NRHEG Star Eagle

137 Years Serving the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Area
Newspaper of Record for NRHEG School District
Newspaper of Record for Waseca County, MN
PO Box 248 • New Richland, MN 56072

507-463-8112
email: steagle@hickorytech.net
Published every Thursday
Yearly Subscription: Waseca, Steele, and Freeborn counties: $52
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By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher

The NRHEG wrestling team wrapped up the Gopher Conference schedule with a pair of dual-meet losses last week, falling to Maple River Thursday at New Richland and at Medford Saturday. The Panthers finished 3-2 in the conference.

The Panthers hosted a triangular Thursday and split, defeating Norwood-Young America 49-21 and losing to Maple River 31-27.

Winners against NYA were Parker Bunn, 106 pounds; Nikolas Petsinger, 120; Andrew Reich, 132; Thor Routh, 152; Agro Gushwa, 160; Ralph Roesler, 170; Tyler Jacobson, 182; Makota Misgen, 220; and Quinten Arndt, 285. Winning by fall were Reich, Routh, Gushwa, Jacobson and Arndt.

“I felt like we did things the right way,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “We earned bonus points in matches we won, and found a way in many matches to not give bonus points in most matches we lost. That is how you win as a team.”

George Roesler, Routh, Ralph Roesler, Misgen and Arndt had wins against Maple River.

“This was a very good dual,” said Larson. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a good match, and we knew that this could be potentially for the conference title. We wrestled hard in all of the matches and it went well in general, but anytime you lose by four in wrestling it feels like you had the ability to win. It is going to sting a little. 

NRHEG rebounds with win over BA

By MARK DOMEIER
Contributing Writer

Weather impeded play again last week, but the NRHEG Lady Panthers played two games, splitting the pair.

The undefeated and state-ranked Medford Tigers came to New Richland Feb. 4 in a make-up affair. The Panthers shot well in the first half and played to a 40-38 halftime advantage. However, the Tigers showed why they haven't yet lost this season by holding the home team to 19 points in the second half while rolling to a 74-59 win.

Alexis Anderson had an outstanding game with 22 points, 8 rebounds, an assist, and a block. Sophie Stork hit every category with 15 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Sidney Schultz followed with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Darian Pearson tallied 6 points and 5 boards while Kendall Johnson contributed 2 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist. Hannah Budach had 2 points and Sarah Johns added a point, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Erin Jacobson finished the scoring with one point while Jayna Finseth snared a rebound.

The Panthers honored their seniors on Feb. 8 during a home game against Faribault BA and went on to rout the Cardinals 62-36. The game was never really in doubt as the Panthers jumped to a 17-point halftime lead, never trailing in the Gopher Conference game. Coach Onika Peterson recognized the seniors: "We were able to celebrate our seven seniors: Caitlin Goette, Olivia Christopherson, Lexie Ignaszewski, Hannah Budach, Alexis Anderson, Jayna Finseth, and Darian Pearson. Thank you for being great leaders in the classroom,  your hard work, and dedication to the basketball program. Good luck with your future plans!"

By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher

It came down to free throws for the NRHEG boys’ basketball team at Faribault Bethlehem Academy Friday, Feb. 8. The Cardinals made most of theirs and the Panthers didn’t, resulting in a 49-40 loss for the locals, who fell to 8-12 overall.

“I liked our effort and energy tonight,” said NRHEG coach Isaiah Lundberg. “I thought we played much more aggressively than we had the last couple of games.”

Still, turnovers and missed easy shots led to an 11-point first-half deficit for the Panthers, who trailed 27-27 at halftime.

The Panthers played well to start the second half, according to Lundberg, whittling the lead while holding the Cardinals to just three points over the first nine minutes. NRHEG led 31-30 with a chance to widen it, but turnovers prevented it.

BA iced it with free throws, making 13 of 16 for the night, while the Panthers were 6-for-16.

“You can’t shoot that low of a percentage and expect to win,” said Lundberg. “Like I said, I liked our energy and effort tonight, which gave us a chance to win.”

Brady Agrimson topped the scoring chart for NRHEG with 17 points. Jacob Schuller scored 16, Blake Ihrke 3, Lonnie Wilson 2.

Jack Clark led BA with 18 points. Damon Trump scored 13.

The Panthers fell to 3-8 in conference play.