GATORS LOSE REGULAR SEASON FINALE
 By Coach Christian


     Going into Lancaster and facing what many people consider the #1 team in Section 8A the BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team knew they would have to be on top of their game.  The Gators however got off to another slow start and the Kittson Central Bearcats cruised to a 59-37 win.
     With the Gators showing much more effort and passion than they did on Saturday it looked like this game would be a fans delight.  The Gators however had trouble against the stingy Bearcat defense and were eventually worn down by the talented Bearcats.
     Coming out of halftime trailing 36-17 BGMR did everything they could do mount a comeback.  The Bearcats answered with timely possessions and solid offensive play which thwarted any Gator rally.
     BGMR did not have a player in double figures.  Tanner Creviston continued his solid offense play with 9 points.  Jacob Anderson also chipped in 8.  Kittson Central was lead by Zach Rynning who had 17 points and Derek Coffield who netted 11.
     With the loss the Gators record for the regular season fell to 11-15.  It is now playoff time and every team is 0-0.  BGMR will be at home on Monday night for the opening round of the playoffs.  It looks as though the game will be against Sacred Heart or Red Lake County.  Either team will be a tough first round match-up.  The Gators however have been waiting for this time of year and are ready to prove that they can make some noise in March.  The team hopes that Gator Nation will be out in full as this veteran team tries to create some March memories.
     The boys basketball program would also like to take this time to congratulate the Gator Wrestling Team on their upcoming trip to the state tournament.  Also congratulations to the individual wrestlers who qualified for state.  It is time for the Gators to bring home a state championship!
     The boys program would  also like to say good luck to the girls program who start playoffs on Tuesday night.  The girls have worked extremely hard this year and will be a tough game for anyone they face.  Good luck girls!

RED LAKE EMBARRASSES GATORS
By Coach Christian 

     Playing the first half like they were stuck in mud or someone had ran over their dog the BGMR Gators were blown out early by the Red Lake Warriors as the Warriors picked up a decisive 84-63 win.  The Gators were incredible in their sloppiness in the first half as they had 22 turnovers and did little to nothing right against an athletic Warrior team.  The lone highlight of the first half was when the lower part of the Gator bench, which included much of the J.V. team, was inserted in the game and gave Gator Nation something to be proud of as they hustled and created some offensive opportunities.  The Warriors did however go into halftime with a 39 to 19 lead.
     The Gator starters showed some life in the second half and quickly cut the 20 point halftime lead to 10.  BGMR however ran out of energy and slipped back into some sloppy play as the Warriors picked up their full court defense.   Red Lake controlled the tempo the rest of the way and went home with an 84-63 win.
     Offensively the Gators were led in scoring by Tanner Creviston who had a career high 19 points.  Nathan Hietala had 11 points and Nick Dostal dumped in 9.  Senior Trey Langaas also contributed a career high 8 points coming off the bench.  Red Lake was paced by Brendan Beaulieu who poured in 26.  Ryan Holthusen threw in 21 and Nick Roy had 16.
     Obviously the Gators are not looking like a team that can make a tournament run.  They are hoping that Saturday’s lifeless effort was not a sign of things to come.  BGMR will end their regular season on Monday night when they travel to Lancaster to take on the Kittson Central Bearcats.  The Bearcats are currently the #1 ranked team in the subsection and pose an outstanding duo in Zach Rynning and Derek Coffield.  The role players for the Bearcats are also impressive and feed off the dynamic duo.  It will be another stiff challenge for the Gators and a good set up game for the upcoming subsection tournament.

CHARGERS NIP GATORS IN NAIL BITTER
 By Coach Christian

     Whenever the Grygla-Goodridge Chargers and BGMR Gators get together in boys basketball action it is typically a defensive struggle with the winning team being the one that makes the most out of their offensive possessions.  Friday nights game at The Swamp was no exception as the Chargers slipped by the Gators 46-45.
     Offensive points were at a premium in the first half.  Neither team could find a rhythm offensively and both teams played outstanding defense as the Chargers went into halftime with a 18-15 lead.  Both teams loosened up in the second half with the Chargers opening up a 7 point lead with just over 5 minutes to go.  BGMR battled back and took a 1 point lead with just over 40 seconds to play.  On the next possession Alex Rhen picked up a steal for the Gators and appeared to be going in for a lay-up but slipped.  The Chargers regained possession and scored to take a 1 point lead.  The Gators took a shot with just over seven seconds to play and missed.  The Chargers gathered the rebound and BGMR fouled them immediately.  Preston Swenson missed the front end of a 1 on 1 free throw and the Gators pushed the tempo.  Unfortunately, the Gators turned the ball over and the Chargers hung on for the win.
     Offensively the Gators were led by Nick Dostal who had 16 points.  Tanner Creviston chipped in 10.  Nathan Hietala was the leading Gator rebounder with 8.
     The Chargers got a double/double from Swenson who had 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Tra Aldrete dumped in 12 points.
     The Gators will need to recover from the tough loss in a hurry as they will be involved in the NCTC Super Saturday.  BGMR is going to face Red Lake.  The Warriors are a high octane team that uses trapping defenses and outside shooting to average over 75 points a game.  It should be a high paced game and one in which the Gators need to play well in order to come out with a win.

State Wrestling Tournament
A Fan Bus will be offered on Thursday, March 1st down to Minneapolis for the team Wrestling Tournament.  The charter bus will leave Greenbush School at 12:30 AM and will arrive at the Excel Energy Center at 8:00 AM.  The bus will return immediately after the BGMR team competition ends.

The cost to ride will cost $55.00 and must be paid when you sign up.  There will need to be a minimum of 47 people.  You must sign up by Monday, February 27th (today).  If the bus isn't filled by the Monday the bus will be cancelled and the money will be refunded. 

*Bathrooms and DVD players are on board.  The bus will not be stopping to eat, so bring along your own lunch.  Students 9th grade and older may sign up, but younger students must be supervised by a parent in order to ride the bus.

Gators Send Eight to State

by Coach Bergeron

The Gator Wrestling team traveled to Glyndon on Feb. 24^th and 25^th to take part in the individual tournament for a chance to advance to the State tournament in St. Paul at the Excel Center.

The Gators were coming off of their big weekend where they knocked off the Hornets from Frazee to advance to St. Paul as a team. Now it was time to see how many could earn their trip individually. The Gators had another great showing as they advanced eight wrestlers, who placed in the top two to earn their right to compete in the individual portion of the state tournament March 2^nd and 3^rd. Earning those trips to the big show were Devin Dostal 113, Isaac Novacek 120, Brandon Waage 126, Corey Hasbrouck 132, Tomm Ingle 160, TeJay Wojchowski 170, Timm Ingle 182, and Alex Yeager 285. The last time the Gators sent eight to state was in 2008.

Earning Section titles for the Gators were Devin Dostal, Isaac Novacek, Corey Hasbrouck, Timm Ingle and Alex Yeager. While Brandon Waage, Tomm Ingle and Tejay Wojchowski finished in the runner up position all earning spots in the state tournament.

Devin Dostal earned the first section title as he went 3-0 on the weekend capping it off with an exciting 7-5 overtime decision over Austin Skillings of Frazee.

Isaac Novacek took home the second section title dominating his weight class with a solid weekend and recording a pin over Kole Lefebvre of Mahnomen-Waubun. Isaac will go into the state wrestling tournament with a 39-0 record and currently has 182 wins passing past Gator standout Tim Blumer, who had 181 career victories, moving Isaac to 3^rd all-time on career wins behind Wayne Mooney and Gabriel Mooney. Congrats Isaac on accomplishing that great milestone.

Brandon Waage had a solid tournament, keeping the fans on their toes with two very close matches, as he knocked off Dylan Nistler of WHAN in the semi-finals 2-0 and fell just short in the finals in a nailbitter , losing 2-1 to UNC’s Jacob Malone, to earn a 2^nd place finish and a trip to the state wrestling tournament.

Corey Hasbrouck had the tournament of his life coming in as the #5 seed and proved that it doesn’t matter what you are seeded but rather how much heart and determination you put into it. Along the way Corey knocked off the # 4, #1 and #3 seeds to capture his first varsity title and a trip to the Excel Center.

At 160 pounds Tomm Ingle earned his trip to the state tournament the hard way as he lost a close 6-5 dec. on Friday night to WHAN’s Joe Anderson, but battled his way back on Saturday to earn a true second match with UNC’s Max Pajari. Tomm gave up the early takedown and battled back to take the lead before Pajari tied it late in the match to send it to overtime, where Tomm battled hard and got the takedown to earn the second place finish and a spot in the state tournament.

TeJay Wojchowski had some very close matches as he earned a hard fought win in the semifinals over Cody Piper of Frazee 2-1 before dropping an exciting match to WHAN’s Collin Huckbody 10-8. With the second place finish Wojchowski earned his second trip to state in his career. TeJay currently sits at 96 career wins and with a good team and individual tournament TeJay will have a chance to reach the 100 win milestone.

Timm Ingle showed he was the standout in his weight class as he dominated his way through, going 3-0 with 3 pins to capture the section title at 182 pounds, with a pin over DGF’s Kole Nygaard. Timm has been on a roll lately and is wrestling very smart and aggressive heading into the state tournament.

The final state qualifier is the #1 ranked wrestler in the state, Alex Yeager. Alex did not have to wrestle in the second period at the section tournament, as he dominated the whole way with 3 pins, earning the section title by pinning Alex Goodwin of Blackduck-Cass Lake-Bena in the title match. Alex is currently at 156 career wins,and is currently three wins behind past standout Chad Lorenson, who finished his career at 159 wins. Alex also has an astonishing 134 pins in his career. Way to go Alex and congrats on your success.

The Gators entered 13 wrestlers in the sectional with 12 of them placing in the top four, showing why the Gators were the team with the best balance in the tournament.

Ninth grader Wyatt Becker (106) has had an awesome year going 34-9, but Becker fell just short of his individual goal when he lost a heartbreaking true second match to Fertile-Beltrami’s Mitchell Lundeen 10-6, falling one place short of qualifying for state. This will just make Wyatt a little hungrier for next year. Wyatt will be a big part of the Gators success as he gears up for the team tournament on Thursday, March 1^st.

Another Ninth grader that had a great year battling juniors and seniors all year was Gunner Gust (138). Gunner currently has 23 wins on the year and went 2-2 in the sectional finishing 4^th and showed great promise for the future and will be a big part of the Gators success.

Jake Jenson (145) had a solid tournament and battled hard the whole tournament going 3-2 on the weekend and giving Jake 25 wins on the season. Jake had some entertaining matches, finishing 4^th in the sections.

John Westman was the final place winner in the sections. John went 2-2 on the weekend, placing fourth. John has been very entertaining  to watch this season and currently has 28 victories on the season.

Senior Brendon Dostal lost two matches, but battled hard in both. He and the Gator team will continue on in the state team tournament, as they will take on Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial at 9 am from the Excel Center. If you are attending please look for the cheerleaders, who will be above the section we wrestle in to point you in the right direction, to cheer on the Gators to victory. The Gators will be looking to see and hear Gator Nation loud and proud as they battle for state honors.

            Individual first round matchups for the eight Gator state qualifiers are as follows: 113- Devin Dostal (8), 33-7, vs. Mitch Steffens (12), Wadena-Deer Creek, 20-4; 120- Isaac Novacek (12), 34-0, vs. Byron Forstner (11), Madelia/Truman/ Martin Luther, 24-9; 126- Brandon Waage (9), 30-8, vs. Dylan Herman (10), United South Central, 34-2; 132- Corey Hasbrouck (10), 14-20, vs. Logan Peterson (10), Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, 34-8; 160- Tomm Ingle (11), 35-7, vs. Stephen Erlandson (12), Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah, 29-2; 170- Tejay Wojchowski (12), 32-4, vs. Nathan Tomala (12), Pierz, 35-3; 182- Timm Ingle (11), 18-2 vs. Travis Willis (11), Kimball Area, 32-11; 285- Alex Yeager (12), 33-2, vs. Tyler Jenson (11), Benson, 24-10.  

Coach Efrem Novacek and I would like to thank the Gator Wrestling team and the Gator Coaching Staff for their efforts this year. Without all of your efforts we would of not have been voted Section 8A Assistant Coach and Head Coach of the year.

Thanks for your support at the sectionals in Glyndon and we hope we can continue to make some great memories as the seasons wraps up with final wrestling from the Excel Center March 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd .  

Gators Claim Section 8A Title

By: Ryan Bergeron

            After narrowly missing the state tournament several times, the Gators claimed their first Section 8A title since 2005, qualifying for the team portion of the state wrestling tournament. The Gators looked focused throughout the day, reaching the finals in dominating fashion with victories of 70-6 over Fertile-Beltrami and 63-12 over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. These victories moved the Gators (ranked #7) on to the finals against a familiar opponent and defending section champions, Frazee Hornets (ranked #6). The Gators avenged an earlier loss to the Hornets, getting out to a fast start, recording close victories and getting some huge pins along the way to hang on and win by a 37-30 score to claim the Section 8A title.

            Coach Bergeron commented on his team’s emotional section championship, “It was a long time coming. I’m really happy for the kids, as they put in a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears into it, and they deserve it.” 

            The Gator, the number two seed, started their title track in the quarterfinals against the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons, the number seven seed. Wyatt Becker (106) got the Gators on the board first, recording a 9-4 victory over Willie Meine. The Gators’ Devin Dostal (113) followed with an exciting victory, recording a late takedown to beat Hunter Olson 2-1; giving the Gators a 6-0 lead. Following these two victories, the Gators’ Isaac Novacek (120), Brandon Waage (126), and Corey Hasbrouck (132), and Jake Jenson (145) recorded first period pins, and Gunner Gust (138) recorded a dominating 9-0 major decision over Fertile-Beltrami’s Tyler Ellegard; the Gators led 34-0. The Gators’ Logan Stein (152) would take the mat for the Gators, and would unfortunately get caught and pinned in the first period by Hunter Lindberg, giving Fertile their first points of the match. The Gators wouldn’t give up any more points, continuing to dominate the rest of the way with first period pins from Tomm Ingle (160), Tejay Wojchowski (170), John Westman (182), and Timm Ingle (220), along with accepted forfeits by Beau Blumer (195) and Alex Yeager (HWT). This victory moved the Gators into the semifinals against the DGF Rebels, the number six seed.

            In the semifinals, the Gators looked like they were focused and on a mission, continuing to dominate in route to finals. Wyatt Becker and Devin Dostal got the action started quickly for the Gators, each recording first period pins, followed by Isaac Novacek and Brandon Waage each accepting forfeits for the Gators. Corey Hasbrouck step to the mat for the Gators, and recorded an emotional third period pin over a good Alex Johnson to keep the Gators rolling. Gunner Gust kept the Gators on track, recording an impressive victory of his own by defeating once ranked Ryan Hamernick in an exciting, back and forth 10-6 victory. The Gators’ Jake Jenson followed with an exciting victory, hanging on to a late 4-2 lead and defeating DGF’s Cole Sogge 6-2; the Gators led 36-0. At 152, Brendon Dostal took the mat against a good Chad Johnson of DGF. Brendon wrestled hard and showed a lot of fight, but unfortunately was pinned with 11 seconds remaining in the final period. Tomm Ingle and Tejay Wojchowski  got the Gators back on the board with pins of their own. Beau Blumer step to mat next for the Gators, and wrestled hard, but got caught and pinned midway through the third period.  That would be all the points the Gators would give up, as John Westman recorded an exciting 2-1 triple overtime victory over DGF’s Mason Remund, Timm Ingle recorded an exciting pin over a good Jake Hanson of DGF in overtime, and Alex Yeager accepted the forfeit to beat DGF and move on to the finals against top-seeded Frazee with a 63-12 victory. 

            Wyatt Becker got the Gators started in the right direction, avenging an earlier loss to Frazee’s Byron Beyer and beating him in a dominating 13-4 major decision.  Devin Dostal came to mat for the Gators at 113 against Frazee’s Austin Skillings. After Devin gave up a third period escape, the match was tied at two, but Devin would use all the energy he had to score an huge takedown, hanging on to win by narrow 4-2 decision. Isaac Novacek kept the action rolling for the Gators, recording an emotional pin at the 5:32 mark over Frazee’s Grant Jepson. Trailing 2-0 late in the third period against Frazee’s Jordan Ketter at 126, the Gators’ Brandon Waage would somehow reverse Ketter and get him in a cradle, hanging on tight to that cradle to win in exciting fashion by a 5-2 score; the Gators led early 16-0.

            The Gators held on to a nice lead, but Frazee would make a run of their own, even taking a brief lead. Corey Hasbrouck took the mat next for the Gators against a good Hunter Sorenson of Frazee at 132. Corey wrestled hard throughout the match and did his job, getting a late takedown to cut the lead to just a decision, but Sorenson would get the late escape to make a 12-4 major decision. At 138, the Gators sent out Gunner Gust against ranked Frazee standout Bruce Lemon. Gunner would wrestle hard early, but Lemon would catch and pin Gunner at the 2:53 mark to Gator lead to just six. The Gators’ Zach Berg took the mat next for the Gators, getting accidentally stunned and falling to Frazee’s Tyler Wacker by a pin early in the first period to tie the match at 16. Jake Jenson next came to the mat for the Gators against another ranked Frazee standout, Rij Koehnen. Jake wrestled extremely hard throughout the match, knowing his job and fighting off many pinning combinations to give up just an 11-1 major decision; the Gators would trail 20-16.

            Tomm Ingle would look to turn the match around for the Gators against a very good Tyler Ziegler of Frazee, and boy did he. After falling behind early 2-0, Tomm would amazingly reverse Ziegler and get him in a tight pinning combination, catching and pinning him in emotional fashion with three seconds left in the first period; the Gators led 22-20.  Tejay Wojchowski would extend the Gators’ lead to eight at 170, looking determined and pinning Frazee’s Evan Wendt at the 2:55 mark.  The Gators’ John Westman took the mat next at 182, looking to wrestle smart and help the Gators hang on to their lead as he took on Frazee’s Cody Piper, a last year state entrant. The match would feature many crazy things with Piper getting a couple chances for the pin, but Westman fought off all attempts and gave up just the 15-2 major decision; the Gators led 28-24. In a much surprised move, the Gators sent out Timm Ingle at 195 against Frazee senior Jake Galbrecht. Leading 3-1 late, Timm gave up a point for stalling, making the score 3-2 late in the third period, but Timm wouldn’t let Galbrecht  up, hanging on to huge win by the 3-2 score; the Gators led 31-24. After the Gators forfeited to Frazee’s Rick Brandt at 220, to cut the score to 31-30, Alex Yeager sealed the match and a state berth for the Gators, making quick work of Frazee’s Brandon Degroat and pinning him early in the first period; the Gators won 37-30.

            With this victory and section championship, the Gators will move on to the state wrestling tournament as a team on Thursday, March 1st, at the Excel Energy Center in St.Paul. The Gators will get back to the practice room, not only getting ready for state team action, but also focusing on individual sections, which are at DGF High School next Friday and Saturday, February 24-25. The Gators would like to thank all of Gator Nation that came to support them in TRF, your presence was certainly felt, as many wrestlers fed off of your energy. The Gators look forward to seeing that continued support at individual sections and as they travel down to state not only with individual qualifiers, but as a “team”. Congrats to the Gators, Section 8A Champions! GO GATORS!           

Note:  Those that are attending the team portion of the state tournament can buy your tickets in the Greenbush office starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, February 22, with Gator state wrestling tournament t-shirts available on that same date. Mat Rat t-shirts will also be for sale starting Monday, February 27 also in the Greenbush office and in Coach Bergeron’s classroom.

Championship

Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 37 Frazee 30

106: Wyatt Becker (BGMR) major decision Byron Beyer (FRZ) 13-4

113: Devin Dostal (BGMR) decision Austin Skillngs (FRZ) 4-2

120: Issac Novacek(BGMR) fall Grant Jepson (FRZ) 5:32

126: Brandon Waage (BGMR) decision Jordan Ketter (FRZ) 5-2

132: Hunter Sorenson (PL) major decision Cory Hasbrouck (BGMR) 12-4

138: Bruce Lemon (FRZ) fall Gunner Gust (BGMR) 2:53

145: Tyler Wacker (FRZ) fall Zach Berg (BGMR) :26

152: Rij Koehnen (FRZ) major decision Jacob Jenson (BGMR) 11-1

160: Tomm Ingle (BGMR) fall Tyler Ziegler (FRZ) 1:57

170: Tejay Wojchowski (BGMR) fall Evan Wendt (FRZ) 2:55

182: Cody Piper (FRZ) major decision John Westman (BGMR) 15-2

195: Tim Ingle (BGMR) decision Jacob Galbrecht (FRZ) 3-2

220: Rick Brandt (FRZ) Open (BGMR)

Hwt: Alex Yeager (BGMR) fall Brandon Degroat (FRZ)  n/a

Gator Boys Make it Two in a Row

GATORS BOYS MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW

     The BGMR Gators boys basketball team pushed their season record to 11-12 with a 61-51 win over the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies.  The Gators started the game off well taking an earlier 13-8 lead.  The Ponies however proceeded to go on an 18-6 run to end the half and went into halftime with a 26-19 lead.  BGMR came out of halftime with more determination and fire and after 4 minutes of play in the second half tied the game.  The Gators proceeded to build a lead and came away with the 10 point margin of victory.

     BGMR had a balanced night offensively.  Nick Dostal poured in 16 and Nathan Hietala had a career high 16 points.  Jacob Anderson and Tanner Creviston each had 10 points with Creviston also leading the team in rebounds with 8.  Alex Rhen contributed 8 points.

     The Ponies, who were playing without standout Zak Riopelle, were led in scorning by Jayvon O’Quinn who had a double/double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.  Matt Bergh, Danny Schmidt and Greg Schanil each had 9 points.

     The Gators will now have a week off before they play their last regular season home game of the year.  The Chargers from Grygla-Goodridge come to town next Friday.  The Gators are going to have to overcome some late season adversity to achieve their goals but the team looks like they’re ready to make a push for the playoffs.  Gator Nation will be needed next Friday as several seniors will be playing their last regular season game at the Swamp.

Next Friday’s Trivia Question:  (Answers can be given to Coach Dahl between the J.V. and Varsity game.  Winner will get a new powerade water bottle.

Coming into Friday’s game how many points have the seniors scored in their career combined?  (Be within 100).