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First things first, I apologize for a few things getting cut off in last week’s piece (namely, the headline and the last line of the story). That wasn’t an editor’s fault, that was our computers deciding to take off early for the holiday break and mail it in. They just don’t want to cooperate sometimes.

With that said, we are on to the second half of the Top 11 stories of 2014 and ‘15. Last week covered individual achievements, teams making deep runs in the sections and some exciting moments, but this week is even better.

5. Thomas Gillach and Blake Lizotte make a run to fourth place at state in doubles tennis
The Chisago Lakes pair made a special run under some tough circumstances.

Blake Lizotte played junior hockey this year in Minot and didn’t get back to the tennis team until just a few matches before sections. When the postseason began, Head Coach Corey McKinnon paired Lizotte with Gillach, who had been CL’s number one singles player all year.

The two finished second in sections behind a seasoned Elk River team, but then stepped it up a notch when the state tournament came along.
They beat their first opponents from East Ridge in an emotional, fiery contest 7-5, 6-2.

In the second round, they had to face a tough tandem from St. Cloud Tech, but the pair played magnificently en route to a 6-1, 6-3 victory. That win gauranteed them a spot in the final four, but in the next round was some familiar mettle.

Anthony Rosa and Carter Mason of Eden Prairie of Eden Prairie had eliminated Gillach and Sheamus Sullivan the year prior, and the eventual state champions ended up being too much for Gillach and Lizotte in this tournament, also, winning 6-3, 6-3.

Although the run to a state championship was over, the memories were not. The two friends had grown up as neighbors and were able to fulfill the excitement of playing in a state tournament together, making a deep run.

At the time, McKinnon said, “When in doubt, they are both going to go after the ball and apologize later. In doubles, you can't sit there and look at each other as the ball passes by.  But that's what so great about them; they both want the ball, but they are both patient enough to trust their partner.  They’ve got a bright future ahead of them in tennis."

Lizotte was only a junior and Gillach a sophomore, so they may have time to continue to develop and make another run, but with Lizotte’s junior hockey schedule, it remains to be seen.

4. The boys alpine ski team finished sixth at the state meet
Anders Brown and John Frischmon skied as part of a team, as the Chisago Lakes boys squad made the trip to Biwabik after finishing second in sections. The team finished in sixth place overall out of the eight teams that made the trek up north.

Brown led, finishing in second place overall among the team qualifiers. John Frischmon’s times were good enough for 11th place in the team meet.

Casey Bennet had a couple strong runs for the ‘Cats, coming in 32nd place with a time of 1:21.83. Jeremy Wesloh finished up the point scoring for CL with a 36th place finish in 1:25.10.

Isaac Bierman and Ryan Mower also registered times for CL, with Bierman coming in 43rd and Mower just behind in 44th.

3. Dylan Connell finishes third at the state wrestling meet, capping an incredible career
At last weekend’s state high school wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Wildcat senior Dylan Connell came within seconds of getting a chance to wrestle for the AA state championship at 132 pounds.  But the referee awarded a controversial stalling point with 18 seconds left in Connell’s semifinal match against junior Jackson Sweeney of Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran to tie their match at 3-3, and Sweeney went on to win 6-3 in overtime.  Connell ended up finishing third, making this the third year in a row he has placed at the state tournament.  Connell becomes just the second Wildcat wrestler to place more than twice at the state tournament.

Against Sweeney in the semifinals, Connell was the aggressor in the first period.  He took down Sweeney at 1:06 for a 2-0 lead.  Connell started on the bottom in the second period.  At 2:52 the referee awarded Sweeney a penalty point to cut Connell’s lead to 2-1.  Connell worked an escape with 12 seconds left in the period and led 3-1 after two periods.  Sweeney started on the bottom in the third period and escaped at 4:18.  Connell received a warning for stalling at 5:00.  And with 18 seconds left, urged on by screaming Watertown fans, the referee awarded Sweeney a point for stalling by Connell, tying the match at 3-3.  Neither wrestler scored in the first overtime.  Connell started down in the second overtime and did not manage to escape.  Sweeney started down in the third overtime and scored a reversal at 7:39 to go up 5-3.  Inexplicably, Connell was penalized another stalling point with a few seconds left and Sweeney had a 6-3 win.
After that, however, Connell won the rest of his matches to earn third place at the meet.

2. North Branch track and field competitors just narrowly miss out on state titles
North Branch has always had a strong track and field program. They have had exceptional athletes in plenty of different disciplines, but this year, they casted a wide swath over the state tournament.

The Vikings got top three finishes in the 110 meter high hurdles from Arik Steele, the shot put from Michael Hensch, the high jump from Connor Martineau and the pole vault from Mikayla Johnson.

Two of the competitors, Johnson and Steele, were expected to be among the top finishers, but the other two were first year track and field competitors to took to their sport like a pig to mud.

Steele was in a duel with Tevin Clay of St. Paul Como Park for the hurdling title, and Clay edged the North Branch senior by six one-one hundredths of a second to win the state title.

Steele also finished fifth in the 300 hurdles, cementing himself as one of the greatest track and field athletes in North Branch’s history.

Johnson shattered her personal best vault at the state meet with a jump of 12’3”, but it didn’t move her up from her third place finish the year before. Regardless, two top three finishes in a row is a high achievement for an underclassman. Johnson still has her senior year left to earn a state championship for the Vikings.

For the newcomers, the elite meet was a new experience, but it didn’t faze them. Martineau, who previously played tennis, launched himself into the state tourney as the top seed in the high jump, and nearly lived up to that billing after finishing in third place. The senior clear 6’5” to earn his third place finish.

For Hensch, a longtime baseball player, the shot put wasn’t what was expected of him. He is a strong, bulky kid, but he wasn’t built like most of the other throwers at the state meet. In fact, he was a running back for the North Branch football team and was one of their top sprinters in the 100 meter dash.

But, he’s an athlete, and that translated well in the pit. He was in second nearly the whole meet until the last throw of the day when Blaine’s Clint Lockwood threw a personal best to send Hensch to third in his first and only try at the state track and field tournament.

Rhianna Rinke also finished seventh in the 1,600 meter run for the Vikings, showing off their depth in the tough sport.

1. North Branch gymnasts finish fourth place at the state tournament
The North Branch gymnastics team came in at number two in last year’s behind the Chisago Lakes boys hockey team making it to the state tournament.

I frequently see former North Branch assistant coach Brianna McClaskie, and I still get grief from her to this day about being number two last year, so this one is for you Bri!

Last year, the team was just happy they made the state tournament. This year, the team didn’t worry about the bright lights or early nerves and got down to business right away.

They are making their second straight trip to the state tournament, and they’ve been able to bump up from fifth place last year to fourth place this year. The finish took some gutsy performances from the girls, and still then, they were just fractions ahead of the fifth and sixth place team.

“During the team competition, last year it was all fun, and we were just excited to have made it,” Head Coach Barb Burdick said. “This year the girls and probably myself, had expectations. It was still a great time but the team was just a little more serious.”

The Vikings got their team competition started on the floor exercise. They scored 36.20, riding two nice scores from Katy Trunk and Keeley Ertl. Trunk notched a 9.25 while Ertl scored 9.175.

Annie Gladitsch and Mikayla Johnson also had nice scores. Gladitsch scored an 8.9 while Johnson chipped in an 8.850.

The girls then took to the vault runway, which is their strongest event.

They didn’t disappoint, with three of the five gymnasts registering scores over nine and another coming very close.

Trunk led the Vikes with a 9.45 and Ertl was just behind with a 9.325. Johnson scord a 9.10 while Alexys Olson had an individual vault over nine, but her average landed at 8.925. Maranda Nelson added an 8.55 for the Lady Vikes.

The third rotation for the Vikings was the uneven bars. Trunk was again the leader for NB, scoring a 9.150. Olson put together a strong performance to score 8.7 and Gladitsch had a nice 8.375. Johnson rounded out  scoring with a 7.75.

On the balance beam, the girls took their lumps at times. The beam is the most difficult event to conquer. Trunk had a beautiful run, finishing with a 9.375 as the top scorer for NB. Ertl scored 8.75, Johnson 8.525, Nelson an 8.425 and Olson an 8.350.

The girls scored 142.850, which put them in fourth place, narrowly. They beat out fifth place Becker by .025 points and sixth place Austin by .200 points.

That wraps up the top 11 stories of the 2014-15. Congratulations to all of the athletes who made it, including Mikayla Johnson, who was a part of both the track and field competitors at number two and the gymnastics team at number one.

I look forward to another year of accomplishments in the area in 2015-26!

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