Medford sports

The high school spring sports season began Thursday for a number of local teams, though postponements still outnumbered the events that got in. Owatonna's boys' tennis team won their season opener at Mankato West 5-2. The Huskies have had three meets delayed.

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.

Four wrestlers from the Westfield Razorbacks won medals at the state tournament at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday. Sophomore Colton Krell finished as state runner-up at 160 pounds, improving on his fourth place finish in the same classification in 2017. He lost to Zach Schneider of Caledonia-Houston 9-2 in the finals. Krell won his first two matches by major decision to reach the semifinals, where he upset top-ranked Kelby O'Reilly of Goodhue 5-2 to reach the championship bout.

Hopes for an all-Gopher Conference subsection final in 2AA girls' basketball were dashed by the Big South Conference as Blue Earth Area beat NRHEG 52-45 and St. Peter topped Medford 59-26 Friday night at Mankato East High School. The Bucs and Saints will play for the south subsection title Tuesday at Minnesota State-Mankato. NRHEG won the section crown in 2017.

Medford Tigers' girls' basketball coach Mark Kubat was hopeful that sophomore Emma Kneifel would reach the 1,000-point milestone in their home gym Friday night before spending this week on the bus with a series of road games.

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.

No. 6 seed NRHEG upset No. 3 Alden-Conger 3-2 Thursday in the Section 2A, South Subsection quarterfinals. NRHEG advances to semifinals at St. Peter High School with a 25-19, 15-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8 victory. The Panthers will see No. 2 seed St. Clair Tuesday at 7:45PM.

Bundle up as you head out to cheer on your favorite team with the start of the high school football playoffs Tuesday night. Strong northwest wind accompanying highs in the mid to upper 40's will make for a rude contrast to last Wednesday's final night of the regular season.

The inaugural class of the Medford High School Hall of Fame will be honored Friday at the homecoming football game and during a banquet Saturday night at the Owatonna VFW.

Medford and Blooming Prairie volleyball came away with non-conference wins Monday night, in drastically different fashion. Medford outlasted Pine Island 3-2 after winning the first two sets. BP blanked Southland 3-0