Girls BB: Tigers fall to top-seeded North

Sofia Chadwick 10 points in season finale (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Defending Section 1AA champion Lakeville North used its superior size and pressing defense to down the Tigers 59-27 in the quarterfinals of the section tournament Wednesday night in Lakeville.

The top-seeded Panthers fell behind 4-0 early when Aly Grebner and Sydney Speer connected on the first two Farmington shots of the night but then went on a 20-0 run that saw them hold the visitors without a point for 9:35.

"They are a very well-coached and athletic team," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "Our goals were to keep their score and our turnovers down. We knew we wouldn't be able to press them because of their speed and ball handling skills.

"Defensively we did a fairly good job with our zone but we turned the ball over too much and we had trouble rebounding against a much bigger team."

North led 30-12 at the halftime break and then extended its lead throughout the second half, holding the Tigers to just seven field goals over the final 18 minutes.

The second period was marred by an inadvertent head-to-head collision between Grebner and North standout Simone Kolander with 15:19 to play that cost Grebner stitches and Kolander a lost tooth.

Grebner's absence left another big hole in the Farmington rotation. Starters Kaitlyn Gorden (broken nose) and Abby Gallus (broken finger) did not dress for the game.

Sofia Chadwick was the only Tiger to score in double figures in the season finale, finsihing with 10 points. Grebner had five and Speer four. Freshman Mackenna Mayer saw her first varsity floor time in the second half and connected on her first shot.

Farmington finished the season with just two wins in 27 games but with just one senior (Callie Halterman) and one junior (Grebner) on the roster, coach Chadwick is optimistic about her team's future.

"I'm excited to see how they develop," she said. "As far as I'm concerned tomorrow is the first day of next season. There's a lot of work to be done."

Tiger Scoreboard: February 28, 2013

Girls Basketball
Section 1AA Quarterfinals
Lakeville North 59 Farmington 27

Boys BB: Frees and threes carry Chaska in OT

Mac Basset 11 points, eight rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Chaska hit 11 three-pointers and converted 25 of 37 chances from the foul line to defeat the Tigers 76-70 in overtime in a Missota Conference game played Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.

The loss halted a modest two-game winning streak by Farmington and left the Tigers with a 13-12 season record, 6-7 in the Missota Conference, heading into Friday night's regular season finale at Shakopee.

Farmington played sluggishly in the early going of the Senior Night contest, digging itself an early 24-12 hole before closing the first half on a 16-6 run that cut the deficit to 30-28 .Darren Beenken and Jordan DeCroock each had a pair of baskets to key the closing run.

"We were extremely flat," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "I'm not sure what it was but we had several guys that just weren't prepared to play..."

Zach Speikers swished a three-pointer and Mac Bassett scored in the paint to give the home team just its second lead of the night to open the second half.

The Tigers didn't surrender that lead until a little more than a minute left in regulation but they could never get the key basket to put any distance between them and the Hawks.

"Our intensity and execution of our game plan was much better in the second half," Wyandt said. "We got after it and played very well for the most part. although the final two minutes were another story."

Bassett tied the count at 59-59 with 19 seconds to go in regulation and the Tigers dodged a bullet when the Hawks'  Jacob Hansen whiffed on two free throws with 4.4 seconds to go. Nick Varner's 35-footer at the horn bounced off the rim to send the contest into overtime.

Farmington shot itself in foot in the final minute, turning the ball over three times in its final five possessions.

"We knew the pressure was coming and the turnovers just killed us," Wyandt said.  "Some of them were really unforced errors. Lazy passes and bad decision-making equaled disaster. That's the really disappointing part."

Varner and Beenken scored back-to-back buckets to start the extra session and following two free throws by Speikers the Tigers were sitting on a 65-61 lead.

Chaska quickly took back the lead and the momentum with 9-0 run with the last four points coming from the foul line.

A basket by Eli Rockett and two more charity tosses by Speikers got the Tigers back to within a point with 38 seconds left when the Hawks broke the Farmington press for a three-point play to push their lead back to four points.

Farmington outshot Chaska (43-33 percent) for the game but was ice cold from behind the three-point arc (5 of 27). The Hawks connected on 11 of 29 from long range and outscored their hosts 25-9 from the free throw line.

"They were going to live or die by the three and unfortunately they got hot at the right times even with guys in their face...As for the foul numbers, they were ridiculous. Chaska plays hard but they had both hands on our post players backs most of the night and we should have gotten some calls."

Farmington had a balanced scoring attack with Beenken topping the charts with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Speikers had 14 points, three assists and a pair of steals. Bassett notched 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Rockett finished with nine points and a team-high 11 boards.

The Tigers hope to bounce back on Friday and enhance their seeding prospects for the Section 1AA tournament that starts next week.

"Shakopee will be playing for the conference championship." Wyandt said. "We'd love to be the spoiler."

Tiger Scoreboard: February 27, 2013

Boys Basketball
Chaska 76 Farmington 70 (OT)

Gymnastics: Wharton on the beam at State

Kylie Wharton

Tiger sophomore Kylie Wharton wrote a memorable ending to her 2012-13 season story with a seventh place finish on the balance beam at the 2013 Class AA state gymnastics meet Saturday night at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.

Wharton, who was sidelined by injury most of the first half of the season, put up a a 9.350 score on the beam in Saturday's state finals.

"Kylie was more then ready for this meet," Bauman said. "She worked very hard on preparing herself physically and mentally.

"Kylie's poise and confidence was a delight to watch as she managed to stay on the beam for her whole routine. What an exciting accomplishment and experience for her."

Senior Kiana Lord was the other Farmington entrant as state. She placed 22nd among 32 performers in floor exercise with a score of 9.250 in her second appearance at the state meet. Lord ranked sixth in vault and 19th in all-around in 2010.

Kiana Lord

"I told Kiana to go out there and have fun and hit her landings," Farmington coach Lynn Buamn said. "She did that and more.

"She had an amazing floor routine and she did have fun. That's all you can ask for. It was wonderful to have Kiana back at state."

Wharton and Lord weren't the only Tigers to reap state honors. The team attended the pre-tournament banquet earlier in the week to receive its Section 2AA Academic Championship award.

Farmington won the award by compiling a composite team grade-point-average of 3.91 (on a 4.00 scale).


                                      Section 2AA Academic Champions

Girls BB: Storm blows by Tigers on Senior Night

Senior Callie Halterman

The Tigers stayed with Missota Conference champion Chanhassen for a half Friday night before the talented Storm pulled away after the break for a 71-35 win.

With the victory and Chaska's loss to New Prague, Chanhassen secured the outright 2013 league title with an 11-3 record. The Storm also won the conference hardware in 2012.

The feisty Tigers stayed within seven points of the Storm over the first 18 minutes, trailing 26-19 at intermission.

"I was pleased with our intensity on both ends of the court in that first half," Farmington coach Sondra Chadwick. "We had success penetrating the lane and finding open shooters or getting ourselves to the line. Defensively we held a very high scoring team to 26 points."

The second half was a different story, however, as the visitors controlled the paint and the scoreboard behind the scoring of Lauren Schifflett and Becca Smith who tied for game-scoring honors with 17 points apiece.

The Storm outscored Farmington be a dominant 45-16 in the second half.

Sydney Speer

 "Chanhassen’s depth and athleticism began to wear us down," Chadwick said. "We did not shoot well in that second half, and we got back into a bad habit of not moving our feet defensively and we committed too many fouls."

The Storm converted 17 of 21 free throw chances in the second half.

Alicia Hett

Eight players scored for Farmington with Sofia Chadwick leading the way with 13 points. Sydney Speer netted eight, Leah Hammond five and Callie Halterman, the team's lone senior who was honored before the game on Senior Night, scored four in her final home game.

Point guard Alicia Hett scored only one point but had team-highs in rebounds (5) and assists (4).

Farmington (2-24)  drew the No. 8 seed for the Section 1AA tournament and will travel to top-seeded Lakeville North (19-7) next Wednesday for its post-season opener.

Boys Swimming: Kirchmann to state in 4 events

Christopher Kirchmann school record in 100 free

Farmington placed a solid third at the Section 1AA Championships held Saturday at the Rochester Recreation Center but the big news out of the meet was Christopher Kirchmann qualifying for the state meet in four events for a second straight season.

The speedy senior won the 100 freestyle in a school record 47.29 seconds, placed fourth in the 50 freestyle and swam a leg on two qualifying relay teams, the first place 200 freestyle and the fourth place 400 freestyle.

Joining Kirchmann on the school record-breaking state-qualifying relay teams were seniors Dahlton Bell, Christian Bell and Cameron Molnar.
 
Senior diver Evan Carufel, a state meet qualifier a year ago, won the one-meter board competition and earned the section "Diver of the Year" award. Sophomore teammate Jonathan Bovee ranked fourth to punch his ticket to state.

Evan Carufel Section 1AA Diver of the Year

Rochester Century claimed the section team title with 431.5 points. Hastings took the runner-up spt with 370.5, followed by Farmington 309, Rochester John Marshall 256, Northfield 183, Owatonna 181.5, Rochester Mayo 176 and Winona 168.5.

"We had some great swims and a few disappointments," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said. "I do not think the final outcome would have changed but we hoped a few more guys would have placed higher in the final round... Finishing third is nothing to hang our head about but our hopes were much higher."

As for the his athletes' chances at state, Hamen thinks Kirchmann has a shot at the top eight in the 100 freestyle and he is hopeful his two relay teams also advance to the finals.

 "I am very proud of the boys for all the hard work they put into a great season," he said. "We are looking forward to going to state bringing those who have truly made it a goal for a long time to do well at that level."

Other Top 10 Farmington finishers at the section meet:
200 medley relay: 7. Oliver Chow, Spencer Kabran, Brandon Dion and Carufel
200 medley: 10. Eric Schimmel
50 freestyle: 7. C. Bell
Diving: 10. Sean Dougherty
100 butterfly: 4. Dion; 6. Chow
100 freestyle: 7. D. Bell; 8. C. Bell
500 freestyle: 10. Schimmel
100 backstroke: 8. D. Bell


State diving competition begins Thursday with the swimming preliminaries scheduled for Friday and the finals on Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Boys BB: Another photo finish

Darren Beenken 18 points, 11 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

To say the Tigers have played some close games Missota Conference games this season would be an understatement of major proportions.

After Friday night's 61-59 squeaker of a win at Chanhassen, Farmington (13-11) has played a dozen league games and eight of them have been decided by eight points or fewer. Four have been two-point contests and another was decided by single point.

"We knew going in the conference would be balanced," coach Shane Wyandt said, "and that's how the season has played out. There's not much difference from top to bottom."

The first 18 minutes of the latest heart-pounder didn't seem all that close, however. The Tigers managed just 18 first half points and trailed by seven at intermission.

"We couldn't get anything to fall," Wyandt said, "but we knew we were still in it because we held a very good team to just 25 points "

The Storm, buoyed by the return to the line up by sophomore Danny Witthus, entered the night having won five of its past six games.

The second period was another story, however, as the Tigers awoke from their first half slumber to score 43 points and even their league record at 6-6 with two games remaining.

The Tigers led by a point with time running down when Zach Speikers hit one of two free throws to make it a two-point game with fewer than 10 seconds left.  With a  foul to give, Farmington fouled intentionally and then watched as a wild Chanhassen three-point shot miss at the buzzer.

Eli Rockett 3rd straight double-double (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Beenken and Rockett each put together statistical double-doubles to lead the Farmington effort. Beenken netted a team-high 18 points while Rockett scored a dozen points and grabbed a season-high 18 boards. Mac Bassett finished with 15 points, including nine on a trio of three-pointers, and also blocked five shots.

Farmington did not shoot the ball especially well (40 percent) but held Chanhassen to just 31.8 percent shooting  Whittus had a big night for the Storm with 37 points, including six three-pointers.

This week's schedule includes the final two games of the regular season, a home match-up with Chaska on Tuesday and a Friday road game at Shakopee. Section 1AA post-season play begins the following week.

"Hopefully these last two wins will give us a little momentum heading into this week and and section tournament," Wyandt said.

"I think we've learned from those close losses. I said then I would trade those for a couple of wins in March anytime."

Boys Hockey: North takes Tigers out of section

Grady Hauswirth scored 1st Tiger goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Lakeville North scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Tigers 5-2 Saturday afternoon in Rochester to advance to the Section 1AA finals.

The Panthers added to their streak of recent  post-season success against Farmington. North has bounced the Tigers out of the post-season four of the past five years.

Top-seeded North dominated puck possession throughout the opening period, outshooting Farmington by a lopided 13-0 count but the teams still entered the first break locked in a scoreless tie.

"North is battle-tested in the South Suburban all year long and would be team to beat if they were in Missota Conference," Tiger coach Keith Revels said. "We hung tough but struggled with a bigger, faster and team.

North scored twice in the first 5:41 of the second period but Farmington bounced right back with unassisted goals by Grady Hauswirth and Jack Erickson in a 31-second spurt midway through the period to set up a pivotal final frame.

Erickson's goal was his fifth in the last three games and gave him a team-leading 14 for the 2012-13 season.

"We needed to put pucks on the net and not be overly selective," Revels said. "Once we started putting pucks at the net, good things started happening."

Jack Erickson 5 goals in last 3 games (photo by Jim Lindquist)

North took the lead for good 6:36 into the third period and then padded the final score with a pair of goals, including an empty-netter, in the game's final 2:43 of regulation.

The final stat sheet showed the winners had the better of the scoring opportunities as they outshot the fourth-seeded Tigers by a convincing 44-11 margin.

Gage Overby had a busy night in the nets for the Tigers, finishing with 39 saves.

"Gage kept us in game until late," Revels said. "We were just not able to generate enough offensively.

"The boys fought hard and were in the game late. Nothing to hang their heads over."

The loss left the Tigers with a final season mark of 13-13-1. They finished in a fourth place tie with Chaska in the final Missota Conference standings with a 5-8-1 record.

Wrestling: Tigers send record four to state

Freshman Taylor Venz (39-2) returns to state (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington tied a school record Saturday by qualifying four wrestlers for next week's Class 3A state tournament.

The four state entrants were just part of a strong team performance by the Tigers at the Section 2AAA Championships held Friday and Saturday in Shakopee where only Prior Lake (7) and hots Shakopee (5) finished with more state qualifiers.

"Our section is one of the deepest in the state and to have the third most qualifiers is quite an achievement for our program," Tiger coach Chad Olson said..

Leading the state tourney entrants is 106-pound freshman Tyler Venz who made it to state last season as an eighth-grader. Venz captured the section title with an 8-6 win over Shakopee's Alex Lloyd in the finals.

Freshman Jamin LeDuc (32-2) was runner-up at 113 pounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The other three Tigers heading to state include freshman Jamin LeDuc, sophomore Kyle Benjamin and junior Joe Hoeve who each placed second in the section meet.

LeDuc lost to Lakeville North's Collin Degrammont 10-3 in the finals of 113-pound bracket and Hoeve dropped a hard-fought 1-0 decision to North's Lucas Westrich in the 160-pound title bout.

Sophomore Kyle Benjamin (19-5) second place in 132-pound weight class (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Benjamin lost by pin to Prior Lake's Ben Lake for the 132-pound championship before coming back to win a 10-0 major decision over Shakopee's Tanner Hennen in the true second match.

Four other Tiger grapplers earned medals at the section meet.  Sophomore Matt Rustad took fourth at 126 pounds and sophomore Brayden Chapman ranked fifth in the 138-pound bracket. Freshman Mason Hawkins (120) and senior Jamie Scavone (285) placed sixth in their respective divisions.

Venz (39-2), LeDuc (32-2), Benjamin (19-5) and Hoeve (26-14) begin state meet competition on Friday morning at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Junior Joe Hoeve (26-14) state qulaifier at 160 pounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger Scoreboard: February 24, 2013

Section 2AAA Wrestling (Individuals) at Shakopee
State meet qualifiers: Taylor Venz, Jamin LeDuc, Kyle Benjamin and Joe Hoeve

Section 1AA Championships at Rochester Recreation Center
State meet qualifiers
Individuals: Christopher Kirchmann (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle); Evan Carufel (diving) and Jonathan Bovee (diving)
Relays: Kirchmann, Christian Bell, Dahlton Bell and Cameron Molnar (200 freestyle and 400 freestyle)

Class AA State Gymnastics at University of Minnesota
Kylie Wharton 7th place balance beam
Kiana Lord 22nd place floor exercise

Section 1AA Boys Hockey at Rochester Recreation Center
Semifinals
Lakeville North 5 Farmington 2

Tiger Scoreboard: February 22, 2013

Boys Basketball
Chanhassen 71 Farmington 35

Girls Basketball
Farmington 61 Chanhassen 59

Boys Hockey: On to the semifinals

Captain Kevin Olund scored the second Tiger goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Jack Erickson scored book end goals, his third and fourth in the past two games, as the Tigers advanced to the Section 1AA quarterfinals with a 5-2 win over Rochester John Marshall Thursday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

With the victory fourth-seeded Farmington (13-12-1) advances to Saturday's semifinals and a match-up with  top-seeded Lakeville North in Rochester. North (9-16-1) defeated Winona 2-0 Thursday night in its opening round game.

The Tigers jumped on the visiting Rockets early with Erickson netting a power play goal and Kevin Olund adding a second on a laser shot from the high slot for a 2-0 first period lead.

The fast-paced period featured plenty of offensive chances with the teams combining for 24 shots on goal. The Tigers outshot their guests 15-9 in the period.

"It was important for us to get off to a good start," Tiger coach Keith Revels. "We talked about getting the puck to the net and giving ourselves a chance to score."

Goal celebration with Tiger fans (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The second frame featured even more chances as the home team assaulted the JM net with 20 shots with two finding the mark. Joe Siebenaler made it 3-0 midway through the period and Grant Hauswirth made it a four-goal game at 14:09 of the second.

The four-goal advantage lasted all of 10 seconds as JM scored off the ensuing face-off, a goal Revels shouldn't have happened.

"We changed lines right after the goal with the order not to let up," he said, "and that was exactly what happened."

The Rockets scored again with just 12 seconds to play in the period and with 17 minutes to play things were beginning to get interesting.

"We had so many chances in the second period," Revels said, "but I also think when we got the big lead we got a little greedy and found ourselves out of position."

Gage Overby 23 saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The breakneck pace that characterized the first two periods slowed in the third, something Revels said was by design.

"Another goal would have been nice but not necessary," he said. "We wanted to focus on protecting our goal. I think the way we played in the third period shows how far this team has come from the start of the season."

The only goal in the final stanza came from Erickson who found an empty net after the Rockets pulled their goaltender with 2:45 to play.

Gage Overby worked the Farmington nets and recorded his sixth win of the season. The sophomore netminder finished with  23 saves.

Erickson added an assist to his two goals for a three-point night and Olund also had an assist for a second point. Justin Novak pitched in with two assists and Hauswirth and Erik Holmstrom each had one.

Revels said one of the keys to the playoff win was his team's ability to stay out of the penalty box. The Tigers had just two penalties in the contest and spent less than a minute playing shorthanded.

"When we stay out of the penalty box, good things happen for us," he said.

The puck drops Saturday at 11:30 a.m at the Rochester Recreation Center where Revels and his team will try to shake a four-year Lakeville jinx.

In Revels' four previous seasons with the boys' program either North (3) or South (1) has knocked the Tigers out of the section tourney.

Grant Hauswirth tries to stuff the puck by JM goalie (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger Scoreboard: Februray 22, 2013

Boys Hockey
Section 1AA quarterfinals
Farmington 5 Rochester John Marshall 2

Girls BB: Second half rally comes up short

Sofia Chadwick 12 points, 6 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda.

If only the Tigers had played the first half of Tuesday night's game at Northfield like they did the second they might have picked up their first Missota Conference win of the season. Instead, they had to settle for a 48-41 loss.

The Raiders used the strong inside presence of their post tandem of Allyson Harris and Anna Pfefferle to build a  33-16 halftime lead that proved too much to overcome for the undersized Tigers.

"I was disappointed in our lack of intensity to start the game," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. 

 "Our plan was to apply pressure throughout the game in hopes of wearing Northfield down.  We succeeded in doing that in the second half, but the first half we were very flat and did not play good defense."

Pfefferle went to the bench with her fourth foul early in the second half and her absence seemed to light a fire under the visitors.

The Tigers amped up their defensive pressure, forcing several turnovers that led to open shots. In one long stretch Northfield went almost eight minutes without scoring. The aroused Farmington defense gave us just 15 points in the second period.

"Had we played the entire game with that level of intensity, the outcome may have been very different," Chadwick said.

The Tigers got back to the final margin of defeat--seven points--a couple of times but could draw no closer.

Eight different Tigers got into the scoring act with Sofia Chadwick leading the way with 12 points. six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman Morgan Mach netted eight points, all in the second half comeback. Abby Gallus added six and Alicia Hett chipped in with five points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Coach Chadwick said she continued to be impressed with the guard play of Hett and Chadwick and was pleased with the play of her bench.

"Morgan (Mach) and Callie Halterman came in and gave us some defensive intensity in the second half," she said.

The Tigers close out their regular season Friday night with a home game against league-leading Chanhassen. Section 1AA post-season play begins next week.    

 

 

Boys BB: Defense keys Tiger win over Raiders

Johnny Dittman 16 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

After three consecutive losses, two of them by two points, Tiger coach Shane Wyandt resorted to a vocabulary word he doesn't like to use in addressing his team prior to Tuesday night's 68-52 Missota Conference win over Northfield at Tiger Gym.

"I told our guys this was a 'must' win for us," he said. "I really don't like to use that term especially at this time of the season. It can come back to bite you.

"I thought we responded well. Our defensive focus and effort, especially in the first half, were great and we dominated the boards. When we do those things we are usually successful."

The Tigers couldn't have gotten off to a much better start, hitting seven of their first 10 shots on the way to a 16-5 lead. Point guard Johnny Dittman led the opening spurt with seven points.

The pesky Raiders cut the lead to seven points at 27-20 late in the half before Farmington closed on a 9-0 run on baskets by Zach Speikers, Nick Varner, Mac Bassett and Darren Beenken to make it 36-20 at intermission.

Dittman keyed another fast start to the second half, this one an 8-0 run, with a pair of three-pointers as the Tigers enjoyed their biggest lead of the night at 44-20.

From there until the final horn the teams jockeyed back and forth but the outcome was never in doubt as the visitors never got their deficit below double digits.

"I liked our energy and effort tonight," Wyandt said. "I thought Darren (Beenken) provided quality senior leadership and Eli (Rockett) had another great game.

"The things we need to concentrate on the rest of the way are taking care of the defensive glass and cutting down our turnovers in crucial situations. We do those two things and we are going to be fine."

Eli Rockett 2nd straight double-double (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers got a balanced scoring attack with Beenken leading the way with 17 points and four assists. Dittman netted 16 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and Rockett registered his second straight double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Bassett also cracked double digits for the Tigers with 12 points on five of-nine shooting and Speikers chipped in with eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

As a team Farmington shot 49 percent from the floor and broke a thee-point shooting slump by nailing seven of 18 from long range. The Tigers also controlled the boards by a solid 29-18 margin.

Friday Farmington (12-11) heads to Chanhassen for another Missota Conference game. They return home next Tuesday to face Chaska and then close the regular season Friday night at Shakopee.

Tiger Scoreboard: February 20, 2013

Boys Basketball
Farmington 68 Farmington 52

Girls Basketball
Northfield 48 Farmington 41

Alumni Tracker: Parco running for BYU

Alyssa Parco

2012 FHS grad Alyssa Parco, a four-time state meet qualifier in the 300-meter hurdles during her career as a Tiger, is a freshman hurdler/sprinter for the Brigham Young University women's track team this spring. Last weekend she ran the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes for BYU at the Air Force Team Challenge in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Two of Parco's high school teammates are running closer to home this spring, Amy Kiminski at the College of St. Benedict and Erin Hickey at Minnesota-Duluth.

Ex-Tiger Elena Koch finished the regular season averaging 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.6 minutes of playing time per game for the College of St. Benedict who open the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs Tuesday night against Hamline...Koch's high school classmate from the FHS class of 2011 Jordan Bridges has put together almost identical numbers (3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds in 11.6 minutes) for Jamestown College (North Dakota) who finished the regular season 20-5 and begins post-season play this week.

Two more former Farmington basketball players are also about to wrap up their collegiate seasons. With two more games remaining in her freshman season at Minnesota-Duluth 2012 FHS female Athlete of the Year Taylor Meyer is averaging 4.5 points and 4.2 rebounds a night while playing 19 minutes a game...Jamie Kenealy averages 2.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 10 minutes of playing time an outing for Wisconsin-River Falls which opens post-season play this week.

On hand to see the Tiger boys' basketball team play play Shakopee a couple of weeks ago was 2001 FHS male Athlete of the Year Josh Thom who now teaches at Shakopee High School. Thom, who played baseball at St. John's University, will be coaching baseball at the sub-varsity level for the Sabers this spring...Thom reported that his brother Justin Thom, an ex-Tiger who went on to play football at the University of St. Thomas, is with the US Secret Service in Washington DC assigned to the White House.... 

David Thom, the patriarch of the Thom family and ex-Tiger three-sport athlete, recently accepted a position as financial director for the Minnesota School of Business in Woodbury. He had previously held a similar position at Globe University in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Carl Elmer consolation champ at North County Open

2011 FHS male Athlete of the Year Carl Elmer won four of six matches and finished fifth in the 149-pound division at the North Country Open at St. Johns' University. The night before that event the St. Olaf sophomore wrestled in a dual meet at Augsburg where the referee was none other than former FHS athletic director Byron Olson...

2012 Tiger grad Betsy Anderson played in all 25 regular season games for the Wisconsin-Stevens Point women's hockey team this winter, finishing with two goals and two assists. The Pointers begin the North Central Hockey Association playoffs this weekend....Ex-Tiger Alex Carlson has recorded a goal and two assists in 22 games for the Ohio State men's hockey team this winter.

Former Tiger and 2011 Class AA state diving champion Tyler Magalis, now a sophomore at St. Cloud State University, finished third in one-meter diving and fourth on the three-meter board at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships held last weekend in Rochester...At the same meet ex-Tiger Brandon Molnar finished seventh in the 50 freestyle, 11th in the 100 butterfly and also swam a leg on a couple of relays for St. Cloud State.

Boys Hockey: Tigers home for section opener

For the first time since Farmington has been a Class AA school the Tigers will play host to a quarterfinal game in the section tournament.

The Tigers ranked No. 4 in the Section 1AA seeding held over the weekend and will entertain No. 5 Rochester John Marshall Thursday night at 7:00 at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Farmington downed the Rockets 4-3 when the two teams met in Rochester Nov. 27.

The winner of that contest will play the winner of the game between Lakeville North and the winner of the Dodge County-Winona play-in game Saturday afternoon in Rochester.

Complete brackets for the Section 1AA tournament are available at http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/showxmlbrackets.asp?tournid=44&bracket=5357 

Gymnastics: Lord, Wharton advance to state

Kiana Lord

Kylie Wharton (photos by Jim Lindquist)

Senior Kiana Lord and sophomore Kyle Wharton are headed to next week's Class AA state gymnastics meet at the University of Minnesota.

Lord earned a 9.625 score to place third in floor exercise and Wharton ranked fourth on the balance beam with an 8.975 mark at Friday night's Section 3AAA Championships at Eagan to make the elite state field. The top four entrants in each event and all-around qualified for state.

Lord and Wharton weren't the only Farmington performers to turn in quality performances at the section finals. The 16th-ranked Tigers finished third in the final eight-team standings, totaling a season-high 140.525 points in the process.

Park of Cottage Grove won the section team title with 145.65 points. Rosemount took second with 143.45 followed by Farmington 140.525, Eagan 138.15, East Ridge 137.6, Woodbury 131.1, Hastings 127.275 and Henry Sibley 109.225.

Lord is no stranger to state meet competition. She won all-state honors with a sixth place finish on the balance beam and ranked 19th in all-around at the 2011 state finals.

Wharton's state meet berth is her first and is especially satisfying as she missed several early season meets due to injury.

Individual competition at the state meet will begin at 6:00 p.m. next Saturday night at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.

Girls BB: Slow out of the gate

Aly Grebner 5points, 6 rebounds off the bench (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington scored just 13 first half points as another slow start led to a Missota Conference loss, this one a 51-35 defeat at the hands of Holy Angels Friday night at Tiger Gym.

"We did not play a good first half," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "The girls could not adjust to Holy Angels' match-up zone very well and played very timidly.

'We had a lot of unforced turnovers and we couldn’t seem to find a flow on offense. We shot poorly and had only two players score.

Sofia Chadwick (nine points) and Abby Gallus (four) accounted for all 13 of the Farmington points as the home team trailed 23-13 at intermission. Kaitlyn Gorden had  a big first half on the boards for the Tigers, pulling down seven rebounds.

Farmington played much better at both ends of the floor after the break but could never cut into the Stars' double digit lead.

"We played more aggressively and that resulted in some transition points for us," coach Chadwick said. "We also started getting to the line... But again, we had too many turnovers (24).. We need to do a better job of taking care of the basketball."

Chadwick added that her team improved in the rebounding department although the second half board effort was hampered by the absence of Gorden who left after suffering a broken nose.

Sofia Chadwick accounted for half of the Tiger offense, finishing with a team-high 18 points. No other Farmington player had more than five.

Chadwick also chimed in with six rebounds and three steals. Aly Grebner came off the bench to score five points and finish as the Tigers' second leading rebounder with six.

Point-guard Alica Hett had just one point but totaled six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Next Tuesday the Tigers head to Northfield looking for the their first conference win of the season. The Raiders edged Farmington 49-47 when the teams met last month at Tiger Gym.

Wrestling: Tigers win, lose in team section

Brayden Chapman finished 2-0 in Section 2AAA team tournament (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington won one and lost one at the Section 3AAA team championships held Thursday night at Lakeville North.

The sixth-seeded Tigers took advantage of seven forfeits to score 42 points in cruising by Chaska 57-21 in the opening round before falling 46-25 to host Lakeville North in the quarterfinals.

The 15 points on the mat came from pins by Chris McCue and Joe Hoeve and a three-point decision by Sam Kealy.

The outlook seemed bright early for the Tigers against North with Taylor Venz and Jamin LeDuc scoring decisions and Matt Rustad adding a fall for a quick 12-4 lead.

Later on, Brayden Chapman won by decision; Kyle Benjamin added a major decision and Joe Hoeve won by fall but North dominated the upper weights to pull away late.

"We couldn't stay off our backs," coach Chad Olson said. "We lost eight matches and seven were by fall. You can't compete against good teams when you give up bonus points."

Venz, LeDuc, Benjamin,Chapman and Hoeve all finished a perfect 2-0 at Friday night's meet.

Olson said he and his grapplers have now turned their full attention to next Friday's Section 2AAA individual tournament at Shakopee. The winners and runner-ups from that meet advance to the Class 3A state meet the following week in St. Paul.

Olson wouldn't say who the favorites to make the state field might be, only that several of his troops should be in the mix. Venz (35-2) and LeDuc (28-1) will no doubt go in with high expectations.

"Each wrestler has shared his goals/expectations with their coach," he said. "We are working to make sure they reach them."

Tiger Scoreboard: February 16, 2013

Gymnastics
Section 3AA Championships at Eagan
Farmington 3rd place with season-high 140.525 points
Kiana Lord (floor exercise) and Kylie Wharton (balance beam) qualify for state meet

Boys Basketball
Holy Angels 77 Farmington 75

Girls Basketball
Holy Angels 51 Farmington 35

Boys BB: Friday nights continue to haunt Tigers

Eli Rockett 18 points, 13 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Perhaps Farmington should consider re-scheduling its two remaining Friday night games to a Thursday...or a Monday or a Saturday night at midnight for that matter.

Fridays in February don't seem to be working out so well.

Friday night in Richfield the Tigers lost a 77-75 Missota Conference decision to Holy Angels on a shot from the lane with seven seconds to play, an almost identical ending to last Friday night's 61-59 home loss to Red Wing.

The previous Friday saw Shakopee hit a shot at the buzzer to pull out a 67-66 win. Freaky Fridays indeed.

"It was an impressive comeback by our kids," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said of the second half surge in Richfield, "but it wasn't the basket at the end that made the difference.

"We gave up too many second chance points and in the first half especially we didn't take care of the ball or defend the three very well."

The numbers bear out Wyandt's contention. The Stars bruised the Tigers with 16 offensive rebounds, most leading to easy baskets or free throw opportunities.

The visitors committed 10 of their 18 turnovers in the first half and the defense allowed seven three-pointers that enabled the Stars to hit the break with a 39-29 lead.

"It wasn't so much our half court defense," Wyandt said. "We just weren't getting back fast enough. They (Holy Angels) were getting the ball out in transition and finding the open man."

The Farmington deficit stayed in the six-to-eight points range through the early going in the second period until the Stars used a spurt to build their lead to 56-42 with eight minutes to play.

From there on it was the Tigers who put on the pressure, using their own full-court pressure and transition game to get back in it.

Darren Beenken 22 points, 9 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Thanks to a steady trip to the free throw line Holy Angels still led 75-66 with 1:15 to play.

Nick Varner started the last-ditch rally with a basket and Darren Beenken followed with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to make it 75-73 with 43 seconds left.

The Tigers forced a turnover and then after a timeout executed a perfect high-low pass from Varner to a driving Eli Rockett to tie the game.

Holy Angels responded with  drive to the hoop and the game-winner fell with six seconds remaining. Zach Speikers heaved up a prayer at the buzzer but it didn't draw iron.

"We could have called timeout after we tied it, but the thought was the momentum was with us and let's play it out," Wyandt said. "They got the penetration and hit the shot."

Beenken and Rockett each had strong outings in the losing effort. Beenken netted a team-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Rockett put together a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards.

Mac Bassett and Speikers also finished in double figures for Farmington with 14 and 10 points respectively. Varner scored eight points and handed out a team-high four assists.

The loss flattened out the Tigers season record at 11-11 and dropped them to 4-6 in the Missota Conference with four league games remaining.

The first comes next Tuesday when Northfield invades Tiger Gym. Farmington beat the Raiders 75-54 when the teams met last month in Northfield.

Boys Hockey: Ending on a high note

Jack Erickson scored twice in regular season finale (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington closed the books on its regular season with a 3-1 Missota Conference win Thursday night at Shakopee.

The victory left the Tigers with a final mark of 12-12-1 overall and 5-8-1 in Missota Conference play, good enough for a fourth place tie with Chaska. Seeding for next week's Section 1AA tournament will be held over the weekend.

Jack Erickson paced the Tiger effort at Shakopee, scoring two goals early in the third period to break a 1-1 deadlock and make sophomore goaltender Jon Seurer a winner in his first varsity start.

Quality special teams play left the Tigers unscathed in a scoreless first period that saw the visitors skate off three shorthanded situations.

The Sabers did score on their next power play opportunity early in the second period to draw first blood but two minutes later Corey Rudrud knotted the score on a goal from Zach Colaw and Justin Hyytinen.

Erickson provided the game-winner from Dallas Tucker and Justin Novak 6:32 into the final period and then scored again two minutes later when he secured the puck at center ice and took it all the way to the net.

"He (Erickson) has another gear speed-wise that allows him to gain seperation form defending players," Tiger coach Keith Revels said.

Thanks to nine Farmington  penalties and six power play opportunities Shakopee finished the night with a 30-28 advantage in shots on goal.

Zach Colaw goal, assist in final two games (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"We have been doing a nice job limiting penalties but we took more than we needed to last night," Revels said. " There was a scuffle towards the end of the game where several of them occurred. Emotions were running pretty high on both sides."

Seurer, who finished the junior varsity season unbeaten with a 96 percent save percentage, made his varsity debut a memorable one, finishing with 29 saves.

"That was a pretty amazing performance under some very tough conditions," Revels said.

Revels said he has his opinion about where his team should rank in the Section 1AA post-season pecking order but added he wasn't about to predict how the final brackets would look.

"The .500 record is comparable to the Big Nine Conference schools that we beat head to head," he said. "Mayo is the only section team to beat us and have a better record. Time will tell how the voting goes."

Opening round games are scheduled for Tuesday with quarterfinal play slated for Thursday at the higher-seeded team.

Chaska 3 Farmington 2
Tuesday the visiting Hawks scored twice in the final 3:13 to defeat the Tigers at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Colaw and Kevin Olund accounted for the Farmington goals. Colaw's score was his first of his senior season. Novak assisted on Olund's first period goal.

Tiger Scoreboard: February 15, 2013

Boys Hockey
Farmington 3 Shakopee 1

Wrestling
Section 2AAA Tournament
Farmington 57 Chaska 21
Lakeville North 45 Farmington 26

Boys BB: Nothing at the end at New Prague

Eli Rockett 12 points, 3 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Although the Tigers didn't shoot the lights out in the first half (12 of 28) of Tuesday night's 65-50 Missota Conference loss at New Prague, their patience on offense and a strong defensive effort produced a three-point halftime lead.

After the break, however, the cold shooting caught up with the visitors and down  the stretch the gas tank showed "empty" as the Trojans closed on a 26-12 run over the final eight minutes.

"We seem to have one stretch in almost every game where we go through this," Farmington coach Shane Wyandt said. "We see it on tape. We talk about before games.

"We turn the ball over or miss a lay-up and all of a sudden it snowballs. It's almost like we say 'here we go again'...And it's not one guy; it's a team thing. The only way to get over it is to play through it."

New Prague raced to an early six-point lead but the Tigers stormed back behind solid play from Eli Rockett (11 points), Zach Speikers (8) and Darren Beenken (6) to build a 28-25 lead at the break.

Farmington last led at 35-34 with 10 minutes to play on Nick Varner's basket but after that it was an uphill climb. The Trojans controlled the boards at both end of the floor and seemed to get to every loose ball the rest of the way.

"When you have your head down and are thinking about what just happened you are a step slow to the ball," Wyandt said. "It's happened in stretches before and tonight it came at the end of the game."

New Prague held its biggest lead at 65-47 before Beenken drained a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Darren Beenken 12 points, 3 assists, 3 steals (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers shot 43.8 percent from the floor but were a sub-par five-of-21 from behind the three-point arc against the Trojan zone defense.

New Prague shot 50 percent from the floor and outscored Farmington from the free throw line by a decisive 13-3.

Beenken and Rockett each finished with a dozen points to lead the Farmington scorers. Speikers and Johnny Dittman added eight apiece. Dittman, Beenken and Rockett each had three assists and Beenken came up with a trio of steals.

Things don't get any easier Friday when the Tigers head to Richfield to take on league-leading Holy Angels. Farmington upset the Stars 84-76 when the two teams met last month at Tiger Gym.

 

Girls BB: Tigers fall to No. 8 New Prague

Sofia Chadwick 18 points, 4 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers had their moments against No. 8 New Prague (3A) but in the end foul trouble, turnovers and costly defensive lapses were too much to overcome in a 60-45 Missota Conference loss to the Trojans Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.

"New Prague  was coming off of a big win over conference leader Chanhassen," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "They are playing some really good basketball right now.... I felt we were competitive despite our turnovers and lapses on the defensive end."

The visitors led by eight points at 29-21 at halftime and gradually pulled away over the final 18 minutes.

Two numbers jump off the game stat sheet, turnovers and free throws. New Prague outscored Farmington 21-2 at the charity stripe and the Tigers committed a costly 24 turnovers against the Trojans' pressure defense.

"When we handled the pressure well, we found open shooters," Chadwick said. " When we didn’t handle it, they (New Prague) capitalized on it."

As for the disparity at the foul line, the second year Tiger coach said it has been a recurring theme for her young squad this season.

"We just need to keep working hard in practice on proper defensive footwork," she said, "and the girls simply need to show more effort and energy on that end of the floor."

On the positive side, the Tiger backcourt continued to produce at the offensive end.

Abby Gallus 11 points, 4 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Guards Sofia Chadwick (18 points), Abby Gallus (12) and Alica Hett (11) comibed to score all but four of Farmington's points. 

Gallus, coming back after missing several games due to illness, netted 10 points in the first half and Hett scored all of hers after intermission.

Chadwick, Gallus and Hett each dished out four assists and Hett came up with three steals.

The Tigers hit the floor again Friday night when they entertain Holy Angels in a Missota Conference game at Tiger Gym.

Tiger Scoreboard: February 13, 2013

Boys Hockey
Chaska 3 Farmington 2

Boys Basketball
New Prague 65 Farmington 50

Girls Basketball
New Prague 60 Farmington 45

Spring Sports Registration Night March 4

The Farmington Athletics Department will hold the 2013 Spring Athletics Registration Night on Monday, March 4 at Farmington High School.

All Farmington School District parents/guardians and their sons and/or daughters who are interested in participating in spring athletics are encouraged to attend.

The Registration Night will run from 6:30-8:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m there will be sport-specific, student/parent/coaches meetings for each high school sport. Locations for those meetings will be announced that night.

It is recommended that the 2012-2013 Farmington Athletics Registration Packet be completed prior to attending this event.

The 2012-2013 Farmington Athletics Registration Packet may be picked up at any of the following locations: Farmington High School, Boeckman Middle School, and Dodge Middle School or online at the Farmington Athletics website: www.farmington.k12.mn.us/athletics

Those having completed the fall or winter sports registration packet need only pay the registration fee, complete a new emergency information form and make sure an current physical examination form is on file.

At the March 4 meeting, parents/guardians will be able to turn-in their registration packet and receive information about the upcoming athletics season.

A reminder that all students interested in participating in the athletics program must complete the registration packet and have a current Sports Qualifying Physical Examination (within three calendar years) on file before any participation is allowed. Please contact the Athletic Department to verify that a current physical examination form in on file.

2013 FARMINGTON SPRING ATHLETIC PROGRAMS:

SPORT                         LEVELS                    OFFICIAL START        FEE
Baseball                       Varsity/JV/B                 Monday, March 18           $165
Baseball                       9th grade                       Wednesday, March 13      $165
Boys’ Golf                   Varsity/JV                     Monday, March 18           $165
Girls’ Golf                   Varsity/JV                     Monday, March 18            $165
Softball                        Varsity/B-Squad/9        Monday, March 11            $165
Boys’ Tennis               Varsity/JV                      Monday, March 25           $165
Boys’ Track & Field   Varsity/JV              Monday, March 11            $165
Girls’ Track  & Field   Varsity/JV              Monday, March 11           $165
Boys’ Lacrosse            Varsity/JV                      Monday, April 1               $165
Girls’ Lacrosse            Varsity/JV                      Monday, April 1               $165
Adapted Softball         Varsity (CI &PI-7-12)     TBA                                 $165

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMS (GRADES 7-8)
SPORT                     LEVELS                       OFFICIAL START        FEE
Baseball                    8th/7th Grade                  Monday, April 1              $130 
Boys’ Golf                Middle School                 Monday, April 1             $130
Girls’ Golf                Middle School                  Monday, April 1             $130
Softball                     8th/7th Grade                   Monday, April 1             $130
Boys’ Tennis*           Middle School                 Monday, April 1             $130
Boys’ Track              Middle School                  Monday, April 1             $130
Girls’ Track               Middle School                 Monday, April 1             $130

*6th Grade Athletics participation is limited to Boys’ Tennis during the Spring 2013 season.


CONTACTS:

Farmington Athletic Office
Farmington High School
612-252-2514 (office)

Jon Summer
Athletics Director
Farmington School District
651-252-2515 (office)
jsummer@farmington.k12.mn.us

Gymnastics: Tigers 3rd in high-powered Missota

Kiana Lord 2nd in floor; 4th in all-around (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers turned in their best performance of the year on the balance beam and recorded the second best team score of the night in floor exercise to finish third overall in a high-powered field at the Missota Conference Championships held last Friday night in Red Wing.

New Prague the second ranked Class A team in Minnesota defeated Northfield, the top-ranked team in Class AA, 145-60-143-60 for top honors in the meet.

The 17th ranked Tigers put up a season-high 138.8 points, followed by Chaska/Chanhassen 135.95 and host Red Wing 125.575.

"The girls had an amazing night," Tiger coach Lynn Bauman said. "We had more ups than downs for the first time this season.

"We had our best score of the year on beam. All we need to do is clean up our bar routines this week and we should score 140 in the sections. We could be in the top three there."

Kiana Lord led the Farmington effort at the conference meet with three top 10 finishes in individual events. The talented senior placed second in floor exercise; fourth on the uneven bars and eighth in vaulting. Lord's versatile performance produced a fourth place finish in the all-around standings.

Tahra Eckert turned in a pair of top ten finishes, taking sixth in vault and eighth in all-around. Kathryn Beckett ranked sixth in floor exercise and Kylie Wharton placed seventh on the balance beam.

This Friday the girls travel to Eagan for the Section 3AA Championships where they placed third a year ago..

Boys Hockey: Tigers fly by Eagles 5-2

Grady Hauswirth 2 goals (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers bounced back from two close losses with a solid all-around effort in a 5-2 non-conference win over Bloomington Kennedy Saturday afternoon at the Bloomington Ice Garden.

Grady Hauswith scored a pair of goals and Tanner Grubb, Jack Erickson and Justin Hyytinen had one apiece for the visitors who evened out their record at 11-11-1 with two games left on the regular season schedule.

Erik Holmstrom and John Siebenaler each recorded a pair of assists for the winners and John Donnelly, Kevin Olund, Dallas Tucker and Justin Novak had one apiece as 10 different Tigers scored at least a point.

Gage Overby drew the start in goal and stopped 32 of 34 shots to post his fifth win of the season.

Hauswith and Hyytinen scored in the first period and Hauswirth and Grubb found the back of the net in the second as the Tigers took a 4-2 lead into the third.

Erickson's goal, that hit the cross bar and took a friendly Tiger bounce, closed out the scoring in the third period.

Tanner Grubb scored his 9th goal of the season (photo by Jim Lindquist)

"We had goals of not taking a period off, limiting penalties and converting our opportunities," Tiger coach Keith Revels said. "Those things had escaped us the last two games but not today.

"It was nice to open things up a bit offensively. We made some adjustments in lines that seemed to help."

Revels was also pleased with his team's discipline. The Tigers scored two power play goals and were whistled for just one penalty.

"They (Kennedy) had a guy go out on the same play so we never had a penalty kill situation," Revels said.

The Tigers close their regular season next week. Tuesday they host Chaska in their home finale at Schmitz-Maki Arena and Thursday they travel to Shakopee for another Missota Conference contest.

Boys Swimming: Rest pays off in Missota title

The Tigers add a Missota Conference championship to their Section 1AA True Team title

After Wednesday's  practice, Farmington coach Ryan Hamen had his team taper its workouts to concentrate on fine tuning its individual strokes in preparation for Saturday's Missota Conference Championships at Shakopee.

The strategy paid big dividends as the rested Tigers edged Chaska/Chanhassen 537-529 for their second conference crown in three years.

Red Wing finished a distant third with 357.5 points, followed by Shakopee with 259.5 and Northfield 176.

"What a fantastic meet," Hamen said. "We did it with a little rest and a lot of focus.  I can't wait to see what we will do when they have 10 days of a true taper to ready us for sections."

Hamen said looking at the seed times he and his staff figured Chaska/Chanhassen was the team to beat, so the pre-meet focus revolved around who had to step up in what events in order to change the outcome.

The Tigers obviously got the message.

Christopher Kirchmann 3 1sts, 2nd at conference meet (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Christopher Kirchmann had a brilliant day for the Tigers, winning the 100 freestyle and anchoring the first place 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays.  Kirchmann also took second in the 50 freestyle.

Dahlton Bell, Evan Carufel and Cristian Bell joined Kirchmann for the 200 free relay while Dahlton Bell, Cameron Molnar and Christian Bell swam the first three legs of the 400 relay.

The Tigers entered the 400 free relay, the final event of the day, with a razor-thin two-point lead over Chaska/Chanhassen but their school record time of 3:19.67 brought home the championship hardware.

The Tigers made it a clean sweep of the relays as Oliver Chow, Spencer Kabran, Brandon Dion and Carufel opened the day with a victory in the 200 medley event.

"In my five years as head coach I have never had three solid relays to bring to a meet," Hamen said.

Three other Farmington entrants produced second place points: Carufel, one-meter diving; Chow,  100 butterfly and Eric Schimmel, 200 individual medley.

Chow ranked third in the 100 backstroke as did Dion in the 100 butterfly and Dahlton Bell in the 100 freestyle.

Aaron Cochnauer chipped in with a pair of fourth place efforts in the 200 medley and 100 fly and Molnar took fourth in the 200 freestyle. Other Tiger fourth place finishers included Jonathan Bovee, diving; Dahlton Bell, 100 backstroke and Nick Stephan, 100 breaststroke.

Christian Bell scored a pair of fifth place finishes in the 50 and 100 free races and Molnar placed fifth in the 100 backstroke.

Other Top 10 Farmington finishes:
200 freestyle: 8, D. Bell; 9. Austin Kueck
200 individual medley: 9. Stephan
50 freestyle: 6. Carufel
100 butterfly: 10. Bradley Dow
500 freestyle: 6. Kueck; 9. Daniel Berg; 10. Schimmel
100 backstroke: 8. Garrett Haugen
100 breaststroke: 6. Kabran; 7. Robin DeCastro; 8. Ben Cohoon

Tiger Scoreboard: February 10, 2013

Boys Swimming and Diving
Missota Conference Championships
Farmington 537, Chaska/Chanhassen 529, Red Wing 357.5, Shakopee 259.5, Northfield 176

Boys Hockey
Farmington 5 Bloomington Kennedy 2

Wrestling: A mixed bag at Zimmerman

Joe Hoeve won his 21st match of the season against Zimmerman (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers overpowered host Zimmerman 62-16 but fell to No. 12 Anoka 41-19 in a trinagulat meet held Friday night at Zimmerman.

Tiger coach Chad Olson said the three-team non-conference get-together didn't necessarily bring out the best in his young squad.

"We did not wrestle one of our best matches," he said. "It seems like the bus ride took something out of us."

The romp over Zimmerman was helped along by 42 points gained by forfeits. Mason Hawkins (120); Brayden Chapman (138); Zach Seufer (152); Kyle Heusbourg (160); Sam Kealy (195); Godfrey Mpetey (220) and Jamie Scavone (285) all scored six points without breaking a sweat.

On the mat, Jamin LeDuc ran his season record to 26-1 with a pin in the 106-pound bout and Joe Hoeve improved to 21-12 with a fall in the 170-pound match.

Tyler Venz upped his stellar season mark to 33-2 with a major decision at 113 lbs. and Matt Rustad earned four points for a major decision in the 126-pound match-up for his 22nd win of the season.

The Tigers started quickly against Anoka with wins in the first four matches to build a 13-0 lead. LeDuc, Venz and Hawkins each won by decision and Rustad recorded his second major decision of the night.

But from there the Tornadoes reeled off nine straight wins to to put the match away. Scavone finished the night off on a positive note with a fall in the 285-pound bout.

The triangular served as a tune-up for the Section 2AAA team tournament scheduled for next week. The pairings won't be announced until Sunday but Olson said the match-ups are all but set.

"We'll be the No. 6 seed and likely end up wrestling Lakeville North," he said. "We had a great dual with North earlier this season when they beat us 31-29. Hopefully, we can flip the score this time."