‘Cats still going strong in conference play
Anna Zaruba went five for five and drove in six runs to lead the Wildcats to a 13-5 rout over the Zimmerman Thunder Tuesday, April 23 at Chisago Lakes High School. The Wildcats pounded out 21 hits against the Thunder pitcher. Other hitting stars for the Wildcats included Jesa Leritz, who went five for five with two doubles and scored three runs; Meagan Anderson, who had three doubles in four at bats, drove in two runs and scored two; Jess Dittel-Hoefler, who had three hits, including a double, drove in three runs and scored three runs; Courtney Preston, who drove in two runs with a double; and Sam Johnson, who went three for five and scored twice.
‘Cats getting back on track
The Wildcats pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of six walks as they silenced the Zimmerman Thunder 13-3 Tuesday, April 23 at Pat Collins Field at Chisago Lakes High School, in a game shortened to five innings because of the ten-run rule.
Area athletes perform at Hamline
Junior distance runner Biruk Killeen won two races at the 12-team Pine City Chengwatana Invite. He came in first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:07.76 and led the way in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:42.93.
CL claws back from four run deficit to beat NB
There is never a dull moment when the Chisago Lakes Wildcats and North Branch Vikings clash in softball, and this past Monday’s game was no exception. Anna Zaruba’s two-run double in the top of the seventh inning gave the Wildcats a 5-4 lead, and they went on to beat the Vikings 6-4. Zaruba pitched a complete game to pick up the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. She struck out ten and didn’t walk anybody. For the Vikings, Hannah Bernier – who had a shutout through five innings – took the complete game loss. She allowed six earned runs on ten hits, walked three and struck out seven.
North Branch beats ‘Cats 1-0 on walk off
With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Viking Tanner Helin hit a grounder back Wildcat pitcher Ian Larsen, and the throw was too late to get Noah Thorsen at home, giving the Vikings a 1-0 win over the Wildcats at North Branch High School Monday, April 15. Helin started for the Vikings and went five innings. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out eight. Andrew Orf picked up the win with three innings of scoreless relief. He allowed two hits, walked three, and struck out two. Xavier Taylor started for the Wildcats. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out seven. Larsen took the loss in relief, walking the first three batters he faced before Helin grounded it back to him to drive in the winning run. Dom Torrez and Cole Stilp had two hits apiece for the Wildcats, and Viking Lucas Goggin also had two hits, including a double.
CL softball hitting on all cylinders early
Last Saturday, April 20, the Wildcats headed down to Caswell Park in North Mankato, site of their second-place finish at the state tournament last year, to play in the Mankato West Scarlet Invitational. Mankato West won two games in the tournament, giving head coach Don Krusemark his 500th career victory.
Franconia Township annual meeting
The Franconia Township annual meeting, held Tuesday, March 12 at the Franconia Town Hall spent most of the peoples’ time on the most popular topic on the agenda — the future town hall. Supervisor Owen Kuhnly reported that progress has recently been made on the site plan, which needs to be completed before bids can be solicited. Potential funding sources were also discussed.
Wildcats stunned by SSP in playoff opener
Roddick Simons had the most prolific game of his career at Aldrich Arena on Friday, February 23, with four goals and an assist. Unfortunately, Simons plays for the South St. Paul Packers, and his scoring binge led the sixth-seeded Packers to a 5-3 upset of the third-seeded Wildcats in the quarterfinal round of the Section 4A boys’ hockey playoffs. The loss abruptly ended the season for the Wildcats, who appeared to be poised to make a deep playoff run.
Both wrestling teams fall in quarters
The third-seeded Wildcat wrestling team opened the Section 4AA team section tournament with a 48-30 win over sixth-seeded St Paul Humboldt-Open World Learning. The tournament was held Saturday, February 17 at South St. Paul High School.
Wildcats begin sections
The Providence Academy Lions scored an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining to seal a 6-4 win over the Wildcats in the final regular season game for both teams. The game was played Thursday, February 15 at the Plymouth Ice Center.
Girls hockey season ends
After the Wildcats had tied the game at 3-3 just 40 seconds earlier, the South St. Paul Packers scored at 13:03 of the third period to go up 4-4 and went on to beat the Wildcats 5-3 in the semifinals of the Section 4A tournament on Tuesday, February 13 at Doug Woog Arena in South St. Paul. The loss ended the season for the Wildcats.
CL BOYS HOCKEY: ‘Cats continue up and down season
The Wildcats and the Hastings Raiders skated to a 3-3 overtime tie Tuesday, February 6 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The Raiders outshot the Wildcats 44-27 for the game, but Wildcats goalie Corbin Shandley helped to keep his team in the game by stopping 44 of the 47 shots he faced.
Regular season ends with whimper for Northern Edge
Nobody on the ice had a reason to be proud of their performance when the Northern Edge played the Becker/Big Lake Eagles Thursday, February 8 at Princeton First Bank & Trust Ice Arena. There were 26 penalties in the game, including 10 penalties as a brawl erupted after time expired in the third period. The Eagles won the game 9-2.
Wildcats blank Visitation in section opener but fall in semis
In the quarterfinals of the Section 4A playoffs, the third-seeded Wildcat girls’ hockey team crushed the sixth-seeded Visitation Blazers 11-0.
NB builds big lead in low weights, holds on to beat CL
The Wildcats and Vikings met as part of the Princeton Triangular on Wednesday, January 31 and the Vikings prevailed 39-36. Of the 13 weights, two were forfeits, one was a decision and the other ten were pins.
Vikes take two of three at quad
The Viking wrestling team went 2-1 in a quadrangular hosted by Spectrum High School at Spectrum Middle School in Elk River last Thursday, January 25. The Vikings lost to Ogilvie 44-24, beat Spectrum 48-30, and crushed an undermanned Columbia Heights team 69-6. Evan Pommier (152/160) and Karson Gariepy (215) both went 3-0 for the day. The Vikings filled every spot in their lineup for all three duals, with the exception of the 285 (heavyweight) spot.
Offensive explosion leads to a split for Wildcat hockey
Max Bobrowski completed his first career hat trick with a goal at 4:40 of overtime to give the Wildcats a 5-4 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Tuesday, January 16 at Chisago Lakes Arena. Jack Bakken was involved in all five Wildcat goals, with two goals and three assists. And Ben Kerkow ad three assists of his own.
Section playoffs on the horizon for girls hockey
Grace Schulte scored the first goal against eighth-ranked South St. Paul just two minutes into the first period, assisted by Brooke Klemz, to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. But the Packers broke the game wide open with five goals in the second period and went on to beat the Wildcats 8-1 at Doug Woog Arena in South St. Paul. The Parkers outshot the Wildcats 28-13 for the game.
Chisago Girls hockey slips after huge win over Princeton
Wildcat sophomore sensation Ella Perreault didn’t just score a hat trick against the Princeton/Big Lake/Becker Tigers on Tuesday, January 9. She scored what amounted to a double hat trick – six goals, including five goals in a ten-minute span in the first period, as the Wildcats crushed the overwhelmed Princeton/Big Lake/Becker Tigers 11-1 on Tuesday, January 9 at Princeton First Bank and Trust Ice Arena.
Bender earns 100th career win for Chisago Lakes wrestling in busy week
The Wildcats won both of their dual meets at the Benilde-St. Margaret’s Triangular on Thursday, January 11. They beat the hosts 48-30 and prevailed 54-18 over Minneapolis Southwest.
Girls narrowly lose to ER & PC
Abby Hansberger scored a power play goal with three minutes to go in the game to give the Elk River Elks a 3-2 win over the Wildcats on Tuesday, January 4 at Furniture and Things Community Event Center in Elk River.
CL sweeps home triangular
The Wildcats conjured up a win in the first dual of the Chisago Lakes Triangular last Thursday, prevailing over the Monticello Magic 39-27. Four Wildcats won their matches by pin – Braxton Bender-Ehlke (145), Michael Amos (152), Brycen Morley (160), and Logan Bender (285).
CL girls hockey mauls Bears and dethrones Royals over holiday break
Brooke Klemz had two goals and three assists to lead the Wildcat girls’ hockey team to a 7-2 victory over the host Blake Bears in the opening round of the Crosstown Cup at Blake Ice Arena on Wednesday December 27. The Wildcats outshot the Bears 47-24 for the game, including 21-8 in a three-goal third period.
Wildcat grapplers finish fourth at Rock Ridge Invite
Three Wildcat wrestlers finished atop their weight classes at the Rock Ridge Wolverines Invitational last Friday, December 22. Michael Amos took first place at 145, Connor Frederixon won the championship at 215, and Logan Bender remained undefeated at 13-0 after capturing the crown at 285. Five other Wildcats placed in the eleven-team tournament, which helped the Wildcats to a fourth place finish as a team: Conner Aspenson (107), third place; Lucas Yang (121), third place; Sam Bird (133), sixth place; Franklin Stark (139), fourth place; and Chuck Gilman (285), third place.
Rogers and Breck send CL losing streak to three
The Breck Mustangs outshot the Wildcats just 29-24 but scored five times to shut out the Wildcats 5-0 on Tuesday, December 19 at Chisago Lakes Arena. Mustang goalie Mackenzie Abbott stopped all 24 shots she faced to pick up her second shutout of the season. Breck scored twice in the first period, once in the second and twice in the third, including an empty-netter to seal the win.
‘Cats clobber Northern Edge and Becker
Ben Kerkow and Max Bobrowski each had two goals and an assist to lead the Wildcats to a 6-0 shutout win over the Northern Edge Tuesday, December 19 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The Wildcats outshot the Edge 48-26 for the game, and Wildcat sophomore goalie Corbin Shandley stopped all 26 shots he faced to earn the first win and the first shutout of his Wildcat career. The Wildcats special teams performed well, scoring on two of five power plays. They stopped all three Edge power play opportunities, and added a shorthanded goal for good measure.
TWO IN A ROW FOR WILDCATS
The Wildcats led the Pine City Dragons 5-1 after two periods, and it looked like Chisago Lakes was on its way to a comfortable win. But the Dragons scored three goals in a three-minute span early in the period to cut the Wildcat lead 5-4. Ben Kerkow sealed the win for the Wildcats with an empty net goal with 14 seconds remaining, to give the Wildcats a 6-4 win in front of the home crowd Thursday, December 14.
CL wrestling sees individual success but team results not there yet
As a team, the Wildcats struggled against some tough competition at last Friday’s Pierz Duals, going 0-4 for the tournament.
Vikings get rare sweep at home triangular
With a low number of varsity wrestlers for the past several years, it has been difficult for the Vikings to win any dual meets. And even more rare is winning two duals on the same day.
Northern Edge can’t get offense going during 0-6-1 start
The Forest Lake Rangers scored three time in a three-minute stretch early in the first period and went on to beat Northern Edge 6-1 Tuesday, December 12 at East Bethel Ice Arena. Milo Hetland scored an unassisted goal for the Edge with three minutes remaining in the second period to spoil the Rangers’ shutout bid. The Rangers outshot the Edge 42-15 for the game. One positive for the Edge is that they killed off all five Forest Lake power play opportunities.
Wildcats top Bluejackets before losing to Monti and Little Falls
The Wildcats scored four straight goals in the second and third periods to take a 5-1 lead and went on to beat the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 6-2 Tuesday, December 5 at Isanti Ice Arena. Playmaker Andrew Swanson had four assists on the first four Wildcat goals, and the scoring was spread around as six different Wildcats scored goals.
Grapplers weather tough early schedule
The Wildcats dropped to 0-5 in dual meets on the season with two losses at the Big Lake Triangular Thursday, December 7. They fell to Cambridge-Isanti 51-24 and lost to the host team 57-16.
AREA HOCKEY ROUND UP
The Wildcats girls’ hockey team dominated Delano/Rockford on Saturday, November 18 at Chisago Lakes Arena, outshooting them 44-18, but lost 3-2 in overtime. Aly Vogelsang scored both Wildcat goals, and now has three goals in the Wildcats’ first two games.
Special teams haunt CL in section finals loss to Pioneers
An opening kick return for touchdown and blocked field goal score were the difference in the 42-36 game
Hill-Murray 42, Chisago Lakes 36 In the Section 3AAAA championship game, two first half special teams touchdowns by the Hill-Murray Pioneers put the Wildcats in a 14-point halftime deficit and, despite some offensive brilliance, they were not quite able to make up the gap, losing to the Pioneers 42-36. The loss ended the season for the Wildcats and Hill-Murray will head to the state tournament. The game was played at Hill-Murray High School last Friday, November 3.
Chisago Lakes blows out Simley to advance to finals
All three facets of the Wildcats come up with big plays in 31-7 revenge romp over Spartans
Last season, the Simley Spartans crushed the Wildcats 46-14 in the opening round of the state tournament. With both teams in Section 3AAAA this season, the Wildcats turned it around on the Spartans, beating them 31-7 in the section semifinal game. The win sends the Wildcats to tomorrow night’s section final against the top-seeded Hill Murray Pioneers at 7 p.m. at Hill Murray High School.
Vikings come up short in section championship game
Ava Gerten scored with two minutes left in the first half, and it held up as the third-seeded Vikings beat the second-seeded Duluth Denfeld Hunters 1-0 in the semifinals of the Section 7AA playoffs Thursday, October 12 at Duluth Denfeld High School, sending the Viking on to the section final.
‘Cats put it all together and demolish Willmar 42-14
For the last two weeks – both losses – the Wildcats got down by two scores early, partly because of turnovers, and ended up losing both games. Facing steady rain and heavy winds against the Willmar Cardinals, the Wildcats flipped the script and took an early two-score lead. They put together their most complete game of the season on both sides of the ball and crushed the Cardinals 42-14 Friday, October 13 at Hodapp Field at Kennedy Elementary School in Willmar. The Wildcats turned two turnovers into touchdowns and piled up nearly 400 yards of offense, led by fullback Evan LaValle’s 29 carries for 159 yards and quarterback Gavin Lewis’ three rushing touchdowns.
Seasons end for boys soccer, both girls teams moving on
The boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at North Branch and Chisago Lakes high schools had vastly different regular seasons and starts to the playoffs. Both boys’ teams won just two games in the regular season and were crushed in their playoff openers. Conversely, both girls’ teams had great regular season records and began the playoffs with convincing wins over their overmatched opponents.
‘Cats play much better, but lose close game to unbeaten Princeton
The Wildcats actually outplayed the Princeton Tigers last Friday night and, despite three long touchdowns allowed by the defense, were in a position to win the game. But offensive woes – one lost fumble, two fumbles that were recovered but stopped drives, and two dropped passes that would likely have gone for touchdowns – let Princeton escape with a 28-25 win. The game was played at Princeton High School.
Chisago girls claim M8C soccer crown
The unstoppable Addyson Barrett scored twice in the second half and the always stalwart Wildcat defense shut down conference goal leader Laurie Wehmhoff to lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 win over the Zimmerman Thunder, a Mississippi 8 Conference frontrunner. The game was played at home on Thursday, September 28.
THUNDER ROLLED
Zimmerman stuns Chisago Lakes at homecoming before storm ends game early
Everything seemed set up for a successful homecoming game for the Wildcat football team at home last Friday night. The undefeated Wildcats (4-0) were facing the struggling Zimmerman Thunder (0-4) and would have the support of a crowd of well over 1,000 people.
Another barnburner goes CL’s way as they beat Providence 45-34
The unstoppable Evan LaValle rushed for over 200 yards to lead the Wildcats to a wild 45-34 win over the Providence Academy Lions Friday, September 15 in front of a crowd of over 1,000 raucous Wildcat fans at Chisago Lakes High School. Lions’ quarterback Magnus Hansen kept his team in the game with his arm, completing 25 of 37 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown.
Wildcats survive late push from Bluejackets, move to 2-0
Wildcat fullback Evan LaValle carried the ball 31 times for 173 yards and scored a touchdown with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a 35-28 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets on Friday, September 8 at Cambridge High School.
AREA SOCCER ROUND UP
The Wildcat girls (3-1-2) trailed 1-0 at halftime to the St. Croix Prep Lions but scored twice in the second half to tie the game at 2-2. Neither team scored in overtime. The game was played Tuesday, September 5 at Chisago Lakes High School. Addy Barrett had a goal and an assist for the Wildcats. Katelyn Barnick scored the other goal, and Makenna Olson picked up an assist.
APOLLO GROUNDED: Wildcats beat Eagles in season opener
New Wildcat head football coach Ryan Anderson can’t complain that his first game was boring.
Bulldogs season ends in tough 4-1 loss to Fergus Falls at state tourney
The clock struck midnight for Cinderella.
Bulldogs ride drafted pitchers to first ever win at state tourney
Princeton’s Damon Rademacher threw eight strong innings to help the ‘Dogs beat the Veseli Warriors 4-3 in the opening round of Class C state
In their first state tournament appearance in 17 years – and only the second state appearance in team history – the Chisago Lakes Bulldogs, behind eight strong innings from draftee Damon Rademacher, beat the Veseli Warriors 4-3 Saturday, August 19 at Saints Field in Dassel. Draftee Phil Bray set down the Warriors 1-2-3 in the ninth to seal the win and pick up the save. Adam Brown’s single in the sixth inning scored Noah Couwenhoven to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead, and they hung on for the win.
Bulldogs just one win from state tournament
The Chisago Lakes Bulldogs will play in the Region 1C championship game for the first time since the team re-formed in 2014. In the winners’ bracket semifinal game Sunday, August 6, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-5 lead against the North Branch Nighthawks. The Nighthawks rallied in the top of the ninth, but Tyler Stilp came in to get the final two outs to seal a 7-6 win for the Bulldogs. The win sends the Bulldogs to the Region 1C championship game against the second-seeded Hinckley night this Saturday, August 12 at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will be the region champion and earn a berth to the state tournament, while the loser will play either the Quamba Cubs, Rum River Bandits or North Branch Nighthawks on August 12 at 5 p.m. for another chance to the state tournament. The two state qualifying teams will then play on Sunday, August 13 at 1 p.m. to determine which will be the number one seed from the region for the state tournament. The number one seed gets a bye in the first round of the state tournament.
‘Dogs split two ahead of late season push
Reece Berner’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning doubled the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-0 over the Rum River Bandits, and the Bulldogs went on to beat the Bandits 5-1 Sunday, July 8 at Pat Collins Field. Noah Couwenhoven started and allowed just one hit in seven innings of work. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out four. Dylan Magnuson pitched a scoreless eighth, and Tyler Stilp allowed one unearned run in the ninth.
Chisago Bulldogs beat Redbirds for first time
Aaron Keeney’s infield single drove in Nate Zingerman from third base to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 walkoff win over the Isanti Redbirds Friday, June 30. It’s the first time the Bulldogs have beaten the Redbirds since the Redbirds joined the Eastern Minny League in 2019. The game was a home game for the Bulldogs but was played at Redbird Field in Isanti due to issues with the lights at Pat Collins Field.
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