The start of the fall sports season is less than a month away. Cross country, volleyball and football practice will start on Aug. 14.
But we start out this edition of Lots O’ Stuff with a pair of items from the 2022-2023 school year.
Coach of the Year
We’ll start with the spring season.
Jackson County Central Coach Rafe York received Coach of the Year honors for Section 2A girls track and field.
The Huskies were champions of the Section 2A true team meet and placed 10th in the state meet.
Also, the JCC girls earned the championship trophies in the MSHSL Section 2A South Sub-Section and Section 2A meets.
Maple River’s Nathaniel Kenne was Coach of the Year for the boys. Norm Preston, also from Maple River, was the Assistant Coach of the Year.
Freshman all-state
Now all the way back to boys basketball season.
Roman Voss of Jackson County Central has been named to the Class AA all-state freshman boys basketball team by prephoops.com.
Voss averaged 19.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Huskies last season. JCC finished the season with a 15-10 record.
Prior to last season, Voss was named the top basketball prospect in Section 3AA regardless of grade.
Here’s the complete Class AA freshman all-state first team as selected by prephoops.com.
Roman Voss, Jackson County Central
Carson McMichael, Blake
Ethan Martin, Belle Plaine
Riley Asmus, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta
JP Musoke, Breck
Looking ahead
As mentioned, football season is getting closer and Roman is also one of the football prospects in the state.
The website prepredzone.com named Voss has been named the number one football player overall in the state for the Class of 2026.
He’s listed as an athlete in the rankings but was also named the top QB in the state for his class.
“He’s listed as an athlete, which shouldn’t be mistaken as a slight against his game as a QB,” writes Oliver West. “He’s QB1 in the 2026 rankings as well, and with his brother’s (Rudy) experience and production at the position there’s a lot to be excited about there, but with so much time left in his young prep career and some terrific film as a DB and WR, I just think it’s a little early to categorize him into one position.
“It’s a testament to how dynamic he is, and with his combination of athleticism and size, he’s particularly dangerous with the ball in hand as a runner. As a passer, Voss has solid arm strength, accuracy, and timing, and the speed, contact balance, and overall elusiveness as a ball carrier made him one of the most dangerous dual-threat QBs in the state in 2022. I still haven’t even gotten into his skills as a WR and DB. The young buck is straight-up talented and a must-know name out of the class. I can’t wait to see how he continues to grow and develop and am also excited to see an outstate product hold down the state’s number one spot.”
Voss is already a two-year starter at QB and did see playing time at wide receiver on offense and safety on defense. He helped the Huskies to a 12-1 record and a trip to the state Class 2A semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Barnesville.
Voss threw for 1,486 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. For his career he has 2,522 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.
He also rushed for 769 yards on 112 carries (a 6.9 average) and six touchdowns.
Among other highlights last season, he threw two touchdown passes and also had two TDs receiving in a 34-26 win over Blue Earth Area.
Another player receiving a good deal of attention is senior Seth Stai. He’s being recruited as a linebacker and is also an effective running back, finishing second on the team in rushing touchdowns last season.
He attended the Prep Redzone Minnesota Camp at the Maple Grove Dome and was a third-team selection at linebacker at the camp.
Stai, who is listed 184th in the state for the Class of 2024, has received notice from regional schools in the NSIC, MIAC and UMAC as well as others from across the country.
He has received offers from two MIAC schools, St. Olaf College and Augsburg University.
MCW schedules
In the past few editions of Lots O’ Stuff we’ve taken a look at the fall sports schedules for the three Jackson County Central teams.
This time around we’ll start looking at the Martin County West schedules, starting with volleyball since they’ll be the first Mavericks’ team to compete.
MCW’s volleyball team will open the season by playing at the Adrian/Ellsworth tournament on Saturday Aug. 27.
Scheduled to join the Mavericks and host Dragons in are Central Minnesota Christian and Hills-Beaver Creek. The Mavericks went 2-1 in that tournament last year on their way to a 14-15 season.
The home opener is a nonconference match vs. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday, Sept. 11 and the first Valley Conference match is the next night at Alden-Conger.
MCW volleyball schedule
Sat., Aug. 26: at Adrian/Ellsworth tournament, 9 a.m.
Thurs., Aug. 31: at Fairmont, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 9: at Maple River tournament, 8:30 a.m.
Mon., Sept. 11: Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, 7 p.m.
Tues., Sept. 12: at Alden-Conger, 7 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 14: Madelia, 7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 16: at Carolyn Hummel Invitational (Jackson), 9 a.m.
Tues., Sept. 19: GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther, 7 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 21: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, 7 p.m.
Tues., Sept. 26: at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 28: at Nicollet, 7 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 3: St. Clair, 7 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 9: Jackson County Central, 7 p.m.
Tues., Oct 10: at Loyola, 7 p.m.
Thurs., Oct. 12: at Blue Earth Area, 7 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 16: Sleepy Eye, 7 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 17: at Cedar Mountain, 7 p.m.
Will Freking transfers
Jackson County Central graduate Will Freking is transferring to Concordia College in Moorhead, where he will be a two-sport athlete for the Cobbers.
Freking played his freshman football season at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where he was a defensive lineman for the Oles.
He played in all 10 games, recording six tackles (three solo), two tackles for a loss and one quarterback hurry.
On special teams, he blocked a punt, returned two kickoffs a total of 18 yards and had a punt return of three yards.
Next winter, Freking will wrestle for Concordia. He’s expected to wrestle at heavyweight.
At JCC, Will was a two-time state qualifier. He placed sixth at 195 pounds as a senior when he compiled a 43-13 record. Will had to medical forfeit his last two matches in the state tourney.
He will major in Business Management and Data Analytics.
Will joins another JCC graduate Kie Anderson, on the Concordia roster. Anderson went 10-8 as a freshman for the Cobbers.
Also, Will’s brother Thomas, a state champion at 138 as a senior, has signed to wrestle at Iowa State.
Will was the first give his lil’ bro a hug after winning the state 138-pound title in March:
National wrestling
Recent JCC graduate Logan Butzon will be on the Minnesota team competing in the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in Fargo.
He’ll compete at 152 pounds in the freestyle tournament, which starts Monday.
Butzon will attend Augustana University and wrestle for the Vikings.
Academic honors
Fairmont High School graduate Allison Lardy, a senior with the University of North Dakota women’s track and field program, has earned a spots on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team for the indoor season.
To qualify, a student-athlete must compile a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event.
Lardy finished 79th in the NCAA in the weight throw with a distance of 63-7 1/2 at the UND Tune-Up. She was the runner-up in the event at the meet and moved up to No. 5 in program history with that throw.
She had a grade-point average of 4.0 majoring in Commercial Aviation.
Here are Richard and Richard Carpenter and a guy named Bill that formed the Richard (Dick) Carpenter Trio, playing on ‘Your All-American College Show’ in 1968.
Karen, 18 years old here, always preferred to be known as a drummer who sings.
Karen passed away at age 32 in 1982. Richard is 77 and apparently still performs occasionally.
You do have to wonder whatever happened to Bill though.