DULUTH, Minn. — After months of preparation and a week of filming, pro snowmobiler Levi LaVallee released his Red Bull video of stunts in Duluth Wednesday. LaVallee performed all over Duluth — from jumps at Spirit Mountain to flips over North Shore Scenic Railroad cars before landing in the Fitger’s parking lot. LaVallee is a native of Longville, Minnesota. His professional…
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth East’s Aili Hietala dominated the competition in her high school tennis career, finishing with a 145-18 overall record. And now she’s taking her talents to the Big Sky Country. Monday, Hietala signed her National Letter of Intent to play Division I tennis at the University of Montana. She played six years as the #1 singles for…
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Thursday’s Frozen Four will feature a lot of representation from the state of Minnesota. Nearly 40% of the players are from the state of hockey, more than the other 49 states combined. And the largest local group comes from Hermantown. Six former Hawks are taking part in the Frozen Four: UMD’s Cole Koepke, Jesse Jacques, Blake Biondi…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UW-Superior volleyball team announced Wednesday morning that they are withdrawing from the UMAC tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. The Yellowjackets were scheduled to face St. Scholastica Thursday in the first round. The Saints will now host Minnesota Morris Thursday night at the Reif Gym. Top seed Northwestern will be given a bye and will host the…
CLOQUET, Minn. – The defending Section 7AAA champs Cloquet are back on the field, but with a new leader in the dugout. Longtime assistant coach Tyler Korby is now the head coach for the Lumberjacks. He is also the club director for the Minnesota Blast travel softball team. And that means he’s already very familiar with many of his players….
SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UW-Superior softball team opened their UMAC schedule with a pair of five-inning victories over North Central Tuesday at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex. The Yellowjackets scored six runs in the second and third innings of the first game and added seven in the fourth. And it was more of the same in the second game as…
DULUTH, Minn. – Grand Rapids forward Hayden DeMars would finish with four goals and take home MVP honors as Team Yellow defeated Team White 7-5 in the 34th annual Essentia All Star Boys Hockey Game. Joey Pierce, Logan Dushkin and Tom Nemanich also scored for Team Yellow, who also got five assists from Braeden Holcomb. Team White were led by…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Virginia native Jack Perala allowed just two hits in five innings of work as the St. Scholastica baseball team got the road win over rivals UW-Superior 6-1 Tuesday afternoon at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex. It was Perala’s first collegiate win of his career, while Cody Venske also made some history with his first career home run…
DULUTH, Minn. – Senior Maren Friday finished the day with a hat trick as the St. Scholastica women’s soccer team defeated Crown 4-0 Tuesday afternoon at Saints Field. Brea Archer scored the other goal for the Saints, who have not allowed a goal in their last 13 UMAC conference games. On the men’s side, CSS opened their season with an…
CLOQUET, Minn. – After a heart-breaking end to his high school career, Hermantown hockey captain Joey Pierce has laced up the skates again and is now playing junior hockey with the Minnesota Wilderness. The UMD commit joined the team last week and plans to finish out the season with them. Pierce has played for the Wilderness before and is excited…
DULUTH, Minn. – North Branch native Sam Pederson would finish with her first career no-hitter as the UMD softball team blanked Minnesota Crookston 10-0 in Game One and picked up the sweep with a 9-1 win in Game Two Tuesday at Malosky Stadium. It was also a big day for Cloquet alum Kiana Bender, who homered in each game. The…
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – The cities of Proctor and Hermantown announced this week that this Thursday, April 8th will be proclaimed “Proctor/Hermantown Mirage State Champions Day”. The two communities will honor the team after its thrilling state title win this past weekend, which was the first in program history. As of now, there is not an event of some kind planned…
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Abby Hennen would knock down a free throw with 2.1 seconds left in the game that gave Minneota the 54-53 win over Mountain Iron-Buhl in the Class A girls basketball semi-finals Tuesday afternoon at the Target Center. Freshman Jordan Zubich finished with 14 points while Ava Butler chipped in with 12 for the Rangers, who finish their…
DULUTH, Minn. – It’s officially Frozen Four week for the UMD men’s hockey team, a place they have been to four straight times. And while the accomplishment is impressive, it’s just business as usual for the players. “We’ve had three shots at it in my career, my class and we’ve got there every single year so it’s pretty special. This…
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women’s soccer team got their season off to a great start, knocking off Northwestern 3-0 this past weekend. It was also a historic game for Morgan Friday who scored her 100th career point in a Saints uniform, becoming the 10th player in program history to do so. And surprisingly, she hit that milestone on…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – It’s a new era of softball for Wisconsin-Superior with Melissa Fracker as the new head coach. The team has already had to deal with some postponements but it has allowed more time for her to get to know her players. “Number one: I love that I don’t have to make them do stuff together. They do it…
DULUTH, Minn. – Tuesday night, the Northland boys hockey season will come to an end with the annual Essentia All-Star hockey game. 34 players will take part in the event, with Eveleth-Gilbert’s Jeff Torrel and Hermantown’s Patrick Andrews serving as head coaches. And for the seniors, it will be the final game of their high school careers. “Last game of…
ESKO, Minn. – Practices continue this week for prep softball teams. And for many teams like Esko, it’s also game week. The Eskomos will be in their first action since they won the section title back in May of 2019. And because of spring break last week, Monday was the first time the entire team practiced together. “It’s really exciting….
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Grand Rapids defenseman Jack Peart has won the Mr. Hockey award, given to the best senior hockey player in the state of Minnesota. He is the first defenseman to win the award in 12 years and the first Thunderhawk winner since 2014 when Avery Peterson took home the honor. Peart scored 11 goals and recorded 24…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Senior forward Alyssa Watkins scored the game-winning goal in double overtime as the Proctor/Hermantown girls hockey team defeated Gentry Academy 3-2 in the Class A state championship game. Aurora Opsahl and Izy Fairchild also scored for the Mirage, who captured their first state title in program history. Attached video includes postgame comments from head coach Emma…
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women’s soccer team picked up right where they left off last season, getting the 3-0 win over Northwestern in their season opener in a rematch of the 2019 UMAC Tournament championship. Elisa Galyen, Emily Thalmann and Kaiya Quam all scored for the Saints, with Galyen and Thalmann recording their first collegiate goals, while Morgan…
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica volleyball team ended the regular season in a big way, taking down Minnesota Morris 3-1 (25-19, 27-29, 25-14, 25-17), ending a 10-match losing streak to the Cougars. Jessica Remer led the way with 22 kills while Ashley Larson finished with 10 kills and a career-high 15 digs for her first collegiate double-double. Katie Brostrom…
DULUTH, Minn. – For this week’s Coaches Corner, we hear from UMD men’s hockey coach Scott Sandelin as the Bulldogs get set for their fourth straight trip to the Frozen Four. UMD will face UMass Thursday night in Pittsburgh, PA. Categories: Coaches Corner, College, Friday Night Frenzy, Sports, University of Minnesota – Duluth
MOUNTAIN IRON, Minn. – The Mountain Iron-Buhl girls basketball team stuck with it the entire way and only led for the final 17 seconds of their state quarterfinal game, but it was enough to get the job done as they’re now heading back to familiar territory: the class A state semifinals. “It will feel like home,” junior forward Jacie Kvas…
DULUTH, Minn. – This week, practices got underway for prep softball teams, including Duluth Denfeld. But this year, the Hunters will begin the season without a very special member of their program. For the first time in decades, Denfeld will take the field without their longtime head coach Dick Swanson, who passed away back in August. Nikki Jensen will take…
DULUTH, Minn. – The UMD baseball team would have runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally would fall short as they drop their home opener to Upper Iowa 5-4 Friday at Wade Stadium. And it would be another close game in the nightcap, but the same results as the Peacocks hang…
DULUTH, Minn. – Kelly Swank would hit a game-winning RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh that gave the UMD softball team the 5-4 win over Wayne State Friday afternoon in their home opener at Malosky Stadium. The Bulldogs would go on to sweep the Wildcats with a shutout win in the second game 6-0. They’ll look to keep…
DULUTH, Minn. – Jessica Remer finished with a career-high 24 kills while Katie Brostrom had a career-high 54 assists as the St. Scholastica volleyball team defeated Northland College 3-1 Thursday night at the Reif Gym. It was the Saints’ 49th straight win over the Lumberjills. CSS will close out their season Saturday at home against Minnesota Morris. Categories: College, Sports
DULUTH, Minn. – The college baseball season is underway, and so far, so good for St. Scholastica. Last weekend, the Saints returned home for the first time in two years and have rattled off three straight wins at Wade Stadium. “I think just in terms of coaching, it felt normal for the first time in two years. When you’re on…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Freshman Hannah Graves finished with two goals as the Proctor/Hermantown girls hockey team defeated Warroad 3-1 in the Class A state semi-finals at the Xcel Energy Center. Senior Alyssa Watkins also scored her sixth goal of the tournament, while junior Abby Pajari finished with 31 saves. The Mirage advance to the state championship game for the…
DULUTH, Minn. – Tuesday, the Duluth Marshall girls basketball team suffered a heart-breaking loss in the state quarterfinals. It was the final game in the high school career for Gianna Kneepkens and she went out with a bang. Kneepkens finished with a career-high 67 points, which is also a new prep girls state record for most points scored in a…
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – After their loss in the state quarterfinals Tuesday night, the Hermantown JV hockey team has received an outpouring of support all over social media, including from former Hawk and current UMD Bulldog Blake Biondi, as well as an exchange of mutual respect on Twitter between Zam Plante and Dodge County’s Brody Lamb. Categories: High School, Sports
OSSEO, Minn. – In the Class AAAA state quarterfinals, the Duluth East boys basketball team struggled in the second half as they fell to Wayzata 78-69. In other quarterfinals action, DeLaSalle defeated Hibbing 92-72 in Class AAA, Minneapolis North knocked off Moose Lake-Willow River 71-40 in Class AA, and in Class A it was Badger/Greenbush-Middle River over Deer River 58-52….
PROCTOR, Minn. – Wednesday morning, the best breakfast for Northland hockey fans won’t be a bagel or eggs benedict. It will be the start of the state semi-finals for girls hockey. And Proctor/Hermantown have earned a spot at the table. The Mirage will go up against Warroad, the #1 ranked team in Class A. The Warriors are led by Ms….
MOUNTAIN IRON, Minn. – The Mountain Iron-Buhl girls basketball team got a big win Tuesday afternoon over Cass Lake-Bena in the Class A quarterfinals. It wasn’t pretty though as the Rangers committed 24 turnovers and only led for the last 17 seconds of the game. But they say a win is a win when it comes to the state tournament….
BRULE, Wis. – Fly fishing is now the name of the game on the Brule River in Wisconsin. This past Saturday, the trout season officially opened, and many avid anglers are thrilled to be back out doing what they love. “Anything you need in the fly fishing world, I can provide it,” said John Fehnel, owner of Great Lakes Fly…
DULUTH, Minn. – As winter sports begin to wind down, that means spring sports are starting back up. And it’s been a long wait for many local teams who had their seasons cancelled last year, including Northland baseball teams. And for some teams, like Duluth Denfeld, it means getting re-introduced to their new head coach. Joe Wicklund took over last…
PEQUOT LAKES, Minn. – In a game where they lead for the final 17 seconds, the Mountain Iron-Buhl girls basketball team earned a comeback win over Cass Lake-Bena 50-49 in the quarterfinals of the Class A state tournament. The Rangers move on to face Minneota in the state semi-finals. That game will be next Tuesday at the Target Center. In…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Hermantown boys junior varsity hockey team fought valiantly in place of their varsity teammates, but it wouldn’t be enough as they fell to Dodge County 7-3 Tuesday night in the Class A state quarterfinals. Cameron Pietrusa, Sam Swenson and Zam Plante all scored for the Hawks, who were playing without most of their varsity players…
HIBBING, Minn. – It’s been a season to remember so far for Hibbing’s Ayden McDonald. On the court, he recorded 900 career assists and also became the program’s all-time leading scorer. “A little bit different from the mold of our family; scoring isn’t really his MO. He’s able to do it but he has tendency to make the right play,…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Emma Street and Claire Smith each scored in the second half as the UW-Superior women’s soccer team earned an exhibition victory over Northland College Tuesday afternoon at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex. The Yellowjackets will open their regular season schedule Saturday as they will host Martin Luther. Categories: College, Sports
DULUTH, Minn. – Tuesday, UMD’s Scott Sandelin was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award given to the top head coach in Division I men’s hockey. This is the fifth year in a row that Sandelin has been nominated for the award, which he won back in 2004. Since the start of the 2016 season, Sandelin has posted the…
DULUTH, Minn. – In their first meeting since the 2019 UMAC playoffs, the St. Scholastica baseball team got the home win over UW-Superior 5-2 Monday afternoon at Wade Stadium. Dallas Miller was stellar on the mound for the Saints as he finished with a career-high 12 strikeouts, allowing just two hits over 7.1 innings of work. CSS improves to 3-2…
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – Grand Rapids/Greenway’s Claire Vekich is now a top-five finalist for the Ms. Hockey award, given to the top senior player in the state of Minnesota. Vekich says she hopes the nomination will bring more attention to girls hockey programs in the Northland. “I think it’s a really big eye-opener to have a Northern GRG hockey player…
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – The prep hockey world is still buzzing after Proctor/Hermantown’s Alyssa Watkins scored five goals in a win over Luverne in the Class A state quarterfinals. Watkins is not currently committed to playing college hockey, but she does want to play at the Division I level. And maybe her performance could help with some much-deserved exposure. “Obviously, this…
MADISON, Wis. – Former Proctor/Hermantown Mirage standout and current UW-River Falls forward Callie Hoff has been named the WIAC Player of the Year. The Hermantown native led the conference in goals and total points and earned first-team honors for the third straight year. Hoff also recorded at least one point in 10 games this past season, including eight multi-point performances….
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – The Hermantown boys hockey team will be shorthanded for Tuesday’s Class A state quarterfinals game against Dodge County due to exposure to COVID-19. The vast majority of the varsity team will not take part in the game, but members of the junior varsity squad will made eligible to play. Here’s the official statement from athletic director Beth…
FARGO, N.D. – Freshman forward Luke Mylymok scored 2:13 into the fifth overtime to give the No. 3 seed Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team the 3-2 win over No. 1 seed North Dakota in the Fargo Regional Final and send the Bulldogs to their fourth straight Frozen Four. Jackson Cates and Cole Koepke scored 80 seconds apart in the third…
DULUTH, Minn. – In the home debut for head coach Kevin Ritsche, the St. Scholastica baseball team dominated offensively, sweeping the doubleheader over Northland College 12-1 and 11-1. Grant Taival struck out five while allowing one run on three hits over 5 innings and recorded the win in the first game. Mitchell Olson recorded a home run while Matt Tautges,…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UWS volleyball team made quick work of North Central on Saturday, getting the 3-0 win (25-18, 25-10, 25-20) in their home finale. Kaylin Plautz led the Yellowjackets with 18 kills while Alexie Pryd finished with 10 kills. Megan Holz led the way with eight aces and 33 set assists. UWS improves to 7-2 (5-2 UMAC) and…
