Becker High School athletes and many area sport stars had fantastic years and we at the Citizen wanted to highlight some of the best of 2013.
Not all accounts are favorable, but they are worth mentioning, here they are:
• Sixty-five varsity wrestling teams competed in the Rumble on the Red tournament in Fargo in early January with Becker coming out at 47th place. Colton Vekved — ranked #5 in AA, finished fourth in his weight class;
• The Becker junior high wrestling team captured third place in a 12-team tournament in Chaska in mid-January;
• Gymnast Alyssa Haus led her youthful squad to a first place finish in the Granite Ridge Conference in early February and a second place finish at sections the following week. Haus finished first on vault at sections, third on bars and second in the all around. She advanced to state along with Haley Hubbard and Montanna Edling;
• Cory Nuest, along with his wife, Shannon, Chris Harmoning, Brent Scheideman, Danny Yoerg and Hokan Bengtson held a youth clinic in February to teach the kids to play and learn the great game of basketball. Fifty-three area third and fourth graders signed up and participated;
• Sisters Shelby and Brinley Zoller of Becker participated in the third Minnesota Junior D-Team Alpine ski race at Powder Ridge Feb. 9 and took home first and sixth place finishes;
• The Becker Dazzlers Dance Team saw their season come to an end when they lost in Section 2AA competition at North Branch High School in mid-February;
• Becker senior Brett Watercott signed a national letter of intent to play football in February for the Augustana Vikings;
Four out of nine varsity wrestlers who participated at sections advanced to state including Zack Zimmer, Colton Vekved, Eric Dudek and Bobby Lee. Zimmer finished fifth, Vekved and Lee sixth, and Dudek lost in the first round;
• The Bulldog boys basketball team finished 6-21 and were bumped from the playoffs in the first round in early March, leading to the dismissal of Head Coach Regan Anderson. Josh Ihrke was eventually hired to take over after a lengthy search;
• Pete Kessler and Mary Franke were the top men’s and women’s finishers in the annual Chase the Leprechaun 5k walk/run in March. Ninety-nine people in ages ranging from 10 to 60+ participated;
The Bulldog seventh-grade boys basketball team reached the finals of the Minnesota 7th grade state championships in mid-March and came home with the second place trophy. The team was coached by Gene Teigland;
• All the spring sports teams had troubles starting their seasons due to the extended winter season that restricted the teams from using their fields and courts until late April;
• Kare 11 featured senior Alyssa Haus on their newscast as an academic all-star. Haus has maintained a 4.0 GPA since middle school and has participated in gymnastics, track and the school choir while attending Becker schools;
• Eighty-nine players and coaches participated in the 40th Annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud June 29, including four members of the Becker community - Dwight Lundeen, Mike Lundeen, Tom Chirhart and Brett Watercott;
• The Bulldog girls softball team won their conference title for the sixth time on eight years in mid-May and came within one game of making it to state when they fell to Rockford in the second game of the double-elimination Section 5AA playoffs in June;
• The Bulldog girls lacrosse team finished 9-3 but lost a high-scoring section playoff match against Maple Grove in June to end their season. The boys team finished 9-5 with a third place finish in the MBSLA West standings;
• The girls golf team — being led by first year Head Coach Cassandra Johanns — missed the second day cutoff in the first round of section play last June by five strokes. However, three Bulldog golfers advanced in individual play to the second round including Lauren veldman, Cheyenne Piccolo and Alyson Fisher;
• Pebble Creek hosted the Class A high school boys and girls’ golf tournament in June with the Mille Lacs team winning the boys championship and the Legacy Christian Academy team winning the girls competition;
• Jason Dilly finished his 21-8 tennis season at state, losing to Thomas McCallie of Burnsville in the consolation bracket. Doubles partners Erik Tungland and Brett Hultgren also made state, losing in their consolation round to a duo from Shakopee;
• Junior pitcher Kadee Vesledahl was named the 2013 St. Cloud Times’ All-Area player of the year in June;
• Becker sophomore Alexa Hanowski helped lead her traveling fast pitch softball team to a second place finish at state in July. Hanowski played for the Minneapolis Heat, a team comprised of metro area players from all over the state;
• Golfer Steve Whittaker was the runner-up to Bruce Hegland of Fountain Valley Golf Club, as the two battled for the inaugural MPGA Senior State Match Play crown at Pebble Creek Golf Club in late July;
• The Becker legion baseball team finished their season 8-15 and lost to Big Lake in the playoffs in early August. The Legion team started the season slow, but came on strong in the second half of the season, including knocking off two higher-seeded teams in the playoffs;
• Ashley Latham Gill, a 2002 graduate of Becker High School, represented her community at the third and final tryouts of the Roller Derby World Cup Aug.12 in Seattle;
• Former Bulldog football player Cameron Cox was named NCCAA defensive player of the week following a 27-14 win over Crown College in September. Cox was again honored in October when he was named the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference defensive player of the week in a 25-14 loss to St. Scholastica;
• The Becker Bulldog football team went 7-1 during the regular season and beat Orono 28-26 in the first game of the Section 5AAAA playoffs in October. The following week their season ended with a road loss to Delano, 20-14 to finish 8-2.
