Sports

Nov. 30 Sports Report

Publisher — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 12:09:53 +0000

Nov. 30 Sports Report

Publisher Fri, 01/06/2023 - 13:09

Fans of local sports broadcasts now have a new option to follow area teams.
Ely Echo’s website now features a daily sports report from editor Tom Coombe, and the Echo is exploring internet broadcast streaming for selected games involving Ely High School and Vermilion Community College teams.

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VCC outscored in DQ Classic

Publisher — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 03:15:32 +0000

VCC outscored in DQ Classic

Publisher Thu, 11/23/2023 - 04:15

Ironhawks fall in high-scoring affairs with Riverland, Rainy River

by Tom Coombe

In a span of 24 hours, the Vermilion Ironhawks came up on the short of end of two nearly identical games.

Both contests in the annual DQ Grill and Chill Classic had very similar scores -as the college men’s basketball team fell to Southern Division power Riverland 93-83 in the opening round and 92-83 to Northern Division rival Rainy River in Saturday’s finale.

Vermilion’s first two home games of the 2023-24 campaign also followed similar patterns, with the Ironhawks playing catch-up in the second half but never able to completely close the gap.

The Ironhawks pulled to within two points of Riverland late in the Nov. 17 matchup and actually led Rainy River briefly in the second half on Saturday, only to fall back behind by double digits.

In both, Vermilion mounted late rallies, only to come up short and watch as its foes iced each contest at the free throw line.

Vermilion fell to 1-4 for the young season under first-year head coach Dawson Dickson.

The Ironhawks were buoyed by the return of 6-9 Jeremy Leonard, who stepped into the lineup and gave them more of a presence inside.

Leonard blocked four shots against Riverland and snared 11 rebounds against Rainy River and helped the Ironhawks close a rebounding gap that dogged them in two earlier defeats.

Guard Quyavant Douglas of Brooklyn Center had a huge weekend for the Ironhawks, pouring in 54 points for the weekend including 32, with 13 rebounds, against Riverland.

Freshman Rashad Jalloh came off the bench to score 20 points in the opening game while Elijah Gyalen added 10.

Riverland, which shot an impressive 53 percent from the floor, got 27 points from Savier McCall and 20 from DeWayne Thompson.

The Ironhawks turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead within the first eight minutes of the second half against Rainy River, but the visitors countered with a run of their own and opened up a double-digit lead.

Rainy River’s Malik Siggers, who was named the Paul Ivancich MVP Award winner, scored 31 points to lead all scorers, 24 of which coming in the pivotal second half.

Douglas had 22 points and nine rebounds and Tyson Rogers finished with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for Vermilion.

Leonard had a 16-point, 11-rebound day to go with four blocks, while Jalloh added eight points and D’Andre White contributed seven.

Vermilion plays twice this weekend in northern Michigan, as part of Gogebic’s annual Lindquist Classic.

The Ironhawks take on Bay College at 3 p.m. Saturday and close out the tournament at 11 a.m. Sunday, against North Central (Mich).

They remain on the road the following weekend and won’t play at home again until Dec. 8.

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Busiest “off-season” to date on Ely’s Hidden Valley trails

Publisher — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 03:08:30 +0000

Busiest “off-season” to date on Ely’s Hidden Valley trails

Publisher Thu, 11/23/2023 - 04:08

by Brett Ross, Ely Nordic Ski and Bike Club

A mecca of Nordic skiing for the region since 1989, Hidden Valley Recreation Area saw its busiest non-ski season ever in 2023.

Early June brought the final installation of a number of ramps on the Ely Airlines jump loop, completing the nine mile system of single track mountain bike trails.

The summer included a ribbon cutting grand opening for the trail system, the inaugural five week Hidden Valley Hammer race series, a visit from two adaptive riders pedaling all terrain hand cycles, and the start of the third season for Team Borealis sixth through 12th grade competitive mountain bike team. By late October, a trail counter had recorded nearly 10,000 user days for the year.

With the growth of single track mountain biking across northeastern Minnesota, the Hidden Valley trail system is quickly making Ely a destination for both mountain biking and winter fat tire biking enthusiasts.

As adaptive mountain bikers Alex Van Horn and Linda LaReau discovered in September, the trail system shows great potential for welcoming riders with disabilities. During a stay at Veterans on the Lake, the ladies reached out to Ely Nordic about riding their all-terrain handcycles on the trails. The three-wheel bikes are powered by arms rather than feet, and with beefy tires, full suspension and an electric-assist, they allow riders without the use of legs to have a dynamic mountain biking experience.

Along with Ely Nordic Chair Brett Ross, Alvin Goesser of Ely Bike and Kicksled and Scott Anderson who spearheaded the Ely singletrack trail initiative, Van Horn and LaReau demonstrated their arm strength and riding skills on the first two trail loops. Arriving back at the trailhead, both riders were eager for another lap.

With the accessibility offered by Vets on the Lake and the Hidden Valley trails (and a night of northern lights over Fall Lake) LaReau described her adventures in Ely as a “life changer!” While not officially designated as “adaptive” trails at this time, the visit by LaReau and Van Horn has planted the seed for that possibility.

With the success of the Hidden Valley singletrack system, the city of Ely along with Minnesota North College Vermilion Campus and the Kawishiwi Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service, additional trails are already in the works.

Connectors from Hidden Valley and the Trezona Trail are planned for an additional five miles of new trails. Adam Harju of Grand Marais based Dirt Candy Designs is at work on the engineering of the new trails, expected to be shovel-ready in 2024.

Supporters of mountain biking in Ely will continue to look for funding for the build, as well as locations for more trails. According to Anderson, “from an economic development standpoint, 20 miles of trail is the sweet spot to make Ely a singletrack mountain biking destination.”

As the winter snow season draws near, a new grant-funded grooming snowmobile and personnel including five part time groomers, will create an impeccably groomed setting for both classic (tracked) and skate skiing on nearly 30 kilometers of trails at Hidden Valley and the Trezona Trail.

Two additional part time personnel dedicated to fat bike grooming stand ready to make the most of snow on the singletrack with the Club’s Trail Tamer fat tire bike trail groomer.

Winter events at Hidden Valley include the Ely Invitational High high school Nordic Ski race on Saturday, Jan. 28 and the combined Skinny/Fat Bike Race and candlelight ski on Saturday, Feb. 3.

Trail grooming on the Trezona and Hidden Valley trails, along with year-round maintenance and management of the Hidden Valley Chalet, are funded in part by annual memberships in the Ely Nordic Ski and Bike Club.

At just $75 for individuals and $125 for a family, membership allows keyless access to the Hidden Valley Chalet for warming, water and restrooms. The chalet is also available for rental for private events, daily or by the hour.

Additional donations are always welcome, and trail sponsorships of $100 (bronze) $250 (silver) and $500+ (gold) are recognized on the signboard facing the trailhead parking lot. Checks can be sent to Ely Nordic, PO Box 346, Ely, MN 55731.

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Volleyball Special Section: Wolves come home with hardware

Publisher — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:29:00 +0000

Volleyball Special Section: Wolves come home with hardware

Publisher Thu, 11/16/2023 - 23:29

by Tom Coombe

Of more than 400 high school volleyball teams in Minnesota, only a dozen are fortunate to end their season with a victory.

The Ely Timberwolves are in that elite company, after rebounding from a first-round state tournament defeat with back-to-back wins, including a three-set sweep of West Central Area to claim the State Class A consolation trophy.

Saturday’s 25-20, 25-15, 25-21 victory closed the book on a second straight storybook season for the Wolves, who followed a sixth-place state tournament finish a year ago with another trip south to St. Paul.

This time, the Wolves came home with state tournament hardware and the consolation title.

The stage was set Saturday morning at the Xcel Energy Center as Ely (28-6) found itself in the same spot it was 52 weeks earlier - playing for the consolation championship.

But unlike a year ago, when the Wolves fell in four sets, they all but dominated West Central Area.

It started with defense, as Ely held all-tournament WCA hitter Mya Foslien to 11 kills - out of 50 total attacks.

“We knew that (Foslien) on the outside would come out and swing hard,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Wognum. “We had a solid block on and we timed it and aligned it correctly. We knew we could shut her down and she did get shut down coming out.

Ely and WCA played to a 13-all standoff early in the opening set, but the Knights’ Jaclynn Nelson set a hit out of bounds, and Wolves senior Hannah Penke recorded back-to-back kills for a 16-13 Wolves lead.

After the Knights closed the gap to one, it was junior Lilli Rechichi’s turn. She recorded a pair of kills as the Wolves stretched their lead and freshman Charlotte Hegman closed things out.

Other than a brief mid-set lull, the second was all-Ely.

Penke had four quick kills as the Wolves jumped out to a 7-3 lead and an Audrey Kallberg ace made it 12-6.

The Knights got back to within two at 14-12, but Ely dominated the rest of the way for a double-digit lead.

Ely and its faithful could taste victory and the Wolves jumped out to a 7-2 lead.

West Central followed with its best extended play of the morning, grabbing a 17-13 lead on a Macy Grocsz ace serve.

But the Wolves, who dropped on set in the consolation semifinals, would respond with a run that resulted in the sweep and their consolation trophy.

A kill by Audrey Thomas ended the WCA run and the Wolves then rattled off five straight points with senior Sarah Visser on serve, taking a 19-17 lead.

The Knights remained within two at 23-21 but Penke’s 17th kill of the day set up game point, and Thomas delivered with the set-clinching hit, setting of a Wolves celebration at center court.

Within minutes, the Wolves collected the consolation trophy and posed for team photos as a good-sized Ely delegation cheered on.

Penke, who was named to the all-tournament team, had a double-double with 17 kills and 22 digs.

Thomas finished off an impressive state tournament with a 10-kill day and finished with 13 digs as well.

Rechichi was next with nine kills and Hegman wound up with five, and Visser had a match-high 34 set assists to go with three kills.

Hegman (12) and Visser (11) also reached double digits in digs and Rechichi contributed eight.

Mya Foslien had 11 kills and Madison Fagre finished with eight.

Ely got to the consolation final by downing Badger-Greenbush-Middle River in a rematch of last season’s consolation final.

After a first-set hiccup, the Wolves rebounded and won 23-23, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13.

Ely’s attack was multi-pronged, but Penke and Thomas led the way with an astounding 19 kills each.

Wognum said the Wolves came out with renewed focus after a disappointing first-round loss to number-two seed and eventual runner-up Mayer Lutheran.

“We knew that if we lost we were all done on Friday,” said Wognum. “We all made the choice that we had to leave it on the floor. Our mentality was a little more sound than it was on Thursday, and it was quite beautiful to watch.”

Nevertheless, Ely had to come from behind, as a 23-22 lead evaporated in the opening set and the Gators prevailed by two.

“I think after the first set it just took us awhile to warm up,” said Wognum. “We knew we could definitely win. And it is hard coming out after a quick loss and then losing that first set. I’m proud that we were able to overcome that first set loss. I thought we made some adjustments defensively that we needed to make and I was so impressed with how everyone showed up to compete and gave it their all.”

The second set was tied at six when the Wolves took over.

Thomas played a key role, scoring on a series of cross-court hits as the Wolves went on a 10-1 run to lead by nine.

“Audrey had a much better night,” said Wognum. “Both Audrey and Hannah were really swinging to get 19 kills. They weren’t giving us much of an outside block and we had to utilize that as best as we could.”

Ely went on to win the second set 25-17 and went on a 16-7 run to start the third, forcing the Gators to burn both timeouts.

BGMR answered with six straight points but the Wolves maintained their composure.

A Penke kill made it 20-15 and the Wolves didn’t look back.

The fourth set was a near carbon-copy of the third.

It was 6-6 when the Wolves snared nine of the next 10 points.

Thomas had three kills in the run and seven over all in the set.

Back-to-back kills by Penke gave the Wolves a 21-11 lead and fittingly it was a Thomas kill that ended the contest.

Thomas had 19 kills, six digs and a couple of ace serves, while Penke added 11 digs and three set assists to go with her 19 kills.

Rechichi and Hegman added four kills each and Kallberg paced the strong Ely defense with 18 digs.

Visser notched 43 set assists, her high for the tournament, and she had 14 digs and two kills as well.

As a team, Ely finished with 10 ace serves.

The Gators’ Kenzie Dahl had 17 kills and teammate Teagan Landsrud was next with 10.

In the opening round, the Wolves let opportunity slip by in the first set.

Kills by Kallberg and Rechichi and a misfire by Mayer Lutheran gave Ely a 21-17 edge and put the heavily-favored Crusaders in some trouble.

But Mayer Lutheran regained its composure after a timeout and scored eight of the next 10 points to take the set and control of the match.

“I think I said ‘buck up, let’s go, let’s get focused,’” said Crusaders Head Coach Joelle Grimsley. “We came out a little bit cold and they were on fire. We just had to keep digging, digging digging. We were a little bit tense and it was good to see them fight through that.”

Mayer Lutheran had a balanced hitting attack and took advantage of Ely errors in the second, turning a 5-4 lead into a 14-6 advantage.

The Wolves would get no closer than seven points the rest of the set.

Mayer Lutheran was firing on all cylinders and overcame a 7-2 Wolves run to start the third.

The Crusaders first lead was at 14-13 and they didn’t look back, finishing the game on a 17-3 run.

Marley Martin had five of her game-high 15 kills in the third and Courtney Tuttle finished with eight for the contest.

Penke led Ely with seven while Kallberg and Rechichi contributed six apiece and Thomas had five.

Visser had 19 set assists.

“I am very proud of our team,” Wognum said after the contest. “Just being here is a very cool experience and being able to compete with these top teams is something we should be proud of. It’s hard to fight when you’re down and we haven’t had a lot of experience with that this season.”

“I think this was probably one of the best teams,” said Penke.

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Young swimmers make strides in 7A

Publisher — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:22:42 +0000

Young swimmers make strides in 7A

MEDAL WINNERS: Alyssa Ice, Emilia Swenson, Via Debeltz and Anna Larson. Photo by Caleb Larson.

Publisher Thu, 11/16/2023 - 23:22

by Tom Coombe

Northeast Range/Ely won’t send anyone to state and the Nighthawks trailed the larger schools in the standings at last week’s Section 7A high school girls swimming meet, but the event nonetheless capped off a solid season for a very young team.

Roughly 90 percent of the Nighthawks’ swims at sections resulted in either season or lifetime-best times, and there were four top-10 finishes at the 7A meet, which wrapped up Saturday at Hibbing.

NRE, which fielded perhaps the youngest team in the section, was 11th among 12 teams overall but head coach Cheri DeBeltz was happy with the results.

“That 90 percent success rate is great and shows how hard these girls worked, and how their hard work pays off,” said DeBeltz. “For many of them they’re just too young to get into that top-16 yet. It’s really exciting to see what some of these young gals are going to do in a few years, or even next year.”

Only a few of the Nighthawks advanced past the Nov. 9 preliminaries into Saturday’s final, where they had one top-eight finish.

That was by the 200 yard freestyle relay foursome of Anna Larson, Emilia Swenson, Via DeBeltz and Alyssa Ice. They took eighth in 1:54.72.

NRE’s 400 freestyle relay foursome of Anna Larson, Jorden Borchert, Tuuli Koivisto and DeBeltz won the consolation relay and settled for ninth overall with a time of 4:17.74.

A third Nighthawks relay was the 200 medley relay of Swenson, Borchert, Sabrah Hart and Grace Flynn. They were 10th in 2:21.57.

“Even though they took 10th they all had lifetime bests and dropped four seconds and had some great swims,” said DeBeltz.

Individually, Larson made the finals and fared well in consolation heats.

The junior took 10th in the 100 butterfly (1:08.70) and was 11th in the 50 freestyle (27.26).

The only other NRE swimmer to make the finals as an individual was Via DeBeltz.

A sophomore, she finished 15th in the 200 freestyle in 2:19.

“On Saturday we were hanging tight to what we had,” said Cheri DeBeltz. “We had to keep them in the mindset that they belonged there. Some of those more experienced teams swim for Saturday and pursue Saturday and we just try to qualify for Saturday.”

Rock Ridge won the team title with 375 points while Mesabi East (335) took second and Grand Rapids (326.5) placed third.

NRE was 11th with 69, five points behind 10th-place Duluth Denfeld and well ahead of 12th-place Chisholm.

Saturday’s meet capped an impressive year that included some dual meet wins and plenty of progress.

“We will have an interesting couple of seasons coming up,” said Cheri DeBeltz. “It’s been exciting to see some of our girls step into new roles. They have been in the shadows behind some of the graduating seniors and it was great to seem them step into leadership roles in the pool and out of the pool.”

• NRE came home with a Gold Academic Award, which goes to teams with average cumulative grade-point averages of 3.75 or more.

The Nighthawks came in at 3.78.

“I’m very pleased with that award and it shows they are working in and out of the pool, which is a huge motto for us,” said Cheri DeBeltz. “We want to instill in these girls that they are students first, athletes second and that they are good stewards in their community. That’s why we do some community service things and we want them to understand there’s more to life than being in the water.”

• Among the preliminary results for NRE were:

• 200 freestyle - 14. Via DeBeltz, 2:19.55; 27. Grace Flynn, 2:34.66; 28. Isla Carlson, 2:39.45; 29. Ivy Ohlhauser, 2:42.68;

• 200 individual medley - 26. Koivisto, 2:53.99; 33. Moon Vetos-Keen, 3:23.69;

• 50 freestyle - 24. Swenson, 29.06; 28. Brynn Larson, 30.79;

• 100 butterfly 9. Anna Larson, 1:06.39; 27. Hart, 1:25.14;

• 100 freestyle - 9. Alyssa Ice, 1:00.86; 27. Borchert, 1:07.89; 34. Ohlhauser, 1:11.17; 35. Brynn Larson, 1:11.8;

• 500 freestyle -20. Koivisto, 6:34.64; 28. Flynn, 6:59; 32. Carlson, 7:08.66;

• 200 freestyle relay - 8. Anna Larson, Via DeBeltz, Swenson, Ice, 1:54.13;

• 100 backstroke - 22. Swenson, 1:16.01; 31. Hart, 1:24.63; 32. Lindsay Israel, 1:25.02;

• 100 breaststroke - 25. Borchert, 1:26.92; 43. Bela Moskowitz, 1:51.78.

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Ely falls again to Mayer Lutheran at state tourney

Publisher — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:07:34 +0000

Ely falls again to Mayer Lutheran at state tourney

Photos by Nick Wognum

Publisher Fri, 11/10/2023 - 18:07

Second-seeded Mayer Lutheran stormed back in the opening set and cruised from there to post a 25-23, 25-13, 25-16 victory over unseeded Ely in a State Class A volleyball quarterfinal match at the Excel Energy Center.

Ely had Mayer Lutheran on the ropes in the first set with a lead of 13-9 and later 21-17 but couldn’t hold off the Crusaders, losing 25-23.

In the second set the Timberwolves fell behind early 12-5 and failed to gain momentum with Mayer Lutheran reeling off several four point runs en route to a 25-13 win.

The final set found Ely up 11-5 and 13-8 before the wheels came off. Mayer Lutheran went on a 11-0 run and the Wolves were out of the quarterfinals on a 25-16 loss.

Hannah Penke led Ely with seven kills, Audrey Kallberg and Lilli Rechichi had six each and Clare Thomas had five. Sarah Visser had 19 set assists.

Ely, 26-5, will face Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, 24-8, who suffered a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-18) loss to Mabel-Canton, Friday at 3 p.m. in the Consolation bracket.

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Wolves complete repeat

Publisher — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:42:30 +0000

Wolves complete repeat

Publisher Fri, 11/10/2023 - 17:42

Ely comes out firing in 7A final, downs Floodwood in four

by Tom Coombe

The Ely Timberwolves weren’t about to be denied.

After a near-stumble in the Section 7A semifinals three nights earlier, the high school volleyball team left nothing to chance and was all business in Saturday’s title tilt.

The Wolves came out firing in the opening set, which set the tone as Ely clinched a second straight section championship and state tournament berth with a four-set victory over Floodwood.

A third set defeat only delayed what seemed to be the inevitable, as Ely regained control in the fourth and went on to a 25-13, 25-18, 23-25, 25-10 win over the Polar Bears.

Ely, which won its 15th straight contest and improved to 26-5, got 14 kills from junior Lilli Rechichi and capitalized on numerous mistakes and balls sent out of bounds by the Polar Bears.

The Wolves were taken to the brink in a five-set semifinal thriller with South Ridge, but never seemed in serious jeopardy against Floodwood.

“I think we were more mentally ready on Saturday night for sure,” said Ely Head Coach Megan Wognum. “We didn’t know what to expect from South Ridge because we hadn’t played them before. We had seen Floodwood and knew what to expect.”

Backed by a boisterous Ely following at the new Rock Ridge school near Virginia, Ely used its arsenal of weapons to put Floodwood on its heels early in the rematch of the 2022 7A championship game.

Freshman Charlotte Hegman’s kill ignited a Wolves run that was capped by a big hit from junior Clare Thomas, which resulted in a 14-8 Wolves lead and a Polar Bear timeout.

Ely didn’t look back, and a couple of Thomas aces helped close out a double-digit win for the Wolves.

Before the Polar Bears knew what hit them, they were under fire from kills by Rechichi and senior Hannah Penke and Ely jumped to a 7-2 lead.

Again the Wolves built a 10-point lead, which provided more than enough cushion to withstand a late Floodwood rally.

The Polar Bears often directed their attack to sophomore hitter Kenzie Kiminski, but Ely closed things out to stand a set away from victory.

Floodwood had rallied from two sets down to stun North Woods in the semifinals and the Polar Bears mounted an offensive in the third.

Ely managed to take a 23-20 lead in a tightly-contested third but Floodwood countered.

A couple of blocks by Kiminski gave her team a 26-24 win, but the Wolves weren’t rattled.

“When we ended the second set, we talked in the huddle about how they came out ready to play against North Woods,” said Wognum. “We talked about what happened before it happened, but we came back in the fourth set. I think they have a lot of confidence and believe in themselves and that goes a long way. That’s something you can’t coach.”

Needing one more set to take the title, the Wolves went out and grabbed control in the fourth.

Amelia Penke had a couple of ace serves in a run that stretched Ely’s lead to 16-7, and the Wolves could taste victory.

Almost anytime Floodwood seemed poised to rally, one of their hits went out of bounds.

Fittingly, the Wolves clinched the title on a Floodwood hit that sailed out of bounds, setting off a Wolves celebration that was capped by the awarding of both the first-place trophy and individual medals.

“They were really eager and excited to make it back to the state tournament,” said Wognum. “They were a confident group.”

Hannah Penke, Sarah Visser, Thomas and Rechichi all played prominent roles a year ago, while Wognum also worked several newcomers into the lineup including freshmen Audrey Kallberg, Hegman and Amelia Penke, and sophomore Sadie Rechichi.

While Lilli Rechichi led against Floodwood with 14 kills, Kallberg and Hannah Penke both reached double digits with 10 and Thomas recorded eight. Hegman added another three.

Ely notched 13 ace serves in all, with five by Visser and another four by Thomas, while Visser came up with 39 set assists and a team-best 18 digs.

Thomas (17), Hannah Penke (10) and Kallberg (10) all reached double figures in digs, and both Lilli Rechichi and Amelia Penke finished with eight.

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New coach on the court at Vermilion

Publisher — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:28:22 +0000

New coach on the court at Vermilion

Dawson Dickson

Publisher Fri, 11/10/2023 - 17:28

Dawson Dickson comes from New Hampshire to rebuild BB team

by Tom Coombe

Six months ago, Dawson Dickson had never heard of Ely, much less been to it.

The 28-year-old Dickson may not be a tried and true Elyite yet, but he’s quickly settling in - and has convinced nearly 20 college athletes - to join him at Vermilion.

Since July, when he was hired to lead the men’s basketball program at the community college, Dickson has built a team from scratch.

The New Hampshire native spent much of his summer recruiting 19 players from nine states to join the Ironhawks.

“I got the job the week of the Fourth of July so we had about six weeks to prepare before the start of school,” Dickson said Monday, just prior to an Ironhawks practice at the college gymnasium. “And we brought in 19 guys from all across the country, from nine states.”

Basketball comes naturally to Dickson, who looks like he could still play at the college level and in fact did only a few years ago at Roger Williams University.

Dickson is the son and grandson of basketball coaches, and he ventured into the position soon after his college playing days ended.

After stints as an assistant at a New Hampshire junior college, and then Keene State and Southern New Hampshire, Dickson jumped at the chance to become a head coach at Vermilion.

“Tim Loney, our women’s coach, found me on social media and sent me the application,” said Dickson. “I was an assistant and looking for a full-time position or more likely a head coaching position to get a start. I was an assistant at a D2 in southern New Hampshire.”

Dickson added “I grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and both my father and grandfather were both high school coaches there. That really led me to this path of following in their footsteps and becoming a coach and hopefully make it a full-time position.”

It didn’t take long for Dickson to become acquainted with and enamored with Vermilion and the Ely area.

“It’s a beautiful location and very comparable to the northern part of New England, where I’m from,” said Dickson. “So it wasn’t that big of a difference or a big change. And the people have been really nice. It’s a tight-knit community here, very nice and warming. It’s been awesome so far.”

For several weeks, Dickson has been putting his Ironhawks through workouts and practices at the college gymnasium, in preparation for a 2023-24 season that kicks off in earnest this month - including a tournament this weekend in North Dakota and next weekends’ home-opening DQ Grill and Chill Classic.

Vermilion has an entirely brand-new roster, but not one short on talent.

“I found out when I was in New Hampshire how talented the MCAC really is,” said Dickson. “When I was at the D2 program in New Hampshire I was recruiting a few kids from Rochester and that piqued my interest in this job.”

Dickson said his Ironhawks will play a fast-paced game of basketball.

“My goal is I want us to score 80-to-100 points a game,” he said. “I think our style of play will be cool to watch. We are going to get up and down the floor and hopefully score a lot of points.”

Vermilion may be led by Quyavant Douglas, a native of Brooklyn Center near the Twin Cities. He averaged 30 points per game as a high school senior.

Dickson has also been impressed early on by 6-9 Jeremy Leonard of Houston, Tex., and point guard Tyson Rogers, a Florida native.

“Quyavant is a dynamic scorer who can really shoot and Jeremy can stretch the floor and handle it and shoot it,” said Dickson. “And Tyson Rogers is what I call an absolute dog. He’s going to be all over you defensively and gives full effort.”

Vermilion hasn’t made a playoff run since 2018, but Dickson is hoping that will soon change.

One early visitor to practice was county commissioner and retired Vermilion coach Paul McDonald, who led the men’s basketball program to three national tournament berths and an array of regional playoff bids during his nearly 30-year run at Vermilion.

“He came to practice and explained his prior success here and I think it really lit a fire under our guys that we can build something special here,” said Dickson. “I hope I can rebuild and follow in the same footsteps and turn the corner and really build a sustainable program.”

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Host Iron Mosquitos take first at Robotics Championship

Publisher — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 01:36:39 +0000

Host Iron Mosquitos take first at Robotics Championship

Publisher Fri, 11/03/2023 - 02:36

by Parker Loew

The Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference Championship (NMRC), which was hosted in Babbitt over the weekend, ended fittingly with the Iron Mosquitos taking first place.

While it was an off-season tournament, it was the first tournament win for the Iron Mosquotos and signs of what may be to come heading into the regular season.

“It’s our first tournament win. It was an incredible experience to be a part of a winning alliance,” said Ryan Lindsay, head coach of the Iron Mosquitos.

An alliance consists of three teams with whom you compete with against other alliances.

“Lots of competitive sporting events are winner-takes-all. In robotics there are always three winners,” said Lindsay.

Alliances are formed based on preliminary qualification rounds, and often alliances are mixed up from tournament to tournament.

If you make enemies with your opponent in one week, it could come back to haunt you in other tournaments.

“You really need to maintain relationships with all the teams,” said Lindsay. “You might beat a team this time, but then you might play with them the next time.”

Though it was an off-season tournament, 17 of the 32 teams in the Iron Mosquitos conference showed up.

“This was a huge confidence booster for the upcoming season,” said Lindsay. “It feels really good because there’s some quality teams in this conference that showed up.”

While winning is great, it isn’t everything in robotics, and collaboration and communication are needed between teams.

“These tournaments are set up to emphasize sportsmanship and helping each other, you need to collaborate to succeed in these events,” said Lindsay. “It’s just an overall great environment.”

Lindsay got the chance to host the event last year at around this time and eagerly jumped on the opportunity.

While there were challenges to setting the event up and making sure everything went smoothly, Lindsay was very happy with the outcome and hopes to do more in the future.

“The public often thinks robotics is a remote-controlled Lego car performing activities, we wanted to show people around here it is more than that,” said Lindsay.

The Iron Mosquitos along with volunteers worked hard all week to get the Babbitt gymnasium ready to host the event, having to bring in all the equipment needed for the special robot arena.

“We had people from Grand Forks to Alexandria to the Twin Cities all come up and help set up, it was great,” said Lindsay.

On top of getting the gymnasium ready for the event, the Iron Mosquitos also needed to prepare their robots to be competition-ready.

“You get eight weeks to build them (the robots). A lot of our design process is in the first one to two weeks, then we make the robots in our shop. We do it all ourselves,” said Tuuli Koivisto, a team member of the Iron Mosquitos.

The matches between teams looked chaotic at times this weekend, but only for the uninitiated.

“The first 15 seconds of a match is completely autonomous and pre-coded,” said Koivisto. “The next 45 seconds are teleoperated, and the robots are being controlled. We use an Xbox controller to control ours.”

Robots from each team need to be designed within certain predetermined parameters, but each team’s robot is unique based on what design the team building the robot thinks will perform the best.

“Ours is a swerve drive, which means we can move it in any direction and spin it around,” said Koivisto.

The swerve drive strategy was a winning one and helped lead the Iron Mosquitos to a first place finish at the NMRC Championship.

They were fifth place heading into the second day, and were happy with their placement and performance, but were thrilled to pull out the victory on the final day and receive validation for their hard work.

The Iron Mosquitos want to thank everyone who helped with the event and was very thankful for all the donations received, including the “very nice” donation from the Ely Rotary Club.

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Wolves fight to reach final

Publisher — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 01:32:40 +0000

Wolves fight to reach final

ON TO THE FINALS - Ely’s Amelia Penke (15) let out a holler after the Wolves picked up a point in Wednesday’s five-set Section 7A semifinal win over South Ridge. Teammates Hannah Penke, Audrey Kallberg, Lilli Rechichi and Clare Thomas are also pictured. Ely faces Floodwood in the 7A championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday at the new Rock Ridge school near Virginia. Photo by Nick Wognum

Publisher Fri, 11/03/2023 - 02:32

Defending 7A champs need five sets to turn back South Ridge

by Tom Coombe

After dominating section opponents all year long, the Ely Timberwolves were in the fight of their lives Wednesday night.

Facing a decisive fifth set with the season on the line, head coach Megan Wognum had a simple question for her Ely volleyball team.

“I asked them if they wanted it, and they said yes,” Wognum said. “I think that was the most important question of the night. They needed to fight.”

And fight the Wolves did, turning a 5-4 lead into a comfortable 12-7 advantage with key hits from Hannah Penke, Clare Thomas and Audrey Kallberg, and then holding on to hold off a resilient South Ridge team in a thrilling, nerve-wracking and emotional Section 7A semifinal.

The defending section champion Wolves survived and advanced, downing the Panthers, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25 and 15-11 before a raucous audience at the new Rock Ridge school near Virginia.

Ely (25-5) now moves on to meet Floodwood, which survived a five-set thriller of its own against North Woods, in Saturday’s 6 p.m. final.

It’s rematch of last year’s 7A title tilt won by the Wolves, but it nearly was derailed by South Ridge, which faced Ely in the section semifinals for a third straight year.

The Wolves went through the entire year without losing a set to a 7A foe, but that changed in the opener Wednesday as the Panthers erased a 17-10 deficit to pull out a narrow win.

South Ridge also wiped out a 9-2 gap in the second and clawed back to lead, and it was clear the Wolves were in for a fight.

“It took us a while to find our groove,” said Wognum. “We knew it would be a really good match and we knew they would come to play and that they wanted it after the after last two years. It took us awhile to figure some things out offensively and we had to adjust some things.”

Penke led the Wolves’ offense with 18 kills and South Ridge stepped up its defense to limit Ely’s top hitter - junior Lilli Rechichi - to 14.

Yet the Wolves got a boost when they needed it from freshman Audrey Kallberg, who reached double digits with 11 kills.

“She was on fire,” said Wognum. “They figured out our middles in the first set and shut us down for awhile and we had to adjust. We had to do some different things on offense and Audrey stepped up when we needed.”

South Ridge rode the hitting of outside hitter Kataia Klemensen and Svea Snickers to rally and take the opening set.

In the second, an Ely lead evaporated and the Wolves had to fight to pull out a win, scoring the last two points after South Ridge came back to tie things at 23.

The third set turned on Penke’s serving.

While the senior standout reached double digits again in kills, she had four aces during a 7-0 run that turned a three-point deficit to a 14-10 Ely lead.

The Panthers would get as close as two points but never came all the way back and the Wolves closed with a 6-3 run to win by five.

But hopes for a four-game victory were dashed, even after a spirited Ely comeback.

The Wolves trailed 17-14 but tied it at 21 on a Rechichi kill.

Ely led 23-22 after the Wolves wisely let an errant South Ridge serve go out of bounds, but the Panthers called time out.

With their season on the line, they came back with three straight points to move the matchup on to a winner-take-all fifth.

“We haven’t had a game like that all year,” said Wognum. “We needed it, but it’s exciting to have a game like that when a lot is at stake.”

Ely’s fast start was key and the Wolves got a boost from Thomas, who had at least three of her eight kills in the final set.

South Ridge had one last gasp and got to within two points at 12-10, but Ely responded and closed things out.

Penke finished with 18 kills, eight digs and six aces, and Rechichi had 17 digs and a couple of aces to go with her 14 kills.

Kallberg recorded a double-double and wound up with 11 kills and 16 digs, while Thomas finished with eight kills, nine digs and an ace.

Freshmen Charlotte Hegman (four kills) and Amelia Penke (16 digs) also had strong contributions while senior setter Sarah Visser distributed the ball and wound up with a match-high 57 set assists.

The win clears the way for the rematch with Floodwood. Ely downed the Polar Bears in two sets in a weekend tournament battle three weeks ago.

“We are really excited,” said Wognum. “They have a couple of athletic players that hopefully we can come out right away and block. We’re ready.”

The winner moves on to the State Class A Tournament, which starts Thursday and runs through Saturday at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.

Ely placed sixth in the Class A tournament a year ago.

• The Wolves moved on to the 7A semifinals with a 25-14, 25-10, 25-11 thrashing of Chisholm, in a quarterfinal contest held Oct. 27 at the Memorial Gymnasium.

Hannah Penke recorded 11 kills in the victory while Rechichi and Clare Thomas finished with eight each.

Kallberg had four while Visser led with 28 set assist and four ace serves.

Amelia Penke had four aces and Hegman notched three kills for the winners.

On defense, Hannah Penke (17), Kallberg (11) and Thomas (10) reached double digits in digs.

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