31 January 2014

Tiger Scoreboard: February 1, 2014

Boys Basketball
Shakopee 62 Farmington 50

Girls Basketball
Shakopee 66 Farmington 43

Wrestling
Farmington 50 Rochester Mayo 18
Owatonna 36 Farmington 15

Gymnastics
New Prague 146.925 Farmington 138.125

Boys Swimming: Tigers splash by Shakopee


Seniors Brandon Dion (top) and Daniel Berg each won three events (photo by Jim Lindquist)
This time it was Farmington that roared to a big lead and coasted to a comfortable dual meet victory.

The Tigers won eight of the first nine events and then swam the final three in exhibition mode in a 96-85 Missota Conference win Thursday night at the Dodge Middle School pool.

"We had a good meet tonight," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said. "The Shakopee program is still only about six years old but they are starting to show some great competition. We can't take them lightly anymore."

Daniel Berg and Brandon Dion had big nights for the victors with three first place finishes apiece. The senior teammates tied for first in the 50 freestyle and joined Garrett Haugen and Eric Schimmel in winning the 200 freestyle relay. Berg also won the 100 freestyle and Dion led the pack in the 100 butterfly.

Other individual event champions included Schimmel, 200 freestyle; Austin Kueck, 500 freestyle and Jonathan Bovee, one-meter diving.

The other Tiger blue ribbon finish came from the 200 medley relay team of Ben Gunderson, Robin DeCastro, Brock Lange and Jonathan Kingsbury.

Four other Tigers placed in the runner-up position in individual events: Nick Stephan, 200 individual medley; DeCastro, 100 butterfly; Schimmel, 100 freestyle and Nick Stephan, 200 individual medley.

Gunderson ranked third in the 200 medley and Adam Dougherty took third in the 100 freestyle.

Next on the docket for the Tigers is a non-conference dual meet with Section 1AA rival John Marshall next Monday at the Dodge pool.









Wrestling: 3 Tigers earn all-Missota honors

Joe Hoeve 100th career win and all-Missota Conference (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tigers win one and lost two at a de facto Missota Conference meet held Thursday night in Northfield. The quadrangular featured all four members of the conference offering wrestling as a varsity sport.

Farmington routed host Northfield 64-9, lost 29-28 to New Prague on a tie-breaker and fell to state-ranked Shakopee 43-20.

"We wrestled well, just came up on the short end," Tiger coach Chad Olson said.

Jamin LeDuc (113 pounds), Joe Hoeve (182) and Godfrey Mpetey (285) each finished a perfect 3-0 for the night to earn all-Missota Honors.

Two Tigers, Hoeve and Brayden Chapman, also reached personal milestones at the meet. Hoeve became the second Farmington grappler to post his 100th career win this season and Chapman reached the 60th career win plateau.

Jamin LeDuc All-Missota Conference (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The New Prague match was a close as the final score indicated with the teams actually tied 28-28 after the 14 matches with the Trojans granted the deciding extra point for having more six-point wins (2-1).

Hoeve recorded the Farmington fall and Taylor Venz (120) scored a five-point technical fall. Victor Gliva (106) and LeDuc each won major decisions and Chapman (138), John Walz (170) and Mpetey won by decision.

In the lopsided win over Northfield, The Tigers won 12 of the 14 matches, eight of them by fall.

Gliva, LeDuc, Venz, and Brian Caravantes (126) opened the meet with pins for a quick 24-0 lead. Joe Liden (160), Trevor Frost (195), Walz and Mpetey later supplied six-point falls.

Jake Rudeen (152) scored a major decision and Hoeve and CJ Wynings (220) each won by decision.

Shakopee scored only two falls against the Tigers but the 11th-ranked Sabers won 10 of the 14 bouts to score an impressive win.

The Farmington points came on pins by Hoeve and Wynings and major decisions by LeDuc and Mpetey.

Friday the Tigers head to Owatonna for a triangular meet against a couple of Section 1AAA rivals, Owatonna and Rochester Mayo.


Godfrey Mpetey all-Missota Conference (photo by Jim Lindquist)











Boys Hockey: Depth Charge

Austin Martinsen (24) scored twice vs. the Stars (photo by J. Lindquist)
All season long the Tigers' deep roster has paid dividends. Tuesday night's 9-0 thrashing of Holy Angels at Schmitz-Maki Arena provided even more evidence of what a balanced offense, a suffocating defense and lockdown goaltending can produce.

The Mssota Conference victory, the Tigers' first-ever home win over the Stars, was the 12th straight for coach Keith Revels' squad  (17-3-1 overall) and upped its league-leading record to 9-0-1, a game and-a-half in front of second place New Prague.

"Offensively, we were making plays and converting them into goals as efficiently as we have all season," coach Keith Revels said. "We limited their opportunities and the defenders along with Schoening (Nick) in net played solid throughout.

"We are playing relaxed and focused hockey with no sign of any letdown after the big win Tuesday over New Prague. We hope to continue raising our level of play into February."

Unlike the earlier meeting between the two teams, a 6-4 Farmington win, the outcome of this one was never in doubt. The winners scored three times in the game's first 6:47 and kept piling up the goals the rest of the night.

Nick Schoening recorded 20 saves vs. Holy Angels (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington led 7-0 after two periods and added a couple of exclamation point scores in the final frame to complete the shutout.

The score sheet offered a clear picture of how the Tigers extended their long winning streak to an even dozen. Seven different players accounted for the nine goals and, all in all, 13 registered at least a point.

Austin Martinsen and Erik Holmstrom each netted a pair of goals for Farmington and Grady Hauswirth, Tanner Grubb, Tyler Jette, Chris Fitzgibbons and Jake Trippel had one apiece. John Siebenaler and Justin Novak pitched in with three and two assists respectively.

No less than eight Farmington players had multiple point nights led by Martinsen, Holmstrom and Siebenaler with three apiece. Hauswirth, Grubb, Trippel, Fitzgibbons and Novak had two apiece.

Farmington outshot its guests by a convincing 34-20 with Schoening posting his second shutout of the year. The win raised Schoening's season record to 6-1 and lowered his goals-against average to a stingy 1.14.

Saturday the Tigers look to stretch their win streak to 13 and move a step closer to the conference title when they travel to Northfield to take on the Raiders.

Chris Fitzgibbons had  a goal and an assist (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger Scoreboard: January 30, 2014


Boys Hockey
Farmington 9 Holy Angels 0

Boys Swimming and Diving
Farmington 96 Shakopee 85

Wrestling Missota Conference quadrangular at Northfield
Farmington 64 Northfield 9
New Prague 29 Farmington 28
Shakopee 43 Farmington 20

29 January 2014

Gymnastics: A split at Northfield

Abby Schwartz had three 1st place finishes vs. Red Wing (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tigers split a pair of dual meets at a three-team Missota Conference get-together Tuesday night at Northfield.

No. 1 rated Northfield easily won the meet with 150.525 points. Farmington finished at 134.125 and Red Wing 123.7.

"Our girls hadn't practiced since Thursday due to school closings," coach Lynn Bauman said. "That being said, I think they did pretty well. Abby Schwartz stuck another beam routine and that is always a good feeling. I'm looking forward to other girls doing that also."

When the results were stacked up against each other the Tigers dominated the place sheet in the competition with Red Wing, taking first in all four events and the all-around.

Schwartz led the Farmington effort with three first place finishes. She won the balance beam (8.65) and floor exercise (8.425) events outright and tied teammate Amanda Davenport for honors on the uneven bars with an 8.3 mark.

Tahra Eckert topped the stat sheet in vaulting with a 9.225 mark and Davenport forged a first place in all-around with a 33.725 score. Davenport also took second on beam and third in floor exercise.

Rachel Kiminski placed in three events: third on bars and fourth in beam and vault. Eckert and Kathryn Beckett placed second and fourth respectively in floor exercise.

Places were harder to come by against Northfield with Davenport topping the Tiger charts with a fourth place effort in all-around.

Farmington entries finished fifth in four other events: Schwartz, beam and floor; Davenport, bars and Eckert, vaulting.

The Tiger junior varsity also beat Red Wing and lost by a scant .05 of a point to Northfield.

In the Red Wing match-up, Sam Kramer (vault), Sidney Comes (bars), Gina Mercurio (beam) and Kiminski (floor) all won individual events. Ashley Ellefson claimed the all-around title. Comes and Kiminski each won first place honors in their respective events against Northfield.

The JV was coming off a big win in a four-team meet held last Saturday at Cottage Grove. Farmington won the meet with a score of 130.70. Roseville was second at 128.80, followed by Park of Cottage Grove 126.95 and Lakeville South 126.90.







Boys Swimming: Overall, a good night

Ben Gunderson 2nd in 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Hastings won the scoreboard battle but Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said all things considered, his team had a pretty good showing in its 98-83 non-conference dual meet  loss to the Raiders Tuesday night in Hastings.

"We didn't win but we had a lot of good swims," Hamen said. "We had some guys swim some off events to determine races to swim at our end of the year competitions. 

"Due to the lack of practice and other issues we have had, I am happy about tonight's meet."

Hamen said he was especially pleased with the efforts of Garrett Haugen and Jonathan Kingsbury in the freestyle races and Nick Stephan's performance in the 100 breaststroke.

Hastings built up a commanding  98-58 lead after the meet's first nine events before swimming the final three in exhibition status.

The Tigers won just one of the first nine events. That came from diver Jonathan Bovee who cruised to an easy win on the one-meter board.

In the final three events of the night, Ben Gunderson claimed first in the 100 backstroke; Stephan won the 100 breaststroke and Haugen, Brandon Dion, Daniel Berg and Stephan prevailed in the 400 freestyle relay.

The Tigers scored second place points in six individual events: Berg in the 50 and 100 freestyle; Gunderson in the 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke; Dion in the 100 butterfly and Robin DeCastro in 100 breaststroke.

The 200 freestyle relay foursome of Schimmel, DeCastro, Kingsbury and Berg also placed second.

Austin Kueck took third in 200 freestyle as did Schimmel in the 100 freestyle; David Bovee in the 100 backstroke and Spencer Kabran in the 100 breaststroke.

Thursday the Tigers will be looking for a better team outcome when they host Shakopee in a Missota Conference dual meet at the Dodge Middle School pool.

Girls B-Ball: Beating Chaska a tall order

Sofia Chadwick scored a game-high 21 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tigers knew heading into their Tuesday night game at Chaska and its two Division I-recruited post players that beating the Hawks would literally be a tall order.

"Basketball is a game of match-ups and Chaska is a very tough match-up for us because of their size and deep bench," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said.  "But we countered that with some solid perimeter play and made it a competitive game."

Chaska broke open a close game with a strong second half on the way to a 71-57 Missota Conference victory.

The smaller Tigers countered Chaska's size with some strong perimeter shooting to trail just 29-26 at intermission. The visitors connected on six of their game total of eight three-pointers, four by Jordyn Homeier, in the opening period.

"That is what we needed facing such a tough interior presence and it was good to see the girls shooting with confidence after such a cold-shooting night last Friday," Chadwick said.

Farmington tied the count at 31-31 early in the second half before the Hawks went on a run that would at one time stretch their lead to 18 points.

The Tigers cut the deficit to 10 in the final two minutes but the Hawks hit their free throws down the stretch to extend their final margin of victory.

Jordyn Homeier 14 points (photo by J. Lindquist)
Sofia Chadwick scored 19 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and added five assists and three steals to lead the Tiger effort. Homeier finished with 14 points.

Alicia Hett added seven points and pulled down five rebounds.Kaitlyn Gorden chipped in with six points and six rebounds.

"I was worried how the girls would respond after having another long weekend without practice," coach Chadwick said, "but they came out ready to play and didn’t let the fact that Chaska has been in the top ten throughout the season intimidate them.  

"I thought that we played well overall, took care of the ball and played as a team. We kept ourselves in a game with a very good team."

The loss dropped the Tigers' season record to 8-8 overall and 3-3 in Missota Conference play. They close out the first round of league play Friday night with a home game against Shakopee.

Girls Hockey: Coming up empty at New Prague

Molly Singewald finished with 21 saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers awoke from a two-period slumber to give New Prague a battle in the third but could never get the puck in the net in a 2-0 Missota Conference loss to the Trojans Tuesday night in New Prague.

"Two periods of very mediocre play put us down by a couple of goals," coach Jon Holmes said, "and we just couldn’t get ourselves back to playing the Farmington hockey we have been playing the past few weeks until it was too late."

The Trojans netted a goal in each of the first two periods to take a two-goal lead into the final 17 minutes of regulation.

Farmington had its chances in the third period, having one potential score waved off  and a couple of shots ricochet off the post.

"But it all happened in the third period," Holmes said, "We needed that spark right from the drop of the first puck. It was disappointing because we had a shot at clinching third place in the conference with a win."

Tiger goalie Molly Singewald helped keep her team within striking distance, finishing the night with 21 saves.

The loss dipped the Tigers a game below the .500 mark at 11-12-1 with one game to go on the regular season schedule, a Tuesday afternoon match-up with Holy Angels at Richfield Arena.

The Section 1AA playoffs kickoff the following week against an opponent and at a site to be determined by seeding.





Boys Hockey: Alone at the top

Jack Erickson scored the game-winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington's 10-game winning streak seemed in serious jeopardy after New Prague jumped to a 3-0 first period lead in Tuesday night's Missota Conference showdown at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

But by the time the final horn sounded, however, the Tigers were owners of a thrilling 4-3 win and sitting alone on top of the Missota Conference standings with an 8-0-1 record, a game-and-a-half in front of New Prague (7-1-2).

"This was a good character win, coming back from three down," coach Keith Revels said. "It's not how we drew it up, but a very good response to some adversity."

Each team managed eight shots in the opening period but the Trojans converted on three of theirs early to jump out to what looked like a commanding lead.

"We were as off as we have been for awhile," Revels said. "Nerves and three days with no ice time may have had a bit to do with it."

The most important part of the first period was Farmington's ability to shake off the slow start and pull to within a goal by the first intermission. Jake Trippel (from Chris Fitzgibbons) and Joe Siebenaler (from Justin Novak and Justin Martinsen) netted the Farmington goals.

The home team got the better of the play in the second period and tied the score on Dallas Tucker's score (from Tanner Grubb and Alex Aubrecht) to send the team intto the final 17 minutes of regulation deadlocked at 3-3.

Jack Erickson (from Erik Holmstrom and Devin Bernu) provided the game-winner midway through the final frame, splitting a pair of defenders on his way to the net.

Gage Overby had 14 third period saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Trojans actually outshot the winners over the final period but could not get the puck by Tiger netminder Gage Overby.

"We got back on our heels a bit in the third period," Revels said, "but Gage kept us in it with 14 big saves."

Overby recorded 22 saves in posting his 11th win of the season. Farmington finished with a 27-24 shots on goal advantage for the night.

As the league leader the Tigers  (16-3-1 overall) will have a target on their backs the rest of the way, starting Thursday night when they entertain Holy Angels at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Farmington edged the Stars 6-4 when the two teams played earlier in the season in Richfield.


Boys B-Ball: Cold as ice

Eli Rockett scored 12 points against Shakopee (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington coach Shane Wyandt says his team is at its best when it dictates the pace of the game. In Tuesday night's lackluster 54-29 Missota Conference home court loss to Shakopee the Tigers were the dictatees.

The Sabers who stand alone atop the conference standings with a perfect 7-0 record used their deliberate half-court offense and aggressive zone defense to hand Farmington its second straight loss. The Tigers are 4-3 in league play and 14-5 overall.

"There's no positive way to spin tonight," coach Wyandt said. "We couldn't make a shot. We didn't rebound and most of all, the effort wasn't there.

"On one possession in the second half, the ball was on the floor three times and three different Shakopee players hit the floor going after it. Not one of our guys did. It was a bad night all around."

Shakopee led from its opening possession and held a 27-17 edge by the halftime break, thanks largely to ice cold Farmington shooting (6 for 24) and the ability to make three-point shots (6).

"They have a couple of big post players and guys who can shoot the three," Wyandt said. "They'll be content to play that deliberate half-court game all night. The best way to beat them is to rebound and pick up the pace...and we didn't do that."

The Sabers started the second half on a 15-8 run and kept pouring it on as the Farmington shooting numbers continued to move toward the frigid air temperature outside.

Farmington made just five of 22 shots after intermission and ended the night hitting an anemic 24 percent of its shots (11 for 46).

Eli Rockett finished with 12 points to lead the Farmington scorers but no other Tiger managed more than five. Leading scorer Zach Speikers had only one field goal and didn't score in his team's 12-point second half.

"Not being able to practice because of school being closed didn't help," Wyandt said, "but Shakopee was in the same boat."

In a odd turn in the schedule the Tigers travel to Shakopee on Friday night to open the second round of the Missota Conference round-robin schedule.




28 January 2014

Tiger Scoreboard: January 29, 2014


Boys Hockey
Farmington 4 New Prague 3
Tigers take sole possession of 1st place in the Missota Conference

Girls Hockey
New Prague 2 Farmington 0

Girls Basketball
Chaska 71 Farmington 57

Boys Basketball
Shakopee 54 Farmingtton 29

Boys Swimming and Diving
Hastings 98 Farmington 83

Girls Gymnastics
Missota Conference triangular meet at Northfield
Northfield 150.525 Farmington 134.125 Red Wing 123.7

26 January 2014

Dance Team: Tigers step it up



The Tigers won three trophies at the Farmington Invitational
It's been a busy couple of weeks for coach Lindsay Jensen and her Tiger Dance Team.

Two weeks ago the girls hosted their annual invitational meet at Tiger Gym where the varsity team finished runner-up to champion Bloomington in kick and fourth in jazz funk.


The news from the junior varsity meet was even better where the Tigers roared to a first place finish in both kick and jazz.

"The dancers had a lot of fun and enjoyed performing at FHS!," coach Jensen said.

This past weekend the Tigers made an appearance at the Prior Lake Invitational where the varsity took eighth in kick and ninth in jazz.

The JV squad had another good outing, taking fourth in kick and fifth in jazz while improving their scores for the second straight week.

"This was a great competition to see what we will be up against in the sections," coach Jensen said. "Rochester, Bloomington, Prior Lake and and Lakeville North are all in our section so we can use these scores to prepare."

The section meet will be held Saturday, February 8, at Bloomington Kennedy.

The Tigers perform at the Prior Lake Invitational


25 January 2014

Boys B-Ball: Tigers fade down the stretch


Zach Speikers 24 points (photo by J. Lindquist)
Chanhassen outscored Farmington 36-22 over the final 18 minutes to score a come-from-behind 67-60 win in a Missota Conference game played Friday night in Chanhassen.

The loss dropped Farmington to 14-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference with one game remaining in the opening round of league play. Chanhassen moved to 13-6 and 5-2.
 
Things went Farmington's way in the opening half. The Tigers shot the ball well early on before a cold spell help the Storm claw its way back into the game. The visitors hit the halftime break with a 37-31 lead.
 
"We had some really poor turnovers late in the half which allowed them to stay closer than they should have been," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said.  
 
"In the second half we were ice cold and once we started missing shots we had nobody getting on the offensive glass. We wanted our guys to get the ball working inside but when it went in we didn't get any flow going and we started rushing outside shots when the ball was kicked back out...We never got into any kind of flow the second half and they really did."
 
The player who really got into the flow was the Storm's Joey Witthus who torched the Tiger defense for 35 points on a variety of offensive moves.
 
"He (Witthus) was able to score inside and out and even more damaging was their ability to get to the line," Wyandt said. "It was just a rough half for us and I give them (Chanhassen) credit for playing really well."
 
Tiger leading scorer Zach Speikers had another strong outing in the losing effort, finishing with a team-high 24 points. Eli Rockett was the only other Farmington player in double figures with 10. Wyatt Ferm canned a trio of three-pointers for nine points and Nick Varner chipped in with seven.
 
The Storm owned a 23-21 advantage on the boards with Varner pulling down a team-best six rebounds. Speikers dished out three assists and Varner came up with three steals.
 
Next Tuesday the Tigers will try to get back in the middle of the hunt for the Missota title when they entertain league-leading Shakopee. In a scheduling quirk, three days later they head to Shakopee for the re-match.





Gymnastics: Tigers down Wingers

Rachel Kiminski
Amanda Davenport won three events and the all-around and the Tigers bumped their season-best team score up a fraction of a point in a 137.75-126.35 Missota Conference dual meet at the District Service Center.

Davenport won the vault (9.45), floor exercise (8.975) and all-around (34.875) and tied teammate Abby Schwartz for the top spot on the uneven bars (8.1).

Rachel Kiminski made it a clean sweep in the individual events with a first place finish on the balance beam with a score of 8.95.

Schwartz added two more second place performances in floor exercise and balance beam. Tahra Eckert also garnered a pair of second place finishes for the winners, placing runner-up in vaulting and all-around.

Kiminski took third place on the uneven bars and Kathryn Beckett ranked third in floor exercise.

Three other Farmington entrants finished fourth in individual events, including Davenport on the beam; Kathryn Beckett in floor exercise and Gina Mercurio in vault.

"Overall the team looks cleaner and a lot more consistent," coach Lynn Bauman said. "Beam was greatly improved and vault went great as well.

"The girls are working very hard towards that 140 and I know we will get there very soon."

Farmington also won the junior varsity meet123.7-106.65. Four Tigers finished first: Kiminski in vault; Mercurio in floor exercise; Sam Kramer on the balance beam and Sidney Comes in all-around.

Tuesday the Tigers travel to Northfield for a triangular meet with the Raiders and Red Wing.



Girls B-Ball: Late Storm flurry sinks Tigers

Abby Gallus career-high 8 rebounds (photo by J. Lindquist)
Chanhassen outscored the Tigers 20-6 over the final seven minutes of the game on the way to a 52-37 Missota Conference win Friday night at Chanhassen.

The loss ended a three-game Tiger win streak and left them with an 8-7 season mark; 3-2 in the Missota Conference.

"There was literally a lid on the basket tonight for us ," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "We had great open looks. It was the kind of night you were just waiting for the lid to come off and someone get a spark going and it just never happened. 

"When those open shots didn't fall the girls became less aggressive. That's how we found ourselves on the losing end of that run at the end."

The Tigers trailed the Storm 28-23 at intermission but took the lead at 32-31 before the invisible protective shield appeared over the Farmington basket.

Chadwick said her team took away several positives from the loss. Farmington finished the night with a 36-33 edge in rebounding and played solid defense from beginning to end.

"The girls did everything  we needed them to do," Chadwick said, "but when the shots aren't falling
they have to get to the basket for some easy buckets or get to the free throw line."


Sofia Chadwick 13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Sofia Chadwick led the Tigers with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Abby Gallus added nine points and pulled own a career-high eight rebounds.

The Tigers face a tough challenge Tuesday night when they travel to Chaska to take on the conference-leading Hawks.

Boys Hockey: A perfect 10

Tyler Jette scored a hat trick against the Wingers (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The streaking Tigers made it 10 in a row Friday night with a 7-1 trouncing of Red Wing in a Missota Conference game played at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

With the win Farmington (15-3-1 overall) upped its conference record to 7-0-1 and set the stage for Tuesday's league showdown with New Prague at Schmitz-Maki. The Trojans are 7-0-2 in league play after tying Chanhassen on Friday.

"I really like how we are playing," coach Keith Revels said, "relaxed but focused. We seem to be on the right trajectory to be playing our best hockey when it matters most."

The Tigers owned a 17-2 shot advantage after one period but went to the first intermission deadlocked in a scoreless tie.

The shots kept coming in the second period and four of them found their mark. Defenseman Tyler Jette scored twice and Jack Erickson and Chris Fitzgibbons also registered goals to help the winners build a 4-1 cushion heading into the final period.

Jette completed his hat trick in the final period and Tanner Grubb and Austin Martinsen also found the twine to close out the scoring.

"I can't remember ever having a defenseman have a hat trick," Revels said of Jette's three-goal outburst.
As has been the case through the 10-game winning streak the Tigers featured a balanced attack with five different players scoring goals and eight more recording at least one assist.

Justin Novak, the team's leading scorer with 40 points, assisted on four goals and Erik Holmstrom and Dallas Tucker had two apiece. Grubb, Martinsen, Grady Hauswirth, Benton Olson and John Siebenaler posted one each.

The Tigers finished the night with a huge 59-12 advantage in shots n goal. Nick Schoening recorded 11 saves to run his season record in the nets to 5-1.

The puck drops for Tuesday's battle with New Prague for the conference lead at 7:15 at Schmitz-Maki.

Nick Schoening ran his season record to 5-1 (photo by Jim Lindquist)


Tiger Scoreboard: January 26, 2014

Boys Hockey
Farmington 7 Red Wing 1

Girls Basketball
Chanhassen 52 Farmington 37

Boys Basketball
Chanhassen 67 Farmington 60

Gymnastics
Farmington 137.575 Red Wing 126.35

24 January 2014

Boys Swimming: Stormhawks overpower Tigers

Brandon Dion won the 100 butterfly (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Powerhouse Chaska/Chanhassen stormed to a 40-point lead and coasted to a 98-83 dual meet win over the Tigers Thursday night at the Chaska Middle School East pool.

"We had some good swims," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said, "but they have some very strong swimmers and they got most of the places."

The Stormhawks won eight of the first 10 events before swimming the final two races in exhibition status, allowing the visitors to pick up 25 quick points.

The Tiger wins came from Jonathan Bovee in one-meter diving and Brandon Dion in the 100 butterfly.

Austin Kueck put up a couple of second place finishes for the Tigers, placing runner-up in the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.

Ben Gunderson took second in the 100 backstroke and Daniel Berg scored second place points in the 100 freestyle.

Both the 200 medley (David Bovee, Robin DeCastro, Kueck and Jonathan Kingsbury) and the 200 freestyle (Berg, Devon Webb, Dion and Eric Schimmel) teams also took second.

Three other Farmington entrants ranked third in individual events: Dion, 50 freestyle; Sean Dougherty, one-meter diving and Garrett Haugen, 100 backstroke.

The Tigers get back to business next Tuesday night with a dual meet at Section 1AA rival Hastings.

Ferm, Buss named AAA winners

Isabelle Ferm
Stan Buss and Isabelle Ferm have been named the Farmington High School AAA award winners for the 2013-14 school year.

The AAA award, sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League, honors one male and one female senior from each member school for their excellence in academics, athletics and the arts.

Regional winners will be honored at a banquet the weekend of the state boys' basketball tournament in March. Four regional winners will receive $1000 scholarships at the state awards banquet.

Ferm owns a 3.978 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and has challenged herself by taking several Advanced Placement (AP) courses as well as in-school college classes.

In athletics, she has excelled in soccer and track and field, earning all-state honors twice in soccer and once on track. She was has been the Missota Conference Player of the Year in girls' soccer and landed a spot on the StarTribune's second team.

In the area of the  arts, Ferm has been a four-year member of the high school choir and competed in the High School League-sponsored Solo/Ensemble Contest where she received a Superior rating. For the past two years she has been a member of the New Dimension, the school's top level choir.

Ferm has not decided on where she will attend college but plans to major in exercise science while continuing to participate in both track and choir.

Stan Buss
In the classroom Buss has compiled a 4.008 grade point average and taken both AP classes and in-school college courses.

Buss was a cross country runner and hockey player for the Tigers until a knee injury caused him to cut short his varsity career after his junior year. He is participating in the first-ever intramural basketball program at FHS this winter.

Like Ferm, Buss is a member of the elite New Dimension school choir. As a junior, he auditioned for the All-State choir and earned an alternate position. He received an Excellent rating at the High School League-sponsored Solo/Ensemble Contest.

In addition to choir, Buss has been active in the FHS drama department. Last fall he played Ewart Dunlop in the production of "The Music Man".

Buss is also president of the Tiger Leadership Club, a student council member and on the executive board of the National Honor Society.

The FHS male AAA winner will attend Marquette University next fall where he plans to major in electrical engineering as well as participate in choir and theater.

Girls Hockey: No. 3 Red Wing snaps Tiger streak

Scored first Tiger goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)
It took the third-rated Class A team in Minnesota to break the Tigers' five-game win streak.

Red Wing used three power play goals and a big five-goal second period to post a 6-2 Missota Conference win over Farmington Thursday night at Prairie Island Arena in Red Wing.

The loss evened out the Tigers' season record at 11-11-1 with two games remaining on the regular season schedule.

The talented Wingers scored the only goal of the first period on the power play and then capitalized on three more Farmington minor penalties in the second to score five times, two with a player advantage.

The Tigers netted both of their goals in the second frame, the first one a shorthanded score by Maddi Oines to cut the Farmington deficit to 3-1.

Ellie Moser garnered the second goal late in the second period.

Farmington outshot the Wingers 7-3 over the final 17 minutes but could not get the puck by Winger goalie Anna Vagasky.

The Tigers were whistled for seven of the nine penalties called in the contest, including two more in the final period.

The Tigers will attempt to get back on the winning track next week when they close out their regular season with a pair of Missota Conference road games, Tuesday night at New Prague and Saturday afternoon against Holy Angels at Richfield Arena.

The Section 1AA post-season tournament begins the following week against an opponent and at a site to be determined by a seeding process.

Tiger Scoreboard: January 24, 2014

Girls Hockey
Red Wing 6 Farmington 2

Boys Swimming and Diving
Farmington vs. Chaska/Chanhassen

21 January 2014

Seniors add another chapter to storybook finish

Seniors scored all of the points in the win over Owatonna (photo by Jim Lindquist)
It was Senior Night for the Tigers in their final home game of the regular season against Owatonna Thursday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena and the seniors did all of the heavy lifting in a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the Huskies.

The victory continued the late season surge for coach Jon Holmes' team which stretched its current win streak to five games. The Tigers have won nine of their last 11 outings to raise their record above the .500 level at 11-10-1.

Senior Megan Stivers got the home team off to a good start with a first period goal assisted by classmate Breanna Raske for a 1-0 lead heading into the first break.

Scootie Donnelly gets a hug after scoring the game-winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Huskies countered with the only score of the second period but Stivers (on an assist from Brooke Raske) scored her second of the night to give the Tigers back the lead early in the third.

That lead held until a disputed icing call late in the game created a face-off in the Farmington zone with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Owatonna pulled its goalie, won the face-off and with the extra attacker forced overtime with a score in the final 10 seconds.

"That would have really taken not only the momentum out of many teams, but also would have killed their spirit," Holmes said. "This group collectively came together at the third period/overtime break, moved forward and acknowledged they still had a goal to accomplish and they did it."

To cap off the night's festivities, captain Scootie Donnelly did the honors in the first three minutes of the extra session on a rush up the boards that ended with a wrist shot that beat the Huskie goalie to her short side.

"It was a very fitting goal for a senior captain to get with this being our last home game of the season," Holmes said. "What a great past few weeks with three seniors getting game winning goals."

Megan Stivers scored the first two goals (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Molly Singewald had another big night in the nets for the winners, stopping 17 of 19 shots and picking up her 11th win of the season.

"We spend the last three games of the regular season on the road against conference rivals," Holmes said. "We are currently in third place in the conference and we want to keep that spot with a solid finish. We know we won't be able to catch the leaders, but we can certainly make their race interesting by causing some havoc."

The Tigers begin their final three-game road trip with a Thursday night date with state-ranked Red Wing at Prairie Island Arena.



Boys Hockey: Nine straight and counting


Jack Erickson scored a hat trick (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers ran their win streak to nine games and gained some more Section 1AA seeding credibility with a 9-0 win over Owatonna Tuesday night at Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna.


Farmington is now 14-3-1 overall, 6-0-1 in the Missota Conference and a perfect 4-0 against section competition this season.

The numbers tell the story of the one-sided win. The Tigers outshot the Huskies by a dominant 44-18 for the night. Jack Erickson scored a hat trick and six other Tigers found the net. All in all, 15 different Farmington players scored at least one point.

Defensively, the winners allowed Owatonna but 12 shots over the first two periods to help golaie Gage Overby post his first shutout of the 2013-14 season.

Farmington also did a good job of staying out of the penalty box, picking up just two minor infractions the entire game.

The Tigers led just 1-0 after the first period on John Siebenaler's goal before exploding for five unanswered scores in the second. Erickson accounted for three of them with Tyler Jette and Grady Hauswith also finding the net to begin running time.

Farmington added three more scores in the final frame. Darby Grengs notched the first, his first career goal on his very first varsity shift. Jake Trippel and Devin Bernu each scored later in the period to complete the rout.

Trippel and Tanner Grubb each had a pair of assists. Justin Novak, Austin Martinsen, Alex Aubrecht, Benton Olson, Dallas Tucker, Wyatt Jensen and Erik Holmstrom each had one.

Friday night the Tigers return to Schnitz-Maki Arena to start the second round of Missota Conference play against Red Wing.

Gage Overby recorded his first shutout of the season (photo by Jim Lindquist)


Boys B-Ball: Tigers make it seven out of eight

Zach Speikers 37 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington matched its win total of all last season with an 89-79 non-conference victory over Spring Lake Park in a fast-paced, entertaining game played Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.

The triumph boosted the Tigers' season mark to 14-3. Coach Shane Wyandt's team is 4-1 in Missota Conference play heading into Friday night's road showdown at Chanhassen.

"They (Spring Lake Park) are a tough match-up for us," Wyandt said. "They like to get the ball out and shoot the three. If you get caught up in that game and they are shooting the ball well, they're tough to beat.

"I thought we played with a lot of savvy and didn't panic when they started off so hot. They beat us on the glass in the first half, but we locked down defensively and hit the boards in the second half. That's what turned it around for us."

Both teams lit up the scoreboard in a back-and-forth opening half which ended in a 43-43 draw.

The first 18 minutes featured several outstanding individual efforts with Zach Speikers and Eli Rockett scoring 17 and 15 points respectively for the Tigers, numbers still below the 20 put up by the Panthers' talented point guard  TC Robinson.

"We had a hand in his face most of the half," Wyandt said, "but he was still knocking down the shots. He's a very good player."

Farmington started the half on a 14-5 run that included a one-handed dunk by Rockett off a Johnny Dittman lob. After the throw down, the Tigers never lost the lead.

The biggest lead of the night came at 67-54 and the margin stayed at or near double digits the rest of the way. The Tigers nailed down the win by hitting 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch.Farmington helped itself from the line all night, cashing in on 29 of 37 attempts, 20 of the makes coming in the second half.

Nick Varner 14 points, 15 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Speikers had another big second half for the winners with 20 more points for a game total of 37. Rockett finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Nick Varner added 14 and pulled down a team-high 15 boards. Mac Bassett added eight rebounds and Dittman handed out a half dozen assists.

Robinson went off for 21 second half points and grabbed game scoring honors with 41 points.

The win was especially rewarding for Wyandt, who played high school ball and coached at Spring
 Lake Park under current coach Grant Guzy.

"We've beaten them the past two years, but every time we play them it seems to be shootout," Wyandt said. "They are very well-coached team."

After Friday's big game at Chanhassen the Tigers return to Tiger Gym next Tuesday to host league-leading Shakopee.

18 January 2014

Boys Swimming: Tigers 3rd at True Team


Jonathan Bovee section diving champ (photo by J. Lindquist)
For the first time in four years someone other than Farmington wears the crown of Section 1AA True Team champions.

Rochester Century put together a dominant performance to win the meet held Saturday in Owatonna.

The Tigers were originally scheduled to host the six-team get-together but had to go to Plan B after a power outage at Dodge Middle School.

Century finished with a winning 963 points. Hastings nipped the Tigers 866.5-859 for the runner-up spot. Winona totaled 579.5 points, Owatonna 570 and Rochester Mayo 553.

Jonathan Bovee was the only Farmington performer to win an event, capturing the diving competition in which the Tigers placed two others in the top five. Oscar Hanifl ranked fourth and Sean Dougherty fifth on the one-meter board.

Two individuals and two relay teams finished third for the defending champs. Austin Kueck ranked third in the 200 individual medley and Brandon Dion took third in the 100 butterfly.

The third place relay teams included the 200 freestyle combination of Eric Schimmel, Robin DeCastro, Jonathan Kingsbury and Daniel Berg and the 400 freestyle foursome of Schimmel, Garrett Haugen, Dion and Berg.

The 200 medley quartet of Ben Gunderson, DeCastro, Dion and Haugen came in fourth.

Schimmel ranked sixth in the 200 freestyle as did Kueck in the 500 freestyle and Gunderson in the 100 backstroke.

Spencer Kabran gets off to a fast start (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Three Tigers scored seventh place points: Berg in the 50 freestyle; Brock Lange in the 100 butterfly and DeCastro in the 100 breaststroke. Berg finished eighth in the 100 freestyle and Spencer Kabran was eighth in the 100 butterfly..

Three more Farmington entrants ranked ninth: Dion in the 50 freestyle; Schimmel in the 100 freestyle and Jake Bauerle in the 100 breaststroke.

Kabran finished tenth in the 100 breaststroke and Haugen took tenth in the 100 backstroke.

The Tigers splash back into action next Thursday when they travel to Chaska for a Missota Conference dual meet with Chaska/Chanhassen.

Wrestling: Tigers place six at Eastview

Jamin LeDuc went 3-0 to win the 113-pound title (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Despite competing without three of their four state-ranked wrestlers, the Tigers finished eighth in a quality 12-team field at Saturday's Eastview Invitational in Apple Valley.

Taylor Venz, Matt Rustad and Joe Hoeve sat out the meet because of concerns about excess matches for the season.

"It was a great day of wrestling for us," Farmington coach Chad Olson said. "Last year we scored 42 points and this year we had 85.5. The past two years we have had three place winners. Today we had six."

Jamin LeDuc continued his dominant 2013-14 season, winning the 113-pound division with three straight wins to run his season record to 26-2.

Victor Gliva won three of his four matches at 106 pounds to grab third place honors. Gliva owns a 19-9 season mark.

According to coach Olson, Joe Liden wrestled "the best tournament of his career'' in finishing fourth in the 152-pound bracket. Liden went 3-2 with both losses to the No. 5 state-ranked wrestler in Wisconsin.

Three other Tigers came home with fifth place medals: Brayden Chapman, 3-2 at 138 pounds; Mason Hawkins, 3-2 at 145 pounds and Godfrey Mpetey, 3-2 at 285 pounds.

Brian Caravantes (0-2); Santana Perdomo (1-2); Jake Rudeen (0-2); Trevor Frost (0-3) and CJ Wynings (1-2) also wore the Tiger colors at the  Eastview meet.

After a busy two-month schedule the Tigers are now idle until Thursday, Jan. 30, when they travel to Northfield for a Missota Conference quadrangular.

"We have earned a well-deserved 12 days off," Olson said.


Tiger Scoreboard: January 19, 2014

Wrestling
Eastview Invitational
Farmington 8th out of 12 teams with 76 points
Jamin LeDuc 113-pound champion

Boys Swimming and Diving
Section 1AA True Team meet at Owatonna
Farmington 3rd out of 6 teams with 859 points
Jonathan Bovee one-meter diving champion

Girls Hockey: Coming full circle

Breanna Raske scoerd the game-winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Breanna Raske's goal (from Dani Wright) with 1:08 remaining in regulation gave the Tigers a dramatic 3-2 Missota Conference win over Shakopee Friday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The victory brought Farmington full circle in one of the feel-good stories of the winter season. The Tigers compiled an early 2-8-1 record before winning eight of their next 10 to even their season record at 10-10-1.

"I honestly did feel we could get back to .500," coach Jon Holmes said  "In fact. we had a team meeting going into the start of the holiday tourney and we talked about realistic goals we could accomplish if we put in the time and effort.

 "Since then we have spent every day at our new dry land facility we have constructed at Boeckman Middle School that consists of shooting tarps, stick handling areas and, of course, plenty of room for running and weights.

 "The girls held themselves accountable and made a miraculous turnaround that we knew we could make but it took nothing less then everyone's complete buy-in to do it."

Friday night's win was a grinder with the evenly matched teams trading goals until Raske's shot beat the Saber goalie over her glove side with the clock winding down.

"It was a beauty," Holmes said of the game-winner, "one of the best game-winning shots I have ever seen."

Molly Singewald stopped 24 shots (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Maddi Oines (from Megan Stivers and Michaela Tonsager) gave the Tigers an early first period lead but the Sabers countered with a goal of their own to knot the score after 17 minutes.

Ellie Moser's goal (from Raske)  at 1:24 of the second frame regained the lead for the home team but at the second break the score was back deadlocked at 2-2.

Things looked headed to overtime before Raske stepped up to score the most important goal of her career.

Molly Singewald had a big night in goal for the Tigers, stopping 24 of 26 shots and raising her season save percentage to a robust .914.

The win completed a three-win week for the Tigers who hit the ice next Tuesday when they entertain Section 1AA Owatonna at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

"We still have a goal to accomplish by the year's end, so we still have much work to do,"  Holmes said, "but in many years of coaching high school hockey, this particular group of kids really get their strengths and weaknesses and are realistic about what and how they need to do things to win."

Girls B-Ball: Tigers outlast Holy Angels

Aly Grebner scored 10 points off the bench (file photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tigers pulled two games above the .500 mark (8-6) with a solid 62-56 Missota Conference win over Holy Angels Friday night at Tiger Gym.

Farmington is 3-1 in Missota Conference play, a half game behind Chaska (3-0) in the league standings.

The Tigers started the contest on a 12-2 run that included three-point baskets by Sofia Chadwick, Abby Gallus and Alicia Hett but the Stars got back in it thanks to some strong post play.

"They adjusted quickly and started going to their bigs," Farmington coach Sondra Chadwick said. "They took the lead at one point but we went on a little run at the end to lead at halftime."

Farmington led 32-28 at the break thanks to a late steal and put-back by Aly Grebner.

Alicia Hett 8 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The teams played through an even second half although the Tigers got into foul trouble late with both Sofia Chadwick  and Abby Gallus whistled for their fifth in the final three minutes.

"I was very impressed with the composure of our kids to maintain the lead," coach Chadwick said. "We hit our free throws down the stretch."

In the end, the difference in the game did come at the foul line although for the night the winners ironically had a sub-par night, converting on only 16 of 27 opportunities at the charity stripe.

Another key to the victory was scoring balance. Sofia Chadwick led the way with 17 points but Gallus and Grebner provided plenty of support with 11 and 10 points respectively. Jordyn Homeier added nine and Hett finished with eight.

Coach Chadwick was especially pleased with the performance of Grebner who supplied a big boost off the bench, scoring eight of her points in the second half.

"She gave us a scoring punch and some physical rebounding against their bigs," she said.

Hett had seven assists and six rebounds to go with her eight points. Gallus totaled four assists and came up with a trio of steals; Chadwick had a team-high four steals.

"The girls have shown they know how to win the close games," coach Chadwick said.

In games decided by seven points or fewer Farmington owns a 5-2 record.

The Tigers have an off day next Tuesday, returning to action Friday with a conference home game against Chanhassen.




Gymnastics: A most narrow victory

Amanda Davenport
Farmington and Chaska/Chanhassen have had some hotly contested meets over the past couple of seasons but Friday night's 137.375-1375.25 Tiger win at Chanhassen may have set a new standard for closeness.

The Tigers finished first in three events and all-around to squeeze by the Stormhawks by a razor-thin one-eighth of a point.

"What a close meet!," Tiger coach Lynn Bauman said. "We are getting much steadier. Now it's crunch time. Time to keep it clean and, of course, "stick it."

Farmington's team point total was its highest of the 2013-14 season, a fraction higher than its 137.35 mark set two weeks ago at the Farmington Invitational.

Amanda Davenport had a big night for the winners at Chanhassen, capturing first place in vaulting (9.25), uneven bars (8.7) and all-around (35.725). Davenport also tied for second with teammate Rachel Kiminski on the beam with a score of 8.65.

Abby Schwartz provided the other Farmington first of the night with a win on the balance beam with an 8.7 mark.

Tahra Eckert also had a good night for the winners, taking third in both vault and all-around and ranking fifth in floor exercise.

Gina Mercurio finished fourth in vault and Schwartz placed fifth on the uneven bars.

The Tigers will be looking to move closer to the 140-point mark next Friday when they host Red Wing in a Missota Conference dual meet at the District Service Center.
 

Boys B-Ball: Dittman's three buries Stars


Johnny Dittman's late three-pointer beat Holy Angels 60-59 (photo by Jim Lindquist)
With leading scorer Zach Speikers sitting out with a knee injury and his team trailing by a point with time running out, Johnny Dittman stepped into the spotlight and made the shot of his career.

The senior point guard's three-pointer from the top of the key, his only field goal of the night, hit nothing but net with 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Tigers an improbable 60-59 Missota Conference comeback win over Holy Angels Friday night in Richfield.

Dittman's game-winner capped a remarkable rally from a five-point deficit over the game's final 1:40.

"Thank goodness for Johnny's shot," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said.  "It wasn't exactly how we drew it up in the huddle, but it got the job done.

"I can't say too much positive about our offense tonight but I thought our defense did a good job of keeping us in the game. We really scrapped, especially down the stretch."

Early on, the absence of Speikers (18.4 points a game) showed in major fashion. The Stars led by four points midway through the period before a late spurt led by Wyatt Ferm and Jordan DeCroock rallied the visitors.

Ferm finished with a dozen points off the bench in the opening half. DeCroock had seven, including a pair of three-pointers. Mac Bassett's rainbow three-pointer from 35 feet gave the Tigers a 34-29 halftime lead.

"With Zach (Speikers) out, I think we got a little out of sync," Wyandt said. "We are so used to running specials for him that the other guys sometime start to stand and watch. Overall, our decision making was very poor tonight.

Wyatt Ferm (center) had 16 points off the bench (photo by Jim Lindquist)
"We also got some guys in foul trouble early and our rotation got even more out of whack. We had combinations of players out there who were not used to playing with each other."

Things started to go downhill after the break when Holy Angels opened with a 12-2 run. With three minutes to play the Stars' lead stood at 57-54.

From there on, it was as tense as a high school basketball game could get. The Tigers did a good job of getting to the free throw line, but made just four of eight tries in the closing minutes.

Bassett made one of two with 51 seconds to go to cut the deficit to 59-57. The Stars then turned the ball over to set up Dittman's heroics.

"We were looking for the outside shot but Mac and Jordan were our first two options," Wyandt said. "But Johnny can shoot the ball. He's showed he can hit the three all season."

Dittman's shot found the bottom of the net with 2.4 seconds remaining but the officials added .8 of a second to the clock to further add to the intrigue.

A couple of time outs later, DeCroock made the point moot with a steal of the inbounds pass.

Ferm and Bassett finished as the top Farmington scorers with 16 points apiece. Ferm's total was a career high. DeCroock and Eli Rockett each added nine points to the winning recipe.

"Wyatt (Ferm) gave us a big spark tonight, especially in the first half," Wyandt said.

The victory was Farmington's 13th of the season (against three losses), one fewer than their entire win total from last season. The Tigers are 4-1 in Missota Conference play.

Tuesday night the Tigers step away from their Missota schedule when they entertain Spring Lake Park at Tiger Gym. Thursday they travel to Chanhassen to take on the Storm who are also 4-1 in conference play.