Luverne Sports

The Luverne volleyball team posted two big wins in the past week over Southwest Minnesota Christian and West Lyon. LHS beat the Eagles 3-1 at home Tuesday, Sept. 1, and took down the Wildcats 3-1 in Inwood, Iowa, Thursday, Sept. 3. The Cardinals are now 2-5 for the season and will play their next two games on the road. LHS was scheduled to travel to Pipestone Tuesday, Sept. 8, to take on the…

    Greg Hoogeveen photo/LHSfootball2 Luverne senior Darius Dolo breaks free from three Blue Earth defenders before going on a 53-yard run for the endzone. The Cardinals beat the Bucanners 41-0 in the game.    On a hot and muggy night in Blue Earth, Luverne man-handled the Buccaneers 41-0 on Thursday, Sept. 3. The Cardinals won their first game of the season scoring 41 points in the first…

The Luverne girls’ tennis team lost two matches on the road against Redwood Valley and River Valley Co-op this past week. LHS fell 6-1 to Redwood Sept. 1 and 5-2 to River Valley Sept. 3 against two strong teams with senior heavy squads. Luverne was scheduled to host Fairmont Tuesday, Sept. 8. They will travel to Pipestone Thursday, Sept. 10 to take on the Arrows and will host Morris/Chokio-…

The Luverne High School cross country team traveled to Mountain Lake Friday, Sept. 5, finishing first in three team events. LHS placed first in the girls’ varsity 5,000 meter, the girls’ junior varsity 2,500 meter and the boys’ 2,500-meter competitions. The Cardinals also had 21 Top 20 finishers and 13 Top 10 finishers on the day. Luverne is scheduled to host multiple teams Saturday, Sept. 12…

The Luverne girls’ tennis team started the 2026 season falling to four tough teams in two double-header matches. On Tuesday, Aug. 25, Luverne lost 6-1 to Yellow Medicine and 5-2 to MCCRAY (Maynard, Clara City and Raymond) on the road. On Thursday, Aug. 27, the Cardinals hosted Lac Qui Parle Valley falling 6-1 and  then played Montevideo to a 7-0 loss. In the four contests Luverne was able to…

The Luverne cross country team finished in fourth place at the Beresford Invite Thursday, Aug. 27, to start off the 2026 season. The Cardinals were among 26 teams at the event finishing behind Sioux Falls Christian, Lennox and Tea Area in the team competition. “We were very pleased with the performances across the board in Beresford,” head coach Pete Janiszeski said. “The kids had fun and…

The Luverne volleyball team traveled to Rochester Saturday, Aug. 29, to scrimmage five teams at the Panther Invitational. In the first match of the day Luverne lost 2-1 to Rochester John Marshall. The Cardinals won the first set 25-20 before falling 25-18 and 15-10 in the next two games. LHS faced Mankato East in the second match giving up two sets 25-15 and 26-24. Against New Ulm in their…

The Luverne Redbirds were knocked out of the 2026 Minnesota Baseball Association State Tournament in the first round by the Dumont Saints. Dumont, the Section 3C champs, beat the Redbirds 3-1 in a close game Sunday, Aug. 23, in New Prague. The Saints scored two runs in the first three innings on a walk-in in the first and a single with a runner on third in the third inning. The Redbirds got on…

The new Luverne High School football field scoreboard is up, and it will be ready in time for the season’s first home football game according to school officials. “We got the board up and ready for power,” LHS Building and Grounds Director Cory Schmuck said on Monday. “We just need to connect it and get the system operating.” The new scoreboard will be tested and ready for the Sept. 12 home…

The Luverne Redbirds edged their way past Jackson beating the Bulls 2-1 to collect their ticket to the 2026 Minnesota Baseball Association Class C State Tournament. Jackson took Game 1 outscoring the Redbirds 5-3 Aug. 12 in Luverne. Luverne tied the series 1-1 beating the Bulls 5-4 Aug. 14 in Jackson. Tied 1-1 in the series, the Redbirds flew past the Bulls 12-2 at home Aug. 16 to punch their…

Steve Smedsrud, Pete Connell and Mary Jo Graphenteen were recently named 2026 Luverne Country Club Tournament champions. Smedsrud took top honors in the senior tournament Aug. 8 with an 18-hole score of 71. Greg Carroll came in second with a 76 followed by Adam Hansen and Darwin Elbers who tied for third with rounds of 77. Graphenteen won the women’s tournament Aug. 14 with an 18-hole score of…

Luverne High School senior Darius Dolo won the 2026 Cardinal Pride competition on the opening day of football practice Monday, Aug. 17. The Cardinal Pride competition is an eight-event challenge staged on the first morning of practice every season to test the physical abilities of each senior high school player. Dolo won the competition with 1,638.5 total points. Ben Hartquist came in second…

The Luverne Redbirds let a 1-0 series slip in Region 10C action to fall two games to one against Windom this past week. Luverne won Game 1 in the series 4-3 Aug. 5 in Windom. Windom came back and won Game 2 Aug. 7 in Luverne 15-0 and beat the Redbirds 9-3 in Windom Aug. 9. Windom won the series 2-1 securing a ticket to the state tournament in Chaska, Jordan, New Prague and Shakopee Aug. 21-23,…

Three Luverne youth baseball players got the chance of a lifetime to play at Cooperstown Dreams Park in Milford, N.Y., this summer. Tyson Uithoven, Nolan Weber and Kyler Krzmarzick were chosen to be part of the Southwest Minnesota Blaze 12u team this season. The Southwest Minnesota Blaze is a youth amateur baseball organization in the region featuring travel teams like their 12u and 16u squads…

The Luverne summer soccer program fills a scheduling gap in activities for kids from preschool through seventh grade toward the end of summer. That’s why many families sign up, according to Michele Raddle who coordinates the program. “By the middle to end of July, many summer activities have wrapped up, and August can feel like that quiet time before school starts,” she said. “Soccer gives…

The Redbirds recorded two grand slams and two solo home runs against Hadley over the past week to advance to the Region 10c Championship Tournament. Luverne took down the Hadley Buttermakers in the best of three games beating the Buttermakers 8-0 July 29 in Luverne and 13-1 Aug. 1 in Hadley. In Game 1 Blake Sauer hit a grand slam in the second inning giving Luverne a 4-0 lead. In Game 2 Carter…