It was a great year for sports throughout Waseca County as many sports teams and individuals found success in their respective seasons.
Let’s take one last look back at all of the biggest topics from the world of sports in Waseca County this year. We came up with a list of 10 topics that caught the attention of us and our readers in 2024.
10. Keegan Kuball repeats as heavyweight champ
Going into the 2023-24 wrestling season, it was to be expected that WEM/JWP’s Keegan Kuball would have another great season has he was the reigning Class A 285 pound state title champion.
Kuball held the number 1 ranking in his weight class all season long in Class A as he finished the season with a 38-4 record heading into the Section 2A meet. The then-junior once again won the section championship and was bound for a chance to claim a state championship for the second straight year.
Kuball ended up winning against West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville’s Will Rustan in the final round to become a two-time state title winner.
{p dir=”ltr”}“(This year) was a little bit harder pressure-wise going in thinking you’re the No. 1 guy ranked in the state and defend your title,” Kuball said at the state meet. “But also you’re a wrestler, you’re a person. Everybody loses. I had four losses this year and almost all of them were in state finals. Wrestle good wrestlers, you lose good matches and that gets you ready for matches like tonight. That gets you ready to win another state title.”
Kuball was joined at the 2024 state meet by teammates Carson Petry (127 pounds) and Avery Fall (189 pounds). Petry finished in fourth place in his class, making him an all-state wrestler while Fall had an arm injury that saw his season end in a forfeit.
All three wrestlers are back this year for the Grizzlies in their final high school seasons. Kuball will continue his wrestling career at Ausburg University in 2025 after his high school career comes to a close.
9. Bluejays compete at track and field and cross country state competitions
The Waseca Bluejays had a great year on the running track in both the spring and fall seasons as their track and cross country teams had great seasons that ended at state.
For the track and field team, the Bluejays had six athletes compete in the MSHSL Class AA championships and had four total podium finishes.
Brooklyn Flatau finished fifth in the 100m hurdles, Kalea Sartori finished ninth in shot put, and Damarius Russell finished ninth in the 100m dash for the Bluejays in individual events.
The Jays also had one relay team in the 4x100m relay race as Russell, Carson Ohnstad, Jordan Johnston, and Bennett Ludwig finished in ninth place.
For cross country, the 2024 season saw the girls team qualify for state as a team after finishing in second place in the Section 1AA championships. Isaac Feldkamp also ran at state after he qualified as an individual from the boys team.
At sections, the girls team was led by senior Callie Dufault and seventh-grader Ellie Kopischke as they finished in fifth and sixth place. Feldkamp finished in eighth place at sections to compete at state for the fourth straight year as an individual in Class AA.
“It was a fun experience throughout the years, having the friends run with me really motivated me to run the best I could every race,” Feldkamp said at the state meet looking back at his cross country career.
The state meet was Dufault and sophomore Stella Omtvedt’s third year competing at the competition as they both qualified as individuals in 2023 and competed with the whole girls team in 2022.
8. Waseca co-ops with Faribault following 4-OT loss to Winona in playoffs
2024 saw the Waseca girls hockey team in the headlines many times due to how their 2023-2024 season ended and how their 2024-2025 season started.
Last season ended in thrilling and heart-breaking fashion for the Bluejays, as they travelled to Winona for a Section 1A quarterfinals match-up against the Winhawks.
The game ended up going to four overtimes as the two teams were tied at 1 at the end of regulation. The two teams were dead even throughout the match, as they both ended up with 54 shots at the end of the game.
Waseca’s defense and goalie Ilamay Draheim’s dominant performance against the Winhawks were not enough though as they lost to Winona as the Winhawks scored six minutes into the fourth overtime period.
It was a long offseason for the Bluejays after the playoff loss, but there were many things to be optimistic about for the team.
“You can’t forget about a game like that,” said Benson right before the 2024-25 hockey season. “It motivated our girls, a lot of offseason work was done. It seems like every time I saw them in the summer they wanted to talk about that game, same with people in the community. It made you excited for the next year to hopefully have better success in the playoffs.”
For the 2024-25 season, Waseca co-opted with Faribault to form the South Central Flyers, as both teams were short on numbers when it came to players.
Draheim returned to the newly-named team, as she had broken many school records for Waseca as a goalie entering her sophomore season, including the most shots faced in a career and the most saves in a career.
Draheim set another school record at the start of the 2024-25 season as she now has the most career shutouts for Waseca. Waseca has a different team for their girls hockey program, but they still have one of the best goalies in the country, and she is only a sophomore.
7. Panthers have great season with sisters at the helm
The NRHEG Panthers girls basketball team for the 2023-24 season had a unique group of players, as they had a pair of triplets and a pair of twins on the team.
Senior triplets Faith, Preslie, and Hope Nielsen and sophomore triplets Cam and Quinn VanMaldeghem were all key pieces to the Panthers team that went 20-8 on the season and 7-3 in conference play.
The Panthers won against Waseca in the Section 2AA south subsection quarterfinals 55-39 and won against St. Clair in the semifinals to have them face off against Gopher West divisional rival Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.
The game was a great battle as the two teams were very well familiar with each other. The Panthers won against the Buccaneers two times in the regular season, but they couldn’t get it done in the Section 2AA south subsection championship as they lost to WEM 55-43.
“You know, I think if we would’ve stayed out of foul trouble and we had a couple more minutes it would’ve been fun to see how it could’ve ended,” said Peterson after the game. The Panthers went into foul trouble in the second half and it caused NRHEG to change how they played.
WEM went onto win against Glencoe-Silver Lake in the Section 2AA championship and played in the Class AA playoffs. For the Panthers, their season ended in heartbreaking fashion against their rival, but it was still a successful season for them.
While the Nielson triplets are no longer on the team, the VanMaldeghem twins are currently in their junior seasons on the team and will look to lead the Panthers for another two years.
6. Bulldogs and Panthers face off in two close battles during football season
The JWP Bulldogs and NRHEG Panthers are not strangers to one another, especially when it comes to football as they are in the same section and are Waseca County rivals.
So it was exciting to have them face off against each other yet again in the regular season in 2024 and also for a second time in the Section 2AA quarterfinals.
The teams met each other in the seventh regular season game on Thursday, Oct. 10 in New Richland. NRHEG was entering the game 3-3 while JWP had just one victory in the season.
JWP had a 14-6 lead at halftime after scoring on a touchdown pass from Daulton Bauer to Landon Johnson in the final seconds of the second quarter. NRHEG tied the game up at 14 in the third quarter, but a 65-yard pass play from Bauer to Johnson had the Bulldogs take the lead once again.
JWP ended up winning 21-14 to retain the golden brick after NRHEG won it in the 2023 season. The Panthers had one more chance to get it in 2024 though as the teams met again in the playoffs on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
JWP and NRHEG ended up having the same record at 3-5 at the end of the regular season, as the Bulldogs were awarded home-field advantage in the Section 2AA quarterfinals game with their win over the panthers in the regular season.
It was another nail-biter against the two teams, as the Bulldogs narrowly had the lead at the start of the fourth quarter at 18-16. NRHEG scored on a run by Harbor Cromwell to go up 22-18 after an unsuccessful 2-point conversion, but the Bulldogs scored with just 10 seconds left on a run by Lucas Morsching. The Bulldogs went up 25-22 and won the second match-up between the two teams in the season.
5. Bluejays make section championship appearance despite quarterback uncertainty
An injury to quarterback Jordan Johnston during the basketball season left an big question mark at the quarterback position for the Waseca Bluejays football team to start the 2024 season.
The Bluejays were coming off of a 2023 season which saw them win the Section 3AAA championship and they looked to repeat as champions in the 2024 season.
Senior Carson Ohnstad was named the starting quarterback for the season, as he transitioned to the position after being a solid wide receiver and cornerback for the team.
Through four games at QB, Ohnstad threw for over 200 yards in each game and had a total of 956 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran for four touchdowns and 159 yards. The Bluejays won three straight games with Ohnstad under center after losing their season-opener on the road against Stewartville.
The Bluejays had to put another player in the quarterback position in their homecoming game against Jordan though, as Ohnstad was ejected late in the game against Belle Plaine the week prior. The Bluejays put freshman Kellen Klinger under center and he excelled, completing 28 passes for 365 yards, which were both school records.
Waseca ended up keeping Klinger under center after the homecoming game and moved Ohnstad back to wide receiver and defensive back for the remainder of the season. This ended up being a win-win as the Bluejays still had a reliable quarterback with Klinger and returned Ohnstad to his comfortable positions as he is a solid defender and receiver alongside Damarius and Deron Russell.
With Klinger as the QB, the Bluejays finished the season 7-1 and received a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They ended up facing Jordan again at home in the Section 3AAA semifinals, shutting them out 28-0 to advance to the section championship game yet again.
After winning against them 21-13 the year prior in the championship, the Jays ended up losing 17-12 to them finishing their season. It was still a successful season for the Jays as they overcame their QB obstacles to finish 8-2 on the season.
4. Waseca girls tennis head to state as a team for first time in 12 years
Rochester Lourdes were section team champions for 25 straight years in girls tennis entering the 2024 season. Being in a section with them can be daunting for a team, but for the Waseca girls tennis team, they overcame the barrier that was the Lourdes and won the Section 1A team championship to compete in the state tournament for the first time since 2012.
The Bluejays, were in Section 2A when they won the section championship 12 years ago, received a bye as the number one seed in the Section 1A playoffs and faced off against Cotter in the semifinals and Cannon Falls in the championship.
Cannon Falls also received a bye in the first round of the playoffs and were a tough opponent for the Jays. Waseca ended up winning two singles matches and two doubles matches to win 4-3 over Cannon Falls and win the section championship.
The Bluejays went on to compete in the state tournament in Class A. Vivian Mader also competed in the Class A singles tournament as she finished as the Section 1A runner-up.
3. Willingham brothers continue dominance at the college level
Malik and Kyreese Willingham were exceptional athletes for the Waseca Bluejays as they continued their basketball careers at the next level after Malik graduated high school in 2019 and Kyrese graduated in 2021.
They both went to Minnesota State University, Mankato for college to continue playing basketball. After Kyreese won the MSHSL Class AA Championship in his senior season, he joined Malik to become a Maverick to win championships at the next level.
The two brothers did just that together this year as not only did the Mavericks win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championship, but they also won the NCAA Division II National Championship.
In the conference championship tournament, Malik was named the MVP of the tournament as he averaged 23 points a game. Kyreese was also a huge factor in the tournament, averaging 18.3 points per game and being named to the NSIC all-tournament team.
The Mavericks went 29-2 on the season heading into the NCAA DII men’s basketball tournament and earned a top seed in the Central Region bracket.
MNSU ended up advancing to the national championship game against Nova Southeastern. The game came down to the final seconds as it was tied at 85. Kyrese hit a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to have the Mavericks win their first ever Division II championship.
“That’s why you play sports, to get to play for a championship, and if you’re not gonna live with that goal or work hard to get there, there’s no reason for you to compete that way.” said Malik at a community day in Waseca hosted by him and his brother over the summer.
After just missing out on winning a championship together in high school, the Willingham brothers got the job done in college with the Waseca community 30 miles away cheering them on during the journey.
2. Waseca boys basketball win section championship after struggles to start season
The 2023-24 season was one of ups and downs for the Waseca boys basketball team, but they overcame obstacles to win the Section 2AA Championship
They started the season 5-5 but finished the regular season 16-9. They were first at the top of the Big South East Division and lost to New Ulm in the Big South Showcase.
The Jays went onto win four games in a row in the section playoffs as they faced off against Belle Plaine in the Section 2AA Championship after winning against Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial in the Section 2AA South Subsection Championship.
The Bluejays won 70-66 against the Belle Plaine Tigers to secure their first section championship since the 2020-21 season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group, this is a group that around Christmas time wasn’t playing very good basketball and we struggled with getting stops, getting good shots and turning the ball over,” said Waseca head coach Seth Anderson after the section championship win. “Every month we just were a little bit better and we’ve played some really good basketball here late in the year.”
1. Keith and Wikan finish record-breaking gymnastics seasons for Bluejays on state podium
Waseca had many of its athletes compete at state competitions this year, and the first athletes to do so in the calendar year might have had the most memorable runs as Layla Keith and Bella Wikan’s competing at the state tournament is Waseca County News’ top sports topic of 2024.
Keith had an incredible year in gymnastics as she broke many school records in the regular season. Keith ended up earning an individual bid to compete in the MSHSL State Championship along with Wikan, who also broke school records during the season.
Wikan finished in first place in bars at the Section 2A meet, posting a score of 8.925 which was just 0.075 points short of the school record that she owns.
“It’s my first year getting to see the competition just because I just moved here this summer,” the junior said of the Section 2A field. “A lot of hard work I had to put into it to be able to get to that top three spot, but I definitely think that the hard work pays off every time.”
Keith earned her spot at the state competition by finishing third on the floor.
“Last year was kind of like my run through and now I’m a little more prepared, both mentally and physically,” said Keith at the section meet. “Now I have Bella coming too, so I have a friend with me and I think it’ll be better.”
Wikan posted a score of 9.325 on the bars at state, which was good for a fourth-place finish. Keith finished in sixth-place with her floor routine, as this was her second year at state after finishing in 36th place on the floor in 2023.
“This is the fifth time that I have brought gymnasts to State to compete at this level and the caliber of gymnastics has gone up so much in 10 years, and I am super proud to have our school represented at such a meet,” said Waseca head coach Kim Wendland at the state meet. “The competition was incredible and Bella and Layla not only showed that they deserved to be there, but they were among the top gymnasts to compete with their podium finishes.”