Sports from the week of March 13, 2002
The Panther girls' basketball team ran into a highly motivated and focused team in Yellow Medicine East and lost 37-31 in the Section 3AA finals at Southwest State University Friday night.
The Panthers finished their season with a 17-8 record and the 212 Conference Championship with a 12-2 record.
These girls compiled an excellent record. They very convincingly won the Class AA State Volleyball Championship last fall and this winter they have won the 212 Conference Championship plus winning the South Section 3AA title and advancing to the Section 3AA championship finals, just one game away from the state tournament.
However in this game they ran into a buzz saw in the YME Sting.
"It was a tough game for us," said Panther Coach Paul Soupir. "We had an off night shooting and it cost us. We also rushed things, did not play under control and were not as aggressive on defense."
"It was an enjoyable season, we accomplished our goals of winning the conference, winning the sub section and just came one game short of winning the section championship. The season was tough at the beginning but overall it was very rewarding. I would like to do it all over again, Soupir summed up."
When asked about next year Soupir replied, "Each year is different, you have to build around your strengths and we will have a tough time replacing this season's post players."
Youth wrestlers second in six-team tourney
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton youth wrestlers placed second in a six- team tournament in Fulda last weekend.
After a first-round bye, TMB beat Marshall in the second round 52-26.
The young Panthers wrestlers beat Pipestone/Jasper in the third round, 59-15, to advance to the championship round.
Fulda/Murray County Central beat TMB 53-21 in the finals.
“I was very pleased at the way the kids wrestled,” said Coach Kent Cooreman. “We are very young at some of the upper weights when competing in team competition at this level. These young wrestlers have shown a lot of improvement this year.”
Erik Cooreman and Keith Engelkes both went 3-0 on the day. J.C. DeWitte was 2-0 in exhibition matches.
23 youth wrestlers advance to regional competition
Thirty Tracy-Milroy-Balaton youth wrestlers competed in a National Youth Wrestling Association (NYWA) Qualifier meet Friday, March 3 in Minneota. The top two from this tournament advance to regional competition to be held March 23 in Windom. Wrestlers who did not advance on Friday have another chance by competing in Dawson or Adrian on March 16.
“Out of 30 wrestlers, 22 qualified for regional tournament. This was an outstanding job by these young wrestlers. I'm looking at getting a few more qualified at this weekend's tournaments,” said Coach Kent Cooreman.
First Place: Josh Coyle, Brandon Engelkes, Zach Campbell, Raymond Hagberg, Colton Evans, Jordan Rolling, Chad Cooreman, James Prairie, Dan Dieter, Cole Cooreman and Paul Carlson.
Second: Austin Peterson, J.C. DeWitte, Alex Soupir, Bradley Schmidt, Alex Blegen, Erik Cooreman, Luke Prairie, Andrew Dieter, Keith Engelkes, Chris Hansen and Derek Vosberg.
Third: Kody Kirsh, Jared Towne and Drew Hebig.
Fourth: Ian Mariner, Brandon Schroeder, Brian Hagberg, Cody Schons and Derek Evans.