Double championship — top sports story in 2019
Minneota’s girls have scratched their names into the Minnesota record books in 2019 by winning the State Class A Girls Basketball Championship with a 30-1 record — then capturing the Class A Girls Volleyball championship in the same year with a 33-3 mark. On top of that, the volleyball championship was a REPEAT, since they also won the state title a year earlier in 2018. And ... still unwritten, is the girls drive for a basketball repeat ... which won’t be attempted until this year — 2020. Yet, three titles in a row is a major accomplishment. The No. 1-ranked 2019-2020 girls basketball team was 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state when this edition went to press. Last March, the basketball team beat Red Lake, 66-46; Heritage Christian 55-50 and Goodhue, 40-31 to capture the title. Lizzy Gillingham, Abby Hennen and Lydia Sussner were named to the All-Tournament team. Team members were: Katie Konold, Summer Hennen, Morgan Kockelman, Lydia Sussner, Abby Hennen, Lizzy Gillingham, Morgan Hennen, McKenna Yost, Audra Buysse, Mackenzie Tolk, Mariah Muhl, Natalee Rolbiecki, Abby Rost, Jeren Rost and Madison Sorensen. The team was coached by Chad Johnston, Dale Kockelman and Al Panka. The volleyball team defeated Greenway 3-0; Fosston3-1 and in the championship, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, 3-0. Team members were: Lyzah Sussner, Mackenzie Tolk, Ireland Stassen, Ellie Pesch, Abby Hennen, Morgan Hennen, McKenna Yost, Abby Rost, Natalee Rolbiecki, Madison Sorensen, Reese Gillund and Abby Frie. Coach Hayley Fruin’s staff included Kally Buysse and Samantha Pies. Rolbiecki and Abby Hennen were named all-state players and Morgan Hennen was an honorable mention. Abby Hennen was named the Camden Conference MVP and Coach Hayley Fruin was Camden Conference and Section 3A Coach of the Year.
2. Reiss is Honda ‘Athlete of the Year’ Minneota graduate and SMSU volleyball player Taylor Reiss was named the Honda, “Athlete of the Year” in Division II volleyball. The Mustang senior was presented with the honor on the CBS Sports Network during a live broadcast from Los Angeles.
3. Hennen hit 44, but set off a hailstorm Thomas Hennen scored 44 points against MACCRAY, one point short of the school record set by Shane Hennen. However, he also set off a hailstrom when he was accused of shooting free throws for brother Jacob and Logan Sussner. Hennen was suspended for two games, his brother Jacob and Sussner for one game and the team without the three players lost their first game of the year to Yellow Medicine East (4-15), 57-55. Hennen apologized publicly, and the case went viral as his apology received over 11,000 hits on the internet. Not long after the incident, Minneota Activities Director Jason Myhre resigned his position. The boys never fully recovered and lost the second tournament game to Dawson-Boyd, 82-73.
4. Austin Buysse an ESPN celebrity Austin Buysse was in the stands for the College World Series in Omaha, NB when a home run head toward his position in the outfield stands. Buysse, balancing a beverage in one hand, used his 6-5 frame to lean back and catch the ball with his other hand. He then guzzled the beverage — and ESPN caught it all on film. The catch went viral and Buysse became an instant celebrity. He did several interviews and he was even asked to reprise his catch on national television.
5. Skillings named president of coaches; later resigns coaching job Longtime Minnesota Coach Joel Skillings was voted to head the Minnesota State Wrestling Coaches Association. His motive was to help strengthen the sport of wrestling. However, later in the year he resigned his position as Minneota coach. Weeks later he accepted a position on the coaching staff at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall under head Coach Jesse Nelson. He was named an adjunct assistant coach. Two assistant wrestling coaches also resigned during the year — Les Engler and JD Pesch.
6. Lizzy Gillingham earns eighth state trip Lizzy Gillingham was part of the 4x400-meter relay team that earned a trip to the state tournament. But it was much more than that for Gillingham. She earned her eighth state trip to the state as a high school athlete. Gillingham has appeared in the state for Minneota’s basketball and volleyball teams and also the Canby-Minneota track team. At state, Grace Drietz finished second in state in the 800-meter run and took fifth in the 1600-meter run.
7. Sisters scored 1,000 in same year; Coaches earn 400th victory Minneota sisters Abby and Morgan Hennen each scored their 1,000th career points this year in basketball. Abby did it first and Morgan a couple of weeks later. The night Morgan Hennen hit 1,000, she was one basket short when she was injured at Canby. But she came back in, hit a shot for the record, was fouled and hit a free throw, then was taken out. Their Coach Chad Johnston and Assistant Coach Dale Kockelman won their 400th game together at Canby the night Morgan Hennen made her 1,000th point.
8. Lydia Sussner scores 2,000 career points Minneota post player Lydia Sussner scored 31 points at Tracy in a 63-36 win over the Panthers and entered unique territory, scoring her 2,000 career point. A few short weeks earlier, Sussner grabbed her 1,000th career rebound.
9. Logan Sussner scores 1,000 points Logan Sussner needed 34 points to become a 1,000-pointer scorer when he entered the Dawson-Boyd game last year. And that’s what he scored, 34, to become Minneota’s latest 1,000-point man as a junior. Sussner started his senior season in grand fashion, scoring 119 points in the first four games while grabbing 82 rebounds in those four games. That averaged out to nearly 30 points and 20 rebounds per game. He had 36 points and 32 rebounds in one game against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.
10. Boerboom places high at state golf Two Minneota golfers made it to the state tournament: junior Nolan Boerboom and freshman Cole Myhre. Boerboom finished in 18th place at the Class A State Tournament in Becker. He golfed a 166, or 11 strokes above par over the 36-holes at the state meet.
BUBBLING UNDER the top 10 were the following:
11. Donaldson ‘elite’ Centennial team man Back in 1925, John Donaldson, soon to become one of the best Negro League baseball players, honored his brother Jim, who died from meningitis, by joining Jim’s team, Minneota, to pitch a game in amateur baseball. Known as “Cannonball Donaldson” for the velocity on his fastball, Donaldson was named to the 1920 to 2020 All-Centennial team.
12. Steve Sussner a ‘Butch Nash’ winner Minneota Assistant Football Coach Steve Sussner was named a 2018 Butch Nash winner by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association. Sussner joined the coaching staff in 2001 and followed former Minneota Coach Jim Rolbiecki and current offensive coordinator Matt Myrvik as winners of the Butch Nash award. Sussner is the “passing game” coach for the Vikings. He is a former Minneota Viking linebacker and wide receiver.
13. Six Viking wrestlers earn trip to state Six Viking wrestlers earned their way to the state tournament. They were: 120-Kade Lozinski, 113-Eric Carrasco; 132-Teddy Pesch; 138-Blake Reiss; 160-Cole VanOverbeke; 170-Shawn Buysse. At the state, Teddy Pesch got to stand on the podium. The senior won a major decision to take fifth and ended with a 34-8 season record. Shawn Buysse also got a podium spot, losing the fifth place match and finishing in sixth place. At the wrestling banquet at the end of the year, the 1999 Minneota Wrestling Team was named to the Wally Pesch Hall of Fame. They were the first Minneota team to place at state. They finished fourth. Laura Buysse was named “Fan of the Year,” and Teddy Pesch was awarded the Johnny Tillemans Award. 14. Girl tracksters back in ‘True Team’ state For the second straight season the Canby-Minneota Girls Track Team earned a trip to the Minnesota ‘True Team” State Tournament. They edged Southwest Minnesota Christian for the chance to compete at Stillwater for the second straight year. At the state, they tied Lanesboro/Fillmore Central for fourth place. Lizzy Gillingham long jumped 15-8 for a third place finish and took fifth in the 100-meter run at 13:54. Grace Drietz of Canby took second and third in the 800-meter and 1600-meter runs. The 4x400-meter relay took second. Runners were: Dreitz, Gillingham, Braelyn Merritt and RyAnn Hansen.
15. Mudhens celebrate 10th year The Mudhens defeated Clinton, 12-6 in a Land O’ Ducks opener and in so doing celebrated their 10th Anniversary. The team was started in 2009 and the only players still on the team from the opener are Manager Tyson Sonnenburg, Danny Hennen and Jesse Drager. They would go 10-1 in league play, and ended the regular season with a great come-back win, 9-7 over Cottonwood after trailing, 7-2. But despite winning one their first-ever playoff win over a Land O’ Duck team when they beat Dawson, they lost the next two games and were out of the playoffs.
16. A no-hitter for Grady Moorse, with help Minneota’s Grady Moorse threw a 9-0, six-inning no-hitter over Cottonwood in American Legion baseball. He got help in the seventh inning from Teddy Pesch, who pitched a hitless inning. Moorse had nine strikeouts but walked six batters.
17. Francis again wins Wynston Boe Ryan Francis of the Twin Cities again won the Wynston Boe Memorial Golf Tournament in Minneota with a 116, edging Minneota native Ben Derynck by one stroke. It was the second time the two finished first/second in the annual tournament. In the Minneota Club Tournament, Norman DePestel won the championship with a a total of 121.
18. Callens captures 4-H shooting title Kaci Callens of Minneota won the Intermediate Two-Hands Pistol Shooting state championship in 4-H. The 15-year-old is a member of the Lyon County Shooting Sports and Wildlife Invitational team.
19. Gillund qualifies for Boston Marathon Minneota’s Lisa Gillund, tried four previous times. But the fifth time was the charm as she qualified for the Boston Marathon. Running in the Twin Cities Marathon, she ran a time of 3:38.59 and that was good enough to qualify for the big event.
20. Drietz fell out of state meet After placing on the podium twice in the last two years, Canby/Minneota runner Grace Drietz became ill and dropped out of the state tournament race at St. Olaf College in Northfield. She, Braelyn Merritt of Canby and Blake Stoks of Porter also ran in the state meet.