Luverne Sports
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 13, 2025Jaydon Johnson placed first overall in the Cardinal Pride competition on the first day of football practice. Individual event winners are: Bench press: Dawson Holtz - 225 pounds/six times. Squat: Landyn Lais - 315 pounds/six times. Lucas Madison - 375/one time. Power press: Landyn Lais - 185 pounds/five times, Dayson Fritz - 205/one time. Cleans: Connor Bose - 185 pounds/eight times, Jaydon…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 13, 2025Golfer Mark Opitz recorded his first hole-in-one Saturday, Aug. 9, at Nordic Trails Golf Course in Alexandria. Mark and Annie (his wife) were golfing together when he made the shot on hole No. 4. Mark used a six iron on the fourth hole par 3, 130-yard shot. After Mark hit the ball his said, “Annie, that has a chance,” and by the time he got done getting the words out, it went in. Mark said…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 06, 2025The Luverne Senior Legion baseball team captured third place at the American Legion Division II State Tournament Saturday, Aug. 2, in Ely. Luverne beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 9-6 July 31 in the first-round game. They then lost 7-2 to Montevideo Aug. 1 to move down to the consolation bracket. Luverne beat Sibley East 4-1 in the consolation matchup Aug. 2 to capture third place at the state…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 06, 2025Luverne trap shooters Piper Wynia (left) and Makayla Oechsle recently received their conference medals for the 2025 spring trap shooting season. Wynia finished in first place and Oechsle placed third for Luverne in the female division. Wynia finished the season placing second at the Minnesota Trap Shooting Championship in Alexandria this past spring.
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 06, 2025The Luverne Redbirds dropped their first game in the Minnesota Baseball Association District 8B tournament Saturday, Aug. 2, in New Ulm. The No. 5-seed Redbirds fell 5-3 to the No. 4-seed Raymond Rockets in the first round of the district playoffs. In the District 8B bracket, three of eight teams have the opportunity to move on to the state tournament later this summer. After their loss to…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorAugust 06, 2025Local racing results for Aug. 1-2 are listed. Drivers posted have ties to Rock County. Rapid Speedway Aug. 1 - Rock Rapids, IA Sportsman’s #21 Larry Kracht, Magnolia – placed fifth in the A Feature, finished second in Heat 1 #17 Brandon Boeve, Beaver Creek – placed 12th in the A Feature, finished sixth in Heat 2 Points leaders as of 7/25 8th – Brandon Boeve – 658 12th – Larry Kracht…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 30, 2025The Luverne Senior Legion pulled off a Mini-Minnesota Miracle, beating a strong Sleepy Eye team twice in one day Aug. 2 in Truman to punch their ticket to the American Legion Division II State Tournament July 31-Aug. 2 in Ely. Luverne is scheduled to take on Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton July 31 at 12:30 pm in the first round of the state tournament. On Saturday Luverne narrowly beat Sleepy Eye 3-2…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 30, 2025The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team was knocked out of the sub-state tournament falling 4-3 to Sleepy Eye Tuesday, July 22, in Luverne. Leading 3-0 going into the sixth inning, Luverne let Sleepy Eye gather two runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more runs in the seventh to end their season in a 4-3 loss. Through the first five innings, Luverne was able to shut down Sleepy Eye at the…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 30, 2025The Luverne Redbirds closed out the 2025 regular season with a 7-1 loss to Fairmont Friday, July 25, at Redbird Field. In the first three innings, both Luverne and Fairmont were unable to get their offense going. Luverne reached first base twice in the first inning. Carter Sehr reached base on an error by the Martins third baseman, and Ben Serie hit a single, moving Carter to second. Fairmont…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 30, 2025The Luverne Redbirds set their sights on the Minnesota Baseball Association District 8B playoffs. Luverne is scheduled to take on the Raymond Rockets Saturday, Aug. 2, at 11:00 am. The District 8B games will be played at Johnson Park in New Ulm. It is a double-elimination bracket with three teams moving on to the state tournament. Hosts for the 2025 State Tournament are Brownton, Hutchinson,…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 23, 2025The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team started the 2025 Southwest Sub-State Tournament 1-1 this past week and needs to fight their way back in the consolation bracket. Luverne fell to Slayton 10-3 in their first-round game Sunday, July 20, at Redbird Field and came back to beat Madelia 10-0 Monday, July 21, in Luverne in the consolation bracket. The win against Madelia moves Luverne on, and…
By Jason BerghorstJuly 23, 2025The Luverne Senior Legion baseball team won the first two games and lost the third game during the first weekend of the Division II Southwest Sub-State tournament. After defeating Wabasso 8-3 Thursday and routing Windom 14-0 Friday, Luverne fell to Sleepy Eye 6-4 Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Luverne will now have to play a yet-to-be-determined opponent Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Truman.…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 23, 2025Luverne alumni Gracie Nath was named to the 2025 MCAC South All-Division Team this season. Nath is a freshman at Minnesota West and plays first base, left field and pitches for the LadyJays. She played 19 games, collected seven runs, 16 RBIs, and one stolen base this year. She is the daughter of Chris and Amber Nath of Luverne.
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editor and Jason BerghorstJuly 16, 2025The Luverne Redbirds are on a five-game winning streak after adding four more victories this week. The local amateur baseball team defeated Hadley 6-0 at home July 8, Pipestone 4-0 July 9, Brandon 5-2 Friday, and Fox Lake 14-2 Sunday. The Redbirds played as the Luverne Nutcrackers for one night only on Friday, July 10, as part of Luverne’s Nutcracker Fest. See that game story in the related…
By Greg Hoogeveen, sports editorJuly 16, 2025The Luverne Redbirds donned Nutcrackers jerseys for an exhibition game against the Brandon Belugas in Luverne Friday, July 11, as part of the Nutcracker Fest weekend. The game-day jersey featured Nutcracker text with a bat on the front and a Nutcracker face and baseball on the sleeve. Players also wore game-day blue hats with red brims and nutcrackers on the front. Before the game started,…
By Jason BerghorstJuly 16, 2025Luverne Redbird Braydon Ripka (at right) experienced something very few baseball players have the opportunity to do during Sunday’s 14-2 victory over Fox Lake at Redbird Field. After starting the game as catcher, Ripka played all nine positions in the same game. Due to the 10-run rule, the game was just 4 ½ innings long, making the feat even more unique. Ripka played in his normal catcher…
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