Sports

by Tom Coombe
A program record fell Saturday and Lily Tedrick made another dent in the record book.
The Ely senior completed the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:15.03, setting a new mark in Northeast Range/Ely high school girls swimming history.
Perhaps more impressively, Tedrick’s record swim was good enough for first place at the Soderlind Invitational in Duluth.
Tedrick’s first-place and record-setting performance was part of a solid day for the Nighthawks, who had several medalists at an event that brought together nine teams. NRE placed sixth as a team.
“We swam really well,” said head coach Cheri DeBeltz. “Anyone placing sixth place or higher earned a medal.”
That included Tedrick in the breaststroke, and she also came home with a second-place medal in the 200 individual medley (2:30.5).
The NRE relay of Tedrick, Maggie Dammann, Anna Larson and Morgan McCelland also took second in 2:08.51.

by Tom Coombe
The Vermilion offense sputtered and struggled for much of its home debut.
That led to a slow start and allowed visiting North Dakota School of Science to open up a big lead and cruise to a 37-6 community college football victory last Saturday at soggy Ely School Stadium.
Vermilion was held to 190 yards of total offense, but 70 came on a fourth-quarter touchdown sprint by Octavis Cherry.
Cherry’s gallop to the end zone averted the shutout, but the Ironhawks fell to 0-3 for the season.
An all-freshman Vermilion squad lost the battle of field position throughout the contest, and the Wildcats had success early with their running game.
Chandler Ross had two first-half scores, chewing up yards on the opening drive and capping his team’s first possession with a one-yard scoring plunge.

by Tom Coombe
There’s little doubt that Ely’s cross country teams will be battle-tested by the time they match up against schools their own size.
Both had solid days Tuesday at Grand Rapids, where the Timberwolves competed and led all Class A foes at the Paul Bauer Invitational.
On another warm day for running, Ely trailed Class AA and AAA opposition but beat some of those teams as well.
The girls, fueled by another impressive outing by senior Zoe Devine, took sixth among 11 teams.
In boys competition, Ely was fifth in a 10-team field with Caid Chittum leading a pack of four Wolves runners who were all within four seconds of each other.
“It went good,” head coach Jayne Dusich said of the day. “It was a big meet and a lot of AA schools and it was hot and humid. They ran on a ski trail so it’s crowded and not very wide. We did good against bigger schools.”

by Tom Coombe
In many ways, it was an instant replay for the Ely Timberwolves.
Right down to a disappointing finish and a second straight heartwrenching defeat.
Turnovers, foiled chances and untimely penalties all contributed to the Wolves’’ 14-6 loss to Bigfork in a Sept. 16 clash at Ely School Stadium.
Unbeaten Bigfork won its third straight game but had its hands full with the Wolves, who forced four turnovers and outgained the visitors during the first half.
Total yards were a near standoff for the contest, with Bigfork amassing 235 yards to Ely’s 220, and the Huskies taking the edge on a scoring drive that opened the second half.
Bigfork broke a six-all deadlock on its first drive of the third quarter, as Matt Vosika scampered in fro 17 yards out and the Huskies added a two-point conversion to make it 14-6.

by Tom Coombe
Rock Ridge got out to a fast start Tuesday and made that hold up in a high school girls swimming victory over Northeast Range/Ely.
The final score was 47-45, but the Nighthawks swept all of the points in the last two events after the Wolverines had clinched the team victory at Eveleth.
In contested races, Rock Ridge won eight of nine events with the only Nighthawk victory coming from Ely senior Lily Tedrick, who won the 160 yard individual medley.
Tedrick’s win was a dominant one as she finished in 1:57.82, nearly six seconds in front of her next-closest foe.
In the 100 yard butterfly, Tedrick came close but wound up rougly a second short against winner Hailey Pechonick. Tedrick’s time was 1:11.41.

by Tom Coombe
The all-freshmen Vermilion football team got a rough introduction to college football.
Mesabi, with a deeper and more experienced roster that even included a few players who formerly wore Vermilion blue and gold, ran roughshod in Saturday’s season-opener and cruised to a 55-0 win at Mt. Iron.
Former Vermilion quarterback Trinate Jacobs passed for two touchdowns and ran for another - all in the first quarter - while the Mesabi defense dominated at the line of scrimmage.
The Norse, who avenged a 2021 defeat to Vermilion, rank up a 41-0 lead by halftime and had an immense 385-33 edge in total yards.
Vermilion averaged less than a yard per play and its offensive line was dominated by Mesabi early on.
Special teams were also key with Vermilion having a pair of punts blocked on the sunny early-September afternoon.

by Tom Coombe
After a couple of false starts, the Ely Timberwolves are finally set to play on their home field.
An opening-week game was cancelled when Silver Bay didn’t field a team this season, while Friday’s home debut with Cromwell was played in Aurora, because of construction issues on the Ely school campus.
This week, Ely fans should finally get the chance to see the high school football team play in town, as the Wolves have a Sept. 16 clash with Bigfork, slated for 7 p.m. at Ely School Stadium.
With construction crews paving the parking lots on the school campus as the Echo went to press, prospects for the home game appeared to be growing.
For practices so far this year, the Wolves have had to access the field and locker rooms via the arena side of the football facility, but the stadium and bleachers are expected to be open and accessible for the Sept. 16 game.
The home contest comes amid optimism about the 2022 season.

by Tom Coombe
In the season opener, Northeast Range/Ely was done in by the diving board.
Diving isn’t part of the girls swimming program here because of safety rules related to pool depth, but International Falls has retained its diving program.
That allowed the Broncos to pick up 10 uncontested points and pull out a 92-86 dual meet victory on Wednesday at the pool in the Falls. NRE won the junior varsity portion of the meet 60-38,
In the varsity competition, the Nighthawks, won six of the 11 contested events, but International Falls pulled out the dual meet win on the strength of the diving points.
Senior Lily Tedrick, an all-section swimmer a year ago, bagged two individual wins for NRE, taking both the 200 yard individual medley (2;37.16) and 100 butterfly (1:12.18).
Tedrick also teamed with sophomores Anna Larson, Kelly Thompson and Morgan McClelland to win the 400 freestyle relay.

by Tom Coombe
The Ely Timberwolves spread the wealth in a dominant season-opener on Tuesday night.
Depth was on a display in Babbitt, where Ely opened the high school volleyball season with a 25-11, 25-10, 25-17.
Ely had 15 players on its roster compared to just eight for the rebuilding Nighthawks, and the Wolves made the most of that advantage.
“A lot of people were able to contribute and a lot of people touched the floor which was nice to see,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Wognum.
In her Ely debut, junior transfer Hannah Penke had seven kills and six ace serves, while sophomores Clare Thomas and Lilli Rechichi added six kills each.
The Nighthawks, who were runners-up in Section 7A last year but lost heavily to graduation, hung with Ely for part of the first game.
But it was only temporary.

Delores Lillian (Salo) Richter, 88, of Ely, died August 26, 2022.

Delores was born January 29, 1934 in Embarrass to George Salo and Edna (Maki) Salo. Her family moved to Ely where she graduated from Ely High School. She went on to join the Air Force, where she proudly served during the Korean War. Following her time of service, she moved to Huntington Beach, California where she was married and started a family while working as a secretary. Then, after many years, she moved back to Minnesota. Delores was a very kind-hearted, generous, giving person. She loved the country, the lakes, family and friends. She loved cooking and gatherings. She touched many lives with her love and friendship.

Delores is survived by her children: Ron Richter, Jimmy Hart, and Maria Durnford; aunts; uncles; many nieces and nephews; grandchildren; and great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brother; and son, Mike Richter.