And after lost, shortened and delayed sports seasons in 2020, athletes didn’t take anything for granted last year and were determined to give their schools and fans a year to remember. It would be impossible to highlight every incredible achievement, trophy and record earned last year by area schools and their athletes, here are some of 2021’s top area stories and events in prep sports.

TWICE AS NICE

FOR KNIGHTS

Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s High School provided its community and fans with much to celebrate during the 2020-21 basketball season. The school saw its girls’ team run through opponents, racking up a perfect 18-0 record heading into playoffs, where the Knights won four more games to advance to the state tournament.

New Ulm Area wrestler Cole Ranweiler works to secure a pin during a 2021 match. Ranweiler finished the season as NUA’s all-time pins leader.

The St. Mary’s boys’ team was also putting forth a dominant season, going 15-3 in the regular season before going 4-0 in the playoffs to earn a trip to the state tournament.

The girls’ team, coached by Bruce Woitas, was the first to celebrate after a 64-59 win over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown in the Section 2A girls’ basketball finals game on March 25 at Sibley East High School. WEM defeated St. Mary’s the season before to advance to the state tournament, but the Knights avenged the loss twice during the 2020-21 season.

St. Mary’s defeated WEM 62-58 in a regular-season home game on March 5 before beating the Buccaneers again in the section championship game. In that game, Madison Mathiowetz scored 27 points, while senior Sydney Windschitl added 16 points to lead the way for the Knights. Reagan Severson also added 12 points for the Knights in the win.

The Bucs were 18-3 heading into that finals game with the Knights and were prepared for another battle after dropping the regular-season game just weeks earlier. The Knights were just as prepared.

In the section finals rematch, the Bucs got a late basket in the paint to trail by 3 with 4.4 seconds left, but Windschitl was fouled to force a pair of double-bonus free throws. Windschitl, the second highest girls’ scorer in school history, calmly sank both free throws to close out the game and help send the Knights to the Class A state tourney for the first time since 2005.

Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Madison Mathiowetz puts up a shot during a state semifinals game with Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Target Center on April 6.

In the Knights’ first state tournament game against Mayer Lutheran on March 31, Mathiowetz went off for 44 points to push the Knights to a 78-67 win at Mankato East High School. That win moved the Knights on to a state semifinals meeting with Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Target Center on April 6.

In a defensive battle with BBE, the Knights saw their perfect season come to an end after a narrow 51-50 loss. Mathiowetz scored 23 points and had seven rebounds in the loss, while Severson had 10 points and six boards and Liz Schwint grabbed 15 rebounds. After the Knights pulled within a basket with less than two minutes to play, BBE got three late free throws to lead 51-47 with 9.6 seconds left. Mathiowetz drained a 3 with seconds left, but BBE held on as time expired.

The St. Mary’s girls came up two wins shy of their goal last season, but they’ve been having success again this season and will look for a repeat trip to state in 2022.

The St. Mary’s boys’ team, under head coach Judd Walter, earned its first trip back to state since 2006 after an 80-67 Section 2A finals win over St. Clair on March 26 at Sibley East High School. The Knights had four players in double figures in the win over St. Clair, led by Carson Domeier’s 20 points. Trent Steffensmeier scored 18 points, Kaleb Wait added 15 and Kyle Goblirsch finished with 13 for the Knights.

On March 31 in a Class A state tourney first-round game at Mankato East High School, the St. Mary’s boys downed Central Minnesota Christian 86-73. The game was highlighted by Steffensmeier, who ended with 30 points and also scored his 1,000 career point near the end of the first half.

GFW quarterback Brody Hentges (3) fakes a handoff to Jack Panitzke (13) while handing off to Treay Taylor during the Thunderbirds’ Section 2A finals football game with Mayer Lutheran on Nov. 5, 2021, at New Prague High School.

The Knights had a 40-26 lead at halftime in that game and never let the Bluejays close the gap in the second half on the way to the win. The Knights then moved on to a state semifinals matchup with Hancock on April 7 at Target Center.

The Knights led by as much as 8 against Hancock, but a five-minute scoring drought in the second half allowed the Owls to turn a 2-point lead into 58-48 lead. The Knights were forced to foul late and the Owls added another 5 points to the board on free throws before closing out with a 65-53 win.

The Knights were led by Wait’s 19 points, four assists and four steals in the loss, while Steffensmeier had 17 points.

The loss ended the St. Mary’s boys’ season with a 20-4 record. St. Mary’s is off to a hot start again this season, however, and with the bulk of their top scorers back, the team is looking to make another run at the state tournament.

GOOD THINGS

COME IN PAIRS FOR SPRINGFIELD

Not to be outdone by St. Mary’s, Springfield High School had a pair of teams make the state tournament together in 2021, led by the husband and wife coaching duo of Brandon and Katie Wilhelmi.

Brandon Wilhelmi, head coach of the Springfield baseball team, and Katie Wilhelmi, head coach of the Springfield softball team, each saw their teams make the state tournament after a win apiece on June 10.

The Springfield softball team went 4-16 in 2019 and was left without a chance to improve on that record in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the spring season. But in 2021, the Tigers put together one of the biggest turnarounds of any team in the area.

The Tigers started their 2021 season off 1-4 before winning 18 of 19 games to advance to the state tournament. Their most important win was a 6-4 Section 2A finals victory over Nicollet at Caswell Park on June 10.

In that game, Lexie Groebner led the way for Springfield by going 3 for 3 with an RBI. Jalivia Richert got the complete-game win for the Tigers in the circle, striking out six.

The Tigers, who were unseeded heading into the state tournament, were eliminated after a 6-3 quarterfinals loss to second-seeded Badger/Greenbush-Middle River on June 15. While the Tigers came up short against the Gators and finished the season 19-6 overall, the season was still a memorable one.

Brooklyn Sturm, Jaeli Richert, Jalivia Richert and Megan Ploeger were all named 2021 All-Journal Softball players.

After the Springfield softball team’s win over Nicollet in the Section 2A finals, many Springfield players, coaches and fans raced over to ISG Field in Mankato to cheer on and see the school’s baseball team top BOLD 4-1 in the Section 2A baseball finals. Springfield dropped a game to BOLD 5-0 earlier in the day to force a rematch due to it being the Tigers’ first loss in the tournament.

That win brought the Springfield baseball team back to state for the first time since 2016. Jakob Nachreiner earned the win in that Section 2A finals win, pitching five innings and striking out five.

Mason Leonard and Jason Berberich each had two hits in the second game for the Tigers and Leonard also had two RBIs.

In their opening game at the state tournament against South Ridge, the Tigers needed late-game heroics to pull out the win and they got more than that. In the 10th inning, the Tigers struck for five runs to pull out an 8-3 win and move on to the state semifinals.

In that extra-inning win, Berberich had another big game for Springfield as he cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the 10th to break things open for Springfield on the way to the win. Tori Helget was credited with the win for the Tigers on what was his 19th birthday. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs and four hits.

The Tigers struggled their next game in the tournament as Hayfield blanked them 16-0 in five innings, but the Tigers rebounded in a big way against Randolph to finish third in the tournament after a 16-2 win in five innings on June 16. In the win over Randolph, Helget led the Tigers at the plate with three hits and three RBIs, while Berberich added three hits and two RBIs and Dylan Batzlaff had two hits and four RBIs. Batzlaff also got the win on the mound in the third-place game, giving up eight hits for one earned run while striking out five.

The Tigers ended the season with a 20-8 record and five players earning All-Journal recognition. Leonard, Helget, Brendon Buerkle and Nachreiner were all named 2021 All-Journal Baseball players, while Dylan Batzlaff was named an Honorable Mention.

BEST OF THE REST

WINTER (20-21)

The New Ulm Area wrestling team made history last March by qualifying a program-record eight wrestlers to the state individual wrestling tournament. Cole Ranweiler, a senior that season, led the way for NUA with a 29-1 record heading into state action at 182 pounds.

It was Ranweiler’s third trip to state, and he also hit other milestones along the way, such as picking up the school’s career pins record. He finished his career with 120 pins.

Also making it to state for NUA was Parker Kamm (106), Logan Lee (113), Winsten Nienhaus (120), Marqavian Haefner (132), Wyatt Pollard (138), Julian Hernandez (220) and Jaden Drill (285). Ranweiler ended his time at state on March 26 with a fifth-place medal and all-state honors, while Kamm, a freshman, finished his season with a 34-7 record, a fourth-place medal at state and all-state recognition.

Also on the mats, the Sibley East duo of Derek Steele and Drayden Morton repeated as individual state champions, with Steele earning his second state medal and Morton earning his third. Steele took home his first-place medal in 2021 at 126 pounds, while Morton secured his first-place medal at 132. Steele finished his senior year with a 38-0 record, while Morton wrapped up his junior year with a 34-0 record.

SPRING

On May 18, the New Ulm boys’ tennis team earned its first-ever Big South Conference title outright after beating Luverne, the West Division champion, 4-3. In the win over Luverne, both teams had three wins apiece heading into the No. 3 doubles match, which was won by the New Ulm duo of Isaac Davis and Dylan Carreon. Also getting wins for New Ulm against Luverne was Isaac Blumhoefer at No. 1 singles (6-0, 2-6, 6-1), Joey Gag at third singles (6-3, 6-1) and Ben Brownfield at No. 4 singles (6-2, 6-2).

On May 26, MVL earned its first Tomahawk Conference baseball title after Wabasso defeated New Ulm Cathedral 9-7. Had Cathedral won, the Greyhounds would have earned a share of the conference title. MVL finished the season with a 13-7 overall record and an 11-3 conference mark. Cathedral and Wabasso each went 10-4 in the conference.

In addition to Springfield’s state baseball and softball teams, the jam-packed month of June was also highlighted by the Sleepy Eye United boys’ golf team, which finished third at state on June 16. SEU’s top golfer after two days at state was Carson Erickson, who finished 21st overall with a 159. Toby Weiss finished 22nd overall with a two-day total of 160, while Logan Netzke finished 28th overall, Jack Nelson finished 62nd, Jacob Schultz finished 74th and Allen Arneson took 78th. The team was coached by first-year head coach Bryant Mages.

On June 18, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop saw two track and field athletes finish with medals around their necks at the Class A State Track and Field Meet. Treay Taylor earned a fourth-place medal in the boys’ state 100-meter dash, while Olivia Schwarzrock earned a fifth-place medal in the girls’ state discus.

FALL

On Oct. 30, the Cedar Mountain football team upset top-seeded Hancock 20-14 in the Section 2A, 9-man semifinals. The fourth-seeded Cougars trailed 14-0 before scoring 20 unanswered points on the way to the win.

Nick Freitag completed 5 of 6 passes for 54 yards and two TDs in the win over Hancock, while Cooper Freitag completed 9 of 16 passes for 128 yards. Nick Freitag also rushed for 53 yards and a TD on 12 carries, while Caden Kleinschmidt had eight receptions for 134 yards and two scores. For the Cedar Mountain defense, Matt Zeug led the way with 12 1/2 tackles.

The underdog Cougars fell to second-seeded Renville County West 47-18 in the Section 2, 9-man football playoff finals, however, ending their season a win short of reaching state and with a 6-5 record.

The GFW football team turned in another strong season also, dominating Lester Prairie 40-14 in the Section 2A football semifinals on Oct. 30. Treay Taylor led the Thunderbirds in the win, rushing for 309 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. Taylor went on to end the season with 1,802 yards rushing and 22 TDs on the ground. The season came to a close a win away from state, however, as Mayer Lutheran downed GFW 48-12 in the Section 2A playoff football finals on Nov. 5. GFW ended its season 8-3 overall.

Also in prep football, Springfield’s Brendon Buerkle had a standout senior year at quarterback, throwing for 3,082 yards and 43 TDs for the 7-3 Tigers. Those passing numbers were good enough for seventh and fifth all-time in state history. He was named the All-Journal Offensive Football Player of the Year at the end of the season and was named to the 2021 Minnesota Associated Press All-State Second-Team.

St. Mary’s also saw a strong year on the football field under first-year head coach Kevin Currans, going 7-0 before falling in its final regular-season game to Renville County West by a score of 27-16. The Knights then cruised past Ortonville 48-22 in a first-round playoff game, but RCW beat the Knights again in a second-round playoff matchup 27-16, giving the Knights an 8-2 final record.

On November 6, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s/Sleepy Eye/New Ulm Cathedral runner Clare Fischer finished 25th at the Girls’ State Cross-Country Meet at St. Olaf College, giving her All-State honors. She finished with a time of 20:03.48, an average of 6:27 per mile.

On November 13, Madison Mathiowetz won her second consecutive All-Journal Volleyball Player of the Year award, finishing the season with 370 kills and leading St. Mary’s to perfect regular season record of 25-0. The Knights finished 26-1 that season after sweeping BLHS in the playoffs and falling to BOLD in the next round of playoffs 3-0. The Knights’ only other set losses that season came against MVL and Cathedral.

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