Conner Hogan shows off the first-place medal he won Saturday at the Class A State Boys Swimming and Diving Tournament. Hogan took first in the 100-yard butterfly to win the team’s first state title since 2013. He also took second place in the 100-yard backstroke.
Senior Noah Tague wrapped up his high school swimming career with four more state medals Saturday, including third-place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, and as a member of the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
There were many fast swimmers Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. When it came to the 100-yard butterfly, however, Hutchinson sophomore Conner Hogan stood above the rest.
Hogan won his first Class A state title Saturday. He’s the Hutchinson boys swimming and diving team’s first state champion in nine years since Cole Bateman won a pair of titles in 2013.
“It feels amazing, it really does,” Hogan said. “I think it felt the best as soon as I finished, and just seeing that “1” next to my name. That was great.”
It was a neck-and-neck race as Hogan ended up with a school-record time of 50.12 to beat out Alexandria Area’s Nicolas Welle, who finished in 50.35.
“I just remember my legs hurting so bad at the end, and I had to push through it because I wanted to win that,” Hogan recalled about the race. “I did not want to be barely out-touched like I was last year.”
Hogan was one of nine Tigersharks who made the trip to state this year with 13 entries. Together, the team racked up six medals and nine top-16 finishes, earning enough points to secure a fifth-place overall finish.
Although the team had hoped to break into the top three and earn a trophy, they were still pleased with their strong performance.
“We had a little bit of a higher goal going into the season, but we swam as best as we could, so everyone was happy with how it played out,” senior Noah Tague said.
The finals Saturday got off to an exciting start for Hutchinson in the 200-yard medley relay. After finishing seventh in the prelims, the team of Hogan, Tague, Anthony Witte and Jackson Kramer cut 1.5 seconds off their final time and moved up to fourth place.
“The medley relay has sort of been our team’s best event over the past couple years,” Tague said about the strong finish. “We always end up coming through on that relay, and I think it’s always been a key to our meets. If we can start it out fast, it usually gets us a lot of momentum to keep going.”
The Tigersharks did just that, continuing the momentum into the rest of the finals event.
Tague wrapped up his high school career with third-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Although he took third in the 200 IM last year, he swam two seconds faster on Saturday and was pleased with that. He was also happy to move up from fifth last year to third place in the breaststroke, and break his own school record with a time of 57.88.
“This year, getting third place and getting the team record was all I could ask for.”
Hogan wasn’t done yet, either. After winning his first state title, he took second place in the 100-yard backstroke for a second straight year.
Hogan and Tague also teamed up one last time with Riley Yerks and Carter Johnson to take fifth place in the 400-yard freestyle relay to earn the team’s final medal.
Making an impact
While Hogan and Tague led the way for the Tigers, several others earned valuable points and were making their state meet debuts.
Witte and Jackson both claimed fourth-place relay medals in their first state trips, while Riley Yerks and Johnson did the same.
“There was a lot more energy than sections, I feel like, and it just felt different,” Witte said about his state debut.
“It felt like every other meet, you just have to be more focused,” Kramer said.
“It’s been fun and I’m glad I made it this year,” Johnson said. “I’ve had a great time so far.”
Yerks even had a bit of excitement in the prelims when he and another swimmer tied for 16th place in the 200 IM. There was a swim-off at the end of the day, and although he didn’t win and missed out on finals, he was too happy about the experience to be disappointed.
“It’s kind of funny, we had one (a swim-off) at sections and I was like, imagine if that was one of us,” Yerks said. “And today it was me in the 200 IM. It was a good experience and I’m happy to be here.”
And for perhaps the first time ever, the Tigersharks had two divers scoring points in the state finals. Alex Oestreich led the way with a 12th-place finish, the best yet of his career, while senior Cameron Wagner took 16th place in his first state appearance.
“It was an honor to dive with Cameron,” Oestreich said. “We made our goal to both be diving in the state final.”
“It was a great experience to come out here and get to dive at the U,” Wagner said. “I was super nervous going into it, but I knew the best thing for me was to relax and not worry about what other people are capable of, just focus on my dives. That paid off well.”
With all but two of these state qualifiers eligible to return to state again next year, it could be a very exciting couple of years for the Tigersharks.
“What I’ve noticed is I’m already processing what I’m planning for next year and what I’m going to do,” said Hogan, a sophomore. “But it’s an unmatched feeling to know that all your hard work goes into (winning).”
Senior Riley Gill made his state debut Friday going head-to-head with Dusty Wilke of Grand Rapids at 170 pounds.
The individual state wrestling tournament is an unforgiving thing. With hundreds of fans in the seats watching the best competition in Minnesota, dreams can end in an instant.
Five Hutchinson/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart wrestlers were at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul this past weekend, and while some learned this lesson the hard way, others battled their way through the ranks to earn a spot on the final podium. Regardless of the outcome, head coach Todd Card said he was proud of how all five boys wrestled.
The team’s top wrestler was 195-pound junior Hayden VanderVoort, who was one of only a handful of wrestlers in the state to end the season with a win — taking third place overall. Although he fell short of his ultimate goal of making it to the finals, he was proud to beat his fifth-place finish last year and go 4-1 at state.
“It feels really good. When I started out the season, my goal was to get top three, and then I guess I moved it up a little once the (state) seedings came out,” he said. “I wrestled pretty good in my semifinals match but lost by one.”
Hayden VanderVoort lifts Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield’s Hayden Hoernemann during their third-place match in the state tournament Saturday. VanderVoort, who wrestled at 195 pounds, won the match in convincing fashion to earn the highest finish by a Hutchinson/BLHS wrestler this year.
VanderVoort opened the tournament with a pair of quick pins to make it to the semifinals Saturday morning. That’s when he faced Soren Herzog of Simley and lost 7-6 in a back-and-forth match that came down to the final seconds. After the loss, he kept his chin up and earned his third pin of the tournament in wrestlebacks, then won a dominant 11-2 major decision to claim third place.
Although the season just ended, VanderVoort, who was 46-4 this year, said he was already thinking about next year and hoping for a state rematch with Herzog, who is also a junior.
“Right after I got off the mat, went into the tunnel and calmed down a little bit, I was already looking forward to next year and hopefully getting to the finals and beating him, if that’s who it is.”
Schwanz wins
first medal
The Tigers’ other state medalist was 106-pound freshman Logan Schwanz, who took fourth place in his state tournament debut.
Logan Schwanz, the Tigers’ 106-pound wrestler, let out a roar after defeating Foley’s Cyler Ruhoff 3-2 in his state quarterfinal match Friday at the Xcel Energy Center. Schwanz went on to finish fourth at state and was one of two Tigers to earn a medal.
Schwanz said it was “exciting” to be on the mat wrestling for the first time, but also a bit nerve-wracking.
“I was pretty nervous because all those people are watching you, and you’re kind of scared you might lose because it could be all over then and there,” he said.
But Schwanz didn’t lose. He started with a pin in his opening match and then pulled out a narrow 3-2 decision over Foley’s Cyler Ruhoff to earn a spot in the semifinals. Saturday morning, he fell 8-3 to New Prague’s Lawson Eller, but bounced back with a major decision in his wrestleback match. He finished with a 7-1 loss to Charles Vanier and a 44-9 overall record.
“I feel like I wrestled one of my toughest and best weeks of wrestling the whole season,” he said. “I’m really proud of my finish, I mean fourth in the state, that’s pretty exciting for a freshman and my first time going.”
Like VanderVoort, Schwanz is already looking forward to next year and has set his goal as high as possible — a first-place finish.
Short but exciting experience
The Tigers started the tournament with five guys, and while two earned medals, three others finished 0-2 on Friday to end their tournament runs short: 138-pound junior Treyton Card, 170-pound senior Riley Gill, and 182-pound junior Brady Andersen.
For all three, it was their first trip to state. While they didn’t get the chance to wrestle as much as they would have liked, it was still an experience two said they’ll never forget.
Card in his opening match lost 16-4 to Simley’s Cash Raymond, who went on to take third place. He then lost to conference rival Zach Pribyl of Annandale/Maple Lake in the wrestleback. He finished the year 33-11 and called the state experience “empowering.”
“When I got down there, it really didn’t feel real,” he said. “I got to see hundreds of people watching me, and it wasn’t really something I had experienced before.”
Gill said the same thing. He lost to Dusty Wilke of Grand Rapids and Johnathon Murphy of Big Lake, who went on to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Gill ended his final season with a 27-18 record and was grateful for the experience.
“It was great. Tough competition, and I think I left it all out there. That’s all I could do,” he said.
Andersen was pinned in his opening match by Kail Wynia of Kasson-Mantorville, who went to take third place. He then lost his wrestleback match to Lano Oduwaiye of Simley 5-3 to end the year with a 31-19 overall record.
Illustrated is an image showing the ultrastructural morphology of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Minnesota’s rate of positive coronavirus tests has officially fallen below the 5% caution threshold for the first time since August as the nearly two-year-old coronavirus pandemic enters a new phase.
The state’s belated measure of test positivity, which is delayed by about a week to allow for data corrections, stood at 4.9% on March 4. The actual rate is even lower with 833 new infections from about 25,700 tests reported March 4, putting the current seven-day rolling average at about 3.6%.
The rate of hospitalizations continues to fall with 472 people needing care, including 60 in critical condition. A month ago nearly three times as many people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
And the rate of COVID-19 deaths also appears to finally be declining with 11 fatalities reported Friday. The average rate of death reports has been below 20 per day for more than 109 days.
Nevertheless, a Dakota County resident in their late 20s was among the latest death reports. Just 110 Minnesotans under the age of 35 have died during the pandemic, which has had a death toll of 12,183 in the state. Eight of the latest reported deaths were people who lived in private homes, and one each resided in long-term care, a behavioral health facility and a motel.
In McLeod County, there were two more COVID-related deaths reported this past week, bringing the total to 106. The county also reported 30 new confirmed cases this past week, bringing the total to 9,523 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The improving pandemic statistics have brought revised guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of the state now has low or medium levels of coronavirus with just three counties — Polk, Olmsted and Wabasha — in the high category.
The CDC classifies counties based on the rate of new cases, hospitalizations and available hospital capacity. Masks are only recommended when levels are high. As of Monday morning, McLeod County was classified as low risk while Meeker County was classified as medium risk.
“I think we can certainly feel optimistic, but with that we need to have a level of caution as well,” said Berit Spors, McLeod County Health and Human Services director.
Masks and other mitigation rules are being dropped across the nation, including in Minnesota.
Health officials maintain that vaccines remain the best way to avoid a severe coronavirus infection and to slow the spread. Boosters are recommended for everyone 12 or older to boost protection after five months. McLeod County continues to host vaccination clinics every other week for residents age 5 or older. Visit mcleodcountymn.gov/vaccine_clinics/ for more information or to register for an upcoming clinic.
Minnesota has administered 9.4 million doses of vaccine and 2.1 million boosters. About 66% of the state’s 5.7 million residents have completed their initial series of shots.
A Hutchinson man accused of falsifying work hours during his time as the commander of the Brown-Lyon-Redwood-Renville Drug Task Force is on trial this week.
Jeffrey Michael Morris, 41, pleaded not guilty in 2020 to two felony counts of theft by swindle and gross misdemeanor public officer misconduct. The felony charges say Morris reported false hours while employed as a Renville County sheriff’s deputy and acting as the task force commander.
Morris’ jury trial is scheduled through March 11 in Renville County District Court.
One felony charge alleges he received $7,054 in public funds Aug. 26, 2019, through Feb. 10, 2020, for working a reported 214 hours when he only worked 47. The second charge alleges he received $1,385 from Feb. 10, 2020, to March 2, 2020, for working 42 hours when he only worked eight. According to the criminal complaint, Morris was told in 2019 to only record on time cards hours he worked.
It goes on to allege Morris submitted time for work on Nov. 20, 2019, when he was driving to South Dakota a day early for a hunting trip. It also states Morris left Hutchinson and went to Schmidt’s Meat Market in Nicollet to drop off meat for processing on Nov. 27, 2019, while claiming eight hours of work. Morris allegedly was at home and not working during other reported hours.
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation at the request of the Renville County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation reviewed a work cell phone Morris used for personal communication, and a vehicle radio that activates when the vehicle is turned on, and which can be used as a personal radio. It also accounted for a cell phone, laptop and vehicle electronics.
