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With such monumental upsets and renewed rivalries this year, it was hard to sort through all the stories and only pick 10 out.

It was even harder to put them in some semblance of an order. I began the task last week, naming of the 10th through sixth best sports story of the 2009-10 season in Chisago County.

This week, I bring it down to the top spot, which wasn't

5. North Branch boys basketball coach Bill Baumann retires after 31 years

For over a quarter century, one thing had stayed a constant at North Branch High School. Bill Baumann suited up every year as the boys basketball coach.

When Baumann took over, gas was 79 cents per gallon, Sony introduced the Walkman, Sylvester Stallone made Rocky II and Michael Jackson was still three years away from recording Thriller.

Through good years, bad years, down years, up years and everything in between, Baumann was always on the bench, coaching his high school charges. Baumann led the Vikings in his 31 years to a 414-336 record, six conference titles and two state tournament appearances.

The move was expected, as Baumann had already announced his retirement from teaching earlier in the year, and it allowed some former players to pay tribute.

In the last home game of the year, and what turned out to be Baumann's coaching career, many North Branch basketball alumni turned out to celebrate one of the most successful coaches in North Branch history.

4. Brian Grand's all-around year

Few student athletes ever have the success over their career than Brian Grand had in his senior season.

The do-everything speedster was an All-State selection and the leading scorer in the metro in soccer, he handled the kicking duties for the much-improved football squad, and he was a double medalist in track and field in the spring.

Grand's top sport, soccer, earned him a scholarship to play at Drake University for a Division I school. During the fall season, Grand brought his team to within one game of the state tournament, eventually succumbing to Hermantown in the section final.

It was a far cry from when he first arrived on the scene two years ago and the Vikings were a two-win team.

Grand's season included 35 goals, good for first in the state and 18 assists, good for third. Overall, he scored 53 points, which put him in second behind Apple Valley's David Rosenthal, who had 54 points.

As a kicker for North Branch's football team, Grand went six-for-eight from field goals, including a 46-yarder against Irondale, which broke the school record. In that same week, Grand scored eight goals in soccer in one of the most impressive weeks of athletic achievement in North Branch history.

A few different times, Grand had to play a soccer game, then rush to wherever the football team was playing, and dress on the sidelines. Against Benilde-St. Margaret's, when he missed the first quarter because of soccer, North Branch had a comical time trying to find someone to kick off for them.

After taking the winter season off, Grand was back at it for his senior year of track and field. He missed almost the whole last year because of a hamstring injury, but he broke school records left and right all spring. The 110-meter hurdle record went down, the 300-meter hurdle record went down, the 4x200 meter relay record, which Grand was a part of, went down.

In the end, Grand ended up qualifying for the state tournament in the long jump, the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. He finished seventh in the 110 and second in the 300, just missing a state title by less than a second.

3. North Branch earns first ever victory over Chisago Lakes in boys soccer

To continue with the soccer theme, the North Branch soccer team finally accomplished something they hadn't ever. Beat the Chisago Lakes Wildcats. And they did it with a bit of drama and flair.

The game started off with a yellow card being assessed against the Wildcats for an equipment violation and ended with a controversial disallowance of a Wildcat penalty kick. In between, the Vikings' Brian Grand scored with less than two seconds left in regulation on a brilliant individual effort that sent the game into overtime. The referee assessed five yellow cards and two red cards, both against the Wildcats, in the game.

Wildcat David Rau scored the only goal of the first half. The Vikings were called for a handball that appeared to be in the box, but the referee moved it just outside the box. Rau curled the free kick into the upper corner of the net to put the Wildcats up 1-0.

The Vikings tied it with eight minutes gone in the second half. The Wildcats were called for a handball in their box, and Grand rolled the penalty kick just inside the right post to make the score 1-1.

Later in the second half, Rau lofted a kick from the right corner into the Viking box. Senior Dominic Novak knocked the ball up and over Holmes and into the net to put the Wildcats up 2-1.

With less than 20 seconds left in the game, the Vikings took a throw-in deep in their own zone. Grand took the ball and began his quick, amazing journey down the center of the field. He weaved his way through the Wildcat midfield, outraced the defense and, from the top of the box, shot the ball into the right corner of the net with 1.7 seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 2-2 and send it into overtime.

In extra time, Ceroll moved toward the net and shot from about ten yards away. Wildcat goaltender Kyle Buchanan dove to his left and got a hand on it, but didn't deflect it wide enough as the ball sailed just inside the right post to put the Vikings up 3-2.

With only precious seconds remaining and the 'Cats down by one goal, Wildcat Cameron Bouwens got the ball in the center of the Viking box about 14 yards out with less than five seconds left and started to take the last shot of the game. One of the Vikings knocked Bouwens over and the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick.

Novak lined up to take the penalty kick. He shot the ball wide left, and the Vikings began to celebrate. But the assistant referee called Viking goalkeeper Holmes for moving forward off the line before Novak touched the ball and the center referee ordered the kick to be retaken. Bouwens lined up for the re-kick and scored easily, apparently tying the game. But Viking head coach Graeme Jury ran over to the assistant referee and told her that a different player had taken the penalty kick than the one who took the original kick. The assistant referee got the center referee's attention just before he restarted the ball at center. The referees spent about 15 minutes talking to each other and, depending on who you talk to, one or both benches. They finally decided that Bouwens' goal was illegal since Novak, the original shooter, should have done the re-kick, as well. They awarded the Vikings an indirect free kick from the penalty spot. The Vikings kicked the ball, the horn sounded and the Vikings celebrated their first win ever over the Wildcats. CL Head Coach Mark Leigh thought about protesting the game to the MSHSL afterwards, but decided against it.

2. John Morrison and Jake Kostik earn top three finishes at state wrestling meet

Morrison opened up his run at the championship with a dominating performance against senior Jacob Barker of Monticello. He forced Barker to play defense for much of the first period and got a takedown with 35 seconds left. Morrison started to pin Barker with about 20 seconds left and accomplished his goal with just seven seconds remaining in the period to secure an opening round victory.

Next up for Morrison was Casey Johnson of Kasson-Mantorville, who he beat 2-1 in overtime.

Morrison showed some uncharacteristic aggressiveness in his semifinal match against sophomore Jesse Hein of Perham. Twenty seconds into the first period, he ran at Hein and took him down with something that looked like a football tackle for a 2-0 lead. He kept the pressure on, winning 5-1.

Morrison began his championship match against Goergen with the same aggressiveness he showed against Hein. It paid off early for Morrison, as he got a takedown just 30 seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead. Morrison, clearly the stronger wrestler, rode Goergen for most of the period. Goergen escaped late in the first period to cut Morrison's lead to 2-1 after one.

He led 4-2 early in the second, and stretch it to 6-2, but Morrison hit a wall and fatigue set in, Georgen ended up winning the title by a count of 8-6.

Kostik took his journey to third place by winning his first two matches, the first one with an 11-9 decision, and the second one with a pin with 40 seconds left in the match.

In the third round, he faced top-ranked Joey Munos of South St. Paul, who would go on to win the state title. Munos won 14-4 and sent Kostik into wrestlbacks.

He won his next two matches, first a 13-6 domination to get to third place match, and then a come-from-behind 10-6 victory to win third.

With 15 seconds left in the match, and down 6-5, Kostik secured a toss and a near fall that scored him five points and earned him a third place medal at the state tournament.

1. Chisago Lakes girls hockey wins consolation championship at state tournament.

The Chisago Lakes girls hockey team took everybody by surprise in postseason play. Entering sections with a 9-13-2 record, the 'Cats buzzed through all of their section opponents fairly easily.

They got by Silver Bay in the opening round 4-3 in overtime, then clobbered International Falls 6-2 in the semi-finals to earn the right to play heavily-favored Eveleth in the section finals. The game was no contest, as the Wildcats rang up double-digit goals, winning 10-1.

They got the unlucky position of having to face favored juggernaut Warroad in the first round of the state tournament. Although they lost 11-1 to the eventual stare champions, they still weren't even close to being done.

They rebounded with a 5-3 victory over Faribault in the consolation round, and they crushed Hutchinson 8-2 to claim the consolation championship. It was a tough draw for the 'Cats, as they could've conceivably gotten second place if they wouldn't have stumbled onto Warroad in the first round.

Excited coach Jason Mahlen wrapped up the season after that win by saying this, Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen was pretty excited after the win. "At the beginning of the season," he said, "If you had told me we were going to end up as the consolation champions at the state tournament, one of only six high school girls hockey teams in the state to end the season with a win, I'm not sure if I would have believed you. But Jamie Dobosenski, our top goaltender, got healthy enough to play and our seniors really stepped it up. Sam Lorr played a solid all-around game all season and gave maximum effort every time she stepped on the ice. Ashley Gibson played well all season and really stepped up her play the last three weeks, becoming a difference-maker that propelled us through the playoffs. And Jenna Dobosenski showed how perseverance and a good attitude pay off. Even though she was one of our captains, she started the season skating mostly JV minutes. Set a great example for the rest of the team by not complaining about it. She earned her way back to the varsity and played regularly on the third line during the second half of the season. Her line gave us a lot of valuable minutes on the ice, keeping the other teams at bay while allowing our top two lines to stay fresher throughout games."

The consolation championship put the girls on the map as a force to be reckoned with for the next few years. Although they had three seniors on that team, the core of the group is a batch of sophomores that will be back for the next two years to keep building on the momentum.

That achievement wraps up the top 10 sports stories of 2009-10 in Chisago County. If you disagree, or think there was anything else that should've been mentioned, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

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