Wednesday, August 31, 2022

John’s Journal: Volleyball Coaches, Friends, Hall of Famers

 

Forgive Minnesota high school volleyball coaches who take a quick glance at the Marshall Tigers this season and mutter to themselves, “Uh-oh.” What they will see is one of the top volleyball programs in the state, led this season by a pair of Hall of Fame coaches who combine for more than 1,000 victories and 12 state titles.

Dan Westby, who has been the Tigers head coach since 2004, began the 2022 season with a career record of 482-102. His first-year volunteer assistant coach is Terry Culhane, who had a mark of 519-112-1 in 18 years as head coach at Tracy, Tracy-Milroy and Marshall from 1979 until 2003. Westby’s teams have won a record-tying seven state championships and Culhane led his squads to five state titles.

Culhane left Marshall to become head volleyball coach at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2004 and Westby was promoted from assistant. Westby also has been the Marshall girls basketball head coach since 2009.

All Culhane accomplished in 18 years on the NCAA Division II level was take 11 teams to NCAA tournaments, including a trip to the national championship match in 2014 and an overall record of 431-124.

Culhane retired at Southwest State after last season, and the two longtime friends are now reunited on the Marshall bench. Both are members of the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.


“We talked and I got the feeling Terry was not ready to be done coaching,” Westby said. “I told him, ‘Terry, you’re always welcome in our gym.’ I thought maybe initially he thought about helping with practice, but he came to a summer tournament in Sioux Falls, sat on the bench and made lots of great observations. The kids cornered him at the end of the tournament and said, ‘Hey, we want you with us this fall.’ It’s great for our kids and even better for me to have him there.”

Culhane and Westby’s relationship goes back to the mid-1980s when Dan’s wife, Deb, was a student-teacher and assistant volleyball coach with Culhane at Milroy. Those teams won Class A state titles in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996.

The two men are happy to be reunited this season.

“I enjoyed the years I had at Southwest,” Culhane said. “Dan and I are good friends and we’ve talked a lot. He said, ‘If you want to help I’d be more than happy to have you.’ That’s how it happened. It’s been fun. It’s a different world with college kids and high school kids, and that’s not good or bad one way or the other. Dan just said, ‘Why don’t you come join us?’ That made sense to me.”

When Westby, whose teaching and coaching career began at Renville County West, was hired as a teacher in Marshall, Culhane was coaching the Tigers girls basketball team. Westby was offered the job as head volleyball coach, but he suggested that Culhane also coach that team with Westby as an assistant. They coached together before Culhane left for the college ranks.

It was a great deal for me,” Westby said.  “I learned a lot.”

Marshall won the Class 3A state title in 2004, the first season after Culhane went to Southwest State, and Westby gives all the credit to Terry.

“Terry’s fingerprints were all over that team,” he said. “We tried not to change things, but instead do all the things we did when Terry was there.”

The Tigers also won state crowns in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2021.  Marshall is one of six schools to win seven volleyball championships; the others are Bethlehem Academy, Chaska, Eagan, Armstrong and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (which also won in 2001 and 2004 after Culhane’s departure).

Westby said the Marshall coaches and players don’t talk about setting a state record by winning a state championship this fall.

“After we won the championship a year ago, a number of people mentioned that fact,” he said. “That’s not even on our radar right now. We’re just trying to find ways to get our kids a little bit better every day.

“The goal every year has been to end up at the state tournament and try to figure out a way to try and win the state tournament. It’s the same goal this year.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

Sunday, August 28, 2022

John’s Journal: Zero To One Hundred On The Football Field

 

Zero Week? C’mon, we have to come up with a better label for the opening games of the high school football season than Zero Week.

What is zero, anyway? It doesn’t exactly carry a positive connotation.

I just Googled “zero” and these are among the definitions…

--“Denoting the absence of all magnitude or quantity.”

--“A state of total absence or neutrality.”

I watched two Zero Week football games over the weekend, and there was nothing zero about it. St. Cloud Apollo played at Hutchinson on a beautiful Thursday evening in which veterans, current military personnel and first responders were honored during pregame ceremonies, including a giant hot air balloon in support of POWs and MIAs at the 50-yard line. And on Friday night the team from Brainerd came south to Coon Rapids for what ended up being a whiz-banger of a football game; Brainerd led 20-0 in the third quarter before the Cardinals rallied for a 21-20 win.

Maybe it should be called Zoom Week, based on what the prevailing teams displayed. In Hutchinson’s 46-0 win, Logan Butler completed five of seven passes for 120 yards, which is a big airborne number for the traditionally ground-grinding Tigers. A.J. Ladwig scored on two rushing touchdowns and also fell on a blocked punt for another six points, and Hutch’s Alex Elliot, whose next uniform will be the maroon and gold of the Minnesota Gophers, had four tackles (including a sack) and ran two yards for a touchdown as the defending Class 4A state champions won their 10th game in a row.

Hutchinson’s only defeat last year came in Week 3 at Becker. The Bulldogs will travel to Hutchinson this year on Sept. 23, which will be a special occasion. More on that in a bit.

For fans of air shows, Coon Rapids quarterback Jacob Mattick and wide receiver Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman, both juniors, made eyes pop as the Cardinals rallied to beat the Warriors. Cummings-Coleman ran seven yards for a TD to make it a 20-7 game late in the third quarter, then caught touchdown passes of 26 and 53 yards from Mattick in the fourth quarter. The 53-yarder, with 2:13 to play, was electrifying.

“We trust in Jacob, we trust in Khi, and when we called their numbers they made a play,” said Coon Rapids coach Nick Rusin. “It's a special talent, you could see it tonight. It can really change the game.”

Mattick completed 20 of 35 passes for 291 yards, while senior John Patrou booted kickoffs into the end zone, made three extra points and averaged 36 yards on three punts. Keep an eye on the Cardinals this season.

For all four teams, the simple act of playing the first game was a big positive. Zero Week means starting practice a week earlier than normal and having a bye week during the regular season. Without Zero Week, some teams would only be able to play seven regular-season games rather than the usual eight. There were eight Zero Week games this year, and every one of those 16 teams learned a few things.

“You’ve got to make plays, but at the same time, you don't learn unless you fail,” Brainerd coach Jason Freed said. “Tonight we had that a few times and now we'll go back and we'll figure out what we did wrong and we'll figure out how to be better.”

There was student-provided halftime entertainment at both games despite the fact that school has not started and regular practice time is not yet regular. The Hutchinson marching band put on a great show, as did the Coon Rapids dance team.  

The atmosphere was perfect both nights. Some fans in Hutchinson came just to see the giant balloon (Mom to young child sitting impatiently in the bleachers: “We’ll watch the balloon and then we’ll get going”). The Coon Rapids Cardinals took the field by blasting through a paper sign that read, “Learn To Take The Heat; You’re About To Get Beat.”

Now, back to that September Becker-Hutchinson game…

The Tigers’ home field has been known as S.R. Knutson Field longer than anyone can remember; Sever Raymond Knutson was the superintendent in Hutch from 1940 to 1966. Old Sever’s name will continue in that capacity, but on Sept. 23 the place will be renamed Rostberg Stadium at S.R. Knutson Field in honor of the father-son coaching duo of Grady and Andy Rostberg. The day will also be a reunion of all six state championship football teams coached by the Rostbergs.

Grady was the head coach from 1970 to 1998 and Andy took over in 1999. Grady’s teams won three state championships – two with Andy at quarterback and one with Andy as offensive coordinator. Last year’s state title was the third with Andy at the helm, matching his dad, who remains a volunteer assistant coach.

Grady’s career record was 250-63-1 and Friday’s win gave Andy a mark of 206-53. Their combined numbers are 456-116-1. (Also notable: Andy was Lindsay Whalen’s high school basketball coach.)

Whenever the Tigers play Becker, it’s a reunion for the Rostbergs and their good friend Dwight Lundeen, who is the only head football coach Becker has ever had. This is his 53rd season.

The Rostbergs have never been interested in personal publicity, so if some minor arm-twisting had to be done for them to accept having the family name placed on the stadium, so be it. They both are humbled.

“It's really quite an honor,” Grady said. “I mean, I never expected anything like that.”

Andy called it, “A little overwhelming. I think for me, it's more about him. And for my dad, it’s probably about me. It’ll be fun to see a lot of old players. It'll be a fun night.”

Yes indeed, it will be another fun night. We can’t have enough of those.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

John’s Journal: A Special Night For Tennis In South St. Paul

 


Sunshine. Food trucks. Music. Dogs. And tennis. It all added up to a wonderful event in South St. Paul on Tuesday evening.

The actual high school athletic competition was a varsity girls tennis match between the Rosemount Irish and the South St. Paul Packers. The hometown team came away with a 7-0 win, which was nearly beside the point.

“The win is almost secondary to the experience,” Packers coach Rebecca Spreigl said afterwards, with a blend of team pride and community joy mixed in with a sense of relief that everything came off so well.

The fun started at 5 p.m. -- two hours before the varsity match – with South St. Paul high school tennis players working with young kids on the basics of the sport. They swatted tennis balls back and forth over short, temporary nets as well as regulation nets. Little kids giggled and smiled.

At 5:45, athletes from other Packers teams were invited to challenge members of the girls tennis team. Imagine the scene: football players swinging tennis rackets, attempting success in a new sport, running around the court and laughing with their friends.

The varsity match was billed as an “Under the Lights” contest. That was a little easier a year ago, when Rosemount hosted the first installment of this new tradition on courts that had permanent lights. The scenic Roosevelt Park tennis courts in South St. Paul are made for playing in sunshine, but temporary lights were rented for this occasion … with the local Lions Club covering the cost in another example of community togetherness. There was a minor glitch before sunset when an electrical issue knocked out one of the four light poles, but that was quickly rectified. The lights weren’t Hollywood bright after the sun said goodnight, but that didn’t darken the fun.

“It was a little shadowy,” Spreigl said. “They were not perfect but we made them work.”

The idea for the annual event between the two teams sprang from a boys tennis tradition that has the teams from Rosemount and Hastings meeting in a similar community-themed event. Dana Hansen, who coaches the Rosemount girls and boys teams, said, “The girls would always come and be like, ‘Why can't we do that?’ They were really excited to watch the boys and it was like, ‘Coach, we want to do that, too.’ ”

Spreigl said, “Dana really gave me all the ideas and everything, and I took a lot of it from her. She deserves an awful lot of credit.”

Before the varsity match, the lineups were introduced as a large gathering of families and friends applauded and cheered. South St. Paul senior Malia Meyer sang the national anthem, and the captains from the 2021 Packers team performed a ceremonial first serve to the 2022 captains.

It was wonderful in many ways, not the least of which was watching female athletes compete on teams led by female head coaches.

“It was really special,” Spreigl said.

Nobody could argue.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

Thursday, August 18, 2022

John’s Journal: A Day To Remember For The Marshall Tigers


For 105 high school football players from Marshall High School, spending six hours on chartered buses Thursday was a spectacular experience. Oh sure, there was a chance to catch up on sleep after a 6:45 departure from their hometown in southwest Minnesota, and more zzzzzs were captured on the ride home. But the time between those naps was filled with lifelong memories.

Their destination was Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center in Eagan, home of the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings will host the San Francisco 49ers in a preseason game Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the 49ers worked out with the Vikings on Wednesday and Thursday.

Everyone in Marshall knew what that meant: 2018 Marshall graduate Trey Lance, the second-year 49ers quarterback, would be back in his home state. The Vikings got everything rolling a week earlier by contacting Marshall coach Terry Bahlman and inviting the team to visit, with the Vikings paying the transportation costs. When Lance heard about it, he offered to cover the cost of the Tigers’ meals.

The current Marshall seniors were in seventh grade when Lance, 22, played his final year of high school football and basketball.

“The guys were cheering when we found out,” said senior quarterback Tyler Maeyaert. “It got into a group chat and everyone's just freaking out and we're like, ‘No way we're going to go see the Vikings next week and see Trey.’

“We’ve always looked up to him. And it's just amazing to see where he's at.”

During a brief and illustrious college career at North Dakota State, Lance led the Bison to a national championship as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He was the third player taken in the 2021 NFL draft and received a signing bonus of more than 22 million dollars.

He saw action in six regular-season games as a rookie last year, starting two games. This season, he is San Francisco’s No. 1 quarterback. On Thursday Lance led the 49ers’ offense against the Vikings defense, with the reverse taking place on an adjoining field as a large crowd of fans watched from bleachers. The Marshall contingent was treated like VIPs; they were allowed to stand on the field and were given vouchers by the Vikings for food and drinks at concession locations.

The Tigers’ exposure to the NFL was not limited to watching their school’s former star. They also met with former Vikings Ben Leber and Chad Greenway, both natives of South Dakota.

“Soak up these moments,” Leber told the Tigers. Greenway reminded them that “You can come from anywhere and accomplish anything. Trey is proof of that.”

Greenway also talked about his experiences as a multi-sport high school athlete, saying his memories of competing with kids he grew up with rank higher than what he did playing football in the Big Ten at the University of Iowa as well as in the NFL.

Following the two-hour practice, Lance spent time with the kids from his hometown. He hugged Bahlman and the two chatted for a few moments. “I just told him I’m proud of him for everything he does on and off the field,” Bahlman said. “And I told him to have fun.”

After hugging Bahlman’s wife, Jan, the assistant coaches and one of the bus drivers, Trey traded fist bumps with players, posed for a group photo and then signed autographs and took selfies while San Franciso reporters interviewed Bahlman.

After Lance departed, the Vikings brought in hometown Minnesotans Ben Ellefson (Hawley), C.J. Ham (Duluth) and other players to meet with the Tigers.

It was a lot.

“It was unbelievable,” said senior wide receiver Omar Abdi. “I didn't know if it was true or not. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's really fun.”

Senior running back Chidi Nwakama said, “It's almost unbelievable. I never really thought it would happen. But it did happen. Anything can happen.”

Bahlman said he didn’t know what to expect. “It was first class from the Vikings all the way through. Getting Trey and some Vikings to come over to our kids and get autographs and pictures; a lot of our kids wouldn’t normally get the chance to do anything like this.

“There’s nothing to compare it to. For an NFL team to reach out and do something like this for us, it’s really special. It’s something our kids will remember forever.”

After boarding their buses, the Tigers made the short drive to Eagan High School for a practice. Bahlman knew everyone would be too worn out to practice by the time they arrived home, 12 hours after leaving.

“The practice was not as focused as usual but we got some work in,” he said with a smile.

Football parents ordered pizzas for the traveling party, to be picked up in Glencoe with costs covered by the 49ers’ young quarterback. And for the rest of the ride home? “They’ll be sleeping,” Bahlman said.

The kids from Marshall will be back on their own practice field at 8 a.m. Friday.

Sleep well, Tigers.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

John’s Journal: Playing For The Coach Who Can’t Be There

 

ROYALTON -- This could be a big season for the Royalton High School football team. The Royals finished 8-2 last year and are led by 14 seniors. Before the opening practice on Monday, the team gathered in a chemistry classroom for a brief meeting led by head coach Jamie Morford.

The topics ranged from expectations to plans to team apparel to practice schedules. There were four freshmen in the room who received a round of applause as they signed “letters of intent” with the football program. Players were asked about their team goals and the replies included going to state and winning a Class 2A state championship. Rules for music played on the practice field were spelled out thusly: The boys can listen to any tunes they like as long as they include no vulgarities (actual or bleeped). If those standards are violated, they were told, “get ready to listen to Coach Morford’s 1980s country hits playlist.”

In the meeting and during the practice that followed, everything seemed normal: stretching, agility drills, conditioning, formations, water breaks … normal, normal, normal.

But this is no normal football season in Royalton, a town of 1,200 souls a short drive north of St. Cloud. Normalcy went out the window on the morning of July 13, when assistant coach and Royals alum Nick Lanners was critically injured when his vehicle was rear-ended at high speed at a stoplight. He suffered a spinal fracture and is facing a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.

That’s when folks sprung into action to support Nick, 35, his wife Heather and their two children. Enough casseroles to fill a refrigerator were brought to St. Cloud Hospital. A livestock auction donated proceeds to the Lanners family and a major benefit is planned for October. Morford received calls, texts and emails from coaches at other schools. Lights were turned on at high school football fields all over Minnesota in a show of support that was reminiscent of the “Be The Light” efforts during the pandemic in 2020 (click here for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4sPcDxJZqk )

A GoFundMe site has blown through several goals. Morford and former head coach/current assistant Joel Swenson set up the site with an initial goal of raising $11,000 because Nick wore No. 11 during his playing days at Royalton. As donations poured in, the goal was raised to $22,000, then $33,000. As of this writing, nearly $60,000 has been donated. (Click here: https://tinyurl.com/2p84wsny ) A Caring Bridge site provides updates on Nick’s condition: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nicklanners/journal

“It's been truly amazing to see the outpouring of support for him,” Morford said.  “As much as I know he hates it, he needs it.”

Nick is the first person to help others but everyone knew he wouldn’t want to be the focus of donations. Too bad, dude.

“At some point he’s going to yell at me because I did all this stuff,” Morford said. “Heather said, ‘He won’t like that.’ But they don’t need more casseroles. Insurance won’t cover all these expenses and this will help pay for lots of things.”

Yes, Monday seemed like a normal opening day of football. But it wasn’t.

“He's a big part of the team,” senior quarterback Drew Yourczek said of Lanners. “Everybody loves him. It's tough for the community and the whole team. We've been with him for all four years and it's tough having a guy like that go down.”

Nick has been part of the Royalton football team for about as long as anyone can remember. He was one of those little kids who watched the big kids and couldn’t wait for his turn. He was an eighth-grader when Morford joined the coaching staff as an assistant in 2001 (he became head coach in 2011). The talented youngster was brought up to the varsity as an emergency backup quarterback that season, missed most of his freshman year with a broken hand, then was a three-year all-conference player at quarterback and tight end.

After graduation he studied to become a corrections officer, which became his career. But he stayed with the Royals football team, working as a volunteer coach. He became a paid staff member in 2011.

‘He’s definitely a players’ coach,” Morford said. “That’s why this has been difficult, the players always go to Nick. He can be fiery, he’s also a calming presence in our group.”

Nick seemingly did everything for the team. Before Monday’s meeting, Swenson said, “He did so much, we don’t even know what we don’t know. For example, we realized we didn’t have mouthguards.”

“You have players that come through your program and you have some that you're acquaintances with throughout your lifetime,” Swenson said. “Nick was one of those guys that worked his way not only into being an assistant coach but a friend to us. I know a little bit from being a head coach, Jamie's known a little bit as the head coach, and Nick knew every aspect of this program. He knew it as a player, he knew it as a coach, he knew it as a community member.

“It’s hard to replace what Nick brings to the program. One thing about Nick Lanners is he's a bullhead, he's determined and he's tough, and he will beat this and be back with us and we're looking forward to him being back in our program and working with kids and being a contributor to this.”

Sunday evening, Royalton coaches and players were invited to Osakis High School for a presentation by Hunter Pinke, a former University of North Dakota football captain who suffered a spinal injury in a skiing accident and uses a wheelchair (more on Hunter:  https://www.hunterpinke.com )

During the evening, a message appeared on the phones of the Royalton players. It was from Nick Lanners and it said everything about him and the game and the team he loves …

Tomorrow you start another season. Long practices to prepare yourselves for the ultimate goal. For some of you it’s your last first practice, for some of you it’s learning from your senior leaders. Every day you put on your practice gear, it’s to prepare yourselves for when you put on those maroon and gold game jerseys, to play in front of your family and friends. I will not be there this year. I will be practicing every day myself, trying to learn how to use my hands, trying to learn how to use my arms and my legs. Know that every day I am fighting and I need you guys to be fighting for the ultimate goal that we’ve talked about. It will be a tough season with lots of ups and downs. Every week will be a test for the end goal. Know that I love every single one of you, I think of us as a family. I will be rooting for you guys from a distance, so please fight every day and don’t take this experience for granted. My fight will be long and painful, your fight needs to be fun and unforgettable. #goroyals #family #doyourjob

--Coach Lanners

Have a great season, Royals. We’re all cheering for you.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Shot Clocks Are Here, With Mostly Minimal Impact So Far

  After watching a mix of early-season girls and boys basketball games, seven or eight contests in all, I can file this report about the big...