Sports

Redwood Valley senior Avery Wilson is headed back to State for the fifth and final time following a third place finish in the All-Around Saturday at the Section 3A Meet in Windom.Despite falling twice on beam, Wilson’s other three routines were nearly flawless as she finished with a total of 35.95 to earn yet another trip to State in her final season as a Cardinal.“I thought the meet went well,” Avery said, “At the beginning of the season I was hoping to put in some new skills to my routines but unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that.

Redwood Valley standout Lukas Means buried a three-pointer as time expired to help lead the Cardinals to an 88-85 win over visiting Maple River Saturday afternoon in non-conference boys basketball action.On a night when the Cardinals (20-4) almost blew a 20 point lead, Means was able to hit the clutch shot to topple the Eagles (12-13) and teammate Elway Berg buried a season-high 10 three’s - including the game-tying three with under 20 seconds to play - to help the Cardinals win their 11th game in 12 tries with just one game remaining in the regular season.Redwood Valley will be the number one seed in the upcoming Section 3AA-South postseason bracket and cemented that this past week with big wins over Fairmont and Jackson Co.

The Redwood Valley gymnastics team wrapped up the regular season with a pair of wins over MAHACA and Marshall and will now gear up for the Section 3A Meet which takes place Saturday morning in Windom.The Cards will head into the Section 3A Meet led by a foursome of seniors in Avery Wilson - a four-time State qualifier - McKenna Flinn, Olivia Stoterau and Kharma Mathiowetz.Juniors Chloe Walter and Ellie Nelson, along with Madison Ourada and seventh-grader Brynn Green have also been key contributors and will help the Cards as they face a strong Worthington team amongst others in the battle for State.“Going into Sections Worthington is definitely the favorite to go to state for the 10th year in a row,” Coach Dean Wilson said, “They are ranked as one of the top teams in Class A even with the loss of one of their top girls.” According to Wilson, Luverne has gotten healthy at the right time of the season and Pipestone has come on very strong heading into the postseason as well.“We are going to have to have an extremely good meet to get the better of some of these teams,” he said, “We have four seniors that are going to be competing in their last Sections and we’ll look to them for leadership.”Wilson is looking to qualify for her fifth straight state meet after qualifying a year ago in the All-Around.

Redwood Valley’s Ava Dillon is headed to the State Wrestling Tournament (girls) after winning the 130 pound Section title Saturday at the Section Meet held in Redwood Falls.Dillon entered competition seeded third but would dominate, going 4-0 and recording four falls, including a win by pin over Norquist of Hastings in the championship match to advance on to State.“Ava put on a show and put everyone on notice that she is gunning for a state championship,” Coach Paul Carlson said.Dillon is the first female wrestler from Redwood Valley to win a Section championship and qualify for the state tournament and will compete at the Exel Energy Center during the boys and girls state tournament at the end of February.Teammate Addison Schmidt also wrestled well and despite being seeded fifth and in a bracket with a defending state champion and two runner-ups would go 2-2 with a pair of falls to finish in fourth place.“Addison’s bracket was very tough,” Carlson said, “She fell short of her goal to get to State but wrestled some of her best matches of the season.” Ava Dillon - Section Champion 4-0First Round: Fall over Hoogland LuverneQuarter Finals: Fall over Wigern HutchinsonSemi Finals: Fall over Ferrie FCLMCFinals: Fall over Norquist HastingsAddison Schmidt - 4th Place 2-2Quarter Finals: Fall over Bly LaCrecentSemi Finals: lost by fall to Rock LuverneSemi Finals Wrestlebacks: Fall over Frank MAHACA3-4 Place: Loss by fall to Dake New UlmThe Redwood Valley Varsity Wrestling team is seeded 8th in the Section 3A Team Tournament and will compete against RRC tonight in opening round action.

The Redwood Valley girls basketball team picked up their ninth victory in 10 games with a dominating 73-53 win over host Worthington Friday night in Big South Conference action.The Cardinals (16-7) are playing well heading down the stretch and were sitting as the number three seed in the Section 3AA-South standings before hosting JCC in a crucial match-up Tuesday night.In the win over Worthington, senior Kenzie Lundeen continued her hot shooting by knocking down eight three-pointer’s to finish with 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.Kendall Huhnerkoch also reached 20 points as she would finish with 21 points, six boards and two assists and Kylee Larsen had a double-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.Morgan Kodet added seven points, six rebounds and two assists, Cali Johnson had six points, five assists and four steals and Hailyn Ourada added three points and four assists.Brynne Farasyn dished out four assists and added two rebounds and two steals.Earlier the Cards took down Lakeview 78-60 in a non-conference tilt.Huhnerkoch shot 50 percent from the floor on the way to 25 points, nine rebounds and three steals.Johnson had 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, Lundeen had 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals and Larsen added 12 points and nine boards.Kodet chipped in with six points and three rebounds and Ourada had three points, four rebounds and two assists.The Cards played host to JCC Tuesday and are winding down the regular season.

Redwood Valley senior Kenzie Lundeen came within two steals of a rare quadruple double but still recorded a triple-double in Redwood Valley’s 74-66 win over Minnewaska Area Saturday afternoon at the RVHS gymnasium.Lundeen finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals as the Cardinals improved to 14-7 on the season.Cali Johnson also had a big game as she finished with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists.Kendall Huhnerkoch added 12 points, four boards and an assist, Hailyn Ourada knocked down four three’s to finish with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists, Morgan Kodet had six points, Kylee Larsen added four points and nine boards and Brynne Farasyn had two points and an assist.Friday night the Cards rolled to a 59-36 win over Big South foe Pipestone Area as Larsen would lead a balanced attack with 18 points and five rebounds.Huhnerkoch had 14 points and four steals, Lundeen added nine points, six rebounds and six steals and Johnson had seven points, nine rebounds and two steals.Ourada added six points and three steals, Farasyn had three points and Kodet added two points and three boards.Earlier in the week the Cards lost to Section 3AA-South foe Fairmont 52-39.Huhnerkoch had 11 points and four boards, Johnson added 10 points and three steals, Lundeen had seven points, seven rebounds and four steals, Larsen had five points and nine rebounds, Ourada added three points and two boards, Kodet had two points and five rebounds and Farasyn had one point.The Cards are currently in fourth place in the tight Section 3AA-South standings.

The Redwood Valley wrestling team went 3-1 in recent dual meet action with wins over Worthington, Quad County and MAHACA.Isaiah Nelson (121), Max Dillon (145), Viktor Ortega (152), Zac Guggisberg (160) and Max Bentson (172) all won by fall in a 54-24 win.