Randy Taylor has been on the Titans coaching staff for 28 years, Jon Wessel for seven and they are very close friends … even before Wessel gave Taylor one of his kidneys earlier this year.
“Winning games is awesome but our goal is to turn them into men,” he said. “We have 26 kids on the roster and you could ask any of the coaches, they’re all like sons to us.”
The good news: I never saw one flake of snow while driving home from Lake Crystal. The great news: I had one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at a high school sporting event.
Chet Holmgren, a graduate of Minnehaha Academy, recently won an NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the Western Conference finals, Holmgren's former coach and teammates reflected on his high school career and journey to the NBA.
More than 1,500 Minnesota girls in grades 7 through 12 are on wrestling teams this season. That number has almost doubled from a year ago, and there were about 250 the first year girls wrestling was sanctioned by the MSHSL in 2021-22.
Kailee is a 2009 graduate of Cambridge-Isanti, and her hometown turned out for her. There was a raffle, a silent auction, a halftime shooting contest and more, with a whole bunch of folks wearing “Full Court Fight For Kailee” T-shirts.
Erik Hermanson has dual educational roles that are all but unknown. Football coaches are usually teachers or administrators, but the combination of football and instrumental music is extremely rare.
Andrew Klinnert is an 18-year-old senior at Fergus Falls High School. He is in his first year as an MSHSL basketball official and has worked several games with his grandfather. If Andrew officiates for as many years as his grandpa, he will put in more than 60 winters on the court.
After 40 years, a page was set aside for Blaine baseball’s longtime statistician and assistant coach Bill Zenner. He was recently honored in a celebration at the Blaine Baseball Complex.
Twenge, 71, is a true baseball lifer. Ask him about winning 1,000 games and he’ll likely respond with a statement about losing 600-some games, too. And he will smile.
A few days before Christmas, three wise men made history on the basketball court at Duluth Denfeld High School. They brought gifts of wisdom, experience and gratitude, based on their combined 154 years as basketball officials.
