Well folks, I have to be honest with you, I was a little disappointed when I heard the news last week that the contract of Kaija Davies would not be renewed for next year. She became the head girls basketball coach in 2022 when absolutely nobody wanted the job. It took a while to find someone who would join her as the JV coach until Henry Palm stepped up and took the job. As I contemplated what to write about the subject this week I finally came to the realization that my job is to give the student-athletes at Aitkin High School the best publicity I can during their run in school. My job doesn't encompass hiring and not renewing coaches if you will. That does not mean I can't have an opinion and on this subject, I do but the bottom line is, my opinion doesn’t matter. Decisions are made every day on more important items than this but sports is pretty much my life, ask my wife, and coaching changes are also a part of my professional life. You get to know people over the course of their coaching lives, what to expect and what you know will be a little harder to get out of them. But when you really get down to it, it has to be all about the kids. It's not about the administration, the school board or the parents. We have to be all in for student-athletes all the time. I wonder if we spend enough time talking to them about what they think or what they would like to see going forward. This is not about the performance of Kaija Davies and her coaching staff, it's about the failure to work together, all of us, to make it better for the kids. There is no blame here and whoever becomes the next girls basketball coach will encounter the same types of problems that all coaches do these days, but if they know that going in, they will be much the better for it. If life has taught us anything in the month of April it is that we will never get anything done unless we are all on the same page and work together. I will miss Kaija on the sidelines next season, but I will also embrace the new coach and their staff because that's my job, to do the best thing every day for the athletes I watch and cover. They deserve that!     

       Well folks, it's time for another edition of "Thoughts while sitting on the porch feeding Pompei (the squirrel).

1) The Twins are off to a flying start, could this be the year for a World Series run? Oh, please I know it's way too early.

2) The bowling season has just about ended at Aitkin Lanes. Perfect games were thrown this season by Jarred Burman, Isaac Collins and Jarred Bobenmoyer.

3) Jim Henrickson, Activities Director at Aitkin High School must be pulling his hair out this spring trying to schedule and reschedule Gobbler sporting events and just think we are a little over a month until the end of school.

4) The new batting cages are up at the softball complex. It truly was a community effort and will be a big help for the softball program through the years.

5) Who has the most girls tennis victories at Aitkin High School? The answer is Claire Browning with 142. Next in line Kelsey Klucas with 108 and Brianna Chatelle with 107.

6) The Gobbler baseball team was living on the high wire last week, winning one game after trailing 13-6 and the other after coming back in the seventh to win it in the 8th. The hero both times was Karson Hasskamp.

7) Five different Gobblers have hit homers for the Gobbler softball team so far. Natalie Stueven, Kate Palm, Sienna Melz, Madyson Burgstaler and Haley Shereck.

8) Isaiah Baker has been unstoppable in the long jump and triple jump events this spring for the Gobblers. (see track story)

9) No reason not to get out and enjoy home athletic events this week. There is plenty whether you're a baseball, softball or tennis fan, they are all home at some point this next few days. It’s good stuff!   

       Well folks, the cars were lining up, fans were coming through the gate bringing chairs and snacks and getting set up for a couple of hours in the sunny, chilly Friday afternoon. It is April and it should be warmer, but it seldom is and they know it. On the other side of the fence players are warming up seemingly uncaring about the nippy weather save for the gusty winds that were coming from the west. For some of the players this is their final first day on the field, but they don't think about that right now. They are tired of working out indoors for a month already and eager to get going with the season that will take them to the end of the school year. Back on the other side fans are pulling down their stocking caps and putting on their gloves. Many greet family and friends who have waited until closer to gametime to show up but they are not going to miss the events of the day. The sun provides a little warmth but for the most part it's going to be a cool day to watch their favorite players. The guy from the website shows up to take a couple headshots and waits for the players to adjust their hair against the strong breeze before getting the pics he needs. He moves over to where the Gobbler fan of our lifetime stands ready for the action to start. He already knows who is umping the baseball game at Mora and wonders why the umps for this softball game are late. He will undoubtedly know their names when they get there. Across the field at the Don Hagestuen Tennis Center another team is getting ready, and their fans are there as well. They find a good spot at one of the tables or they have brought their chairs as well. That wind is going to wreak havoc at that event too, but again nobody cares. They are there because they too are tired of being inside and are eager to play or watch the action. This is the day both teams have waited for, a chance to play in front of the home crowd for the first time. There are so many smiles to count, players, parents and fans alike. This is a chance to watch their favorite sons and daughters doing what they love to do. It's the "home opener" and it doesn't get any better. Parent's like to call it the last "first game" and as true as it might be, it's so much more. It's kids playing outside as God intended and parent's watching them. The wins and losses will come and go but the memories will remain in their hearts forever and that's what life is really all about!    

       Well folks, the weather hasn't been cooperating so far for outdoor sports activities for the area, so I guess we'll take a look this week at some of our former local athletes who are playing college ball this spring.

Ella Janzen-Mayville State Comets-having a good year as the junior has been hitting around the .300 mark. In her most recent action, she was 2-4 Friday with a pair of runs scored. She's been hanging around left field for most of the season.

Zach Ehnstrom-Concordia Cobbers-the junior catcher is hitting .310 with three runs scored and four runs batted in during recent games.

Megan Buchholz-the senior has made a move this season playing some infield and only appearing once in the circle where she spent most of her college career. She is 1-0 and gave up two earned runs in her only mound appearance but is hitting .279 while playing second base. She is a senior at Maine-Presque Isle, playing for the Owls.

Thor Dunham-The former Hill City grad and Aitkin Steam player, is a senior and playing for the Lakeland College Muskies in Plymouth, Wisconsin. He has thrown 1.2 innings in their abbreviated season so far, striking out one hitter.

Alex Palm-the junior is running track at Northwestern of St. Paul this spring but suffered a hamstring injury and is rehabbing at this point. He hopes to help the Eagles sooner than later this year.

Bella Dunham-the former Hill City grad is a freshman and playing softball for Minnesota North-Itasca this spring spending her time at catcher or the outfield. She's off to a good start hitting.440 with seven runs scored and three runs batted in.

     If you have a former area high school athlete playing in college this spring please let me know. I'd love to give them some press and see how they are doing.

      The news last week of a cooperative between Aitkin and C-I for girls tennis did surprise me a bit since both schools have been on their own for many years but on the other hand it will probably make the team a stronger one and perhaps give them a better chance to compete on the team level better than they have in the past. I understand that my old and good friend Jen Waldorf will continue to coach and she should. Not too many people know how much she puts into the tennis programs, both girls and boys, on a regular basis. We'll see how this plays out over the next few weeks as Activities Directors Jim Henrickson and Cley Twigg put their program into reality. 

      Most days you will find Adam Stafford in one of his bays at the Tire Barn servicing one of the many vehicles brought into his shop every day. In the month of February however you would have to travel to Alaska and look for him in Nome or Kotzebue or Fairbanks or one of many of the small villages along the way. He would be participating in the Iron Dog snowmobile race with his partner Wyatt Hooper and good luck finding him. Last week he was back in the shop, and we chatted about the race and what goes into preparing for it and the excitement about crossing the finish line, 2,318 miles later. My first question was why? "It was something I always wanted to do and although we raced last year, we didn't finish so that was enough incentive to try again this year, and we were able to finish. But it was a tough race. They don't call it the toughest race in the world for nothing. It is a challenge, it pushes you and you have to be mentally prepared as well. I'm 38 years old and Wyatt is 28 and believe me we both felt all of that by the time we crossed the finish line." This year brought a lot more snow than we had last year so that was a big problem, visibility was unbelievable, I couldn't see Wyatt in front of me, and he was only five feet out front. We had our GPS systems, but you can get off course so easily and not know where you are. Once we got off track and had to pay villagers to get out front and clear a path for us to get back on the trail. More than once we said to ourselves what are we doing out here. We had to have some extra tools flown in and the cost was enormous. Anything you need once you get started has to be flown in and it might be two or three days and you must have all your tools and extra parts on your sled when you leave the starting point. Along the way if you break down and have to call to be brought out they might tell you hunker down and stay warm, we'll see you in the morning. I mean this is real life when you are out there, anything can happen. You might encounter wolves, bear and even moose and they aren't getting off the trail for you." Adam teared up a little when he saw the finish line ahead of him, "When you get close you start to see civilization and then fireworks go off and you see the arch and then your family. People are so excited to see you and seeing my family there waiting for me was pretty special." There are some special times on the trail as well and Adam shared a couple of those moments, "We came into one of the small villages and the kids are all lined up and want you to autograph their snowmobile helmets or pictures, heck nobody ever asked for my autograph before this but it's a big deal for them and we were more than willing to accommodate them. One lady gave us a place to rest and sleep and fed us, and I guess she stayed up for 31 hours straight to help the racers when they came in. That's the kind of people you see on a race like this. It's once a year and they are out in the middle of nowhere and love to see someone come through. They always have plenty of food because they can take five caribou a day up there so there's always a few hanging ready to fix for dinner." What was the worst part for you? "I guess the worst part was coming out of Kotzebue and turning into open water. I've driven on open water before, but this was 400-500 yards from shore so all I could do is gun it and lay on the gas. I actually saw waves on the way in, but I got there and talk about a sense of relief. It's hard to believe but I made it." What about the best part, "All the warm welcomes from the villagers, they do a lot of things for us during the race and it's really unbelievable how they treat us. I can't thank them enough. This was something I wanted to say I did and now that I've felt the exhilaration of finishing this race the pressure is off. Would I do it again, not this next year but maybe, I'm not getting any younger. It's an enormous load on my family and it's very expensive so that all goes into the equation as well. We finished 12th this year and I should mention that there was even a little trash talking the final 56 miles. Some of the other racers mentioned that there wouldn't be any passing over the final 56 miles due to slim trail conditions and such, but we didn't pay a lot of attention and actually passed three teams along the way to get into 12th. It was just a little gamesmanship between racers, nothing wrong with that." 2,318 miles on snowmobile through blinding snow and violent winds, you have to love it, and I guess that's why Adam Stafford and Wyatt Hooper do it. Congratulations guys!     

       Well folks, the 2025-26 boys basketball season started with lots of promise. They had a new coach, albeit their fourth in four years but they brought back a number of good solid basketball players under that fiery new coach Landon Janzen, just a few years older than the seniors of 2026. Senior 6’9 post Isaac Asmus was back and needed just three points to reach 1,000 as the season got underway.  He would do that and add a lot more points before seasons end. Speedster Isaiah Baker was back along with sharpshooter Caleb Smith, junior Noah Moss, a kid that can race up and down the floor and hit a pull-up three with the best in the area. Tyler Boyd was the unknown of the five, but fans and teammates learned about him in a New York minute. He became a player that could be counted on for solid defense, hustle and a guy that could put the ball in the basket. Add to that a bench that included Jack Jacobson, Bo Sanford and a host of others who would contribute big-time throughout the season. The season opened at C-I and it resulted in a one point loss but Asmus got his three points and after winning four of the next five games including the Holiday Tournament they would drop three straight games giving them a record of 4-4. They beat Mora and lost to East Central in overtime before embarking on a streak where they won 15 of the next 17 games before losing in the quarterfinals of the Section 7AA Tournament. Along the way Asmus scored 46 points against Duluth Marshall, becoming the single game scoring leader as well. That streak of wins gave the Gobblers their first 20-win season in the boys’ program history and a 20-8 record for the season. Asmus went on to score 1,664 points, making him the top scorer in Gobbler history. Moss sits at 754 and looks to go over the 1,000 point mark next season. Aitkin was big at home with a record of 13-1 in front of the home fans and were a respectable 7-7 on the road. They had more wins at home than nine of the last ten teams had total during their seasons. The 2019-20 team finished with a 15-12 record during Janzen’s senior season. Records were broken at a rapid pace for the Gobblers in 2026. Let’s take a look at some of those marks that went on the board this season.

Isaac Asmus
Points in a half-34
Points in a game-46
Points in a season 667
Points in a career-1,664
Points per game-season-23.8
Rebounds in a season-400
Rebounds for a career-1,165
Rebounds per game for a season-(2025)-14.6
Double doubles in a season-(2025)-25
Double-doubles for a career-59
Blocks for a career-167(2nd. behind Ray Smith)
Team Stats-Points in a season-2,011
Points per game-71.8
Most FG attempts-1,719
Most FG made-800
Most rebounds-1,161
Rebounds per game-41.5
Steals-295
Assists-(2nd all-time)-467
Points by two players-Isaac and Noah-1,083
Points by three players-Noah, Isaac and Caleb-1,376.

      John Buisman, a member of the State Tournament team in 1982 with a three season record of 50-19 has seen a lot of basketball at Aitkin High School and he has a pretty good handle on what it takes to keep a program going and he liked what he saw this past season, "They had a nice season, I'm glad for the upperclassmen. They won quite a few games this year and did a nice job learning to play better together as a team. A few new guys showed up with some needed offense and that was tough to do as they have had four different head coaches in four years. Hopefully we will get some stability with our coaching staff and that's not an easy task but is needed to get the program going."

      Buisman wasn't the only fan to be impressed with the job Coach Janzen did in year one. Former school board member and avid fan Joe Ryan told me, “You have to understand the life-long impact of solid leadership like a young Landon Janzen has demonstrated in his first year. Having coaches who aspire and commit to developing top-to-bottom programs are far more the exception than the rule."

     Steff Sanford recalls a quote from Coach Janzen, “The reason I want to coach basketball is because I want kids to have the same amazing experience I did when I played for Coach Stan (Stanfield).”

    The season has been an interesting and exciting one from a fan standpoint and for the first-year coach who had a plan and turned that plan over to his players who responded in kind. It was a year where the Gobblers saw some very talented seniors end their careers but also a season that saw their JV record 20+ wins so next year will be different, but maybe not so different. With the start of every season there is fresh hope and time will tell if this Gobbler program is truly on their way upwards. I think it is, but it takes all of us, fans, parent’s, players, coaches and administration. Yes, it takes a community, one that sticks together toward a common goal. Are we that community, I hope so.

      Well folks, we lost a wonderful lady last week with the passing of Kristi Sandberg. She came to town, taught at Aitkin High School and married the love of her life Steve Sandberg. When he passed away in 2015, she spent the rest of her life helping others and that is quite a way to spend your time. She always listened, supported kids and adults alike and always had that beautiful smile. She was a very unselfish person to say the least and I can attest to that from a personal standpoint. Back when their daughter Cassie was in school I was doing the announcing at the desk during basketball games. Because of his duties with the ACSO he couldn’t make every game, but when he could he was there. He would walk in with Kristi, and she would tell him it was okay if he came over and sat next to me at the table so we could solve the problems of the world. It was time they could have spent together watching but she knew our friendship was important too and she sacrificed her time with him for that reason. I felt bad about it but soon realized that is how they wanted it and I cherished those nights when Steve and I got a chance to share memories of Gobbler sports over the years and hopes for the future. Kristi was a supporter of my decision to remember Steve every October since his death. It is a chance for me to remember what a great person and public servant he was and for his many friends to do the same. I will continue to do that until I’m gone and now Steve and Kristi can read my words, finally sitting next to each other watching games in the great beyond. I will miss her greatly. Condolences to Cassie and the rest of the family.

      There was so much going on last week and we need to touch on a couple of huge events that took place. Gobbler senior Isaac Asmus became the first Gobbler to reach 1,000 rebounds. This is a huge deal and when you figure he has now gone well over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, well, that doesn’t happen very often. He has helped the Gobblers to seven straight wins going into this week. Nice job Isaac.

      The Aitkin Gobbler girls wrestling team took part in the Section Tournament for the first time as a team and look what they did. They had three wrestlers medal and are sending two wrestlers to the State Tournament. Brianna Ecklund finished 3rd, and Sophie Crain and Sierra Laffin won Section titles and will be participating in the State Tournament. Coach Greg Hills has done a great job getting these ladies to this point. They believe in him and the sport and as these young ladies are just 7th graders, their careers are just getting started. Sophie is 30-3 at this point while Sierra has won 23 straight matches after a 5-8 start to the season. That my friends is exciting!