hockey

Owatonna High School teams traveled north, west and east Thursday and came home with victories. The wrestlers had the longest trip with a journey to Winona where they pinned the Winhawks 66-13. Their much anticipated home opener against Albert Lea is coming up Thursday, January 11 on KRFO AM 1390.

The Owatonna girls' hockey team beat Austin 7-1 Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. The Packers scored first and the game was 1-1 after the first period. The Huskies scored three times in the middle stanza, including a goal with less than three seconds remaining to leave little doubt who would win the game.

The No. 8-ranked Owatonna High School wrestlers closed out The Clash National Duals with a 41-20 win over Hastings to finish third in the bracket and match last year's 19th place overall finish. The wrestlers were just one of several OHS teams that had a strong showing in holiday tournaments.

Owatonna jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the consolation final of the Duluth Heritage boys' hockey tournament Friday. Host team Denfeld scored the next six goals and won the game 6-3. The Huskies went 1-2 in the event.

The Owatonna boys' basketball team hit a dozen three-pointers in their 88-49 win over Chisago Lakes Area to take third place in the Federated Tournament. The OHS girls drained ten threes in their victory over top-ten rated Alexandria 64-50 at the Cardinals holiday tournament.

For the second time in three years, Big Nine Conference foes Owatonna and Mankato West squared off at the Heritage Tournament, hosted by Duluth Denfeld. OHS prevailed 2-1 on Thursday and will play at 11:30AM Friday in the fifth place game on KRFO AM1390.

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.

Owatonna held a 9-7 lead early against the No. 4 ranked Apple Valley boys' basketball team Thursday night at a packed OHS gym. A couple of short stretches cost Owatonna points and momentum in a 95-73 to the defending state champs.

The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys' basketball team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 58-43 win over Triton in Dodge Center Tuesday night. The Panthers play at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (2-4) Friday night. NRHEG coach Pat Churchill said on Saturday's coaches show that the Panthers haven't won at Waterville during his time as coach.

Senior Nick Smith netted a hat trick at Austin as the Owatonna boys won 5-2 Thursday night. The OHS girls beat the Packers 6-4 with two goals each from Margo Achterkirch and Maylynn Prokopec. Owatonna trailed initially in both games, but used big second periods to grab the lead.