---

We are on to the second half of the Top 11 stories of 2015 and ‘16. Last week covered individual achievements, teams making deep runs in the sections and some exciting moments, but this week is even better.

5. Mikayla Johnson finishes third in pole vault at the state meet
Mikayla Johnson was hoping to make one final vault up the state tournament ladder  at the state track and field meet in her senior season, but she finished in third place for the second year in a row in the pole vault event.

She was topped by record-breaking vaulter Andrianna Jacobs of Rochester Century and a freshman from Mounds View who came out of nowhere this year to claim the second spot.

After a scare at the 10’3” height that saw Johnson miss her first two attempts, she cleared the height on her third run before clearing 10’9” on her first jump. She then cleared all the way through 12 feet before falling at 12’3”.

Her finish gave her two straight third place finishes to end her North Branch athletic career as a highly decorated gymnast and vaulter.

4. Teddy Pierce wrestles back to a third place finish at state
After navigating his way to the quarterfinals of the Class AA 138 pound bracket at the state tournament in early 2016, Teddy Pierce dropped a decision to third-ranked Peter Nelson of St. Cloud Apollo.

The junior could have given up after that and not tried his best in wrestlebacks, but that’s not in a guy like Pierce. He pinned his first opponent in wrestlebacks, before decisioning Timmy Bialka of Princeton. In his penultimate wrestleback, Pierce earned another decision, this time of Sam Naddy of Ottertail Central, and that gave him the right to wrestle for third place in the state at his weight class.

He squared off against Isaac Haman of Kasson-Mantorville and won in a nail-biter 7-6.

At the time, Wildcat assistant coach Chad Stenson said, “Teddy worked hard all season. He’s a grinder and wrestling that many matches in two days is hard physically and mentally. He definitely earned the third place finish and we are extremely proud of him.”

3. Chisago Lakes boys basketball earns trip to state
After falling just short of the state tournament last year, the Chisago Lakes boys basketball team knew this would be their year to make the move. And they sure did, beating Hermantown 76-68 in the section finals to earn their first trip to state since 1997 and only the third overall appearance.

The Wildcats used their marked size advantage to build an early first half lead. Ethan Hickcox carried the offensive load, scoring most of his team-high 21 points in the opening stanza.

In the second half, the towering duo of Carter Duncan and Dylan Wood went to work, with Wood scoring 15 second half points that started to bury Hermantown.

The key down the stretch for Wood and the rest of Chisago Lakes was getting to the free throw line. The ‘Cats were nowhere near as efficient as Hermantown from the charity stripe, but their sheer volume made up for that. Chisago Lakes was 17-of-26 while Hermantown was 12-of-14

The win sent the mostly-pro Chisago Lakes crowd into a frenzy as the students eventually stormed the court to surround their classmates in celebration. After the chaos cleared, the Wildcats got to make the climb they had expected to make last year up the ladder to cut the nets down.

The ‘Cats went on to a four seed in the state tournament, but they were upset by fifth-seeded Monticello in the first round of state. The loss, however, didn’t diminish the affect the tournament run had on the community.

2. North Branch baseball goes on a hot streak, heads to state
The fifth-seeded Vikings started their unexpected run through the section tournament with a 4-3 extra inning win over fourth-seeded Duluth Denfeld, on Wednesday, June 1.  The next day, they outslugged Zimmerman, the number eight seed, 13-8.  

And on Saturday, June 4, the Vikings squeaked by second-seeded Hibbing 1-0 to earn the right to play for the section championship.  Hibbing beat Princeton in an afternoon match June 7 to earn the right to play the Vikings that evening.  

And the Vikings came through, in a big way.

Jimmy Skroch threw a complete game in the section championship, striking out 13 batters, to lead the Vikings to a 7-3 win over Hibbing in the to earn a trip to the state tournament for the first time ever for North Branch baseball.

The team wasn’t over .500 even in the regular season and had an issue with four players quitting midseason, but that didn’t stop them come section time.

The Vikings never lost in the postseason until they got to state, and beat teams they had lost to earlier in the year.

It truly was a magical run for the Vikings with all the adversity they had face up until that point.

Longtime Viking head coach Steve Christensen said at the time, “Everyone has been stepping up in different situations.  It was a true team effort.  I’m so proud of these guys.  They are excited to be where they’re at, and deservedly so!”

The Vikes went on to hang with third-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the first round of the state tournament before getting overwhelmed late. In the losers bracket, NB drew a tough Northfield team, who was seeded second and had been upset in the first round.

Although North Branch lost that game, that week and a half will be etched into the North Branch players’ and coaches’ minds for the rest of their lives. They may not have been the best team during the regular season, but they were the best team when the season was on the line, and that’s all that will be remembered.

1. North Branch volleyball wins the consolation championship at state
North Branch had been building up to this year for quite some time.

They featured an all state hitter in Courtney Selbitschka, an all state setter in Morgen Coleman and some talented pieces around them.

Their typical section meddle, Cambridge-Isanti and Forest Lake, were both having a bit of a down year.

Those ingredients combined for an impressive section and state run for the Lady Vikes.

After they dominated the Section 7AAA tournament, capped off by a win over Princeton in the finals, the Vikings drew third-seeded Champlin Park in the first round of state. Although they didn’t keep pace with the Rebels, they more than held their own when they made it into the consolation bracket.
They beat Rochester Mayo and Moorhead, teams with a combined record of 51-7.

They needed an extraordinary effort to take those five set matches down, and they got it from their seniors in their last games in North Branch red and black.

Selbitschka saved some of her best North Branch volleyball for her last couple of matches, and that’s saying a lot after all the gaudy stats she’s accumulated over her long and illustrious career.

In the consolation bracket, where a loss meant North Branch’s season was over, she combined for 55 kills in two games and put the Vikings attack on her back to propel them to fifth place in the biggest class in Minnesota.

Her masterpiece was a 28 kill, three block, 18 dig performance in a five set win over Moorhead in the consolation championship.

---