Mankato – In any sport, coaches look to their star players to make the game-changing and often the game-deciding plays.
However, for NRHEG High School’s boys basketball coach Pat Churchill, it was what his star player didn’t do Friday night in the Section 2-AA title game that decided the game.

During the course of the season, the Kasson-Mantorville boys basketball team had shown that they had the talent to compete with some of the top teams in the area. However, there were other times when the results didn’t match the effort that was being put on the court.

Kasson-Mantorville wrestler Brady Berge has generated plenty of headlines during his wrestling career, but it might be fitting that he claimed one last accolade before heading to Penn State next fall. Last week, Berge added another trinket to his trophy case as he was named the recipient of the 2017 Mr. Minnesota High School Wrestler Award.

The sport of wrestling can be categorized as an individual sport. In the end, each match is a one-on-one encounter that can be won or lost by a person’s individual achievements. For the Kasson-Mantorville wrestling team, that individual aspect caused the KoMets to be put in the discussion as one of the most dominant teams in the history of the state.

 The Kasson-Mantorville bench celebrated after Dalton Andrist (front) picked up the dual-clinching pin against Simley in the Class AA Team Championship on March 2. The victory sealed the second straight state championship for the KoMets and the school’s third title in the past five years.

Throughout the year, the Kasson-Mantorville girls basketball team has had plenty of experience in close games. With nine of their 27 regular season games coming down to six points or less and a 7-2 record in those games, the experience of being locked in a tight matchup should be looked at as an advantage heading into the playoffs.