MACA girls fall to 11th-ranked Montevideo, here

First, media notes

From my old newspaper compatriot of Central Minnesota, in a Tuesday night email:

 

"I can only imagine how painful it is to sit there and watch your local newspaper do what it does, or actually doesn't do."

He and I had exchanged thoughts on how the Morris paper has such a dormant website. The site is set up to report news and sports, but it's anything but a go-to place for timely info. One might suggest it's a teaser site. But you could argue it's hardly even worth the trouble for that. 

Newspapers vary with their commitment to their websites, but there are a fair percentage that see advantages to running a fairly dynamic site. Call it outreach or being relevant in their communities. With the Morris paper publishing only once a week, obvious timeliness issues arise. The usefulness of the print product becomes extremely limited. Yet the sports coaches I'm sure feed the paper with lots of info, as if that info is going to be presented in a timely and useful way. I call this old habits. 

The paper published twice a week through all the years I was there. We had nice big papers and our page size was even bigger. 

Of course the paper at present is going to do what it feels it has to, to maintain a satisfactory profit margin. That doesn't mean we all have to feel enthusiastic about it. Stop and think. The paper for this week is just 14 pages. So that covers the whole week. Advocates of school programs, in my opinion, need to take a close look at whether the world wide web with its limitless boundaries is really being tapped to the fullest extent. 

The MAHS "YouTube geniuses" are marvelous. Let's keep the ball rolling. Remember that the paper and the radio station are in it for the money for themselves. We accepted this arrangement in the old days because there was no alternative. Times have changed, Grasshopper. 

Would people at the paper take umbrage to my writing today? Hey, it's not personal. I got hung out to dry at the paper once. Such classless people. That ownership preceded the current one.

 

Montevideo 75, Tigers 49

The MACA girls sunk back to the kind of doldrums that has marked part of this season. The Tigers were defeated Tuesday by Montevideo and by a pretty big margin. The score was 75-49 at the Tiger Center. 

Avery Koenen supplied lots of spark for the visiting Thunder Hawks: 27 points, 14 rebounds and three steals. 

The West Central Tribune reported that Monte "cruised to victory." Monte came here with pretty good credentials, ranked No. 11 in AA. The T-Hawks have been unstoppable in conference competition: 8-0. The Tigers have fared at 3-6 in conference. 

Tenley Epema was a force for Monte with 16 points. Teagen Epema did her part with 12. The rest of their list: Hailey Dirksen 9, Kiera Foley 5, Brooke Lindeman 3 and Taya Weber 2. (These totals add up to 74 points, not 75. Stats are from WC Trib.)

Tenley Epema was sharp in long-range shooting: four 3-pointers. Teagen Epema succeeded three times from 3-point range. Foley, Dirksen and Lindeman each made one '3'. 

Koenen attacked the boards for 14 rebounds. The Epema girls led in assists, Teagen with eight and Tenley with five. Teagen Epema and Koenen each had three steals. Dirksen and Koenen each blocked a shot. 

Maddy Grove

The Tigers had three players score in double figures led by Maddy Grove with 14 points. Maddy Fehr put in eleven and Kaylee Harstad had ten. Others who scored: Hannah Schultz 6, Addison Cihak 4, Morgan Harstad 2 and Ashley Koehl 2. Grove made two 3-pointers. 

Here's what Monte coach Anthony Jackson said to the WC Trib: "I thought we pushed the ball really nicely, especially in the first half. We understood what was going on against their zone defense. For the most part, I thought we played soundly." 

Monte led at halftime 37-24. 

Our record coming out of this game: 5-15. The Monte W/L: 16-3.

  

Wrestling: MAHACA 39, Alexandria 37

The MAHACA wrestlers defeated Alexandria as part of the Alex-hosted triangular on February 2. We had a 1-1 day as we also lost to Detroit Lakes. The remainder of this post reviews the 39-37 win over Alexandria. 

Our little guy, Beau Haugen at 106 pounds, lost by fall to Nolan Fettig in 1:09. We got a forfeit win at 113 pounds with Tyce Anderson having his arm raised. Grayson Gibson came on strong to win by fall in 2:45 over Alex's Logan Timm. Grayson manned the 120-pound slot. 

Then at 126 it was Alex's Mason McGrane getting the forfeit win. At 132 pounds it was Isaac Saffert of Alex beating our Jarret Payne, a fall in 1:26. Davin Rose at 138 won by fall in :21 over Grayson Timm. Our 145-pounder was Caden Rose and this Tiger beat Zachary Brezina, a fall in 2:57. Let's look at the 152 category where Blaze Nelson of the Cardinals prevailed in a 5-2 decision over our Andrew Marty. 

Landon Raths of Alex won by forfeit at 160. Moving up to 170 we see Alex's Kelly Johnson winning by fall in 1:39 over Dain Schroeder. It was Alex's Landon Seward prevailing at 182 pounds, a 9-1 major decision over Connor Olson. Our Hunter Gibson won by fall in 3:02 over Cody Vatnsdal. Hunter vies at 195.
Then we move up to 220 where Brock Marty of the Tigers pinned Jordan Nicholson in :56. Javon Johnson of the Tigers posted a 4-2 decision over Luke Maanum at 285 pounds. Victory was sweet!

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Grayson Gibson, Outstanding Wrestler of conference tournament (facebook image)

Brock Marty, honored for career milestone in wins (facebook image)