News

A unique situation: Showing livestock at the Minnesota State Fair and playing in a football game on the same day.

Around the state, the mood was upbeat. That was partly due to outstanding weather; cool temperatures and clear skies. But there’s also something special about the dawn of a new day, the dawn of a new season, the dawn of a new adventure.

The beautiful green vision of a cornfield, followed by soybean fields – sights we had grown up with – told us we were close to home. Minnesota.

Five years after winning a state championship, the members of the 2019 Henning High School boys basketball team continue to inspire. On the fifth anniversary of that state title, I revisited the team and learned that they continue to be a very special group.

To see Mason Archibald competing in track and field is a testament to the human spirit, as well as the spirit of a competitive, friendly young man from northern Minnesota.

Arvig Park in Perham was the site of the fourth Brave Like Gabe Invitational, an event like no other. Competition was certainly part of it, but there was camaraderie, there was support, there was fundraising, there was remembrance, there was love, so much love.

Skip and Cathy Dolan have three kids and eight grandkids, and the whole lot sits a couple rows behind the Annandale Cardinals bench. Above the bleachers, up on the wall, is a very fitting sign: “Home.”

The growth of high school girls wrestling in Minnesota has been remarkable. This season is the third one since the MSHSL officially sanctioned girls wrestling, and more than a thousand females are participating, from schools large and small all over the state.

Bands from Section 2A Subsection 8 gathered for the annual Large Group Contest. Yes, the MSHSL is involved in athletics, but it also proudly oversees all kinds of fine arts activities, ranging from theater to speech to debate to visual arts to choir and band.

Casey O'Brien is a six-time cancer survivor. He has endured 27 surgeries, countless rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, and he has spent nearly a full calendar year in the hospital.

The Rostbergs and Lundeen combine for 108 years of coaching high school football in Minnesota, and they continue to set a high standard. None of the three will be around forever, but their names will live on in the facilities at their schools.

The 1,000th game of Wendy Kohler’s coaching career was marked with a brief ceremony before tipoff. The current Cardinals players stood alongside their coach, holding a banner that read, “Congrats Wendy! 1,000 Games Coached.” Many of her former players, including several mothers of current players, cheered from the stands.