 games) in 11th place, two games behind UMC
at Mary (2 games) tied for 9th place with UMC
host Northern State (3 games) dead last with a 1-21 record.

The bad news is they have games against the first-place, third-place, and fifth-place teams. The good news is they have five games against the worst two teams, which have a combined three wins in 42 games, including the final three games of the season, which could turn out to be huge games.

The top 8 teams (out of 15) make the playoffs.

School	Conf	CPct.	Overall
Minnesota State	20-2	.909	26-3
Augustana	14-7	.667	19-11
Southwest Minnesota State	14-8	.636	19-10
Wayne State College	13-9	.591	17-14
St. Cloud State	12-9	.571	16-15
Sioux Falls	12-9	.571	16-19
Winona State	12-10	.545	16-15
Concordia-St. Paul	11-10	.524	15-16
UMary	11-11	.500	15-16
Minnesota Crookston	11-11	.500	14-18
Minnesota Duluth	9-11	.450	13-16
Minot State	8-14	.364	13-17
Bemidji State	2-18	.100	3-23
Northern State	1-21	.045	5-24

— — —

The Northern Sun Conference Softball teams are over halfway through the conference season. Augustana and MSU-Mankato are fighting for first place, which should come as no surprise to anyone.
UMC has played 14 games and has 12 remaining. The Golden Eagles have been more competitive this year, with some closer games this year. They have a lot of work to do for a chance to make the playoffs.

The top 10 teams (out of 15) make the playoffs.

School	Conf	CPct.	Overall
Augustana	15-3	.833	33-9
Minnesota State	15-3	.833	31-13
Winona State	13-3	.812	32-9
St. Cloud State	11-4	.733	32-11
Minot State	11-5	.688	23-16
Minnesota Duluth	8-6	.571	28-14
Concordia-St. Paul	9-7	.562	17-24
Wayne State College	8-7	.533	23-16
Sioux Falls	9-9	.500	21-19
Southwest Minnesota State	6-12	.333	24-20
MSU Moorhead	6-12	.333	14-31
Northern State	4-14	.222	10-29
Minnesota Crookston	3-11	.214	15-26
Bemidji State	3-13	.188	16-24
UMary	2-14	.125	9-32

— — —

Former Roseau Ram and Minnesota Golden Gopher Men’s Hockey player Aaron Huglen has signed a two-year contract to play for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL for the 2025-26 season!
Huglen, 24, also completed his senior season of college hockey this year, playing as captain of the University of Minnesota. Originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round (102nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Huglen produced 73 points (32G-41A) in 150 games as a Golden Gopher.

Huglen was named Academic All-Big Ten in three of his four seasons and was given the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the 2024-25 campaign.

— — —

JOKES

A golfer and his buddies were playing a big round of golf for $200.

At the eighteenth green the golfer had a ten foot putt to win the round, and the $200.

As he was lining up his putt, a funeral procession started to pass by.

The golfer set down his putter, took his hat off, placed it over his chest, and waited for the funeral procession to pass.

After it passed, he picked up his putter and returned to lining up his putt, and completed it, thus winning the game and the money.

Afterwards, one of his buddies said, “That was the most touching thing I have ever seen.

I can’t believe you stopped playing, possibly losing your concentration, to pay your respects.”

“Well,” said the golfer, “we were married for 25 years.”

— — —

It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the hell the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side,he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.
But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked,
“Is the coming winter going to be cold?”
“It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed,” the Meteorologist at the weather service responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.
One week later he called the National Weather Service again.”Is it going to be a very cold winter?” he asked.
“Yes,” the man at National Weather Service again replied,”it’s going to be a very cold winter.”
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again. “Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It looks like it’s going to be one of the coldest winters ever.”
“How can you be so sure?” the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy”.

— —

A group of American tourists was being guided through an ancient castle in Europe.

“This place,” the guide told them, “is 600 years old. Not a stone in it has been touched, nothing altered, nothing replaced in all those years.”

“Wow,” said one woman dryly, “they must have the same landlord I have.”

— —

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.
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

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.

The post SPORTS FEEVER – April 10, 2025 first appeared on KROX.