New Ulm Sports Central - Preserving and Sharing New Ulm Area Sports History

By JIM BASTIAN
New Ulm Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - The year 2012 in sports here in New Ulm saw a first, several repeats, some new faces and some big achievements from teams and individuals. It also has seen some streaks continuing and some ending.

So here we go with the Year in Sports, 2012, in New Ulm. And as always, apologies to those that were inadvertently missed.

The top sports story in New Ulm in the past year was without a doubt the New Ulm Eagles softball team going 24-3 and winning the Class AA State High School Softball championship with an eight-inning, 9-5 win against St. Anthony Village.

The New Ulm Cathedral softball team also had a season to remember, placing third in the Class A state tournament.

Here are the rest of the top sports stories in New Ulm from 2012, in no particular order.

John Vetter resigned as Athletic Director at New Ulm Cathedral. It is a position that he had held since 1987.

With Vetter's departure, Alan Woitas was hired to replace Vetter in that spot.

Both the New Ulm Eagles boys' and girls' hockey teams earned trips to the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament.

Both the boys' and girls' teams beat Luverne for Section 3A titles. The boys downed Luverne 2-1, while the girls topped the Cardinals 8-2.

Shane Heiderscheidt resigned as head boys' basketball coach at New Ulm High School, with Steve Foley taking over.

The Minnesota Twins Winter Caravan did not stop in New Ulm this year.

Two local high school basketball players, Nate Siemers of Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Brian Nosbush of New Ulm Cathedral, each scored their 1,000th career point. Ironically, they both accomplished that task against Sleepy Eye High School.

The book "Scarlet Ice," written by former New Ulmite Roger Dier, was released and was a top selling hockey book on Amazon.com.

New Ulm High School's Luke Schmit qualified for the Minnesota State High School Wrestling Tournament at 160 pounds.

The New Ulm Club honored Tim Kehren and Jill Gareis of New Ulm High School, Stacy Eckstein and Nick Simon of New Ulm Cathedral and Alicia Evenson and Nate Schoenherr of Minnesota Valley Lutheran as the Outstanding Senior Athletes at each school.

Jamie Hoffmann signed a contract with the Baltimore Orioles, playing the season with the Norfolk Tides, the Orioles' AAA affiliate. Hoffmann became a free agent following the season and then later signed with the New York Mets.

Both the New Ulm Eagles and New Ulm Cathedral baseball teams finished 19-7 on the year.

In football, the New Ulm Eagles finished 1-8, with Minnesota Valley Lutheran ending 4-6 and New Ulm Cathedral 7-4.

The Minnesota Valley Lutheran football team ended its tenure as a member of the Gopher Valley Conference and in 2013 will return as a member of the Southern Minnesota Conference.

In boys' basketball, the Greyhounds of New Ulm Cathedral finished the 2011-12 season with a 19-7 record, followed by Minnesota Valley Lutheran at 11-16 and New Ulm High School at 5-20.

Going into the new year of 2013, the Eagles of New Ulm High School have the best record of the three New Ulm high schools in boys' basketball with a 3-8 mark after their win over Spectrum Saturday in Glencoe. New Ulm Cathedral is 1-5 and Minnesota Valley Lutheran is 0-8, also with a game Saturday.

Both the New Ulm Cathedral and Minnesota Valley Lutheran girls' basketball teams ended the 2011-12 season with 14 wins.

Minnesota American Legion Baseball realigned its districts, with the Second District becoming Zone II and adding St. Peter and New Prague.

New Ulm will host the initial Zone II tournament in late July.

Red Wyczawski was elected to the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.