Lots O’ Stuff
A mixed bag of items this time around
In this edition we’re back to Lots O’ Stuff after being short on material last week.
Wierson resigns
Mike Wierson announced his resignation as head coach of the Jackson County Central baseball team on his Facebook page on Saturday. The district began advertising to fill the position on Monday.
Wierson was coach of the Huskies for 12 years, although the 2020 season was canceled.
In his post, Wierson said he was choosing to put his family first.
He added that he’s had the privilege of coaching many amazing baseball players throughout the years. And even better men.
You can find his Facebook page if you want to read his complete post.
JCC head baseball coaches
1997-2009: Tyrone Wacker
2010: Tracy Steiner
2011-2013: Trent Sukalski
2014-2025: Mike Wierson
Tim Kirk
A Celebration of Life service for 57-year-old Tim Kirk will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain Lake High School with Pastor Mike Emmert officiating.
According to his obituary, Kirk passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on Saturday, Jan. 17 at his home after a courageous battle with gallbladder cancer.
There will be no visitation prior to the service. Those attending are asked to please plan to arrive before 4 p.m. I had only a handful of interactions with Tim through the years, but I get the feeling being on time was a big deal to him.
Following the service, there will be a reception at Windom Community Center.
Tim was born on March 1, 1968, in Mountain Lake. He married Sheila Fast in 1991, and together they had three children. They had three grandchildren.
Kirk coached football, baseball, and basketball for more than 25 years and taught at Mountain Lake Public School for 25 years.
Tim led the Wolverine to the state tournament six times, winning nine-man championship in 2019. He had a high school coaching record of 144-97, a .598 percentage.
He also coached the Mountain Lake Laker amateur football team to four league championships in five years.
You can find the complete obituary on the Sinn Family Celebration of Life Center website.
College updates
Two Jackson County Central graduates are seniors with the Concordia-Moorhead wrestling team that had a successful trip to Collegeville last weekend.
On Friday the Cobbers were 42-8 winners over St. John’s.
Kie Anderson received a forfeit win at 133 pounds and Will Freking lost a 7-5 decision at 197.
On Saturday Concordia competed in the North Country Invitational. Anderson won the 133-pound title and Freking was third at 197.
Anderson won an 8-3 decision, by fall in :48 and by medical forfeit to reach the finals.
In the finals Anderson pinned Kody Fleck (Minnesota North-Itasca) in :46.
Kie has a record of 13-5 with seven wins by fall, one by tech fall and one major decision.
Wrestling in a six-man round-robin bracket, Freking went 3-2 with two wins by fall and one by tech fall. For the season, Will is 8-8 with two falls, two tech falls and one major decision.
Concordia is on the road for another dual but it’s short trip as the Cobbers as they head across 8th Street to take on MSU Moorhead.
Another JCC grad, Logan Butzon, a Logan Butzon, redshirt sophomore at Augustana, went 5-1 and placed fifth in the 32-man 165-pound bracket Worthington Open held at Minnesota West. His lone loss was to the eventual champion, Gabriel Smith of St. Cloud State.
Butzon won two matches by tech fall and one by major decision. For the season, Logan is 12-8 with three tech falls and two majors.
Martin County West grad Lucas Jagodzinske, a senior at Augsburg University, won the 149-pound title at the Cornell College Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational on Saturday. He recorded four bonus-point victories with a pin, technical fall and two major decisions.
He’s had one first-place finish in each of his four seasons with the Auggies:
2025-26: Cornell College
2024-25: UW-Eau Claire (co-champion)
2023-24: NWCA Nuway, Cedar Falls
2022-23: Augsburg Invitational (co-champion)
Jagodzinske has a 21-4 record. No. 2 Augsburg has a dual at No. 3 UW-La Crosse on Saturday.
Two Windom graduates are members of the Dordt University men’s hockey team that had a 19-game winning streak stopped over the weekend, losing 6-2 and 3-1 at Nebraska-Omaha.
Zach Espenson is a senior defenseman and Nick Espenson freshman is a freshman forward.
Omaha leads the American Collegiate Hockey Association with a 23-3 record with Dordt second at 19-3.
The Defenders haven’t played a home game since Nov. 22 but will play their final five regular-season games at Vernon Ice Arena in Sioux Center starting Friday vs. Creighton. Dordt hosts Missouri Jan. 30-31 and Nebraska Feb. 6-7.
Sherburn native Carsen Musser, a sophomore goaltender at St. Thomas, was in net Friday for the Tommies in their 5-1 win over Bemidji State at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena. He stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced.
For the season Musser has a 7-4-1 record with a 3.12 goals against average and .886 save percentage.
St. Thomas is 14-7-3 overall and leads the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a 11-3-2 record for 36 points. The Tommies lead Augustana by one point and Michigan Tech by two.
UST travels to Lake Superior State for games Friday and Saturday.
Heron Lake native Hobie Hedquist, a junior goaltender at Ferris State, was close to home as he was between the pipes for the Bulldogs in both of their games vs. Augustana in Sioux Falls. The Vikings swept the series, 4-0 and 4-3 in overtime.
On Friday Hedquist made 29 saves on 33 shots. He followed that on Saturday with 28 saves in 62 minutes and 54 seconds of playing time.
For the season, Hedquist has a 4.75 goals against average and .861 save percentage.
Ferris State, 4-22 overall and 3-15 in the CCHA, is off this weekend before hosting Minnesota State in a two-game set Jan. 30-31.
Jackson County Central graduate Peyton Hanson, a junior with the University of Sioux Falls women’s track and field team, placed eighth in the pole vault at the USD Alumni Meet Saturday in Vermillion, clearing 3.45 meters (11 feet, 3 inches).
USF is off this weekend before competing in the Mark Schuck Open in Mankato on Jan. 31.
Fun Fact
Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Black Hawks holds the record for the fastest hat trick in NHL history as he scored three goals in just 21 seconds against the New York Rangers on March 23, 1952. Chicago won the game 7-6.
BTW, Chicago’s team was known as the Black Hawks from 1927-1986. They’ve been the Blackhawks since.
A song that I had not heard in a long time, “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors randomly played on Pandora one day last week.
The song was a hit in 1980, reaching No. 36 in the U.S., No. 3 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia.
The song was often misinterpreted according to the group, which said it was about youthful angst.
Here’s the video by The Vapors:
Or, maybe you prefer this version by Rick Moranis playing the character of Tom Monroe on SCTV: