Rampage Wrestlers Close Out Regular Season

In their final meets together before splitting up for sectional competition, the Richfield/Edina wrestling team saw a fair share of success in the concluding competitions of the regular season. On the hardcourt, however, the Richfield girls basketball team took a shot to the bow against a conference foe and lost out on its lofty perch atop Class AAA before re-asserting itself against a storied rival.

Richfield/Edina Wrestling

The wrapped up its regular season on Feb. 9 with a convincing 58-16 defeat of visiting Fridley as 12th graders James Lettow (132 lbs.), Gyasi Lymon (152), Jake Hardacker (170), Will Youel (182), David Nelson (220) and Willie Kusnier (HWT) all earned wins on Senior Night.

The victory came five days after the Rampage claimed all-conference honors from Obsa Ali (113) Lettow and Mike Dyer (HWT) as the trio each took second place in their weight brackets at the Classic Suburban Conference individual tournament Feb. 4.

Christian Wellens (126), Chandler Arredondo (195) and David Nelson (220) each placed third and were awarded honorable mention laurels at the meet.

Richfield and Edina must again split for sectional competition with the Hornets heading to Section 2AAA and the Spartans competing in 5AA. Richfield begins its team sectional at Totino-Grace High School on Saturday, with individual sections following on Feb. 24-25 at Fridley High School.

Richfield Girls Basketball

The dropped from its top spot in the Class AAA rankings last week, but hung on to the Classic Suburban lead after splitting its pair of circuit games against Simley and Hill-Murray.

Simley handed the Spartans their first conference loss of the year on Feb. 6, topping visiting Richfield 61-58 in Inver Grove Heights for the team's first setback since a loss to Edina on Jan. 19.

However, the Spartans boinced back to complete the regular-season sweep against Class AAA rival Hill-Murray by blasting the eighth-ranked Pioneers 64-42 on Feb. 10.

leads Richfield with an average of 21.0 points-per-game and closed out last week tied for eighth in the state with 441 points; Sierra Washington is second on the Spartans with 10.7 ppg, followed by at 10.4 ppg, at 9.8 ppg and Hailey Lindblom at 8.3 ppg.

Richfield, currently ranked third in Class AAA, brings an 18-4 overall record and a conference mark of 9-1 into this week. The Spartans are scheduled to host North St. Paul on Tuesday and Mahtomedi on Friday, with both games to top-off at 7 p.m.

Richfield Boys Basketball

The enters this week nestled in third place in the Classic Suburban standings with a 7-4 circuit record after splitting its pair of conference matchups last week.

After a 75-73 home win over Henry Sibley on Feb. 6, the Spartans fell 89-81 at Hill-Murray on Feb. 10 to bring the team's overall record to 12-6 as Richfield prepares to play three games on the road this week.

The Spartans first travel to South St. Paul on Tuesday night, followed by a non-conference contest at St. Paul Johnson on Wednesday before closing out the string with another Classic Suburban matchup at Mahtomedi on Friday. Next week, Richfield returns home for the first of a four-game homestand to close out February.

Shawn Bear continues to lead the Spartans with an average of 17.1 ppg, followed by Jared Noonan at 15.3 ppg and Dashawn Jones at 13.2 ppg.

Richfield Boys Hockey

After losing five games in a row at home, the claimed its first conference victory of the season on the road before once again falling on its home ice to split its pair of contests last week. 

The Spartans improved to 8-12-1 overall and 10-7 in the Classic Suburban with a 6-4 defeat of Henry Sibley in West St. Paul on Feb. 9, but South St. Paul hung a 5-3 loss on the home side at Richfield Ice Arena on Feb. 11 -- the sixth loss in seven games for the Richfield since the team hit a high water mark of 7-7-1 on Jan. 14.

Mick Dhein leads the Spartans with 63 points, followed by Tyler Martinez at 56 points and Sam Schrick at 41 points. 

Richfield concludes its regular season this week, heading out on the road for games at Mahtomedi on Tuesday and at Simley on Thursday night before returning home for its final pre-playoff game against St. Louis Park at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

Holy Angels Girls Hockey

The Section 5A playoffs were over nearly as fast as they began for the girls hockey team as Blake ended the Stars' season with an 8-0 defeat in the postseason opener on Feb. 9 at Parade Ice Gardens in Minneapolis. 

Amanda Navratil finished the season as the team's top scorer with seven goals and 11 total points; Navratil and Julia Coulter tied for the team high in assists with four apiece. 

Holy Angels concluded the 2011-12 campaign with an overall record of 4-22, the Stars were 1-11 in Missota Conference play.

Holy Angels Girls Basketball

The Holy Angels girls basketball team lost its 10th and 11th games in a row last week, falling  to 5-17 overall and 0-10 in the Missota with another two conference setbacks.

Host Red Wing topped the Stars by a 66-42 score on Feb. 9 before Holy Angels returned home to be beaten 70-49 by Chanhassen the next night. 

Evan Wise leads the Stars with a 10.8 ppg average, followed by Kate Banovetz at 10.3 ppg. 

Holy Angels is on the road for two games this week, playing at Farmington on Tuesday and at Shakopee on Friday. 

Holy Angels Boys Basketball

There was only one game to be played last week for the Holy Angels boys basketball team and the Stars made it a good one, defeating host Chanhassen 60-54 on Feb. 10 to improve to 10-8 overall and 4-4 in the Missota.

Danny Sullivan led Holy Angels with 15 points in the win, with Delshon Strickland scoring 12 points and Jordan Dembley 10 points on the night. 

The Stars stay home for both of their games this week, hosting Farmington on Tuesday and Shakopee on Friday; both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.

Holy Angels Boys Hockey

Wins of 3-2 over Northfield on Feb. 6 and 9-0 versus Chaska on Feb. 9 ran the Holy Angels boys hockey team's streak of non-losses to six games.

The Stars, 8-13-2 overall and 8-3-2 in the Missota, conclude the regular season on Tuesday at Red Wing.

Mario Bianchi has all-but clinched the team's scoring title with 52 points so far, with Tony Haeg and Frankie Mork following up with 40 and 36 points, respectively.