On the Bench with Byron Higgin
Minneota Activities Director and Offensive Coordinator of the football team, Matt Myrvik confirmed Minneota is going for its seventh state title.
He should know, he’s been around for much of the success, quarterbacking the team and now guiding the offensive unit. Minneota’s State Championships include:
•1986
•1987
•1988
•2009
•2014
•2015
•Play for 2017 title Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, against Wabasso.
There have been other honors:
•Second Place: 1993
•Second Place Class AA: 2013
•Final four: 2010.
Other State Tournament Appearances: 1989; 1992; 1994.
That’s a total of six state championships so far, two second place finishes, one final four finish and a total of 13 appearances in the state tournament in the past 32 years.
Ironically, Minneota has played three of its area rivals in the state finals in recent years, beating Adrian in 2009; Dawson-Boyd in 2015 and now facing nearby rival Wabasso.
They also lost in the final four to eventual state champ New Ulm Cathedral in 2010 and watched Springfield win the state title in 2013. Not bad for a bunch of small schools in Western Minnesota, the place the Twin Cities has forgotten exists.
ODDS AND ENDS:
•Welcome Home Minnesota Twins.
The announcement this week that the Minnesota Twins were “coming home” to WCCO Radio is welcome news in my home.
I grew up listening to the Twins on WCCO, then several years ago the Twins decided to sell their own advertising and they left WCCO. The fact the station is a free channel and easy to get anywhere made it very easy to listen to the Twins.
I always had trouble when I was traveling, finding, then losing the station carrying the Twins. So Welcome Home Minnesota Twins. And Thank You WCCO!
• In heartbreaking fashion, the No. 18 University of Sioux Falls Football Team’s (9-3) season ended in a 24-20 setback to No. 5 Midwestern State (10-0) in the first round of the NCAA DII Football Championship before 7,502 in attendance at a windy Memorial Stadium. Minneota’s Isaac Josephson played in all 12 games, on special teams and linebacker and had 19 tackles during the year, one in the final game.
•Minneota’s Dynamic Duo of Taylor Reiss and Megan Larson have done it again. The two SMSU volleyball players were part of their Mustangs NSIC Tournament championship team in St. Paul last weekend.
They defeated Concordia-St. Paul, the defending national champion, 3-0 to earn the crown and a trip to the NCAA tournament. Reiss was named the tournament MVP and both Reiss and Larson were named to the all-tournament team.