There is just a little over a week remaining in the calendar year of 2018 and a lot of changes have happened in area high school sports.
Among those changes was the spring sports pairing of Heron Lake-Okabena and Fulda, creating the emergence of the Coyotes. Things went well as track and field, baseball, softball and golf all benefitted from increased numbers and more intra-squad competition. Morgan Gehl’s stellar performances as a distance runner at the state track and field meet capped the spring season as she represented the area in grand fashion and earned a pair of fourth-place medals.
That tradition carried over into football season as the Coyotes thrilled their fans with a couple of exciting victories in September on each home field. The team executed well and played hard in earning a 30-29 triumph over Red Rock Central at Fulda’s Alex Fisher Field on September 7. Two weeks later (September 21), the Coyotes rallied for a memorable 48-42 overtime win over Renville County West on HL-O’s Homecoming at Heron Lake’s Memorial Field. Three weeks after that, HL-O / Fulda won its third game of the season with a 30-26 victory over MACCRAY at Maynard on October 12.
The future certainly looks for the combined football program, which returns a bundle of experienced players who are also competing in other sports and striving to become better all-around athletes.
The future also looks quite good for the paired girls’ basketball program, which has been competitive in Red Rock Conference games against both Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Adrian at the varsity level. The young Coyotes’ C-Squad claimed an exciting overtime victory over Pipestone Area on the Fulda court on December 11 and the B-Squad continues to improve. I watched the eighth-grade girls play impressively last Saturday (December 15) in a dominating victory over Jackson County Central in the annual mid-December four-team JCC Tournament. The Coyotes also defeated Martin County West and battled well against Windom, winning two of their three games.
In high school volleyball, both Adrian and Murray County Central had top-notch seasons. The Dragons were co-conference champions with Red Rock Central and put the capper on a great year with tournament victories over Westbrook-Walnut Grove, perennial power Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and RRC to win their first-ever sub-section championship.
MCC’s football team won eight games and advanced all the way to the Section 3A finals. The close-knit squad created plenty of excitement for Rebel rooters with their playoff victories over rival Adrian (28-0) and Minnesota Valley Lutheran (45-20) before coming so close to a sectional championship in its 15-14 loss to the very athletic Springfield Tigers, who have been more known for their recent successes in basketball and baseball.
MCC / Fulda won both team championships at the Red Rock Conference Meet at Adrian in mid-October. Later, Morgan Gehl and Justin Clarke again represented the Rebels at the State Meet In Northfield. Gehl’s third-place performance was certainly an area highlight of 2018.
Next week, I may try to finish out the year with some sports history trivia questions. I have a few in mind, but would welcome some input, especially from the Adrian and Slayton areas where I am not as familiar with as much of the past.
I know that Adrian has had an excellent tradition in wrestling and the Dragons had an amazing all-around athletic year in 2005 with great success in just about every sport, including its first of five state team championships in girls’ cross country. I am wondering how many individual state wrestling champions the area has produced between Adrian and the Fulda / MCC cooperative?
Call or text me at 507-822-2053 or send me an email at lknutson5169@gmail.com with your ideas or suggestions.
