The Tri-City United Softball team will have new leadership this spring with a new head coach and assistant coach, who come to the program with champion experience.
Varsity Head Coach Mady Bunnell and Assistant Coach Allie Arneson began leading the Titans when the season started with captain’s practice on February 24.
Bunnell (also known as Coach Bunnz) grew up in Lakeville and graduated from Lakeville North High School. She went on to play college ball at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls as a three-year letter winning catcher.
Caleb Whipps, Brody Rud, Riley O’Malley and Jose Reyes didn’t receive the medals they wanted at the State Wrestling Tournament, but their coaches said they fought hard with gutsy mental toughness.
Whipps earned an early victory but fell in two matches in the first day, while Rud, O’Malley and Reyes ended just shy of a medal with top-eight finishes.
Coach Shaun Timmerman said the boys performed very well.
“We won some VERY awesome matches, and come-from-behind-wins, which showed that we had a lot of guts,” he said.
TCU added more weight lifters to its state roster after the Mi5 meet in Lakeville on February 22.
Ava Rud, Lexi Factor, Chloe Freeman, Alexis Freeman, and Anabelle Davies all qualified, according to Coach Andrew Meier.
Morgan Meier took first and set a new PR for a total of 65 Kg.
Alexis Freeman also took first and set a new PR for her total of 130 Kg.
He also noted that Ella Rise scratched out on Snatches, but set a PR for her Clean and Jerk, and Alexis Neubauer scratched out on both lifts.
The New Prague Adapted Floor Hockey team continued its unbeaten winter season with a pair of wins last week.
The Trojans defeated South Suburban, 11-1, Tuesday, Feb. 18 and Winona, 13-1, Thursday, Feb. 20.
In the win over South Suburban, Dylan Raaen scored five goals, Leo Fahey scored three goals, and Mathew Boike added two goals.
Garrett Gagner had four assists and Seth Dorner had three assists.
Tri-City United is sending four wrestlers to the state tournament after the Section 2AA competition last weekend.
Caleb Whipps (138 pounds), Brody Rud (170 pounds), Riley O'Malley (182 pounds), and Jose Reyes (195 pounds) will begin the competition in the first round of individuals for Class AA at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
See more in the print edition.
The No. 3 seeded Tri-City United boys wrestling team (18-5) earned their first victory Thursday on what they hope is the road to the state tournament.
Their Coach, Shaun Timmerman has high hopes, and the athletes have a strong work ethic to make it.
"We have a great shot. We just need to focus on our 'clean' technique and wrestle smart. We also have a lot of individuals who are looking at some great success at the end of the year,” he stated.
The team continues on their path after a decisive 54-17 victory over Waseca (11-2) in Montgomery.
The first time the Titans faced off against the Le Suer- Henderson Giants on December 20, the TCU team beat LSH by 15 points. On February 7, the margin was only six points, with TCU besting LSH 69-63.
Titan Coach Eric Specht is proud how his girls finished the basketball game.
“I thought we executed well and made some clutch free throws down the stretch. Offensively, we did a nice job limiting our turnovers, giving ourselves a chance to put up points,” he said.
The Titan boys’ basketball team broke its 12-game losing streak when they hosted Shattuck-St. Mary’s on January 14. The Titans won by a score of 65-31.
Coach Austin Pinke said the kids have been working hard and they earned the win.
“We talk about opportunities and taking advantage of opportunities when they are presented. Hank (Holicky) had an opportunity and he did well with it.”
A Robotics Team from Tri-City United High School earned the Excellence Award at a competition at the Austin Public School on January 11.
The high school Excellence Award is given to an overall top team. This time it was to the TCU Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots. Organizers said it is the highest honor given at a VEX robotic competition.
For the second time this season, the 5th ranked New Prague wrestling team has returned from a tournament with hardware.
The Trojans had 17 top six finishers, including three champions, winning the Tri City United Invitational Saturday, Jan. 4 in Montgomery.
Koy Buesgens (106), Colton Bornholdt (113), and Jake Trachte (182) each claimed individual titles.
Out of 34 teams, the Tri-City United wrestlers, grappled for points and finished in sixth place after the two-day Redwood River Riot on December 20 and 21 in Redwood Falls.
The Titans ended with 114.5 points. Coach Shawn Timmerman noted Riley O’Malley worked for a second place finish in a very tough tournament.
“He was out there wrestling to continuously score points. Winning those matches was the result from that,” he said.
The varsity individual results:
106 - Zach Balma (8th Place)
113 - Chris Johnson (0-2)
120 - Brant Lemieux (0-2)
The TCU girls basketball team earned a big win over Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton and a loss to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at the TCU Holiday Basketball Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
TCU 64 - JWP 38
The girls participated in two games of the holiday tournament. On Friday, they worked for a resounding win over JWP, ending with 64-38 score.
The Titans took early control of the game, building up a 21-point lead in the first ten minutes of the game. At half-time, they expanded it to 40-9.
A number of area teams have advanced to the 2019 Adapted Soccer State Tournament, which will start Friday, Nov. 22, and conclude the following day. Matches will be played at Stillwater Area High School.
In the CI Division, White Bear Lake (10-0) will play Chaska/Chanhassen/Prior Lake/Shakopee (6-3-1) at 5 p.m. Friday.
Following that game will be Burnsville/Farmington/ Lakeville (7-1-2) versus St. Cloud Area (7-2-1) at 6:30p.m.
The DRS Baseball League held its Fall meeting Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Doublewide in Elko New Market, with all 13 teams represented.
New managers were introduced for three teams. Tanner Graff is the new manager for Shakopee, Brent Goracke for St. Patrick and Mike Prochaska for Webster. Todd Klehn will be an assistant manager for Webster.
The Tri-City United Cross Country Team is sending its captains to the State Track Meet after their performances at the Section Meet Thursday, Oct. 24.
Austin Antony and Hunter Rutt both qualified for state placing fourth and 13th respectively.
Coach Brian Fogal said the two athletes have worked hard all season, and their results prove it.
Coming into Tuesday’s Section 3AAA showdown between ranked opponents, the No. 4 seed Tri-City United Titans and No. 5 seed Sibley East Wolverines, the TCU team thought it had a chance to move through the brackets. But at the end of the day, the Wolverines handed TCU another loss to end its season.
The visiting Wolverines shutout the Titans 27-0 with four touchdowns on the ground.
The Titans’ only win on the season came against Sibley East on September 27 with a score of 14-0. The Wolverines finished the regular season with a 2-6 record.