Anybody that has followed Head Coach Matt Lundeen over his quarter century tenure at Redwood Valley knows he likes to throw the football.That was more than evident this season as the Cardinal aerial attack was on display in full force and put up some gawdy numbers while leaving its mark on the history books.The Cardinals averaged 340 yards a game (3,736 yards total), including 2,515 through the air.
In their first trip to State in 45 years the Redwood Valley girls volleyball team put on a solid show en route to a sixth place finish at the Class AA Meet held at the Xcel Energy Center in St.
The magical season for the Redwood Valley girls volleyball team will continue at the State Tournament following the Cardinals 3-1 win over Paynesville Saturday night in the Section 3AA title match-up held in MarshallThe Cardinals (30-3) have put together the winningest season in school history and will now advance to face Pequot Lakes (27-5) in the quarterfinal of the Class AA State Tournament today at 3 p.m.
A solid season of football came to an end Friday afternoon in Marshall as the top-rated and unbeaten JCC Huskies rolled past second-seeded Redwood Valley 38-7 in the Section 3AA title game.The Cardinals (7-4) fell behind early and the size and athleticism of the Huskies (10-0) proved too much as they rolled out to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back.Redwood Valley would crack the scoreboard late in the fourth as Ethan Louwagie connected with senior Max Fuhr on a 50-yard touchdown strike.Despite the loss it was a steady season for Head Coach Matt Lundeen’s guys as they made their way back to the Section final for the first time in three years.The trio of Louwagie, Brandon Lang and Fuhr put up some historic numbers this fall which I will highlight in an upcoming story.Lang would haul in 10 catches for 105 yards and Fuhr added three catches for 65 yards and a score.
Redwood Valley senior Brooke Zollner capped off a strong season with a competitive showing at the Class A State Individual Tennis Meet held in Minneapolis.Zollner - who finished second at the Section 3A Meet - went 1-2 at State, falling to eventual State runner-up Leah Maddock of Osakis in her opening round match.In the consolation round she would earn a 6-3, 6-0 win over Catherine Kehoe of Morris Area/MACA/WCA.“Brooke played a fantastic match,” Coach Kelly Mellgren said, “She kept the ball in play and took control of the match early.
The dynamic junior tandem of Will Ahrens and Kilen Cilek capped off a memorable 2023 campaign for the Redwood Valley Cardinals with a pair of top ten finishes Saturday at the Class A State Cross Country Meet held in the Twin Cities.Ahrens - who finished in the top five as a sophomore - led the race until the final stretch before being overtaken by Eddie Snider of Mounds Park Academy to finish in second place with a career best time of 15:40.Cilek meanwhile also secured a career best time of 16:05 to place eighth overall, joining Ahrens on the medal stand as All-State runners for the Coach Benton Kodet and the Cards.The duo helped the Cards finish fifth overall as a team with 168 team points, topping Section 3A champion Windom Area (175) who finished in sixth.Favorite Heritage Christian edged Cotter (106-114) for the title.In just the team individual scoring of the tournament, Ahrens was first, Cilek fifth, Landyn Nordby 35th (17:22), Mason Anderson 55th (17:53), Clayton Salmon 72nd (18:17), Tyler Robinson 75th (18:21) and Elway Berg 91st (18:44).It was another nice season for the Cards who have one of the most consistently solid programs in all of Class A, highlighted this year by the top ten efforts of Ahrens and Cilek.“It went by really fast,” Ahrens said of the season, “As a team we came in knowing that we had a chance to make it to state but we knew we had to work hard and put it all together when it counted.”Finishing just one second from a State individual title will now give Ahrens something to shoot for as he heads into his senior season.“I thought that going into the season I had a chance to place high at State and it was definitely in the back of my mind all year,” he said, “I’m not disappointed at all about finishing second, it gives me something to work for heading into next year.
The Redwood Valley football team destroyed an overmatched Windom Area squad 49-20 Saturday afternoon at Inglis Field to advance on to the Section 3AA title game Friday at 11:30 a.m.
The memorable 2023 season will continue at the State Meet in Minneapolis for the Redwood Valley boys and girls cross country teams as they both punched their tickets with strong performances at the Section 3A Meet held Thursday in Madison.It’s the first time since 1985 that both the boys and girls have advanced to State in the same season.
The Wabasso and Cedar Mountain girls volleyball teams will head into postseason play after strong regular seasons.The Rabbits (15-9) claimed the Tomahawk Conference title after going 7-1 but face an uphill claim in one of the toughest Sections in all of Class A and will be the number five seed with an early meeting against RCW looming.Wabasso fell 3-0 to a good Cleveland squad (25-23, 30-28, 25-18) to wrap up the regular season.Alivia Olson had 10 kills, Lyla Kittelson had eight kills and an ace serve and Avery Carlson had seven kills, 13 digs and an ace block.Sara Carlson added 34 set assists, Camryn Irlbeck had three ace blocks and Audrey Johnson added 16 digs and was 10-for-10 serving with an ace.The Cougars (19-8) meanwhile also had a strong season, finishing second in the Tomahawk alongside BLHS but also are in one of the toughest Class A Sections and will have to face the Mustangs as the five seed in opening round action.The Cougars wrapped up play against Martin Co.
The Redwood Valley football team wrapped up the regular season with a 33-21 loss to former SWC rival Luverne Wednesday night in Luverne.Despite the MEA loss to Luverne, the Cards (6-3) still wrapped up the number two seed in the Section 3AA playoffs and played host to seventh-seed LCWM Tuesday night in quarterfinal action.With a win - the Cards dominated LCWM earlier in the season - the Cards would be back in action Saturday, most likely against third-seeded Pipestone Area (6-3) at Inglis Field.The Cards had a good battle with the Arrows earlier in the season, winning 24-21 to stay ahead of the Arrows in the final seeding.State-ranked and unbeaten JCC (9-0) is the number one seed.A powerful Luverne running game proved to be the difference Wednesday night as Luverne racked up 310 yards on the ground compared to 10 for the Cards en route to a 33-21 win over Redwood Valley.It was 27-14 Luverne at the half with each team scoring a fourth quarter touchdown for the final tally.Redwood Valley had just eight first downs compared to Luverne’s 26.Redwood Valley did pick up 230 yards through the air - their bread and butter all season - as Ethan Louwagie had a nice night going 15-of-26 passing for 230 yards and three TDs.Brandon Lang had five catches for 85 yards including a 60-yard touchdown reception.Zach Wilson added three catches for 95 yards and a 63-yard touchdown for the Cards final scoring in the fourth quarter.Lane Cooper had six catches for 30 yards and Andrew Peterson had one catch for 20 yards and added his first touchdown reception of the season.Kooper Johnson had a big game defensively with 19 tackles (four solo).Jordan Matson added 15 tackles (two solo) and two tackles-for-loss, Cooper also added 15 tackles (three solo) and a tackle-for-loss.Peterson had 12 tackles (five solo), Lang added seven tackles and an INT, Ryder Crawford had three tackles and an INT and Max Dillon finished with seven tackles.Results/stats from Tuesday night’s match-up with LCWM will appear in the next issue of the Gazette.Luverne 33Redwood Valley 21