2017 Started with State Tournament Trips for Owatonna, NRHEG

The local winter sports season or 2016-17 was wildly successful. Owatonna sent three times to state last winter and both NRHEG basketball teams appeared at state.

The Owatonna High School wrestling team came away from Xcel Energy Center with multiple trophies. Brandon Moen capped his amazing prep career with a state championship. Peyton Robb made his third finals appearance, taking second. Cade King was also a state runner-up. Each is ranked number one for the current season. As a team, Owatonna won the consolation trophy. The Westfield Razorback program made its presence known in its first year, with five individual state qualifiers. Mitchell Oswald took third place and Colton Krell finished fourth. Four of the five qualifiers are back this season.

Owatonna gymnastics finished in third place at the state meet in their second straight appearance at state. Lindsay Bangs captured fourth place in the individual all-around. The Huskies return most of their varsity lineup this winter.

NRHEG basketball enjoyed a first-of-its-kind winter season with BOTH the girls and boys basketball teams advancing to state. For the boys, it was their first-ever trip. Their state quarterfinal game featured a buzzer-beating shot to get to overtime. Though the Panthers lost that game, they bounced back to take the consolation title, just as the girls had the week before.

Owatonna’s Adaptive Floor Hockey team made the state tournament field again after a great season but got upset by Maple Grove in the quarterfinals.

The Dodge County girls hockey team turned in another memorable section tournament run, but fell short of the finals in 2017, losing in four overtimes at Lakeville South. The Owatonna girls lost to Northfield in the 1A semifinals last winter. The teams had met the previous season in the 1A title game, won by Northfield. Both teams make the jump to Section 1AA this winter.