Patrick Johnson
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Patrick Johnson has been the South Washington County Bulletin’s sports editor since 2008. He reports on and oversees coverage of high school and amateur sports in south Washington County and Woodbury. Prior to joining the Bulletin, Johnson worked for other Twin Cities suburban newspapers. He is a University of Minnesota graduate.
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- Member for
- 5 years 6 months
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The Cottage Grove Hockey Association’s mite program hosted its annual hockey fest fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena. With players from the Park boys hockey...
Park boys lacrosse meeting Feb. 27 A meeting for all parents and boys in grades 9-12 interested in playing lacrosse this year for Park High School will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. in the lecture hall inside the main entrance of the school. East Ridge trapshooting registration The East Ridge High School trapshooting team is accepting registrations through March 1 for the upcoming spring season. The trap season starts March 30 and runs through the Minnesota State High School League state tournament in mid-June.
Park junior diver Nick Germscheid earned a trip to the Class AA state swimming and diving meet after placing third in the diving competition at the Section 4AA championship meet. Germscheid scored 329.65 to earn third place. Stillwater’s Colin Eason won the competition with a score of 384.05. White Bear Lake senior Harry Baden was second with 376.75 points. It’s Germscheid’s first trip to state.
With a state championship crown in its crosshairs, the highly ranked East Ridge Raptors boys swimming and diving team put on a show at Saturday’s Section 3AA championship meet in Stillwater. East Ridge swimmers took the top spot in seven of the meet’s 13 events and second in two others on the way to a second place overall finish. Seven East Ridge swimmers qualified for the Class AA state race and two set Section 3AA records at the meet. “I’m very pleased with how everything went,” East Ridge first-year head coach Billy Cuevas said.
This week three Park wrestlers will have a chance to achieve something no other Park wrestling team has ever done. Park seniors Cody Linssen and David Giadyu and sophomore Collin LaBrosse qualified for the state tournament, each placing second at the Section 3AAA individual tournament at Eagan High School on Saturday. The trio — all ranked in the top six in their respective weight classes — now have the opportunity to place in the top six at the state tournament, which would be the first time Park would have more than two wrestlers place at
The East Ridge girls basketball team went 2-1 in three games last week to improve to 17-7 overall on the year with two games remaining. East Ridge lost 61-52 to Suburban East Conference foe Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 18, before turning it around to beat conference opponent Stillwater 60-54 at home on Friday, Feb. 21 and winning 56-32 over Hudson, Wis., in a non-conference game at The Perch at East Ridge High School on Saturday, Feb.
The Park girls basketball team kept rolling with a pair of Suburban East Conference wins — and stayed in the hunt for the SEC championship crown. Park (17-6; 13-3 SEC) beat Stillwater 43-31 on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 18, then braved the elements on Friday, Feb. 21, winning 55-42 at Forest Lake. The game against Forest Lake was originally cancelled because of weather and road conditions, but was called back on again around noon. “It was a pretty crazy day with the storm and then the changing of decisions about the game,” Park head coach Stephanie Tolkinen said.
The Park boys basketball team kept it close with Forest Lake in the regular-season finale, but couldn’t get over the hump. The 63-50 loss was Park’s 14th straight and kept Park winless in the Suburban East Conference for the 2013-14 season. Down 34-20 to Forest Lake (7-19; 3-15 SEC) in the first-half, Park (3-22; 0-18 SEC) made things interesting by outscoring the Rangers 30-29 in the second half of the home game in Cottage Grove on Friday, Feb. 21. Park had three players score in double figures. Park senior Ryan Klika scored a team-high 14 points.
The individual portion of the Section 4AAA wretling tournament, set for tonight (Friday, Feb. 21) at Eagan has been postponed due to weather and road conditions. Park and East Ridge are in Section 4AAA. The tournament will now begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb.
Cody Linssen’s state tournament experience a year ago wasn’t at all what he wanted. Because of a knee injury the standout wrestler from Park was forced to watch from the seats at the Xcel Energy Center. Now in his final high school season Linssen has his sights set on a state championship. After earning all-state as a sophomore Linssen was a force his junior year. The 220-pound wrestler had compiled a 23-1 record with 18 pins and was ranked third in Class AAA. However, Linssen tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee on Jan.