Girls Golf: Sentinels close out regular season with 2nd-place finish at Mandan Invite

As hard as it is to believe, the girls golf regular season came to a close on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Mandan Invite at Prairie West Golf Club.

Less unbelievably, the host Braves came out on top for their ninth tournament win of the season, easily winning their third straight West Region regular season crown. Mandan shot a team score of 332, besting the field by 23 strokes. Minot North and Bismarck Legacy tied for second, shooting 357. Dickinson took fourth at 372, followed by a tie between Bismarck St. Mary’s and Jamestown for fifth with 373.

Isabella Hale won her home tournament and her second medalist honors in as many days. Hale shot a 1-over 73 and won the event by six strokes over Minot North’s Emersyn Kopp (79). Kinzy Welstad finished right behind her teammate with an 81.

The Mandan Invite also served as the individual qualifier for the state tournament. Any golfer who carded an 88 or lower qualified. As a result, 11 golfers qualified for the state tournament, including Kopp and Welstad. Kopp’s round included one birdie and nine pars, while Welstad’s round featured 10 pars.

Hale carded three birdies on her round.

Minot High placed 11th with a 406. Taylor Deslauriers (93) and Katie Thomas (94) both cracked the top 25 for the Majetettes, placing 21st and 23rd, respectively.

Next up on the schedule is the West Region tournament in Dickinson at Heart River Golf Course on Monday, Sept. 22, beginning at 10 a.m.

Boys Tennis: Mandan tops Magicians in matchup of top teams

The Minot High boys tennis team dropped its first conference match of the season in a contest of two of the top teams in the West Region, falling 5-4 to Mandan on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

The Braves won four of the six singles matches, with the Magicians taking two of three doubles matches. The difference came down to matches needing third-set tiebreakers, which favored Mandan. The Braves (11-1 overall, 2-0 West Region) won all three singles matches that went beyond two sets.

Jared Christen defeated Minot High’s Nolan Moore, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, in No. 1 singles, Deklan Wolschlager topped Oliver Thompson, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in No. 2 singles, and Eli Kleinknecht rallied to beat Aiden Bye, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in No. 6 singles.

The Magicians (13-4, 4-1) won the lone doubles match that required a third set, as Thompson and Tyson Barden defeated Lucas DeRosier and Donaven Birdine, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, in No. 2 doubles..

Connor Ressler and Barden delivered victories for Minot High in singles. Ressler and Bye won at No. 3 doubles.

The Magicians host Williston on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m.

Boys Soccer: Magi move into 2nd place with win over Mandan-St. Mary’s

Dylan Oswalt and Grayson Steele each recorded a goal and an assist as the Minot High boys soccer team defeated Mandan-St. Mary’s, 4-1, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, to move into a tie for second place with Minot North in the West Region standings. The Magicians currently hold the head to head tiebreaker with the Sentinels with another match against the two upcoming.

All four of Minot High’s goals came in the second half, with Nolan Schmidt breaking the scoreless tie in the 50th minute with Oswalt picking up the assist. Oswalt would find the back of the net for the Magi’s second goal of the contest.

Mandan-St. Mary’s cut Minot High’s lead in half in the 64th minute, but the Magicians responded with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes, with Steele being involved in both. Steele scored unassisted in the 71st minute and then assisted on a goal by Matthew Wistisen in the 73rd minute.

The Magicians held a 7-4 edge in shots on goal.

Minot High goalkeeper Ian Stewart finished with three saves to earn the victory. Mandan-St. Mary goalkeeper Tyler Moe also stopped three shots.

The Magicians travel to take on Bismarck Century on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 5:30 p.m.

Prep Football: Aggies jump up to No. 2 in latest media poll

Following a win over previously undefeated Bottineau last week, Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison jumped up two spots in the latest media poll released on Wednesday, Sept. 17, moving to No. 2. The Aggies have won two straight games.

The Aggies’ move up the polls were in part to losses by both Dickinson Trinity and Ellenddale/Edgeley/Kulm. Dickinson Trinity fell out of the rankings, but are still receiving votes, while E/E/K/ dropped three spots to No. 5.

Langdon Area-Munich was the unanimous No. 1 team this week, receiving all 17 first-place votes. LA-M blanked Turtle Mountain, 41-0, last week and are outscoring opponents 145-14 through four weeks of the season.

Killdeer enters as a newcomer to the rankings this week, coming in at No. 3 after a weather-delayed last-second victory over Dickinson Trinity. Park River Area occupies the No. 4 spot.

Along with Dickinson Trinity, other teams receiving votes include Bottineau, Southern McLean, Hillsboro/Central Valley and Des Lacs-Burlington.

In 9-man, New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock continues to roll and are again the No. 1 team after receiving 14 first-place votes. LaMoure-Litchville/Marion received the final three first-place votes to remain at No. 2. The top three spots were the same as the previous week, with Linton-HMB coming in at No. 3.

Hankinson and Alexander both moved into the top five, rounding out the rankings at No. 4 and No.5, respectively. Both were receiving votes last week. All five teams in the top five are undefeated.

North Border and Grant County-Flasher both dropped out of the top five after losing to top-five opponents last week, but both received votes in the latest poll, along with Divide County and Griggs-Midkota.

Prep Volleyball: Minot North drops 4-setter against Jamestown

The Minot North volleyball team’s rough start to the conference season added another chapter on Tuesday, Sept. 17, falling to Jamestown in four sets, 25019, 19-25, 25-15, 25-19.

Since opening West Region play with a sweep over Williston, the Sentinels have dropped four consecutive matches, losing 12 of 15 sets played. Jamestown’s Lucy Falk accounted for 23 of her team’s kills and also had a team-high four blocks to go along with an ace and 21 digs.

Elli Laskowski led the Sentinels (5-7 overall, 1-5 West Region) with 13 kills. Brynnn Francis dished out 32 assists while leading the defensive effort with 23 digs. Aven Kelly finished with a match-high five blocks. The two teams combined for 23 blocks,

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Minot North as a road contest against Bismarck Century is up next on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. The Patriots are the only remaining undefeated team in the conference and are unbeaten overall as well.