Sports News

State Tournament 2007 — Fargo

Team Dual Competiton
Quarterfinals
Napoleon 62 Hillsboro 3
171 - Shannon Fettig (N) over Andrew Grothmann (H) 3-0; 189 - Taylor Grunefelder (N) pinned Lee Siegert (H) 3:15; 215 - Double forfeit - no match; 285 - Kriss McCleary (N) pinned Blake Higginbotham (H) 1:00; 103 - Jared Reis (N) over Oakly Zink (H) TF 18-3; 112 - Sheldon DeWald (N) pinned Tyler Anderson (H) 2:45; 119 - Nathan Kleppe (N) over Josh Riendeau (H) TF 16-1; 125 - Cole Johnson (N) pinned Alex McLean (H) 0:34; 130 - Kevin Bitz (H) pinned Lee Mooney (H) 3:10; 135 - Evan Gross (N) over Gus Lee (H) 3-2; 140 - Anthony Von Ruden (H) over Michael Ellison (N) 7-2; 145 - Damon Weigel (N) over Dan Rude (H) 8-0; 152 - Lance Piatz (N) pinned Garrett Burg (H) 5:15; 160 - Jordan Dewald (N) pinned Jake McLean (H) 1:27 (more…)

Five state placewinners and a Top 10 finish as a team in the state wrestling tournament made Hillsboro’s coaches happy — and anxious for next season.
While the Burros left their mark on this year’s state tournament Feb. 15 -17 in Fargo, the young team also whetted its appetite to return as a force next season.
With 10 qualifiers, the Burros achieved two team goals — finishing in the Top 10 in the individual competition and making an appearance in the team dual contest.
With a very young roster — nine of 17 athletes are freshmen or younger — the Burros showed promise for seasons to come. (more…)

Hillsboro’s return to the Region 2 girls basketball tournament was brief.
One game, in fact.
But the Burros had company returning home after losing out in the first round of the region played at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.
Hatton-Northwood and MayPort-CG were also beaten Monday. Dakota Prairie was sent packing Tuesday following the Knights’ semi-final loss to Fordville-Lankin-Park River, the team that eliminated Hillsboro Monday night.
District 3 took it on the chin this year. (more…)

After claiming a spot in the state dual tournament, Hillsboro’s wrestling team earned three Region 2 individual championships and qualified seven more wrestlers for the state tournament this weekend in Fargo.
At the region tournament last Saturday in Carrington, Burro coaches were hoping 10 of their 13 competitors would earn berths in the state meet — and 10 did.
“We had a great tournament,” said coach Eric Ptacek. “We thought we had a good chance of qualifying anywhere from eight to 10 and we ended up getting 10. That is great!” (more…)

Dakota Prairie outscored Hatton-Northwood 13-2 in the final quarter Tuesday to defeat the Thunder, 45-44, and capture the District 3 tournament championship.
In the two region qualifying games, Hillsboro edged Central Valley in two overtimes to win 75-64 and MayPort-CG slipped by Thompson 43-38 in overtime. Hillsboro’s last region appearance was in 1988.
The four District 3 teams will square off against District 4’s qualifying teams in the Region 2 tournament, starting Monday at The Betty in Grand Forks. (more…)

State-bound.
For the first time since 2002, the Hillsboro Burro wrestling team will compete in the state dual tournament.
The favored-but-battered Burros “survived” the Region 2 qualifying tournament, eking out a win in a tie-breaker and overcoming a challenge match to secure a “true 2nd” place finish.
“The team accomplished a goal the Burros have had for five years now,” coach Eric Ptacek said.
With a 10-0 dual record in the region, Hillsboro entered the tournament at Central Cass Feb. 3 as the No. 1 seed. The Burros opened with a 48-27 win over Harvey.
“Good enough,” remarked coach Eric Ptacek. (more…)

Sports fans in Hillsboro aren’t giving the three-class system proposed by the state athletic directors association much of a chance of making it to the gym on time, let alone getting to the three state tournaments the NDIAAA wants to see staged and played.
Scheduled to begin during the 2009-2010 school year, the three classes planned for basketball and volleyball are designed to give all schools the opportunity to play in a state tournament.
Which they have now, say detractors to the NDIAAA plan that will be addressed again at an April meeting of the state association. The plan, if still on the table as the year progresses, will be put to a vote of all schools in October. (more…)

Three champions.
Hillsboro wrestlers claimed three individual championships Saturday at the 36th annual Lettermen’s Tournament at Central Cass. As a team, the Burros finished 5th in a “very tough” field of 21 teams from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
“We got a chance to show our individual power,” commented HS coach Eric Ptacek.
Hillsboro also added another dual victory Tuesday, crushing Grafton 82-0. The win improved the squads’ dual record to 11-5.
Junior Anthony Von Ruden won the 140-pound title at Casselton. He remains unbeaten this season with a 20-0 record. (more…)