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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It's been quite a week for Courtney Olin and her father, Dave Esse. After seven years as head coach for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team, Olin went public with a decision to leave the coaching ranks to pursue a doctorate of education degree the very same week her father was inducted into a hall of fame. Dave Esse was surprised to learn he was named to the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame last Thursday. Esse was the CEC boys hockey coach for 18 years, and coached as an...
Mother Nature has not been kind to local high school baseball teams this spring. Cold, snowy and rainy weather has caused more than normal cancellations and postponements in the northern half of the state. The Pine Knot News this week caught up with coaches for a preview of local teams this season. Cloquet Cloquet head coach Tyler Olin is looking for improvement on a team that struggled to a below .500 record last season. "We were 7-15 last year," Olin said. "We had six seniors who graduated...
While it lacked the visual excitement of scores of children running around picking up brightly colored eggs like tiny vacuum cleaners, Saturday's Skate with the Easter Bunny event was a hit with kids and parents. Everyone could skate for free indoors, with music blaring and the Easter Bunny and the Lumberjacks mascot both hitting the ice. In the lobby there was popcorn, face painting and Easter crowns to be colored. Although there were no plastic Easter eggs in sight, every child could grab a...
Nobody in the last three years has shot more hoops in the Cloquet and Fond du Lac area than Cloquet senior Conner Barney. Barney's high school career ended with Cloquet losing to Hibbing in the sectional tournament in March, but his mark on the region could be felt for many years to come. He wants to improve himself but also share his love of basketball and positive actions with youth and others. His basketball legacy is as follows: two years at Fond du Lac Ojibwe High School with 1200 points sc...
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys tennis team has struggled against rain and snow to sneak in some playing time this spring, postponing four of the first six matches because of bad weather. With 29 athletes out for the team this season, coach Derek Johnson is anticipating an exciting season. CEC will sport six seniors, one junior, one sophomore, three freshmen and the rest of the squad is made up of seventh- and eighth-graders. "We have six returning letter winners from last year," Johnson said....
It was a love affair. It's the only way to describe how people from Cloquet and the surrounding communities embraced the 1963 Cloquet High School boys basketball team. Basketball was king in Minnesota and especially the region then. It was before the hockey barn was built, Pine Valley was a relatively new ski facility, there wasn't girls' sports, there were no cellphones or ESPN, so it meant there were a lot of people going to local gyms on Friday and Tuesday evenings to get a sports rush. Cloqu...
Opening the high school softball season against one of the top teams in the area is never easy, but to open on the road when your team has not had a chance to practice outside is even tougher. That was the case for the Cloquet girls softball team Monday when they opened at Superior in a 16-1 loss to the Spartans. "It was tough on the girls because we haven't taken any grounders off dirt and only about a half hour of fly balls outside, so the adjustment was tough," said Cloquet head coach Tyler...
Opening the high school softball season against one of the top teams in the area is never easy, but to open on the road when your team has not had a chance to practice outside is even tougher. That was the case for the Cloquet girls softball team Monday when they opened at Superior in a 16-1 loss to the Spartans. "It was tough on the girls because we haven't taken any grounders off dirt and only about a half hour of fly balls outside, so the adjustment was tough," said Cloquet head coach Tyler...
The warm weather of spring and the melting snow has local track teams getting ready for another exciting season. Take a look at some of these athletes in this preview of the 2022 track and field season. Cromwell-Wright Longtime Cromwell boys and girls track coach Dave Foster welcomed 35 athletes just a couple of weeks ago. Some of the very best runners in the area sport the Cardinals logo. "On the girls side we will be very young, with no senior or junior girls this year," said Foster. "The...
It's been rousing fun tracking some of the feedback I've been receiving from my column March 4 on local high school basketball scoring records. Carlton County sports fanatics have much to be proud of with its basketball heritage. Records continue to fall and the dialogue of which specific generation of teams and individuals is the "best" is a top local coffee shop conversation igniter. Thanks to Dwight Cadwell, WKLK radio personality and local sports expert, I was corrected on who holds the...
Just a few months ago the Minnesota Wilderness were in fifth place in the North American Hockey League Midwest Division. Only the top four teams in each division make the playoffs, and the team was struggling with injuries and keeping the puck out of the net. "We were hurting at the time," said Wilderness head coach Dave Boitz. "We had a nine-game losing streak, a lot of bad luck, key injuries and we struggled to stop the puck. All of that made for a bad situation for us." Boitz, who also acts...
A year ago Katelyn Olson was waiting to take over as the Lumberjacks girls soccer team starting goaltender. Last fall she helped lead her Lumberjacks to the Class AA Minnesota state soccer tournament, where they had their best finish ever. A week ago she was told she won the prestigious Minnesota Indian Education Association's Outstanding American Indian Female Athlete award. "I was pretty surprised to find out that I had won the award," Olson said. "I am very grateful for the award and it is so...
The local softball world lost an icon last week when Roger Plachta passed away. I first got to know Roger when I coached against him in the 1990s in the Lake Superior Fastpitch League in Duluth. I eventually joined him and one of my dearest friends, Mike Sylvester, on the coaching staff at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Roger was a character in the truest sense of the word. One minute he was chewing out a player for not giving her best, the next minute he was telling her she was the best...
Cloquet Sporting Goods announced that it will be closing April 1. The downtown Cloquet store sold new and gently used sports equipment and sports apparel. The store opened in 2020, and operated under the stress of the pandemic for its entire existence. “We wanted to provide a service and store that we felt the community needed, but unfortunately something happened in the world shortly after we announced our plans to open that has made it extremely difficult to stay in business,” owners wrote on Facebook earlier this month. It appears the phy...
Fees for playing on the Lumberjacks varsity and junior varsity hockey teams may increase in the future, as part of an effort by the Cloquet school district to decrease the burden on the overall budget. During the Cloquet school board work session Monday, March 21, board members and administration discussed the expensive lease agreement with the city for use of Northwoods Credit Union Arena for hockey games and practices. Superintendent Michael Cary told the board that player fees for the...
Area fans of University of Minnesota Duluth hockey player Koby Bender, who is from Cloquet and is a former Lumberjack, came out in force in St. Paul last weekend as the Bulldogs won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff tournament at Xcel Energy Center, taking two games Friday and Saturday. Bender scored a hat trick the week before to propel UMD into the "final four" weekend and the conference tournament win. The team began NCAA tournament play Thursday afternoon in...
Cloquet High School basketball standout Conner Barney signs his commitment letter to Central Lakes College basketball March 11 with coach Jim Russell, his brother Jesus Delapaz, right, and Lumberjacks teammate Owen Defoe-Hayes looking on....
The Cloquet girls basketball team knew they would need to play their best game of the season last Thursday in the Section 7AAA championship game against Grand Rapids. The Thunderhawks had already beaten the Lumberjacks twice during the regular season, so the challenge was set. Despite a strong first half, Cloquet fell 51-39 as Grand Rapids punched their ticket to the state tournament. "Through the first half we were pretty even with them," said Cloquet coach Heather Young. "We talked about some...
The Lumberjacks faced Hibbing, the No. 1 seed of the Section 7AAA boys basketball tournament, for the third time this season Tuesday night in Hibbing. The third time wasn't a charm for Cloquet as they were downed 56-53 in a back-and-forth contest. During the regular season, the two teams split. After losing by 22 points Dec. 17, the 'Jacks rebounded by winning by 6 points Feb. 10 in Cloquet. The deciding game of the series would prove to be every bit as exciting. In Thursday's game against...
It has been quite a journey for the seniors on this year's Cloquet girls basketball team. Two years ago, the Lumberjacks won just three games. Last year they doubled that win total to six wins. On Friday night, the 'Jacks downed Hermantown 68-51 in the Section 7AAA semifinals to pick up their 20th win of the season. "I am so proud of this group of girls and how they've stayed the course and worked so hard to get Cloquet basketball back on the map," said Cloquet coach Heather Young. "They have...
Local boys basketball teams began first-round playoff action Monday night, with playoffs throughout the week with state playoff berths at stake. Section 5A Carlton County schools in the 5A tournament are Barnum and Cromwell-Wright. The Bombers, with a record of 18-8, received the No. 1 East Seed and the Cardinals, with a record of 12-12, are the No. 2 East Seed. Both teams were set to play on Thursday at home, with Barnum vs. St. John's Prep and the Cardinals facing McGregor. Section 7A The 7A...
For the second time in the history of CEC wrestling, the Lumberjacks played host to the Section 7AA wrestling meet last weekend. The meet featured the top 135 wrestlers on 12 teams in the section vying for the top two spots in each weight class and a chance to wrestle in the Minnesota state high school wrestling tournament this weekend. "The crowd and the atmosphere were amazing all weekend long," said CEC coach Al Denman. "Imagine four mats of wrestling with eight wrestlers going at it all at...
Local girls basketball teams kicked off the start of section play Monday. Here’s a breakdown of how local teams have fared and what their future may hold in the postseason. Section 7A The 7A tournament opened with No. 14 seed Carlton downing No. 19 seed Fond du Lac 48-41. Carlton’s Eliza Decaigney poured in 20 points and Megan Matarelli added 18 points. Both Madison Asleson and Haley Ableiter finished with three points for the Bulldogs. Solai Mohr and Talayah Martineau led the Ogichidaa in scoring with 28 and 13 points. The No. 15 seeded Wre...
Back on Nov. 4, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team opened its season on the road against Andover. The Huskies took a 4-0 win in that game. Flash forward to last Wednesday when the two teams battled in Andover again in the Section 7AA quarterfinals and the Huskies again prevailed, this time by a score of 7-0 over the Lumberjacks. "They have the ability to attack on the rush," said CEC coach Shea Walters. After that first loss, the Lumberjacks struggled to find wins as they ended with a...
It took a total team effort, but the Lumberjacks boys hockey team eked out a 3-2 win in their home Section 7AA boys playoff game Saturday against Duluth Marshall. The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton players wasted little time in gaining a lead. At 4:58 of the first period, sophomore defenseman Cooper Ellena gathered a loose puck in his own zone and moved it ahead on the right wing to Joey Antonutti. Antonutti raced into the Hilltopper zone and slid the puck across the crease to Noah Knutson, who slipped...
