GATOR GIRLS BASKETBALL

Yesterday the Gator Girls Basketball team won against KCC. The varstity game was 83-51.

Young Gators Finish Eighth

By: Ryan Bergeron

                Coming off of a consolation championship at the Sertoma tournament in Grand Forks the previous weekend, a young Gator team looked to keep working hard, as they faced their toughest test of the year at the 35-team annual Big Bear tournament in Cass Lake, MN on December 14-15. Coach Bergeron commented on his young team’s nice eighth place finish, “With eight of our fourteen Gators competing in their first Big Bear tournament, I thought many of them gave a good effort and we will definitely be a team that will continue to improve as the year goes on.” The Gators wrestled extremely hard, getting some big wins and suffering some tough losses along the way and finishing in a solid eighth place. The four Gators to place in the top eight of the tournament were Tomm Ingle(160), finishing second, Wyatt Becker (113), placing third, John Westman (170), finishing seventh, and Jake Jenson (145), placing eighth.

                The Gators’ only finalist of the tournament, senior Tomm Ingle, picked up two pins and major decision en route to the semifinals. In the semifinals he took on Coach Bergeron nephew, Blake Bergeron of Crookston, controlling the match throughout to a solid 6-1 victory to advance to finals against a familiar opponent in TRF’s Holden Nelson. In a back in forth affair, featuring two ranked wrestlers, Tomm fell behind 6-4 midway through the third period and eventually escaped later in the match. His last second chance at a winning takedown came up just short though, falling to Nelson by a 6-5 score but still obtaining a solid second place finish and going 4-1 on the weekend.

                The Gators’ next highest placer, sophomore Wyatt Becker, took home a nice third place finish, his second consecutive such finish at the Big Bear tournament.  Wyatt picked up a pin, major decision and decision en route to his semifinals, falling to Bemidji’s Brian Maas (ranked #2 in AAA) by a 7-0 score. Wyatt responded and finished the tournament out strong, picking up a first period pin and then getting hard fought 4-1 victory over familiar foe, in TRF’s Stephen Holecek, to finish with a 5-1 record over the weekend.   

                The third Gators placer, senior John Westman, finished his roller coaster weekend off on the right track, picking up a second period pin over Gregor Fraser of Hutchinson and finishing the weekend with a 4-2 record. Gator junior Jake Jenson completed the weekend with a 3-3 record and picked up a good eighth place finish in his own up and down weekend, highlighted by a second period pin over Josh Becker of Staples-Motley to get into the placing round.

                Nick Kaml (120), Trevor Undeberg (126), Brandon Waage (132), Dakota Gullikson (138), Gunner Gust (152), and Ethen Daignault (195) wrestled hard, but didn’t place, going 2-2 on the weekend, with Kaml, Waage and Gust falling just one win short of placing. Beau Blumer (182), Doug Peterson (220), Cody Olafson (285) also competed on the weekend, finishing with 1-2 records during the tournament.

                The young Gator team should be proud of their eighth place finish, many of them competing in their first Big Bear tournament. They also know there is room for improvement, and will surely get back to the practice room and work extremely hard, facing Mahnomen-Waubun on Tuesday, December 18 in Mahnomen, and then in a tough triangular at Bemidji  on Thursday, December 20 against Moorhead and Bemidji, two solid triple A teams. The Gators will need to keep improving and come together as a team,  many looking to not only start or finish their high school career’s positively but continue the proud tradition that is Gator wrestling. GO GATORS!!!             

Big Bear Tournament Final Team Standings:

1. Hutchinson/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 213.0

 2. Willmar 164.5

 3. Thief River Falls/Goodridge 151.5

 4. Bemidji 148.0

 5. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 147.0

 6. United North Central 126.0

 7. Barnesville 123.5

 8. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 118.0

 9. New York Mills 113.0

 10. Fergus Falls 110.0

 11. Big Lake 109.0

 12. MAHACA 108.0

 13. Crookston 97.0

 14. Champlin Park 94.5

 15. Detroit Lakes .0

 16. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 80.0

 17. Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena 78.0

 18. Aitkin 78.0

 19. Mahnomen/Waubun 64.0

 20. Park Rapids Area 63.5

 21. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis 63.5

 22. United Clay Becker 60.0

 23. Crosby-Ironton 54.0

 24. Staples-Motley 53.0

 25. Hibbing 52.0

 26. Roseau 45.0

 27. Nashwauk-Keewatin/Greenway 45.0

 28. Fertile-Beltrami 44.0

 29. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 30.0

 30. Deer River 27.0

 31. West Marshall 24.0

 32. Wadena-Deer Creek 22.0

 33. Red Lake County Central 21.5

 34. Robbinsdale Cooper 18.0

 35. West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville 16.0

 

GATOR BOYS LOSE TOUGH ROAD BATTLE

Playing the second night of back to back games the BGMR Gators were unable to overcome some poor shooting from the field and free throw line and lost a tough 48-43 decision to the Kittson Central Bearcats.

BGMR found themselves in some early foul trouble but still managed to hold a 22-19 halftime lead. The Gators however struggled getting their engines going in the second half and the youthful energy of the Bearcats prevailed.

Despite falling down by as many as 10 points the relentless Gators hustled their way back and made it a 4 point game with just under 3 minutes to play. The Gators however were unable to hit some crucial free throws, as they went 2 for 11 from the foul line in the second half, or a big shot when they needed it most.

Offensively the Gators managed to land three individuals in double digits. Nick Rodriguez and Aaron Dostal had 11 points each and Alex Rhen contributed 10 points. Dostal also ripped down 11 rebounds. Offensively the Gators hurt themselves by turning the ball over 23 times. Limiting turnovers will obviously be an area of emphasis for the Gators.

BGMR will return home for the last home game before the holiday break. The Gators will take on the Rebels from Red Lake County. BGMR beat the Rebels earlier in the year so a grudge match will be in store. BGMR will need to clean up its play a bit but the Gators have been working hard and this teams looks like it will continue to improve. Take some time out of your busy holiday schedule and catch the Gators in action.

Gators Capture Sertoma Consolation Championship

 

The Gator Varsity and JV traveled to Grand Forks to take part in the 39th Annual Seratoma Tournament held at Grand Forks Central HS on December 7th and 8th. The Gator Varsity started the tournament out with a heart breaking loss to Jamestown HS 41-31, the Gators let some close matches slip away and also gave up too many bonus points to come back. This would set up a match up between Section 8 A foes the Gators and the Falcons from Fertile-Beltrami. The Gators were coming off a disappointing loss to the Blue Jays of Jamestown and were looking for some redemption. The Gators did just that as they rolled to a 60-7 dual victory. Key high light in that match was Nick Kaml’s solid victory over last years state entrant Mitchell Lundeen, Nick pulled away with a 4-2 victory. The Gators finished Friday’s action with a 1-1 dual mark heading into Saturdays competition. While the Varsity was wrestling in one gym the Gator JV was battling in another on Friday. The young Gators had a solid night as they finished with a 21-19 record and some young wrestlers gained some very valuable experience. JV results went as followed Brody Rasmusson 0-2 DNP, Dakota Gulllikson 3-0 1st, Daron Sikorski 2-2 4th, Sebastian Vanderport 0-2 DNP, Luke Nelson 3-0 1st, Jacob Berger 1-2 4th, Ely Novacek 0-2 DNP,Collin Berard 2-1 2nd,Hunter Gullikson 2-1 3rd,Nash Sovde 3-0 1st, Ethan Novacek 2-2 4th, Seth Dostal 3-1 3rd, Devin Pries 3-0 1st, Elias Jacobson 0-2 DNP and Trinity Clark 1-2 DNP.

 

 

The Gator Varsity started out Saturday with a very entertaining hard fought victory over a very solid Central Cass team. The Gators won a nail bitter 33-27 to advance them into the Consolation Finals against the Red River Riders. Collecting very important wins for the Gators in the Central Cass Dual were Nick Kaml, Brandon Waage, Jake Jenson, Gunner Gust, Tomm Ingle, John Westman, and Isaak Isane. It was a hard fought match all the way and several Gators showed a lot of heart, especially first year wrestler Douglas Peterson as he battle for the full match losing 11-6 but saving valuable team points staying off his back.

 

 

The Gators finished out the competition by battling a very solid Red River Rider team. The Gators were focused and continued to show improvement as the weekend went on. The Gators walked away with an impressive 45-21 dual victory over the Riders and improved their dual mark over the weekend to 3-1 and 4-1 on the season. Recording victories for the Gators in the Red River dual were Brandon Waage, Jake Jenson, Corey Hasbrouck, Gunner Gust, Tomm Ingle, John Westman, Isaak Isane, Wyatt Becker, and Nick Kaml. John Westman, Tomm Ingle, and Nick Kaml went undefeated on the weekend with 4-0 records, Isaak Isane, Jake Jenson, Gunner Gust, and Brandon Waage had solid weekends going all 3-1, Wyatt Becker, Corey Hasbrouck, and Beau Blumer finished with hard fought battles with 2-2 records, Trevor Udeberg and Cody Olson were 1-3, Adam Lorenson and Douglas Peterson were 1-2 and Ethan Novacek finished 0-1. Overall the Gators finished strong with and over all 34-21 record individually.

 

 

Again on Saturday as the Gator varsity was in action in one gym the Gator 7th and 8th graders battled in another gym. The 7th and 8th graders had a very solid showing as they had an overall 22-5 record and took home 3 individual titles,which looks good for the Gators in the future. Logan Anderson, Trinity Clark and Devin Pries all finished 1st with 3-0 records. Seth Dostal went 2-1 for a 2nd place finish, while Bryce Bergeron, Austin Maurstad, and Jack Peppel finished 3-1 in 3rd and Elias Jacobson also had a solid finish going 2-1 and finished in 3rd place. Hats off to both the Gator JV and JH on solid showings.

 

 

The Gators will get back to the practice room and continue to improve. The Gators next action will be just varsity as they head to Cass Lake for a solid 33 team tournament on Dec. 14th and 15th.

The Gator team would like to thank all the fans that came up to Grand Forks to cheer them on. The fans got a chance to watch some exciting wrestling and get some holiday shopping in as well. Come on out to Cass Lake on the 14th and 15th Dec. in Cass Lake for the Big Bear Classic.

 

--Todd Bergeron

GATORS RUN AWAY FROM REBELS

 

Again using tenacious defense, and solid shooting, the BGMR Gator Boys Basketball Team picked up its second win of the year with a 70-43 victory over the Red Lake County Rebels. The win enabled the Gators to capture the consolation championship of the Northland Community and Technical College Holiday Tournament. BGMR limited the Rebels to 21% shooting for the game and forced the Rebels into 19 turnovers. Meanwhile the Gators shot 49% from the field and limited their turnovers to 12.

 

 

Offensively the Gators were led in scoring by sophomore Aaron Dostal who had 24 points and 7 rebounds. Nick Rodriguez continued his strong offensive play with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Although no other Gator landed in double figures several had solid games. Tyler Bentow picked up 8 points and Darius Watson came off the bench and sparked the Gators with 3 points, played solid defense and controlled the tempo for the Gators.

 

 

After taking the weekend off the Gators will now have 3 days of practice before their next game. BGMR will host Clearbrook-Gonvick on Thursday night. The Gators will have back to back games as the Gators on Friday will travel to Kittson Central to take on the young but solid Bearcat team. The Gators seem to be playing with a great deal of energy and they hope to build on the momentum of two solid tournament games.

Gator Boys First Win of the Year

The BGMR Gator Boy’s Basketball Team was able to pick up their first win of the year with an impressive 69-46 win over the Stephen-Argyle Storm. The Gators used suffocating defense and solid offensive team play in the first half to open up a 31-19 halftime lead. What looked to be a repeat of the first game of the year, when the Gators had a 10 point halftime lead and end up squandering it away, the Storm cut the Gator lead to 7 with just over 10 minutes to play. BGMR however responded to the challenge and cruised to the 23 point margin of victory.

 

The Gators welcomed back senior Jacquan Rhen who had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Rhen who was out the first two games for the Gators was a welcome addition to the Gator line-up. Nick Rodriguez netted 15 points and hauled down 8 rebounds while Aaron Dostal chipped in 10 points. Alex Rhen, and Tyler Bentow contributed 8 points each and Tanner Creviston notched 6 points while playing outstanding defense on Strom sharp shooter Owen Ellefson. Ellefson, who had 26 points the first time these two teams played was limited to 8 points by Creviston and his buddies.

 

The Gators will now move onto consolation championship play of the NCTC Holiday Tournament. BGMR will play Red Lake County at 4:45 today. The Rebels ended the Gators season last year in the first round of the playoffs so today’s game will be a grudge match for the Gators.

Cougars Demolish Gators

Hoping to build on a tough, but hard fought opening night loss, the BGMR Gator Boys Basketball fell victim to a strong Ada-Borup Cougar team with the Cougars taking home a 72-31 victory over the Gators.

 

Neither team seemed willing to win the game in the early going as sloppy play dominated much of the first half. BGMR somehow managed to keep the game close for most of the first half despite committing 20 turnovers and having a miserable night shooting the ball. The Cougars found their groove towards the end of the first half and opened up a 34-19 lead halftime lead. Feeling that if they cleaned up their game at halftime the Gators would be able to make a second half run. BGMR however continued their rugged play and the Cougars pounced on the Gators blistering them for 38 points and holding the Gators to a meager 12 points.

 

All-toll it was a statistical nightmare for the BGMR. The Gators managed to turn the ball over 40 times on the night, shot 29% from the field and 47% from the free throw line. Individually the Gators did manage to land one person in double figures as Nick Rodriguez scored a career high 12 points.

 

BGMR will continue tournament play with a 3:00 game on Thursday. The Gators get to try and avenge the opening season loss to the Storm. The Storm fell to the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons in the first round. BGMR will need to drastically improve its court play if they want to compete and try to make the consolation championship of the NCTC Holiday Tournament.

Gator Boys on the Web

The BGMR Gator Boys Basketball is proud to announce that their games will now have live time scoring on the web. The site is:

http://data.iscorecentral.com/iscorecast/basketball/scorecast.html?c=317E56F79A

This site can also be found on the school website. Go under Activities and Boys Basketball. On the boys basketball webpage go under links (Left hand side of page) and select the first link listed.

You will be able to follow the game as it is being played and will be able to read who scores etc. The Gators will have this option available at all home games and any away games in which wireless internet is available. Not only can Gator fans catch the game live but they can also replay a previous game. Although there is no live picture or sound available this is a way in which fans can keep up with the Gator Boys Team.

Gators Take Down Rams

The Gator wrestling team started the season out in the swamp on Thursday, Nov. 30^th and walked away with a solid victory over the Roseau Rams 59-9. In the 14 matches wrestled the Gators won 12 of the 14 matches. The Gators recorded 7 falls, 1 tech fall, 2 matches were won by decisions and one by forfeit. Getting falls were Nash Sovde, Trevor Undeberg, Brandon Waage, Dakota Gullikson, Jake Jenson, John Westman and Adam Lorenson. Winning by decisions were Nick Kaml, Tomm Ingle and Wyatt Becker collected 6 points by forfeit , Corey Hasbrouck won by tech fall and Cody Olson lost a narrow decision to Roseau’s Casey Warner 3-2. The Gators also gave up one win by forfeit to Hwt Kieren Oksanen. It was a great home start for the Gator team that got some big wins from a very young line up. The JV had a good start as they won 7 of the 11 matches wrestled.

The Gators will not be home again until Jan. 15^th when they will take on the Brawlers of Fosston- Bagley. The Gators will now turn into road warriors as they have some big tournaments coming up as they head to Wadena on Dec. 1^st and then will travel to Grand Forks to take part in a solid Seratoma wrestling tournament on Friday Dec. 7^th and Saturday, Dec. 8^th at Grand Forks Central HS. Action will begin for the Gator Varsity at 4:30 pm as they take on Jamestown HS. The Gator 9-12 grade JV wrestlers will be in action on Friday as well as they will take part in the JV tournament, which is also held at GF Central HS on Friday, Dec. 7^th with action for them starting at 3 pm. The Gator 7^th and 8^th Graders will also see action on Saturday, Dec. 8^th as they will take part in the JH tournament at GF Central HS at 10 am. The start time for the Varsity on Saturday will be determined on how they do on Friday, Dec. 7^th.

The Gators would like to thank the Gator fans for the great turnout for their home opening win. It was a lot of fun and the Gators appreciated your great support.

Gators vs Storm: BBB Opener

If Friday night’s boys basketball season opener is any indication of what the 2012-2013 season will be like, the BGMR school better have several defibrillators on hand as the Gator Boys lost a thrilling but heartbreaking 57-55 game to the Stephen-Argyle Storm.

The Gators played a solid first half and used stifling defense to surge to a 31-21 halftime lead. The Storm however would come out on a mission in the second half and BGMR did not match the intensity that they had demonstrated in the first half. The Storm would surge ahead of the Gators early in the second half with the rest of the game being a back and forth affair. The lead changed hands several times for the remainder of the game. The Storm did manage to push their lead to 5 with just over 90 seconds to play but the relentless Gators tied the game with just over 45 seconds to play when Tanner Creviston buried a 3 pointer from the top of the key. The Gators managed to get a steal and with the game tied at 55 BGMR looked to be in position to either win the game or go into overtime. The Storm however got a big steal and the Gators were forced to foul the shooter as he appeared to have an easy lay-up. With 1.7 seconds on the clock the Storm’s Brady Swanson commonly hit both free throws and sent the Storm home with a season opening victory.
The Gators had a solid night from several people. Aaron Dostal led the Gators in scoring with 18 points and pulled down 5 rebounds. Balance was the key for the rest of the Gators as Creviston, Alex Rhen and Nick Rodriguez contributed 9 points each. Senior Tyler Bentow also had a nice night pumping in 8 points and playing solid defense. The Storm were lead by Owen Ellefson as he pumped in a game high 26 which included 5 three pointers. Brady Swanson and Logan Riopelle each hit double figures with 11 points apiece.

After having the weekend off the Gators will get back to work today when they have practice. The Gators next game action is tomorrow night when the Gators take on Ada-Borup in the opening round of the NCTC Holiday Tournament. The Gators will play at 8:00. This should be a huge test for the Gators as the Cougars have been a constant force in Section 6. BGMR however looks determined to get back to some winning basketball.

Becker and Hasbrouck Take Home WDC Titles

Becker and Hasbrouck Take Home Wadena Deer Creek Titles

Coach Bergeron

The Gator wrestling team traveled to Wadena to take part in the WDC tournament. The Gators entered only 10 wrestlers in the tournament and finished in 6^th place. The tournament was won by the Thief River Falls Prowlers as they won the tournament with 178 points.

 

With only 10 varsity wrestler in the tournament the Gators had their work cut out for them. The Gators had some very close matches and gained some very solid experience for a lot of their young wrestlers.

 

Wrestling solid and taking home titles for the Gators were Wyatt Becker at 113 and Corey Hasbrouck at 152. Both wresters wrestled mistake free wrestling and took home very convincing titles.

 

Seniors Tomm Ingle 160 and John Westman 170 both finished second as they ran into TRF standouts Holden Nelson and Nathanael Holecek. Ingle fell to Nelson in the finals 7-1 and Westman fell to Holecek 17-8.

 

Isaak Isane 106 stepped into varsity with a bang as he took home a solid 3^rd place finish as he went 2-1 on the day and had an exciting win over TRF’s Josh Bernier 5-3 to take home 3^rd place.

 

Cody Olson 132, Brandon Waage 138, and Jacob Jenson 145 finished in fourth for the Gators and Nick Kaml was the last Gator to place as he took home 5^th place. Wrestling hard but not placing was Hunter Gullikson at 126. The Gators will regroup and get back into the practice room as the Varsity and JV get ready to take part in a very tough Seratoma Tournament held at GF Central HS on Friday and Saturday, DEC. 7^th and 8^th. Come on out and show your support for the Gators.

 

The Gators also entered 25 wrestlers in the JV tournament in Wadena and won over 80 % of the matches they wrestled. Wrestling hard for the Gators on JV were Brody Rasmusson, Dakota Gullikson, Sebastion Vanderport, Luke Nelson, Douglas Peterson, Jacob Berger, Ely Novacek, Collin Berard, Trevor Undeberg, Nash Sovde, Ethan Novacek, Seth Dostal, Devin Pries, Adam Lorenson, Elias Jacobson, Trinity Clark, Jack Peppel Austin Maurstad, Bryce Bergeron and Logan Anderson.

 

Some of the Gator JV also participated in Park Rapids the night before and posted a solid 23-16 record with some very tough completion from all over northern Minnesota.

Wadena-Deer Creek Tournament
1. Thief River Falls/Goodridge 178.0
2. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 168.0
3. United North Central 153.0
4. Perham 146.0
5. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 135.0
6. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 133.0
7. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 71.0
8. Wadena-Deer Creek 35.0