Once again it was very exciting to cover Cardinal high school sports this past winter. There were many highs and a few lows, with each event a pleasure to attend. This year I had the pleasure of writing about Alpine skiing, dance, gymnastics, wrestling, girls basketball and boys basketball.
As those close to me know, I am not a sports expert. With every event I cover and each conversation with coaches or players, I learn something new. I pay very little attention to college or professional sports anymore, but follow Cardinal sports with passion.
Annandale athletes and coaches put a great deal of time and effort into their sports and it shows in each and every game. Win or lose, we can count on the Annandale athletes to give 100 percent and show good sportsmanship. I am very proud to call myself a Cardinal fan.
Alpine skiing
The Annandale co-op added skiers from Kimball, New London-Spicer and St. Michael Albertville; they joined Annandale, Maple Lake and Litchfield for the 2014-15 season. It was a good season and Coach Lori Rice saw a great deal of improvement.
For the second year in a row, freshman Claire Tikkanen earned a place in the state tournament. At the state championships Tikkanen finished 57th after runs of 44.58 and 42.22, a two-run total of 1:26.80. In 2014 Tikkanen finished 64th.
Dance
This year the Cardettes were coached by Melissa Severson, who served as an Annandale assistant coach for years.
Over the last four seasons I have seen a great deal of improvement in this team of young dancers. They are in a section with very tough competition, but work very hard to improve their performances.
Sophomores Maddie Helget and Carly Knowles were the Cardettes captains this year. I am told by Severson that both girls led by example, modeling a passion for the sport, dedication and a strong work ethic.
Often the Cardettes perform during halftime at Cardinal basketball games. This year, more than in years past, the fans seemed to pay attention to the performances and gave the girls well-deserved applause.
Gymnastics
It was Sarah Zieska’s first year as Annandale’s head coach. She replaced Nicole Green, the Cardinal’s popular and successful head coach for 11 seasons.
All teams have their ups and downs. The girls all worked hard but this year the team did not seem to have the success we had seen in recent years.
Senior captain Madison Kasper had a good year, but was disappointed, I am sure, that she fell just short of qualifying for the state meet.
I attended many meets this year, both home and away. I was impressed with the fan turnout; often if I arrived a bit late I had trouble finding a seat.
Most members of the team were quite shy around me, with one exception - Mavis Ekholm. The senior captain always seemed happy and willing to give me some comments about the meet.
A great deal of talent will be returning next year, including Kendra Norgren, Jessi Forness, Dee Jacobson, Emily Kasper, Anna Mitchell and Kayleigh O’Brien.
Younger members to watch in the future include Madi Otto and Maggie Crowell.
I just learned this past week that Zieska will not be returning as the head coach next year. I know it can be tough, the first year of coaching. I just hope that Zieska was given a fair chance to prove herself.
Wrestling
It was a very good year for the Lightning, the Annandale-Maple Lake wrestling team.
The team had a fantastic 21-3 record going into the sections, even beating section rival Foley 28-22 in November. It was the first time the team had defeated Foley in over a decade.
Everyone had high hopes for the Lightning going into the Section 6-2A tournament, where they were the No. 1 seed. The Lightning were defeated in the finals by Foley 26-25, missing a trip to the state tournament by only one point. I don’t think I have ever seen so many athletes in tears as I did that night. It was very sad. I am sure many of the boys will replay that matchup over and over again in the years ahead, thinking what was almost theirs.
Four wrestlers did go on to the state tournament as individuals, including Spencer Ogden, Holden Youngs, Quinn Youngs and Tanner Vassar. I did not get to all the meets this year, but every one I did attend was well attended by Annandale and Maple Lake fans.
The team loses a very good senior athlete in Annandale’s Ogden. He will be missed.
Talented Annandale athletes to watch in the coming years include Austin Hurrle, Cory Schmidt, Trae Bedford, Derek Tomberlin, Reed Rasset and Walker Weege.
Girls basketball
It was a fantastic season for the Lady Cards, ending with a trip to the state tournament. Going into the quarterfinal game of the state tournament the Cards had a 24-7 record. They lost to Minnehaha Academy 38-49 in the quarterfinal game. It was only the second time an Annandale’s girls basketball team has made it to state. That was quite an accomplishment for this young team, coached by Amy Gagnon in just her second year as a head coach.
The team was always a joy to watch; win or lose, the games were all hard fought.
Senior center Hannah Spaulding led in scoring and rebounds in most games this season. The 6-2 captain will be missed next season.
Emma Atkinson, junior guard, has a great three-point shot and added many points during the season.
Junior guard Hannah Groth was the one usually bringing the ball down court. Only 5-3, Groth is the toughest and most aggressive player on the court. There is not a loose ball Groth does not seek with vigor.
Brittany Reimer, a junior forward, provided some great defense and came on strong offensively late in the season. Reimer contributed big time in the section playoffs.
Freshman center Kamryn D’Heilly, a three-sport stand-out athlete, came off the bench and contributed each and every game with points and rebounds.
Eighth-grader Hannah Purcell, following in father Chip’s and grandfather Bob’s Cardinal basketball footsteps, was enormously successful coming off the bench during the season. An excellent rebounder and inside shooter, Purcell also has a nice three-point shot.
Senior forward and captain Jenna Loch saw action in many games, exhibited a great work ethic and was an effective leader.
Junior forward Hannah Medvek was a starter in many games and provided dandy defense.
I saw most of the junior varsity games this year and there is some talent there as well. Grace Chamberlin, Allie Spaulding, Erin Miller, Elizabeth Schlafke and Grace Atkinson will be competing for starting positions in the years to come.
Boys basketball
Not many people expected much from the 2014-15 Cardinal boys basketball team. The team graduated seven of their top eight players from last season. Only Chase Knickerbocker saw much varsity time last year.
The team started the season 3-5, so who would have guessed they would have ended up with a trip to the state tournament?
Head coach Skip Dolan and assistants Dave Greve and Mike Zuehlke did a great job of utilizing the talent they had.
There is no doubt that Knickerbocker was the star of this team. He scored over 800 points this season, averaging 27 points game. He led the team in rebounds with 223, averaging 7.43 per game. Chase is a hard worker and puts everything into winning.
Having said that, I don’t think this team would have been as successful without Knickerbocker’s supporting cast.
"Knickerbocker is a stud, a great player. Credit goes to Coach Dolan for convincing the rest of the team to let Chase be the stud," said a fan and a former Cardinal stud himself.
By letting Knickerbocker do his thing, Alex Hohenstein, Brock Fobbe, AJ Hinz, Jarod Wilken, Brad Weege and Zach Kuefler all benefited. Not all teams are that lucky.
Putting in Wilken and Hinz as starters was a key move and very smart of Dolan. Their height, aggressiveness, shooting and rebounding ability made it very difficult for other teams to double up on Knickerbocker. Hinz ended up with 166 points and 138 rebounds in 22 games this season. Wilken put up 278 points and 196 points in 28 games this season. Hinz, a freshman will have three more seasons and Wilken, a junior will have two more years.
Hohenstein amazed everyone this year with his defensive skills. Dolan always put Alex on the opposing team’s best player. This was an especially key factor in the victories over Cathedral, Maple Lake and Breck. He was a very valuable player.
Brock Fobbe, a gifted three-sport athlete, was a very effective point guard, with lots of speed and ball handling skills. I loved the way he would go for a steal or dive for a loose ball.
Very quiet and unassuming, Alex Alama and Brett Wadman were reliable contributors off the bench. Wadman’s speed is awesome and Alama has a beautiful three-point shot. A pleasant surprise this year came from two other bench players, Kuefler and Weege. It is very nice to have a bench a team can depend on.
As a junior Kuefler did not see much playing time last year, but this year Dolan used him very effectively. He had 195 points in 29 games. Weege was also very impressive.
With Knickerbocker graduating this year, he will be missed, no doubt about it. But I have an enormous amount of confidence in next year’s team. It will be a different game plan without Chase, but you couldn’t ask for a better coach than Dolan to put that winning plan together.
It may be tough for underclassmen to break into varsity positions next year, but you never know.
I was very impressed this year with Austin Janski, Connor Magrum, Austin Mehr and Austin Mealy – very good JV players that love basketball.
I would not be surprised to see two freshman from this year’s team see some varsity time next year. Nick Bieniek and Trent Peper are two very talented and tall young men and if they work hard over the summer, could see some time.
This year’s ninth grade team is loaded with talent and went undefeated this year. In the next couple of years fans will likely see Leo Healy, Ben Holthaus, Trenton Peterson, Jesse O’Dowd, Christopher Groth, Justin Heimkes and Andrew Hermes in the varsity lineup.
This year’s ninth grade team is loaded with talent and went undefeated this year. In the next couple of years fans will likely see Leo Healy, Ben Holthaus, Trenton Peterson, Jesse O’Dowd, Christopher Groth, Justin Heimkes and Andrew Hermes in the varsity lineup. This group of young men love basketball, play smart and give it their all.
The boys basketball team has now won three section championships in a row and taken the same number of consecutive trips to the state tournament. I see no reason why that streak will not continue for at least the next three years.
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