Sports

A season that began with so much promise ended in a thud as the Benson boys basketball team lost its third-straight game, ending the season with a 50-38 loss at Litchfield in the opening round of the Section 6AA Tourney.
Benson was seeded sixth in its half of the section, while the Dragons were seeded third.  The 38 points scored was a season-low for the Braves, who have also scored 39 and 40 points this year, but have also scored a season-high 83 points during a win over ACGC.
The loss ended the Braves’ season with a 12-15 overall record and 8-8 mark within the WCC South to finish third behind ACGC (8-6) and Paynesville (8-7).
Benson started out 3-0 and 5-2 this season and was still at 9-7 late in the year before going 3-8 in its final 11 games.
Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team are Alex Forsberg, Zach Maurer, Ryan Hampton, Christian Larson, Zach Jensen, Kenny Dieter, and Jacob Goff.

Two members of the Benson-KMS gymnastics team earned All-Conference honors during the 2013-2014 season.
KMS sophomore MiKaylie Hagen and Benson senior Caitlin Flower both earned All-Conference for the Fighting Braves, while BHS senior Shayla Burns earned honorable mention.
The top 12 gymnasts from the regular-season and tournament earn All-Conference in the WCC, while 13th through 16th earn honorable mention.
This was the second-straight All-Conference honor for Hagen and Flower, while Burns, who earned All-Conference last season, just missed earning All-Conference due to missing the WCC Meet with an injury.

Photo: MiKaylie Hagen earned All-Conference honors for the Fighting Braves this season, joining Caitlin Flower.

The Benson-Morris area Storm PeeWee hockey team won the District 15 championship, which was held in Park Rapids.

They went into overtime with Alexandria before winning the berth.

The Peewees will advance to the Regional Tournament in Blaine this weekend - Feb 28 - Mar 2.

Team members are: Chase Warzecha, Jack Riley, Zach Bruns, Chase Engebretson, Kellen Erdahl, Kolby Goff.  Back Row: (coach) Chris Riley, Micah Summer, (coach) Brian Erdahl, Matthew Tolifson, Zander Perowitz, Tyler Buss, Jake Riley, Hunter Gades, Michael Ruona, Parker Klemm, Michael Halvorson, (coach) Coby Bruns.

The KMS wrestling team will send four wrestlers to the State Wrestling Tournament after they placed first or second at the Section 3A Individual Wrestling Tournament, Friday and Saturday at Pipestone Area High School.
Earning state berths for the Saints were Cody Peters at 126 pounds, Nick Meyer at 145, Zach Carlson at 160, and Chase Norton at 195 pounds.  Peters and Carlson won titles for KMS, while Meyer and Norton were second.
KMS also had four wrestlers place third, each finishing one win away from a state berth after losing true-second matches, and another two were fourth and two others were fifth.
In all, the Saints had 12 of their 14 wrestlers place in the top five of their respective weight class, and KMS wrestlers went a combined 35-22 against some of the toughest competition in the state.

The Benson wrestling team ran into three of the toughest teams in the section and the result was three losses for the Braves, who dropped to 4-13 overall and 1-6 in the conference heading into the final week of the regular-season.
Benson fell to Wabasso-RRC (63-14) and Minneota (73-0) during a triangular in Benson last Tuesday night, and then lost at Canby, Saturday, 66-6.
The Braves are set to close out the regular-season with a home match against Minnewaska Area, Tuesday (yesterday) and the Morris Invitational, Saturday.  Coming up the following week is the Section 3A Team Tournament, set to begin Thursday, Feb. 13.

Benson triangular
The Braves struggled at a home triangular last Tuesday night, losing to Wabasso-Red Rock Central (63-14) and Minneota (73-0) while winning just 3-of-28 overall matches.

The Benson girls basketball team fell twice last week, lowering the team’s overall record to 0-17 and conference mark to 0-10.
The Braves fell to NLS last Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup, 67-34, and then were routed by league-leading BOLD, Friday in Benson, 73-43.
Benson has two games scheduled this season, including a game at Morris Area-CA, Monday, and a game at home against Melrose, Thursday (tomorrow).  The Braves then go on the road for a game at KMS, Monday, Feb. 10, and at Osakis, Tuesday, Feb. 11.

The Benson-KMS gymnastics team won its seventh meet of the season, winning at Morris Area-CA, Friday night, 125.025-121.3.
The Fighting Braves closed out the conference schedule with a 3-1 record, losing only to Melrose, and are 7-2 overall heading into their final meet of the regular-season Monday at Ortonville.
Benson-KMS is also set to compete at the WCC meet at Morris, Saturday, Feb. 8, and then gets ready for the Section 6A meet, Saturday, Feb. 15.

The MBA Lady Storm picked up their third win of the season, beating Lake of the Woods for the second time this season, 2-1, in a game played Friday night in Morris. The Lady Storm, who improved to 3-10 overall, also had a game scheduled for Saturday against Worthington, but that game was postponed due to weather and the new makeup date was not known by presstime. This week, MBA is set to host Luverne in Benson, Saturday.   The Lady Storm also have another game in Benson, Tuesday, Jan. 28 against Marshall.

Photo: Nicole Berens (16) chases after a loose puck for the Lady Storm as Kayla Benson (2) tries to catch up.  The Lady Storm topped Lake of the Woods last week, 2-1, for their third win of the season.  Berens and Benson had the goals for MBA.

The Benson boys basketball team dropped to .500 for the third time this year, losing a 66-48 decision at Paynesville last Tuesday night, putting the team’s overall record at 7-7.  The Braves, who started out 3-0, have also been 5-5 and 6-6.  
Benson was also set to host ACGC, Thursday, but that game was postponed due to cold and snow.  The game will be made up as part of a girls-boys doubleheader, Friday, Feb. 14 in Benson.  On that day, the B-squad teams will take to the court at 4:30 p.m., followed by the girls varsity game at 6 p.m. and the boys game at about 7:45 p.m.
On tap this week for the Braves is a game Thursday (tomorrow), when the Braves are set to host Hancock.  Friday, Benson entertains Montevideo.

GIRLS BASKETBALL - Tough season

The Benson wrestling team had a great week, going 2-1 at the Osakis quadrangular, Friday night, and then placing second of six teams at the rescheduled Braves Wrestling Classic, Saturday.  At the Benson Tourney, senior Bryce Goff notched his 75th career win with a first-round win over a wrestler from KMS.
The Saints team won the overall title at the Benson Tourney, earning 10 individual championships on the way to the team title.
The Braves, who improved to 4-7 overall with the two wins at Osakis, were also set to compete at a triangular at Paynesville last Thursday, but that meet was postponed to Thursday, Jan. 23, making for a very busy week for the Benson wrestlers.

Photo: Bryce Goff (left) wrestles against KMS’ Alex Froehlich during the Benson Tourney.  Goff placed second for Benson, which was also second in the team compeittion, while Froelich was fifth wrestling independently.