Summer 1996

This article submitted by Molly Connors on 12/30/96.

Hiltner wins award
State A heavyweight champ Lee Hiltner was named Minnesota Junior Wrestler of the Year by the Minnesota/ USA Wrestling Association.
The title is awarded to the wrestler who earned the most points during the year. Aside from his state heavyweight title, Hiltner won the state freestyle title and the state Greco-Roman title, both at 220 pounds. He finished sixth at Greco-Roman nationals, and earned second in the freestyle and third in Greco-Roman at the LaCrosse, Wis., Regional tournament.
Hiltner also competed with the Minnesota Thunder wrestling team last summer. The team placed fifth in the nation.

Little Crow skiiers fourth nationally
The Little Crow Water Ski team, based out of New London, once again won the state ski show competition.
They advanced to national competition in Rockford, Ill., where they placed fourth. A rope broke on their second act, the three-tier barefoot pyramid. The team also struggled in other events.
There were 16 teams at the national competition. Little Crow took the national title in 1994.
Holli Whitcomb and Jay Vagle, both of Paynesville, are members of the Little Crow team.

Morgan wrestles at Olympics

The Paynesville area had a local connection to the Atlanta Olympics this past summer. Wrestler Gordy Morgan is the son of Olive and Jim Morgan, Rice Lake.
Gordy, who finished ninth in a field of 20 Greco-Roman wrestlers, competed at 163 pounds. He won his first round 10-1 over Rodolfo Hernandez, Mexico, by technical superiority.
He didn't fare so well in the next two rounds, losing 10-1 to Cuba's Feliberto Aguilera and 3-2 to Jim-Soo Kimm of Korea. Aguilera went on to win the gold medal.
Jim Morgan said Gordy went into the games with an injury.
"He won't use his injury as an excuse for losing, but I think it must have affected his wrestling," Jim said.

Regal Eagles make it to state

The Regal baseball team made it all the way to state last August.
They ended their season in the second round of state play with a 6-3 loss to Union Hill.
Tim Haines started off pitching for the Eagles and went into the fifth inning, when Mike Beier relieved him.
Regal got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the bottom of the first. Union Hill came back with one run in the second, two more in the fourth and one each in the fifth, seventh and ninth. Regal came back with one more in the seventh, but couldn't score any more runs.

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