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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
Head coach Shawn Larson did not offer up any excuses why the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva wrestling team made a first-round exit from this year's Section 2A team tournament.
But he did make one observation.
Said Larson, "Medford had a better team than we did tonight."
The result was a 43-28 setback at Medford last Thursday, but the Panthers did not fall for lack of effort.
"It was nice to see our seniors all finish their team careers with falls," said Larson. "Parker Bunn, Reese Routh, and George Roesler went all out for our team and did all they could do for us in their last dual as Panthers."
The Tigers pinned Charlie Tufte at 107 pounds and Dakota Schlaak at 114, won by forfeit at 121 and pinned Eli Hendrickson at 127.
Bunn finally put the Panthers on the scoreboard with a second-period fall at 133. Deven Parpart scored a third-period fall at 139, and Routh followed with a pin in 2:57 at 145.
Harbor Cromwell dropped a 9-1 major decision at 152, and Devlin Hudson lost a first-period pin at 160.
Ryan Schlaak and Roesler kept the Panthers in it with wins by fall at 171 and 189, respectively, but Cole Hutchens was outpointed 5-1 at 215 and Jace Ihrke was pinned at 285.
"We will not be giving up on the season just yet," said Coach Larson. "We will try our best to be ready for individual sections next week. In the offseason, our push has to be on getting stronger, and getting as many athletes as possible to join us."
The Panthers travel to Blue Earth for the Section 2A individual tournament Saturday, Feb. 24.
NRHEG senior Annabelle Petsinger has already qualified for the girls' state tournament and is seeking her second straight state title.
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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls' basketball team is entering postseason play on a positive note.
The Panthers prevailed 69-62 against a good Maple River squad in the final game of the regular season Friday, Feb. 16 in New Richland.
NRHEG finished 11-5 in the Gopher Conference West while improving their season record to 18-7.
"This was a huge team win for us," said Panthers coach Onika Peterson. "I’m extremely proud of this group. They continue to work and grind every day. We were able
to take advantage of Thomas and McGregor being in foul trouble in the first half.”
And while the Panthers led by 13 at haltfime, 35-22, Peterson warned her players that this isn't a huge margin for a team like Maple River that likes to shoot three-pointers.
"Our defense really stepped up in the second half and met the challenge," said Peterson. "It was a great night."
Camryn VanMaldeghem, a sophomore, continued to put up great numbers, totaling 32 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, five steals and one blocked shots.
Faith Nielsen and Kylie Olson also had a strong night, Neilsen netting 13 points, seven rebounds and a steal, Olson 13 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and a block.
Others: Quinn VanMaldeghem 5P, 4R, 3A, 2S; Izley Boerner 2P, 4R, 2A; Hallie Schultz 3P, 6R, 4A, 1S; Addy Stadheim 1P, 1R; Presley Nielsen 4P, 1A, 1S.
Seeds are yet to be set for the Section 2AA tournament, which begins Monday, Feb. 26 at the higher seeded team, continues Feb. 29 and March 4 at Mankato East High School. The section champion and state tournament berth will be decided March 8 at 7:45 p.m. at Minnesota State-Mankato.
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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
Too many turnovers and not enough physicality led to another loss for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys' basketball team Monday night, 77-46 at St. James Area.
The Panthers, 1-7 in the Gopher Conference, dropped to 3-20 overall.
"We still need to work on valuing every possession, and we've slipped of late fighting for rebounds and that position," said NRHEG coach Dan Schmidt. "We were very evenly matched with St James, but it's those little things that continue to put us in big first-half holes. It's on me to figure out how to get that second-half effort to start in the first half, so we don't have to play from so far behind. We've got three regular season games to try to square it away."
Will Tuttle led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points and seven rebounds. Jared Lee and Greyson Schaefer kicked in seven points each, Jase Knudson, Jordan Brouwers, and Ricky Zapata four each. Jackson Chrz, Hudson Chrz, and Dom Olson scored two each, and Brendan Schmidt added a free throw.