M-SC Fusion get state entries in seven events!

Isaac Schreiner (left) and John Schwieters earned medals in the 100 backstroke today at sections with eighth and fourth-place finishes, respectively. PHOTO BY RANDY OLSON

The Melrose-Sauk Centre Fusion swimming and diving team advanced five team members to the Class 1A state meet coming next weekend in Minneapolis.

M-SC's five state athletes will compete in seven different events. Those advancing to state are: Justin Hoppe (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay); John Schwieters (200 IM, 100 BK); Ben Heller (500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay); Matthew Beste (200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay); Brent Blommel (200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay).

"We had a terrific day today. We're very proud of the guys' efforts, and getting five down to state will be a lot of fun," said co-head coach James Schreiner following the conclusion of the Section 5A meet in Alexandria.

Plenty of TEAM on display for the M-SC Fusion.

Here's video from the 200 freestyle relay race tonight, in which M-SC took third place (1:33.39) to advance to state:


And here's a clip from the 400 freestyle relay race, in which M-SC finished third with a season-best time of 3:24.52:


2014 Section 5A team standings:
1st Fergus Falls 390 points
2nd Alexandria 361 points
3rd M-SC 357 points
4th - Detroit Lakes 258
5th - Bemidji 240
6th - Park Rapids Area 237
7th - Perham-Dent 151
8th - Thief River Falls 105
9th - Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 58

In other news...the Mainstreeters girls' basketball team beat Litchfield 61-55 in a matinee game today. The Dragons are a top team in Sub-Section 6AA-South.

Sauk Centre improves to 16-5 and hosts Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta on Monday with a 7:30 p.m. tip off.

Two SC-M wrestlers make state!!

Sophomore Will Funk (132 pounds) and senior Artruo Stefanoni (195 pounds) both have tickets punched to the Class 2A state wrestling tournament after they had outstanding showings at the Section 8-2A meet this weekend.

The state wrestling tournament is on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Another high finisher for SC-M is Antonio Ortiz, who finished in third place at 106 pounds. He competed in the championship match earlier today, when his opponent committed a hard body slam on Ortiz and gave him a concussion. That kept him out of contention from going to state, as the third-place finisher advances.

"It was a very frustrating moment for us," said co-head coach Vaughn Glasener.

More will be posted later, and don't miss more coverage from sections in the Feb. 27 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

SC-M has great first day of section wrestling

No less than 10 of the Sauk Centre-Melrose wrestling team's 13 student-athletes in action at the Section 8-2A tournament are still in action heading into the final day in Perham.

Antonio Ortiz, Jordan Winter, Will Funk and Artruo Stefanoni all landed spots in the semifinals. Out of those four, Funk, Ortiz and Stefanoni all won their semifinal match and will battle for a spot in the Class 2A state tournament during section championship matches on Saturday.

Action in Perham begins at 11 a.m.

Sports-related information for this weekend

The Melrose-Sauk Centre Fusion boys' swimming and diving team is gearing up for the Section 5A meet tonight and tomorrow in Alexandria.

Action begins at 5:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, at 5:30 p.m. at Discovery Middle School. The weather hasn't affected this event, at least not yet. The second day is tomorrow with diving starting at 11 a.m. and swimming finals to follow at 3 p.m.

The Sauk Centre-Melrose wrestling team is in Perham today for the Section 8-2A individual tournament. That event is still on, and day two takes place tomorrow at the Perham-Dent high school. **KASM 1150 AM is in Perham covering the event.

Wrestling action starts today at 1:30 p.m.

Further time/scheduling updates will follow as they are announced by school officials.

Basketball scheduling notes

Next Monday the Mainstreeters girls' basketball team hosts Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta in the final regular season game. It's a varsity-only affair with tip off at 7:30 p.m. at SCHS gymnasium.

If they win that game, they'll earn the West Central North Conference title outright and will then host the WCC-North vs. WCC-South playoff game on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Tip-off for that game would be at 7 p.m. 

Go Streeters!!!

**Update: tonight's (Thursday's) boys' basketball game against BOLD has been nixed. It will not be made up. Tonight's girls' basketball game is postponed to March 3.

Streeter boys earn top seed

The Sauk Centre Boys' basketball team earned the top seed in the 6AA-North sub-section. They will host Osakis in the first round of playoffs on Feb. 27. They host Long Prairie-Grey Eagle this Friday in their final regular season game.

North Stars season ends

The Prairie Centre North Stars lost a hard-fought battle with Alexandria tonight in Section 6A boys' hockey action, 3-1.
Cody Steward got the Stars on board with a rebound goal in the first, but Alexandria came back and scored twice to take the lead despite a valiant effort by senior goalie Clay Deters.
Deters was outstanding in the net as the Cardinals dominated play for much of the final two periods, firing close to 50 shots in the game.

The Stars had their chances, especially on a third-period power play. With the score 2-1, Sam Ecker had a chance on a rebound but his shot was deflected wide and Alexandria ended up scoring an empty net goal to secure the win.
It was still a great season for the North Stars, who finished 16-11 on the season, a big improvement form last year.

Here are some photos form tonight's action. Congrats on a great season for the Stars and especially for the seniors:

Prairie Centre wins playoff opener

At Long Prairie on Saturday night, the Prairie Centre Area boys' hockey team defeated Wadena-Deer Creek 8-2 to advance to the Section 6A quarterfinal round. Now 16-10 overall, the North Stars travel to Alexandria on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Runestone Community Center hockey arena.

The Cardinals are the second-seeded team in the section. They beat Prairie Centre 3-2 on Jan. 3 in Sauk Centre in the teams' only meeting this season.