What a week for local sports teams

Last Thursday at Public School Stadium in Duluth, both Barnum (7A) and Moose Lake-Willow River (7AA) punched their tickets for the state football tournament, while Cromwell-Wright’s nine-man football team added its name to the list Friday in a 5A section upset over McGregor.

Then Saturday, Esko’s Marisa Shady shocked the world – and herself – by winning the girls state cross country meet. That night she watched the Esko volleyball team advance to its first state volleyball tournament since 2004, beating Hermantown in three straight games for the section championship.

This Thursday-Friday-Saturday will be equally eventful for Carlton County sports teams.

On Thursday, Esko volleyball (which was unseeded in the tournament, despite having the second-best record) plays fourth-seeded Stewartville (25-5) on Court 2 in a 5 p.m. Class AA quarterfinal at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. If they win, the Eskomos will play at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of the Hutchinson (25-3) -Visitation (25-5) game.

On Friday, Moose Lake-Willow River will compete in the Class AA quarterfinals against Eden Valley-Watkins (11-0) at 5 p.m. at St. Cloud State. That game will be broadcast live on WMOZ-FM 106.9.

Saturday, also at St. Cloud State, Barnum (10-1) will play Minneota in a Class A state tournament quarterfinal at 3 p.m. If Barnum and/or Moose Lake-Willow River win, they will advance to the state semifinals the following weekend.

Closer to home on Saturday, Cromwell-Wright (6-4) will face Mountain Iron-Buhl (10-1) in a Nine-Man quarterfinal at noon at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth. That game will be broadcast live on WKLK-FM 96.5.

Want to know results? Keep an eye online, as Pine Journal sports writer Tyler Korby will be blogging on the games. Find Korby’s blog, “Beyond the Sports Page” under “Staff Blogs” on the right side of the Pine Journal homepage at

www.pinejournal.com.

Tags: news, sports, football, volleyball, preps