Gaughan and Tryggeseth begin Junior League Hockey

Seniors Josh Gaughan and Buzz Tryggeseth have decided to play Junior League hockey next year. The Junior program is available to athletes who are 20 years old or younger. It is also available to high school students and graduates who want to get better before playing college hockey.

Gaughan tried out to play for the Alexandria Blizzards on May 3 and got drafted by them. Getting drafted means they are interested in you, and they take your rights, and that means no other team can have you.  If you are one of the first picks you are most likely going to make the team. To officially make the team Gaughan has to go to the teams main camp on August 2nd-4th to show the coaches he can play well and his the way he plays is consistent. The people that attend this camp are all the draft picks and all of the players from the previous year who are still eligible.

Tryggeseth was the first draft pick for the Alaska Avalanche team. To make the team for sure his main camp will be in Andover on July 23rd- 25th.  When asked why he wants to do this instead of go to college Tryggeseth said, “to be successful in hockey you kind of have to play Juniors if you are not already good enough to play Division l hockey right after high school.”

The Blizzards and the Avalanche are both Tier ll Junior A teams. The highest level is USHL , which would be Tier I and then one step down from that is Tier II Junior A, which is what the boys are playing in. The boys are working out and preparing for the journey they are about to begin.

Girls’ Lacrosse takes 2nd at State

On Sunday, May 23, the Girls Lacrosse team made it to State Championship game to play Monticello.  The game started out by Buffalo taking the lead 6-5.  After half-time, Monticello pulled out a tie at 6-6.  Unfortunately, Buffalo fell short and lost 16-9.

“We played really well,” said Senior Monica Shoberg.  “It was unbelievable.  During Monticello’s season, no team scored more than three goals against them.”

Regardless of not winning at State, the Girls Lacrosse team accomplished a lot this season.

“This year, there were 35 of us,” said Shoberg.  “We had enough for two teams.  There was also a huge variety in the ages of the players, so at the beginning of the season, there was some drama.  We all sat down and talked about it and after that, we all got along much better.”

One of the team members, Sophomore Stephanie Catton, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. To help support and send their love the team wore ribbons on their jerseys.

Rogers vs. Buffalo Baseball Game

Thursday, May 20, the Buffalo baseball team hosted Rogers at Bentfield Mills for one of their last season games.  Buffalo won 5 – 3 by the top of the 7th inning.

Throughout the game, Senior Aaron Duske pitched a total of 91 pitches only allowing two walks. Five hits were earned for Rogers off of Duske but in return the Bison got nine.

“It was a relief because we’ve lost a lot of one-run games this year,” said Senior Josh Gaughan. “It felt good to come out on top this time.”

Freshman Ethan Freer was the second baseman and he went 2 for 3 in hitting like teammate Junior Brett Renshaw.  Duske and Renshaw both had doubles to aid to the Bison’s win. Freer made a hard dive to get the final out during the top of the seventh inning securing the team’s win.

Senior Tucker Vogt hit a single to get the game winning run at the bottom of the seventh inning.  “We’re kind of getting hot right now,” said Vogt. “I think we could make a run at sections.”

The team is currently 6-14 with its record. Monday, May 24th is the last season game away at Concordia and section play-offs starts Thursday, May 27th.

Track teams travels to Fargo

On Thursday, May 13, the Buffalo Boy’s and Girl’s Varsity Track teams attended a meet in Fargo, North Dakota. The meet was set to take place at the Concordia-Moorhead campus but was moved due to field renovation. Other teams who attended included Brainerd, Alexandria, Moorhead, Bemidji, Monticello, St. Cloud Apollo, Sauk Rapids, and St. Cloud. It was rainy and cold, but the girls managed to place 5th and the boys placed 3rd

“It was very cold,” said Coach Jason Karn. “I told the jumpers it was just a big mental game. If they had a good attitude and thought ‘hey, this will be fun’ when their opponent is standing there thinking about how cold it is then they already beat them.”

As of today, there are only 2 meets left before sections.

“I think a lot of people will qualify for state,” said Karn. ” I feel that we’re right where we need to be time and training wise. It’ll be a good number of both boys and girls.”

Video: Girls Softball undefeated in Conference

Story by Francie Varner

Track and Field

The Buffalo Track and Field team kicked off their season with a meet at St. Michael-Albertville last Tuesday on April 6th. There are around 200  boys and girls that participate in track and field and roughly 15 different events ranging from running to throwing.

“I run the 4 by 4. I enjoy running so I think it’s a good event for me. It keeps me in shape and makes me work hard”, said Junior Kendra Durst

Buffalo is going to try to follow up with their last year State championship they took last year. This is the first time that Buffalo has ever gone to it so it was a big accomplishment for the school.

” It was really great, Buffalo has never been to State before so this was a great experience for me. I was proud of us”, said Junior Chaz Lundgren-Laws

The next meet is Friday, April 16th at Irondale at 4:30.

Macalena New Head Volleyball Coach

Lori Zumach has been the Varsity Volleyball coach for the past 3 years. After her husband getting a new job and her youngest daughter still in elementary school she decided to resign from the head coaching job. Buffalo High School math teacher Michelle Macalena was chosen to be the head coach for next years squad.

Macalena was the 9th grade volleyball coach for 3 years, and was the assistant varsity coach for 2 years. She was also the JV softball coach for 3 years and is now the assistant varsity coach for the softball team.

Although she has never been a head coach for any team she has a really confident and positive attitude about it.

“I am excited for the opportunity and really excited to work with the nice kids,” she said.

A head coaching job can be more stressful and nerve racking at times but Macalena is up for the challenge. One of her strategies for next year is to make sure the girls have fun and are not worried about making mistakes.

“Sports are not fun when you play scared,” said Macalena.

The 2009 volleyball team had a record of 12-15 and they also lost 4 Seniors- Shelby Quady, Nicole Spier, Sasha Valenchenko and Veronica Archibeque.

Baseball and softball starting up

The softball team starts out their season with their first game on April 8th at 4:30 here at Buffalo High School. Baseball starts out with their first game on April 12th at Princeton High School at 4:30.

“I’m pretty excited for baseball to be starting up again. I love being with friends and just having a good time and hanging out.  Baseball is just a blast.”  Said Junior Matt Kelly.

Bison fall short to Tech

On Thursday night the boys basketball team fought hard to beat the very good St. Cloud Tech team. Earlier this season they defeated Tech, which gave them a lot of confidence going into Thursday nights game. The night didn’t end the way anyone cheering for Buffalo wanted it to, Tech defeated the boys 52-45.  It felt like this game was a repeat of last year. Tech ended the boys season last year with a last second desperation shot.

“We really wanted to get them back for making that lucky shot last year, but they played a good game and ended up winning. There is nothing we can do about it now,” said Senior Captain Aaron Duske.

After this season the boys will lose 6 Seniors. Three of the seniors, Aaron Duske, Brent Kettenacker, and Erik Starr have been apart of 3 Conference Championships, and have played in 2 section finals games. This season they ended up having another good record, 20-7. Although they never made it to State they still accomplished a lot over the years.

Images from the Boys’ Basketball Section Finals game

Last night, the Boys’ Basketball team fell to St. Cloud Tech, 52-45 in the Section Final game. St. Cloud tech advances to the State Tournament.

Photos by Nick Weeks.

To see the entire set, go here.

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