Lady Trojans end six game skid with win over RTR

The Lady Trojans split in their games last week, losing to the CGB Wolverines in Pheasant Conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 60-56 and defeating the RTR Knights on Saturday, Jan. 28, 65-52.

CGB Game

On Tuesday night the Lady Trojans traveled to Clinton to take on the CGB Wolverines in Pheasant Conference play. The Lady Trojans jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, but the Wolverines battled back to take the lead. The good rebounding play by the Wolverines provided extra opportunities on the offensive end and held the Trojans to one shot. The Wolverines would increase their lead to as much as eight points at 25-17. The Lady Trojans would battle back before halftime to close the gap to 27-23.

The second half saw both teams battling back and forth. The Wolverines would lead by four points and then the Lady Trojans would fight back to close down the lead. The Lady Trojans would tie the game up several times in the second half and eventually would take the lead 53-52 late in the second half. Some costly turnovers would provide some opportunities for the Wolverines who would take  the lead back.

The Trojans were down by three points with 30 seconds to go when Morgan Messmer hit a big three in the corner to tie the game up. The Wolverines would get fouled and hit their free throws to take the lead. The Trojans would turn the ball over agian and have to foul. The Wolverines would hit one of two free throws. The Lady Trojans would try to run a play, but ended up throwing the ball away and the Wovlerines would hit another freet hrow late to seal the victory for the Wolverines, 60-56.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Brenna Giese with 22, Morgan Messmer with 13, Kara Helgeson and Rikki Roscoe had six each, Jenae Schneider had five, and Becca Peterson and Cassie Sorenson had two points each.

RTR Game

On Saturday the Lady Trojans played host to the RTR Knights. The Lady Trojans came out ready to play in this game as they would jump out to an early 17-3 lead. The Knights would then battle back with some full court pressure that would give the Lady Trojans trouble. The Trojans would have several turnovers in the backcourt as the Knights would convert these into easy transition buckets. The Lady Trojans would maintain a halftime lead of 30-24.

In the second half, both teams would fight for control of the game. The Knights would battle back to within one point with a score of 32-31. Then the Lady Trojans would go on a 8-2 run to increase their lead. The Lady Trojans would slowly increase their lead to double digits and come away with the victory by a score of 65-52.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring agian by Brenna Giese with 27, Morgan Messmer had 22, Kara Helgeson had four points, Rikki Roscoe and Taylor Jones each had three points and Michaela Radermacher, Kendra Fryer, and Jenae Schneider had two points each.

“This was a win we really needed ,” said Coach Bob Foley. “With four games this week we needed some momentum going into the week.”

This week, the Lady Trojans hosted KMS on Monday night, will host Wheaton/Herman-Norcross tonight (Tuesday), host Minneota on Thursday and will travel to the University of Minnesota, Morris on Saturday to play the Ashby Arrows at 4 p.m.

Saturday’s games are between the Pheasant Conference and Little Eight Conference. At 1 p.m. CGB plays Battle Lake, at 2:30 p.m. Hancock battles Hillcrest Lutheran and at 5:30 p.m. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross will play Parkers Prairie. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets are good for all four games.

Ortonville/CGB gymnastics team competes at Milbank

Ortonville/CGB varsity gymnastics team competed in a six-school Invitational at Milbank, SD on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The top ranked team from South Dakota, Deuel was favored and won the meet with a team score of 146.85. They were followed by Milbank, SD with 128, Britton, SD with 117.7, Sisseton, SD at 114.9, Ortonville/CGB at 105.6 and Warner, SD with a score of 32.5.

“We are still struggling to score above a 110,” said Coach Becky Holtquist. “Three of our varsity athletes are still out nursing injuries, while a few more are continuing to battle the flu.”

Holtquist went on to say that one athlete will come back healthy, then another goes home sick. These factors have caused the team to be functioning around 60 percent of their capacity. Even though the team can’t control these factors, the coaches were still pleased with the team score since other athletes made a great effort to help fill the voids.

Ortonville/CGB drew uneven bars first and the competitors have begun connecting more skills to come away with some personal bests. Destiny Eastman and Rachel Berger both had clean routines to both score a 6.0. Hannah Eustice scored a 5.75, Heidi Sparby a 4.4 and MacKenzie Streich a 4.2 to round off the scoring.

Vault scores were par for the style of vaults thrown. Rachel Berger attempted a new twisting vault and scored an 8.6, which was almost in the medals for placing. Destiny Eastman and Eliza Aul can be relied upon to score, and both came away with a 7.9. Others competing on vault were Kaitlyn Kottke with a 7.6, Hannah Eustice with a 7.7 and Heidi Sparby with a 7.2.

Balance beam scores have been up and down all season. Warmups looked good, but falls caused the team to lose four points on this event. Rachel Berger led the team with a 7.2, followed by Hannah Eustice and Kaitlyn Kottke with a 6.0. Destiny Eastman had a 5.7 and Eliza Aul scored a 5.0. This was Eastman’s first attempt this season on beam, so the coaches were glad to see her perform well.

Floor exercise athletes were showing fatigue at this point of the meet and were way down with scores. Rachel Berger hit a 7.35, Kaitlyn Kottke and Eliza Aul a 6.5, Hannah Eustice a 6.1 and seventh grader Jessaline Backer gave her all as a first time varsity competitor to score a 5.75.

In all around, Rachel Berger scored a 29.15, while teammate Hanna Eustice scored a 25.85.

The team has a few practices to toughen up and heal before their Tuesday, Jan. 31 meet at Morris and their Feb. 2 meet at home against Benson.

Mat Men win first match of year over Aberdeen Roncalli

The Trojan Mat Men took part in the Benson Triangular on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and then traveled to Milbank, SD on Thursday, Jan. 26 where they earned their first team win of the year over Aberdeen Roncalli.

Benson Triangular

In their first match at Benson, the Trojans faced Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley and lost, 78-6.

Dillan Roggenbuck of Ortonville, wrestling at 195 lbs. won the only match as he pinned Jared Roiland at 3:12. At 106 lbs., Tristan Eastman of Ortonville was pinned by Mitch Fulton in :48. Wrestling at 132 lbs., Colby Gimmestad was pinned by Jalen Baldwin in 1:42. At 145, Travis Westlund was pinned by Mike Statler at 1:52. Isaac Cloos wrestled at 160 and was pinned by Joe Weeding at 4:52.

In their second match, Ortonville lost to Benson, 60-15. At 106, Tristan Eastman of Ortonville won his first match of the season defeating Ethan Lagge, 7-3. Dillan Roggenbuck picked up a pin over Cody Buenaventura at 1:02 to win both his matches on the evening. Hayden Knip of the Trojans won by forfeit at 220.

Other Trojans wrestling were Mike Roach at 113, who was pinned by Trent Abrego at :33. Colby Gimmestad was pinned by Morgan Staton at 132, Travis Westlund was pinned by Sam Hanson at 145, Robert Wood was pinned by Travis Benson at 152 and Issac Cloos was pinned by Sam Carruth at 160 lbs.

Milbank Matches

In their first match, Ortonville lost to Milbank, 64-12.

106 Jake Anderson, Milbank over Tristan Eastman, Ortonville by Fall 2:00.

113 Jimmy Lusk, Milbank over Michael Roach, Ortonville by Fall :28.

120 Nick Steltz, Ortonville over Nick Wright, Milbank by Fall 2:21.

126 Ryan Wright, Milbank over Colby Gimmestad, Ortonville  7 -2.

132 Tory Wollschlager, Milbank won by forfeit.

138 William Hins, Milbank won by forfeit.

145 Tucker Mckernan, Milbank over Travis Westlund, Ortonville by Fall :28.

152 Ryker Reil, Milbank over Robert Wood, Ortonville by Fall 3:22.

160 Joe VanDover, Milbank over Isaac Cloos, Ortonville,  Major Decision 25 - 12.

170 Andy Kelly, Milbank won by forfeit.

182 Jeremy Schuelke, Milbank won by forfeit.

195 Dillan Roggenbuck, Ortonville won by forfeit.

220 Landon Jurgens, Milbank over Kyle Rockensock, Ortonville 5 -2.

285 Matt Stephan Milbank won by forfeit.

Britton-Hecla 42 Ortonville 36

106 Ben Boyko Britton over Tristan Eastman, Ortonville by Fall 3:24.

113 Nathan Jones, Britton over Michael Roach, Ortonville by Fall :52.

120 Jonathon Mundt, Britton over Nick Steltz, Ortonville by Fall 1:31.

126 Colby Gimmestad, Ortonville won by forfeit.

132 Garrett McIntosh, Britton won by forfeit.

138 Joe Eustice, Ortonville won by forfeit.

145 Lorne McIntosh, Britton over Travis Westlund, Ortonville by Fall 2:58.

152 Robert Wood, Ortonville won by forfeit.

160 Isaac Cloos, Orotnville won by forfeit.

170 Drew Freeman, Britton won by forfeit.

182 Hayden Knip, Ortonville won by forfeit.

195 double forfeit.

220 Dillan Roggenbuck, Ortonville won by forfeit.

285 Matt Muth, Britton over Kyle Rockensock, Ortonville by Fall 3:37.

Ortonville 58, Aberdeen Roncalli 18

106 Tristan Eastman Ortonville over Isaac Norton, AR Major decision, 8-0.

113 Nick Steltz, Ortonville won by forfeit.

120 Michael Roach, Ortonville won by forfeit.

126 Colby Gimmestad, Ortonville won by forfeit.

132 Joe Eustice, Ortonville won by forfeit.

138 Cody Bedore, Ortonville won by forfeit.

145 Travis Westlund, Ortonville won by forfeit.

152 Tyson Mitzel, AR won by forfeit.

160 Isaac Cloos, Ortonville over Riley Jonsen, AR Fall 1:50.

170 Zach Sumner, AR won by forfeit.

182 Matt Schlosser, AR won by forfeit.

195 Dillan Roggenbuck, Ortonville won by forfeit.

220 Kyle Rockensock, Ortonville won by forfeit.

285 Double forfeit.

“It was nice to compete against other schools who have to forfeit weight classes and to be able to compete for a team win,” said Coach  TomCroatt. “Against Milbank, Nick Steltz returned to the lineup and won his first match of the year.”

Against Britton-Hecla the score was tied 36-36 going into the Heavy weight match. Kyle Rockensock gave everything he had against a much bigger and older opponet. In the Aberdeen Roncalli match, the Trojans could only match their wrestlers up at two weight classes. Ortonville won both matches.This was the Trojans first team win of the year.

Dillan Roggenbuck continues to wrestle well getting five more wins this week. Dillan is now 14-2 on the season.

Next match  for the Mat Men will be on Thursday, Feb 2 in Milbank at 5 p.m. against Milbank, Border West and Groton.

Meyer’s two free throws seals win for Trojans over RTR

The Trojan boys basketball team completed another busy week withthree games. Ortonville lost to Dawson-Boyd and defeated Hancock and RTR.

Dawson-Boyd

On Monday, Jan. 23 the Trojans traveled to Dawson to face a very talented Dawson-Boyd Blackjack team. The Blackjacks dominated in the first half hitting 10 of 16 three-points shots and racing to a 51-22 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Trojans played even with the Blackjacks, as both teams put up 31 points. The final score was 82-53 in favor of Dawson-Boyd. The Trojans played this game without senior center Austin Swanson who was out with the flu.

In the game, the Blackjacks attempted 27 three point shots making 14 for 52 percent. The Trojans only hit one three pointer in the game. From the floor, the Trojans attempted 55 shots making 19 for 35 percent, while the Blackjacks made 33 of 68 shots for 49 percent.

Leading the way for the Trojans was James Nitz with 20 points. He was followed by Trent Kuechenmeister with 16, Riley Thompson, Brandon Nelson and Jacob Meyer each had four points, Dylan Koch with three and Nic Benck with two. Thompson grabbed six rebounds and had four blocked shots, while Kuechenmeister had seven assists and six steals.

Hancock

On Friday, Jan. 27, the Trojans traveled to Hancock for Pheasant Conference play. The play was back and forth in the first half as the score would be tied at halftime, 30-30. Junior Jade Hasslen provided a spark for the Trojans as he came off the bench to score 12 first half points, including two big three-point shots.

Ortonville came out in the second half and started hitting their shots and took control of the game. They out scored the Owls 43-21 to win the game, 73-51.

Trent Kuechenmeister led the way with 24 points, six steals and four assists. Jade Hasslen ended up with 14 points and five rebounds. Riley Thompson had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. James Nitz added nine points and had five assists, Austin Swanson had six points and five rebounds, Jacob Meyer had six points and led the team with seven rebounds, Nic Benck and Dylan Koch each had two points.

The Trojans shot 50 percent in the game hitting 28 of 56 shots. The Owls were19 of 59 for 32 pecent. The Trojans also made 11 of 15 free throws for 64 percent.

RTR

Saturday, the Trojans played host to the 12-4 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (RTR) Knights. The Trojans did a good job defensively in the first half holding the Knights to just 11 points. The Trojans led at halftime, 20-11.

“We knew they were going to come out more aggressive in the second half and they did,” said Coach Jay Orvik.

RTR slowly chipped away at the Trojans nine point lead and eventually tied the game up. The two teams traded baskets with Kuechenmeister hitting a shot to give the Trojans the lead at 47-45. RTR came right back and made two free throws to tie the game with 47 seconds left.

The Trojans then called time out to set up a play and ran the clock down to 19 seconds before Coach Orvik used another time out. The Trojans attacked the basket with eight seconds left, trying to set up Kuechenmeister for the game winning shot. Trent was double teamed and passed the ball to Jacob Meyer under the basket and he was fouled with three seconds left to play. Meyer made both free throws and an RTR long shot at the end was no good and the Trojans walked away with a 49-47 win.

Kuechenmeister had another big game for the Trojans with 27 points and four steals. Austin Swanson had nine points, Brandon Nelson had eight and three assists, Cole Peters had three and Jacob Meyer with two. Thompson had eight rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Trojans in those categories.

The Trojans shot 44 percent from the field compared to RTR who shot 26 percent. The Trojans were 12 of 17 from the free throw line for 71 percent  while RTR also shot 71 percent from the free throw line hitting 17 of 24 shots.

The Trojans (10-6) have just one game this week. They travel to Graceville on Friday for Pheasant Conference action against the CGB Wolverines.

For Sports email: mike@ortonvilleindependent.com