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By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Head coach Onika Peterson began the girls' basketball portion of the Winter Sports Banquet Tuesday night by thanking both office staffs, the bus drivers, custodians, Dan Stork, Joni Churchill and the cheerleaders, Mr. Schaefer and the band, student managers Meela Budach, Kyera Eustice, Kayden Warke, Hadley Roeker, Addison Sandry, and Peyton Frye, as well as the team’s bookkeeper, Mrs. Eder and Stork; all of the teams coaches at various levels, Dave Sandry, Jenny Wyrum, Heather Christensen, Cassie Schlaak, Betsy Schoenrock and Kayley Camerer.
“Thank you for all of your time and dedication you’ve given to our program,” Peterson said.
2023-24 Season
Coach Peterson gave a recap of the 2022-23 season:
For the third year in a row, the NRHEG girls' basketball team was defeated in the subsection championship game, this time by eventual section champions Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
The girls finished the year with a record of 20-8 losses, 11-5 in conference play, 7-3 within their division and 13-5 in their section.
“To finish this year 20-8 at MSU in the sub-section championship I think we surprised a couple of teams,” Peterson said. “We had a great season. Every single one of these girls were needed throughout the season whether they were the person who made the extra pass, rebounded, dove after loose balls, or battled in practice; it all added up for our team to be successful.”
The girls started the season with a 9-1 record going into their holiday tournament, which they also won.
Throughout the season the girls continued to improve and went into the playoffs 17-7 as the number two seed.
In the first two rounds of playoff play the girls beat Waseca at home 55-39 and St. Clair, at Mankato East 62-38. They ultimately lost to WEM, a team they beat twice during the regular season, 55-43. They simply fell in a hole that game, and despite getting the score to within six, couldn’t pull off the comeback.
“Throughout the whole season we talked about how tough our top teams were and how during the playoffs it could be anyone’s night,” Peterson said. “WEM ended up pulling off three upsets to get to the state tournament.
“I can’t say enough great things about this team, the effort, grit, and heart that they showcased all season long,” Peterson continued. “Through a broken tooth, sprained ankle, bruised knees they came back every day ready to battle. I am so proud of this group.”
Many players were recognized for their academic achievements, including: Ezra Boerner, Izley Boerner, Clara Buendorf, Savannah Farr, Faith Nielsen, Preslie Nielsen, Hope Nielsen, Kylie Olson, Chloe Riewer, Hallie Schultz, Addy Stadheim, Chloe Stork, Camryn VanMaldeghem, and Quinn VanMaldeghem. Recognized with the Gopher Conference Academic awards were also both Boerners, Buendorf, Preslie Nielsen, Olson, Riewer, Schultz, Stadheim, and Stork. Hallie Schultz was recognized with a MGBCA Academic All State Award for being a senior with a GPA of 3.75 or better.
Finally, the team bid farewell to its four seniors: Schultz, Faith, Preslie, and Hope Nielsen. “Thank you girls for a terrific couple of years,” Schultz said. “You will all be missed. Good luck with all your future plans. I know you are going to succeed at whatever you choose to do.”
Schultz took time to thank the players’ parents for all of the support they show to their own children and to the NRHEG basketball program. “I was blessed to have a great group of kids and that has everything to do with having solid and supportive parents.”
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“I think I taught them all the things they needed to know as beginners,” comments NRHEG senior Jaylin Raab, who unexpectedly found himself as coach of the district’s seventh-grade boys’ basketball team, which consisted of 12 players.
It was not how he expected to see his senior year with the sport develop.
“I wanted to play with my team,” Raab remembers. “I expected to play…until I got the bad news.”
Active on a number of NRHEG teams since middle school, Raab remembers the spring day at a 2023 track meet when he took a run for the long jump. “I landed wrong,” he describes. “I heard a weird sound, and I felt a lot of pain.
“I crawled to the other side of the area and I went to the emergency room at the Albert Lea hospital right away.” Though Raab used crutches and wore a “boot” for a while, it was eventually determined he had experienced damage to the peroneal nerve in his right leg. As fall and then winter began, the injury caused him pain and led to “foot drop.”
“I had surgery on December fourth,” he said. “That pretty much ended my chances of getting any playing time during the [basketball] season. My leg was getting a little better, but I expected to spend my senior year on the bench.”
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NRHEG entrants in the state high school wrestling tournament last weekend won some matches but did not bring home any medals from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
George Roesler, a senior, came the closest, finishing one win away from the medals podium at 172 pounds. He won his first match by fall, and reached the consolation semifinals with another fall before absorbing a 5-0 decision. He finished the season with a record of 29-7.
Freshman Ryan Schlaak lost a pair of decisions, 11-2 and 7-3. He finished 22-16.
Senior Annabelle Petsinger, seeking a second straight girls' wrestling state championship, had an unfortunate end to her season, sustaining an injury in her opening bout that also forced her to lose by default in the wrestlebacks. Petsinger, who will continue her carer at Iowa Central Community College, finished 16-3.
"It was good to see George wrestling on day two, and it was a good first-time state tournament experience for Ryan Schlaak," said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. "It was tough when George lost in the consolation round. He would have medaled if he had won one more. Annabelle ran into some misfortune that she couldn't do anything about."
Larson thanked seniors Roesler and Petsinger for all the hard work they have put into the sport of wrestling.
“We wish them the best in their future endeavors,” said Larson. “They’ve had outstanding high school wrestling careers.”