Blooming Prairie sports

The Medford and Blooming Prairie boys' basketball teams each fell behind early in the section playoff games Tuesday and could not climb out of the hole, bringing their seasons to an end. Medford lost at St. Peter 90-35. Blooming Prairie fell to Rushford-Peterson 56-33 at the Mayo Civic Auditorium in Rochester.

The Blooming Prairie boys' basketball team went to Leroy-Ostrander Thursday as the No. 9 seed in Section 1A and came home with a 63-48 win. Coach Nate Piller said, "It was all about our defense tonight." The Awesome Blossoms held the Cardinals to 12 first-half points and led 42-14 early in the second half, "But things never feel comfortable in the playoffs."

The Blooming Prairie girls' basketball had No. 2 seed Hayfield beaten, twice, on Monday night, but the top-five ranked Vikings pulled out the 67-63 double-overtime victory to advance to the Section 1A semifinals. Just two weeks prior, the Awesome Blossoms dropped a 30-point decision to Hayfield. BP coach John Bruns said on Saturday's KRFO coaches show that the regular season game came during a busy stretch for Blooming Prairie and they had more time to prepare for the playoff rematch.

Five Owatonna wrestlers punched their ticket to the state tournament with top two finishes in the Section 1AAA Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Five others finished in third place. The state individual tournament is Friday and Saturday, March 2-3 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The team tournament is Thursday, March 1.

The Triton and Blooming Prairie girls' basketball teams open the playoffs at home this week. The Cobras entertain La Crescent Tuesday, February 20 at 7PM in Dodge Center in Section 1AA. The Awesome Blossoms host Wabasha-Kellog Thursday at 7PM in the ultra-competitive Section 1A tournament.

The springs sports season of 2017 lasted into the summer months for many local athletes. Blooming Prairie’s Tommy Braaten ran away with the state Class A golf championship to cap a fabulous high school career. Owatonna’s Andrew Wall-who played at the state high school tournament-won the Owatonna City Open in August. OHS grad and hall of fame member Dave Carothers won the state amateur tournament for the first time, after playing in it for many years.

Local sports highlights for 2017 include many athletes that have moved on to college sports with great success. OHS graduate Andrew Stelter wrapped up his four-year career with the Gopher football team as a senior helping the team transition to a new coach. Carlie Wagner-a two-time state champ at NRHEG-is currently in her senior season with the Gophers, leading the team in scoring, hoping to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time. OHS grad Peter Jones is one of the low scorers each time out with the Gopher golf team.

The Blooming Prairie boys' basketball team won a thriller over Maple River Friday night at BPHS 62-61 when Jake Ressler hit a three-pointer with three second left. Coach Nate Piller said the Awesome Blossoms had more than 15 second to run their offense after the Eagles had hit free throws to take the lead.

Owatonna's Cade King and Peyton Robb capped the ultra-competitive Minnesota Christmas Wrestling Tournament with championships to lead the Huskies to a top ten finish in the team standings. King and Robb each donned a Santa in the winners' circle along with the other champions.

The three players that Blooming Prairie girls basketball graduated off last season's team led the squad in several statistical categories, but they bring back a number of players with varsity experience as they begin their winter campaign.