Holiday Prep Tournaments are a Special Time of Season

Five Owatonna High School varsity sports teams will compete in holiday tournaments this week all around the state. Coaches frequently speak of how significant this time of season is for team bonding in addition to getting in some events without conference and section implications hanging on the result.

The OHS boys' basketball team is home for the annual Federated Tournaments Wednesday and Thursday, December 27-28. The Huskies play Minnetonka at 7:45PM on KRFO AM1390 on the opening night. Chisago Lakes and Burnsville are the others in the field. Owatonna lost to top-five rated Apple Valley in their last outing.

The OHS girls' hoops team goes to Alexandria for a Wednesday-Thursday tournament, opening with Buffalo Wednesday at 6PM. Coon Rapids is the other participating team. The Huskies haven't played since beating Winona December 15.

Owatonna boys' hockey begins play at the Heritage Tournament Wednesday at 3PM against Mound-Westonka, who is top-20 ranked in Class A. The three-day event in Duluth continues Thursday and Friday with the final two games on Kat Kountry / KRFO AM 1390. The Huskies could face teams they have already played this season as Apple Valley and North St. Paul are in the tournament, as well as Big Nine opponent Mankato West. The Huskies lost to North St. Paul 4-2 Saturday, December 23.

OHS girls' hockey plays at the Schwan's Cup tournament in Blaine Thursday through Saturday, December 28-30. The Huskies play Marshall in their opener at 7:30PM at the Super Rink in Blaine. The championship game for the bracket will be at Ridder Arena at the University of Minnesota. OHS beat John Marshall 5-1 in their most recent game.

The Owatonna wrestlers make the short drive to Rochester to take part again in The Clash National Wrestling Duals. The Huskies could have three matches each day on Friday and Saturday. The Huskies just finished in the top ten at the Minnesota Christmas tournament in Rochester in mid-December.