MAHACA wrestlers, 'Waska girls impress

It finally feels like winter this Saturday morning. We have gotten such a long reprieve. Wind can be the biggest headache here on the prairie. I read once that the earliest settlers here were shocked by how intense the wind can be. That has always stuck in my head, and it's certainly in my head on this Saturday morning. 

Winter's true arrival helps get our attention focused more on our Tiger winter sports teams. Oh and the "Storm" also. 

We have our area-wide entity for wrestling and it's still called the "Tigers." I have noticed that the program often goes by "Tiger wrestling" - quite acceptable - so that the drawn-out "Morris Area Hancock Chokio Alberta" need not be recited. I have dreamt of the day when all our programs and the high school itself can just go by "Morris High School" again. Pipe dream? 

MAHACA wrestling had a most successful dual against BOLD recently. The Tigers took charge in this 42-29 win over the Warriors. 

Now that I'm reviewing the meet data, I notice that we didn't have to "take charge" in such physical fashion, and that is because a bugaboo in the wrestling world - those "forfeits" - cropped up. Frankly I hate that. A batch of those truly denies fans their money's worth. But the historical record will always show that the Tigers beat the Warriors 42-29. 

The lighter weights were fine for avoiding the forfeit outcomes. The heavier weights were simply bad news. So let's roll up our sleeves for a review of this MAHACA win. We were on the short end at 107 pounds. Here it was Brenden Hughes representing the Tigers. Brenden lost by fall to Edgar Kopel in :54. Beau Hagen notched the win at 114 pounds: a fall in 1:17 over Keaton Marwede. We tasted defeat again at 121 pounds: Logan Gramath lost by fall in 1:01 to Ava Kiecker. 

Our 127-pounder was Xavier Kleindl and he was pinned by BOLD Warrior Colton Baumgartner in 3:47. Our Jarret Payne at 133 was the fall victor over Bryce Henslin in 1:07. Grayson Gibson of the Tigers had his arm raised via forfeit. Alex Sperr (145) was the tech fall loser to Brady Kiecker in 17:02. Another Kiecker - Austin - was the fall victor over Andrew Marty at 152. 

Get ready for the forfeits. Guillermo Mendoza of the Tigers was the forfeit winner at 160 pounds. Oh my, there was a "double forfeit" at 172 pounds. Our Kaden Hinrichs was the forfeit winner at 189. 

At least MAHACA was winning these forfeit outcomes. So at 215 pounds, Issac Lhotka had his arm raised unchallenged. And at 285, Javon Johnson polished things off with his forfeit triumph. A win is a win. And the Tigers most certainly showed their superiority vs. BOLD. It's a confidence-lifter going into the holidays.

 

Girls basketball: 'Waska 58, Montevideo 13

I'm at a dead end looking for data on the MACA Tigers' basketball contests versus West Central Area on Friday. That's too bad. I know things did not go well for the girls. A 20-point loss? They'll have to try to adjust for after the holidays. 

Let's take a look at the Minnewaska Area Lakers' big win over Montevideo this past week. What a commanding score: 58-13. No problem for the Lakers feeling confidence going into Christmas. They charged out to a 33-10 lead at halftime. They absolutely crushed the Thunder Hawks in second half play. Would you believe, a 25-3 scoring advantage? And I winced when our MACA girls scored just eleven first half points in the season opener. Monte came close to getting "skunked." 

The Lakers built their won-lost to 3-0. 

It was Sydney Dahl leading the Lakers in scoring: 16 points. Megan Thorfinnson hit double figures too with her ten. Lauryn Ankeny and Alia Randt each put in seven points. Avery Fier added to the mix with six. Addyson Kath and Olivia Danielson each scored four, and Kendall Danielson and Jayda Kolstoe each scored two. 

'Waska made a statement with 3's as Thorfinnson connected three times, followed by Dahl and Randt twice each. Dahl with her five rebounds led there. Danielson led in assists with four. And in steals it was Thorfinnson with six. Dahl blocked five shots. 

Monte's top scorer was Teagan Epema with six points. Hallie Helgeson led in rebounds with six. Epema had an assist. Lily Eisenlohr came up with five steals, and Epema blocked two shots. 

What a surprise we would have had this morning, if we had checked our online devices and found some game data from last night on the MACA Tigers. Can't someone think of a way to achieve this? It's not rocket science. The newspaper has a website all set up that could provide this. In theory it could be so helpful. Only in theory, the way things stand.

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