On the Bench with Byron Higgin
What a horrible holiday is was for the Minneota sports teams. If it hadn’t been for the Minneota vs. Springfield boys showdown, the weatherman would have had the last word. As it was, the wrestlers did not get to wrestle at the FargoDome in the Rumble on the Red and the Vikings girls lost two games off their schedule.
They’re unlikely to make those up. Minneota wrestlers now have not been on the competitive mat since Saturday, December 15 when they wrestled Worthington at Canby. And that was just one match after teams dropped out of the Canby Invitational.
They wrestle in a triangular at Granite Falls at 5 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 3 (weather permitting, of-course). If they get to wrestle on that date, it will have been 20 days since they last got mat time. There were 88 teams invited to the Rumble on the Red.
Of that amount, 33 decided not to make the trip, bringing the total to 55. Of the 55 remaining teams, Perham won the team title with 175.5. Apple Valley was second at 159; Bismarck, ND third at 143; Scott West fourth at 133.5 and Northfield fifth at 129. Teams familiar to Minneota included: Frazee 14th with 60 points and West Central Area (Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) in 44th place with 17.
No other teams in the southern half of the state made it. As for the Minneota girls, they lost their games with Springfield and Minnewaska at SMSU due to the bad weather.
Then, twice, a game with Brandon Valley, SD (5-0) was scheduled and finally canceled when Monday’s slick roads became a cause for concern.
Minneota Activities Director Jason Myhre said he asked Springfield if they wanted to bring the girls on Saturday with their boys — but Springfield said they didn’t want to do that.
Minneota has two gyms so it would have worked out nicely. It’s a shame that Monday’s game didn’t get played because Brandon Valley (5-0), from Brandon near Sioux Falls, has a fine team with a 6-3 center.
They likely would have been just the competition Minneota needs at this time. The boys had only the one game scheduled and although they had to move the game from Friday to Saturday, they did get that game played. It turned out to live up to all it was supposed to be, with No. 1 against No. 2.
So now we’ll move into the January part of the schedule and hope no more games get thrown off the schedule by Mother Nature. I’m glad not to be the athletic director scheduling and re-scheduling all these events. It must have been a nightmare.
But, as we say Jason Myhre — that’s why you get paid the big bucks!
Thought for the Day: Stay No. 1 Vikings — both of you!