Go ahead, Art Meyer.
Give us one reason why Frazee won't win its seventh consecutive Heart O' Lakes Conference wrestling tournament Saturday.
"Illness?" the Barnesville coach said, obviously not buying his own response. "They're pretty solid. I think a lot of teams are decent that can give them a run, but they're solid up and down. We just don't have the point getters to keep up with them.
"I think they'll live up to their No. 1 ranking. Hopefully, in time that'll change."
Well, coach, how long are you willing to wait?
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Since 1960, the Hornets have won
32 HOL crowns, in addition to three state championships. And bolstered by nine returning section placers from last year's co-state champion team, Frazee is again ranked No. 1 in Class 1A.
So, from a pursuers' point of view, why the astounding longevity?
Meyer, whose squad is 15-3, points to a massive youth program and not losing many top athletes to a middle-of-the-pack boys basketball team.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton coach Greg Schmitz credits Hornets coach Clay Nagel and grassroots community support.
"In Frazee, you're not going to find anybody up at the café when they're wrestling," Schmitz said. "We have those fans, too, they just have more of them."
Further helping Frazee's cause, it will host the HOL event beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Any of a handful of teams, including Barnesville, Perham, West Central Area and D-G-F, have enough strength and experience to pile up points, to contend for that elusive title.
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Or, more realistically, that runner-up trophy.
That's not to say, underdogs though they are, anyone is going to roll over for Frazee.
"To be honest, this is one of the most physical tournaments we'll be in all year," Schmitz said. "Who knows how it'll come out?"
Something else
Fosston's Kelly Roysland is on pace to finish in the top 10 of the state's career scoring chart for girls basketball. However, the senior guard wasn't even the school record holder until recently. On Jan. 7, Roysland surpassed Janice Woods, who held the old mark at 2,200 points. The University of Minnesota-bound Roysland has 2,317 points as of Tuesday. ... Fertile-Beltrami 145-pound senior wrester Eric Lindberg broke the 100-win plateau for his career last week. ... Ulen-Hitterdal junior guard Kirby Jacobson surpassed 1,000 career points on Saturday, putting him in position to break the Spartans school record of approximately 1,400 by Paul Tinjum. ... The Moorhead boys swimming team is ranked No. 10 in this week's Class 2A poll.
Readers can reach Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548 or tvandrovec@forumcomm.com
