A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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Last January former Cloquet-Esko-Carlton and UMD hockey player Karson Kuhlman was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Kraken of the NHL. Kuhlman, who played parts of four seasons with the Boston Bruins, signed a one-year deal last week to stay in Seattle with a chance to see significant playing time this season. According to the Kraken website, the deal was worth $825,000. "It was a good change of scenery and gives me an opportunity to become a more-regular player in Seattle," said Kuhlman.... Full story
A new musical created by two Cloquet High School alumni sets a spotlight on women's health along with the pitfalls of navigating a complex healthcare system through the lively, upbeat lens of musical theater. Soon to make its debut in Minneapolis at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, "Endometriosis: The Musical" is the hilarious and heartfelt passion project of co-authors and lifelong friends Maria Bartholdi and Kristin Stowell. The duo have been writing music together for about as long as they've... Full story
This year's winners of Grandma's Marathon were Dominic Ondoro and Dakotah Lindwurm, but Carlton County's Brent Smith quietly set his own record, becoming the fastest men's marathon runner in the state for his age group. Smith actually set two records on June 18. The Cloquet Class of 1974 alumnus - who also set a Grandma's Marathon record in the 65-to-69 age group last year - beat his own Grandma's record and ran the fastest time ever recorded by a Minnesotan age 65 and older. The now... Full story
Hot weather and high winds made play at last week's Class AA Minnesota state golf tournament especially challenging for the Cloquet boys golf team, along with a little less experience on the team than in previous years. The Cloquet boys, the defending state champions, made their fifth consecutive trip to the state golf meet held at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan last Tuesday and Wednesday, June 14-15. It followed a dominant win at the Section 7AA tournament, where the Lumberjacks won by a remark... Full story
The Cloquet boys and girls track team headed south to the state track meet last week and came away with a number of top performances, including a state champion. "It was really fun to have such a group at the state meet," said coach Tim Prosen of the Thursday-Friday meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School. "As coaches, we were running around between the track, the jumpers' area, throwing area, and so forth. It was difficult to watch everything and cheer our athletes on because they were comp...
For the first 17 of his 18 years coaching Cloquet boys and girls track, head coach Tim Prosen and his team have been the small fish in the big pond. Cloquet was among the smallest schools in the state in Class AA. That all changed this year when the Minnesota State High School League went to a three-class system for track, leaving Cloquet in AA and moving the largest schools into Class AAA. Last week the Lumberjacks benefitted from competing on a more-even playing field by having 23 athletes... Full story
The Cloquet Lumberjacks baseball team was eliminated from the Section 7AAA tournament in the second round Thursday in a 5-2 loss to the Bluejackets in Hibbing. After giving up a single run in the first inning, the 'Jacks gave up three more in the third inning and fell behind 4-0. Alec Turnbull got the nod on the mound and pitched well, but the Lumberjacks defense struggled to make plays, leaving the door open for Hibbing. "I thought Alec did a nice job pitching for us," said Cloquet head coach T... Full story
After opening the Section 7AAA softball tournament with a win over Grand Rapids, the Cloquet Lumberjacks were eliminated with back-to-back losses to Chisago Lakes and Hibbing Saturday. The Lumberjacks dominated Grand Rapids in the early part of last Wednesday's section opener and raced to an 11-3 lead after three innings. Then the Thunderhawks found a way to answer with nine runs in the fourth to gain a 12-11 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cloquet scored five runs to shut the door on... Full story
As the defending champions and the No. 1 seed in the Section 7A baseball tournament, South Ridge will be a tough out for any team. On Tuesday, May 31, the Panthers began defending their crown by enjoying a first-round bye and then notching a 9-1 win over Cromwell-Wright, the No. 9 seed. "We played well overall," said Panthers head coach Aaron Weber. "We came out hitting right away, but our bats slowed down as the game wore on." The Panthers threw four pitchers in the game including starter... Full story
A big second inning was just too much for the Cloquet baseball team to overcome in their Section 7AAA opening-round loss to Hermantown. The Hawks parlayed the six-run inning into a 7-3 win over the 'Jacks. "That big inning could have been prevented," said Cloquet coach Tyler Olin. "We had two outs, but a walk and error kept them alive and then they had several hits after that to give them the big inning." The game was scheduled as a home game for the higher-seeded Hawks, but the game was moved... Full story
Eighth-grader Ethan Lavan played at Cloquet's No. 1 singles player this season, and the youngster didn't disappoint. Lavan took third place in the individual Section 7A tournament, missing a trip to state by one place. He was the only middle school student in the tournament to make it to the semifinals. Coach Derek Johnson said Lavan did a good job at No. 1, and his youthful appearance was an advantage in some cases. "A lot of 1 singles players are juniors or seniors so when they see 'Little E'... Full story
The Cloquet High School boys golf team, the defending Minnesota State Champions, are heading to the state tournament once again. On June 1 and 2, with windy and chilly conditions, the boys won the Section 7A crown unequivocally at the Quarry golf course at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. The top three individuals in the two-round meet were all Cloquet players. With difficult playing conditions, Cloquet was led by junior Karson Patten with a score of 153 (76-77), sophomore Anders Gunelson 157 (77-80),... Full story
In the "clichés are clichés because they are true" department, I offer one here: Newspapers record the first draft of history. For me, there is nothing like going back into newspaper archives and reading first accounts of events, historic and not so historic. It's a passion of mine in downtime, rabbit holes to get lost in. And so it was recently when I went about following up on a reader query about where in the world was the trophy for the 1963 Cloquet basketball team that finished second in th... Full story
The Cloquet Country Club’s paved parking lot on Monday was packed with regular-sized buses, short buses, vans and cars delivering kids from all over northeastern Minnesota to a tournament hosted by Cloquet High School. Per Cloquet boys head coach Aaron Young, there were 12 boys teams and four girls teams, with just more than 100 golfers. “The weather was cool, but partially sunny and dry, so it cooperated,” Young said. “It was a very successful event.” The Cloquet boys varsity golf team — the de... Full story
The Cloquet girls softball team is playing its best ball of the season, and just in time for playoffs. Cloquet beat North Branch 7-2 at Braun Park last Thursday, May 19. The win was a sweet one for the Lumberjacks, as the Vikings are the defending Section 7AAA champs. Head coach Tyler Korby called it a "statement win." "The girls executed our philosophy really well. We like to play small ball and run and put pressure on teams," Korby said. "We have some kids who can really book; they just kept... Full story
A four-run first inning was enough to propel the South Ridge boys baseball team to a 4-1 win over the Cloquet Lumberjacks Monday night in Culver. The game marked the return of Tyler Olin to the school and players he coached to their first state tournament a few years ago. Olin is now the head coach in Cloquet, while Aaron Weber took the helm of the Panthers program after Olin's departure and has continued to build the program at South Ridge. "It was actually very enjoyable for me to be back,"... Full story
Unlike high school basketball and hockey - which have competitive seasons for four months - high school golf in northeastern Minnesota can have seasons lasting closer to one month. "April was some tough weather, with both windy and wet conditions," said Cloquet golf boys head coach Aaron Young, noting that the Cloquet Country Club did not open this year until May 5. "Now, we're trying to play catchup with golf meets and practice." As the 2021 Minnesota Class AA boys state champions, Cloquet is... Full story
Cloquet High School hosted the Section 7AA True Team meet on Tuesday afternoon under sunny skies and temperatures that zoomed into the 80s. It was the first real warm day for track athletes, giving them a chance to show their abilities. "It was kind of a day out of character as far as how this spring has gone," said Cloquet coach Tim Prosen. "It has been a rough start to the track season as far as the weather goes, but today (Tuesday) it was beautiful." The True Team meet was established in 1987... Full story
Ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic - including shortened and canceled sports seasons - contributed to the end of Jerry Erickson's 50-plus years of coaching youth sports. The Cloquet legend successfully coached both boys and girls basketball and high school baseball well into his 70s. In the 1970s, Erickson coached two Cloquet baseball teams that made it to the Minnesota state high school tournament at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Cloquet... Full story
Dennis Nelson brought in this photo of his maternal grandfather (back row, third from right) taken in the early 1900s. He figures it's a group of lumberjacks who went to the photography studio, where they borrowed suits for the occasion, but he's not sure. Nelson knows the identity of only two of the people pictured: his grandfather, Louis Flesvik Johnson, and his grandfather's brother, name unknown, who is pictured in the back row, first on the left. "He (LFJ) came here in 1903 from Norway. He...
Prior to winning the state championship last Wednesday, April 27, members of the Cloquet High School Econ Team ran past cheering crowds in the hallways of the high school ... dressed in two-piece suits and carrying giant binders filled with study guides. The school did everything it normally does for a sports team bound for state, even providing a police escort (school officer Elijah Haglund, who jogged down the hallways behind them). Then the team got down to business, pulling up chairs around... Full story
After weeks of cold, rainy and snowy weather disrupting game schedules, the Cloquet softball team has been busy over the last few days. Last Friday the Lumberjacks bombed Milaca 17-0, and Monday they pounded Virginia 10-0. On Tuesday they opened their home season with a resounding 9-4 win over Duluth Denfeld. Prior to the Milaca game, the 'Jacks had also picked up their first win of the season against Duluth Marshall last week. "It feels great to finally get on our own field," said Cloquet... Full story
Cloquet boys volleyball returns for its fourth year as a club sport, and expectations are high. This is the first year the Lumberjacks are fielding two teams, with 19 kids signed up including, for the time, players from Esko. Kelsey Motzko is back as head coach for the fourth year since the sport started, but only the third season due to Covid-19 cancellation in the spring of 2020. She's excited by the number of kids out for the season. "It's awesome, just the people that want to play up here,"... Full story
It's a task that's loomed large since Erin Bates took over as Cloquet Community Education director almost 18 months ago: find a new home for Li'l Lumberjacks Learning Center. Mission accomplished. In September, Li'l Lumberjacks and the entire Kids Corner program will move into a new facility at Pine Tree Plaza - most recently a furniture store - after extensive renovations inside. "We needed to relocate Li'l Lumberjacks, it was either that or potentially close the program," Cloquet... Full story
