Holiday sports on tap
School is out for the holidays and won’t resume until January 2, the day after New Year’s.
But that won’t be stopping Minneota athletes, who will swing into action as early as today (Thursday), as they begin a busy week of sports activities.
Viking Girls
The 7-0 Minneota Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A and in defense of their state title, will roam into South Dakota this week. They will play at 4 p.m. Friday in the Hoop City Classic at the Mitchell, SD Corn Palace against the Yankton Gazelles (3-2). Then on Saturday they travel to Sioux Falls for a 2 p.m. game at the Pentagon. The Hoop City Classic continues with Minneota against Sioux Falls Christian (1-3).
Viking Boys
Minneota travels to Springfield for a 7:30 p.m. regular season game against the Tigers. Last year, Minneota and Springfield played in Minneota. The Viking boys holiday play will continue on Saturday, December 28. They play Murray County Central in a 10:30 a.m. game at SMSU. The B squad plays at 8:30 a.m. Minneota is 5-3 going into the game at Springfield.
Wrestling
Minneota will take its usual holiday excursion to Fargo for the Rumble on the Red at the FargoDome. The Rumble on the Red Wrestling Championships is one of the largest wrestling events in the country.
This will be the 14th year of the “Rumble” High School Tournament. “We’ve got 22 mats running continuously and hosting over 1500 Varsity/JV wrestlers and 800+ youth wrestlers,” said event official Steve Saxland.
Minneota varsity wrestlers on the mat at the Rumble are: 106-Troy Van Keulen and Peyton Gillund; 120-Eric Carrasco; 132-Zack Fier; 138-Kade Lozinski; 145-Blake Reiss; 145-Jonah Gruenes and 285-Jackson Esping.
There will also be 15 JV wrestlers. They include: Destin Fier, Chase Johnson, Logan Myhre, David Carrasco, Noah Gorecki, Eli Gruenes, Truman Wambeke, Tucker Thooft, Alex DePestel, Branden Johnson, Kyler Lozinski, Conner Sik, Tyler Gronke, Hudson Scholten and Jayden Gamrak.
Teams in the tournament include: Minnesota: Aitkin, Albert Lea, Andover, Byron, Coon Rapids, Crookston, Dassel-Cokato, Delano, Dilworth-GF, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Fairmont/Martin Co. West, Farmington, Foley, Frazee, Henry Sibley, HLWW, Jackson County Central, Mankato East and West, Medford, Minneota, Moorhead, Moundsview, New Prague, Northfield, Perham, Prior Lake, Sartell-St. Stephen, Scott West, St. Cloud Tech/Apollo, St. Francis, St. Thomas Academy, United Clay Becker, Waconia, Wayzata, White Bear Lake, Windom/Mt. Lake/Butterfield-Odin and Woodbury. North Dakota: Bishop Ryan, Bismarck Century, Bismarck High, Bismark Legacy, Bismark St. Mary’s Central, Carrington, Fargo Davies, Fargo North and South, Hettinger/Scranton, Hillsboro--Central Valley, Jamestown, Kindred, Mandan, Minot, new Salem-Almont, Oakes, Rudby, Turle Mountain, Valley City, West Fargo and West Fargo-Sheyenne.