AND OUTDOORS 10
THE SUN
FEBRUARY 5, 2020 www.osceolasun.com
Chiefs play tough but can’t get over hump BY RON JASPERSON SPORTS WRITER
With only one senior on the squad the Osceola Chieftain girls basketball team knew before the season started that wins could be hard to come by. Osceola was very busy last week starting with a non-conference game with the Unity Eagles and followed that the next night with a conference game with St. Croix Central. The Chieftains closed out the week in Somerset with an MBC contest against the Spartans. Osceola was certainly in two of the three games that they played but could not keep the momentum when they needed to and dropped all three contests. The Chieftains held a brief lead against St. Croix Central at 4-3 but a basket by Panther Morgan Siler put SCC on top and they did not trail the rest of the game. OHS stayed close but each time they closed the gap the Panthers would pull away. With SCC ahead 25-15 in the second half Emily Fox dropped in back-toback deuces to pull Osceola to within six. Osceola was still within nine at 37-28 when Hattie Fox hit
a pair of free throws but the Chieftains could get no closer. Emily Fox led Osceola’s scoring with nine points and Hattie Fox added eight. Siler led all scorers with 15. “Central was winless coming into this game,” Osceola coach Mike Haase said. “They played like a team that was hungry for a win. They returned a quality player to their lineup, Kolbi Juen, who did not play in our first match-up early in the season. We just didn’t have the intensity to match their desire to get a win.” The Unity Eagles hold down the second spot in the West Lakeland conference standings behind St. Croix Falls. Unity visited Osceola and left with a 55-35 decision. Hattie Fox led Osceola in scoring with 11 points while Unity’s Sierra Swanson netted 18 and Raegan Sorensen added 17. “The Unity team was a very formidable opponent,” Haase said. “One of their juniors (Sorensen) scored her 1,000th point in the game against us. That is a big accomplishment for a junior. They had overall team size that was hard SEE OHS GBB, PAGE 18
JO JASPERSON | THE SUN
Ashton Measner penetrates the New Richmond Tiger defense for a close in shot last Friday. New Richmond continued unbeaten in the MBC with a convincing win over the Chieftains.
Chieftains bounced by tough Tiger squad JO JASPERSON | THE SUN
Osceola freshman Hattie Fox pulls down a rebound in a game with St. Croix Central last week. The Chieftains could not get over the hump, losing a couple of close games last week.
Chiefs wrestle well during emotional week BY RON JASPERSON SPORTS WRITER
The Osceola Chieftain wrestling team had a very busy week of dual meets as they prepped for the big Middle Border Conference meet this Saturday which will be held in New Richmond. Osceola finished their MBC duals with a dominating win over the Prescott Cardinals and they finished their preparations for the conference match this weekend by sweeping three dual matches on their home mats. The Chieftains defeated Rice Lake 66-18, Unity 69-10 and Burnsville, Minnesota 55-21. Although all meets are important to the wrestlers, coaches and fans, the one that had the most attention was the matchup with Prescott. The match would not be a factor in who would win the conference title. It was most important because it was Parents Night. It was an opportunity to honor the parents and family members who have contributed to getting the Chieftain wrestlers to the point that they are at in their athletic careers.
JO JASPERSON | THE SUN
Mason Rud pins his Prescott adversary during Parents Night in Osceola. The Chieftains won four dual meets last week and now turn their attention to the MBC extravaganza
It was an emotional night for freshman Mason Rud who is Osceola’s 106-pounder. He was scheduled to wrestler the 11th match of the night. When Rud’s turn came up the team outcome was pretty well decided with the Chieftains holding on to a 42-18 lead. All eyes were on Rud as he made his way to the mat for his match on Parents Night. He had a significant number of family members in the house but there was one main piece missing. Mason’s father, Corey, had passed away just before
the start of the school year. It would have been Corey’s 51st birthday on Parents Night. “The story of the night belongs to Mason Rud,” Osceola coach Nate Demulling said. “Mason lost his dad this past year so the night was emotional and it also happened to be his Dad’s birthday so you can imagine what that meant for him. The first period was exciting with both wrestlers scrambling for position. The second period saw Mason being turned to his back but with a tremendous determination he
rolled through and put his opponent to his back. After about 20 seconds Mason secured the pin. It was just an amazing event to witness and very hard to describe.” The Osceola crowd erupted as if the team had just captured the State tournament. Everyone there was pulling for Mason. “I felt so happy and sad,” Rud said. “It was very emotional for me because it was my dad’s birthday and I really wanted to win my match for him. I also want to SEE WRESTLING, PAGE 19
BY RON JASPERSON SPORTS WRITER
It was no secret that playing New Richmond on the Tigers home court would be a major challenge. Coming into the game New Richmond was the lone unbeaten team in the Middle Border conference at 7-0 and came into the game 12-1 overall with their only loss to Eau Claire North early in the season. Since the loss to North the Tigers have run off a dozen straight wins. “We had a daunting task this week of playing New Richmond,” Osceola coach Jacob Meyer said. “New Richmond is probably one of the better teams that I have seen in our area since becoming a coach. I was proud of the way our boys played.” Osceola hung around for the first seven minutes of the game trailing by just five at 17-12 before New Richmond went on one of their several mini-runs of the game. The Tigers hit 10 straight points to open their lead to 27-12. Ashton Measner and Logan Maxon each hit buckets for the Chieftains to get Osceola within range at 27-16 but then New Richmond went on a 10-2 splurge to open up a 37-18 advantage. The Tigers held a 37-20 lead at intermission. “We did some really good things throughout the game and were a couple missed baskets away from it being pretty competitive in the first
half of the game,” Meyer said. “I do think our boys are getting better and I am hoping we can put together two solids halves soon and get a win.” At the start of the second half Josh Mork hit a deuce and Maxon a trey and a deuce around a couple of Tiger hoops to cut the deficit to 41-27. After a pair of Measner free throws pulled the Chieftains to within 43-29 New Richmond delivered the knockout punch with a 13 point run to lead 56-29. New Richmond is a well-rounded team with plenty of speed and height; they shoot well and play a tough defense. Tiger sophomore CJ Campbell was a difficult puzzle for Osceola to solve all night long as he finished the game with 31 points on 11 deuces, a pair of treys and went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. “New Richmond is hard to defend because of the height and size of their players,” Chieftain senior Josh Schultz summarized. “They are difficult to box out which allows them to get second chance opportunities. They also are very quick and can penetrate which makes the defense collapse and leaves their 3-point shooters wide open for a good look. Their defense is also a main component of their offense, their 1-3-1 defense is very aggressive, which creates turnovers and leads to fast break points.”
