Frederick William “Bill” Claussen, age 80, of Staples, Minnesota, formerly of Hardwick, Minnesota, passed away on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at Reflections at Lakewood Health Systems in Staples. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hardwick, Minnesota, with a visitation one hour prior to the service at the Church. Inurnment will follow at the Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne. In Lieu of flowers memorials can be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Hartquist Funeral Home – Luverne Chapel. To sign an online registry, please view  www.hartquistfuneral.com. 
Frederick William “Bill” Claussen was born on February 14, 1942, to Eldra and Eunice (Arp) Claussen in Luverne, Minnesota. He was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick, Minnesota. Bill was raised by a village which included his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He graduated from Luverne High School in 1960. Bill lived in or near Hardwick throughout his life. He owned his own excavating business for a number of years and also drove cement trucks for Pronk Ready Mix. Later in his life he was united in marriage to Alice on March 7, 1992, at the Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick. They were married for five years until her passing on June 27, 1996. Bill passed away on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at Reflections at Lakewood Health Systems in Staples, Minnesota, at the age of 80 years.
Bill was a lifelong member of Zion Lutheran church in Hardwick. He also served on the fire department, and was a member of the Arthur Moeller American Legion Post #478 in Hardwick. Bill enjoyed hunting, fishing, skeet shooting, and going on motorcycle trips. He especially enjoyed socializing and spending time with his family and friends who he thought the world of. He was extremely caring and helped his mother when her health declined. Bill will be remembered for his very kind personality and always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. Bill will be deeply missed.
Bill is survived by his sister, Marlee (John) Melville of St. Cloud, Minnesota; sister-in-law, Jackie Claussen of Pace, Florida; step daughters, Julie (Tim Haugen) Pater of Wirock, Minnesota, and Jayme (Dave) Palmer of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; his very special great nephew, Christopher Thomas; and many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and step grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Alice; his parents; and his brother Lee Claussen.
The family of Bill would like to thank the Good Samaritan Communities of Pipestone and Reflections at Lakewood Health Systems for the wonderful care they gave Bill. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.
(0224V)

Jessie Lorraine Wenzel, 91, Luverne, formerly of Hardwick, died Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage.
A funeral service was Saturday, Feb. 19 at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hardwick with burial at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne following the service.
Jessie Lorraine Wenzel was born September 10, 1930, in Luverne to John and Della (Lewis) Ellefson. She was baptized and later confirmed at the Rose Dell Lutheran Country Church east of Jasper. She attended country school through the 8th grade. On June 30, 1948, Jessie was united in marriage to Arnold “Bud” Wenzel at her home church, the Rose Dell Lutheran. The couple moved in December of that same year to the farm where they lived all their married life together and raised their four children. In addition to her farm work life, Jessie cleaned homes for several people.  She also worked as a cook at the Blue Mound Inn in Luverne, the Calumet Hotel in Pipestone, the Mary Jane Brown Nursing Home in Luverne, and lastly at the Luverne Community Hospital, as a dietary aide. She retired from the hospital in July of 1999. Bud preceded her in death on November 28, 2015 after 66 ½ years of marriage. Jessie later became a resident of Poplar Creek Assisted Living in Luverne.
Jessie was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick, where she was involved in the L.W.M.L., Ladies Circle, and the Zion Quilting Group. Jessie enjoyed helping others in need and doing mission work for Zion Lutheran. An important part of that mission to her was encouraging the faith journey of those around her, particularly the younger generation. She was very proud to see members of the church growing in their faith and developing their relationship with Christ. She did quilt work for both missions and her family and truly loved serving her family. From baking to helping move, Jessie was always ready to lend a hand. She is remembered for having a great sense of humor and a wonderful partnership with her husband Bud. The two made an excellent team, working together at the church and catering. Jessie was very organized and motivated to get things done but made sure people paused to enjoy the little things, as long as they weren’t whispering.
Jessie is survived by her four children, Dean (Linda) Wenzel of Luverne, Richard (Deb) Wenzel of Garretson, South Dakota, Patricia (David) Swenson of Beaver Creek, and Paulette (Randy) Richters of Luverne; seven grandchildren, Robert (Bronwyn) Wenzel, Joseph (Randi) Wenzel, Jennifer (Don) Luitjens, Dustin (Kayla) Richters, Devin (Liz) Richters, Dylan (Brenna) Richters, and Jessica Richters (special friend, Zach Briggs); nine great-grandchildren, Mason and Madilyn Wenzel, Elle and Eli Richters, Jaxon and Xander Richters, Kyia and Riley Wenzel, Sawyer Richters; and other family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold “Bud” Wenzel; son, Robert James Wenzel; parents, John and Della Ellefson; four sisters, Mattie Peterson, Ruby Dibbern, Darlene Ruud, and infant sister LaVon Ellefson; and parents-in-law, Karl and Frieda Wenzel.
Memorials may be directed to McCrossan Boys Ranch, Zion Quilters, or Sanford Luverne Hospice.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.
(0224 F)

Viola Lillian Bjerk Peterson, 95, Sioux falls, South Dakota, died February 18, 2022, and was finally reunited with her best friend and husband, Paul.
A funeral service will be 11 a.m., Monday, Feb. 28 at First Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with an hour of visitation prior at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Media Ministry in Viola’s name.
Arrangements were provided by Miller Funeral Home. For full obituary, please visit www.millerfh.com
(0224)

Barbara Brinkhous, 63, Hardwick, died Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, under hospice care at her home.
Visitation will be Wednesday, Feb. 23 from 5-7 p.m. at Rock River Community Church, rural Luverne. A funeral service will be at the church on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. with a light luncheon served beforehand at noon with burial at the Holland Cemetery, Holland, following the service.
Arrangements are with Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne.
(0224 DN)

Uncharacteristic falls from the balance beam and uneven bars prevented Luverne gymnast Ella Reisdorfer from reaching the awards podium at the Minnesota Class A State Girls Gymnastics Tournament
The LHS freshman (who turns 15 this week) competed in the all-around competition at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium Saturday night in St. Paul.
She accumulated a score 32.95 on the four apparatuses, placing 22nd out of 24 all-around competitors.
Coach Phoebe Flom said Reisdorfer didn’t compete to the best of her abilities at Saturday’s individual event.
“She was just not herself at all. I am not sure if it was nerves or what. I am, however, very proud of her — to compete with the top gymnasts in the state is quite an honor. She went up there and gave it her all,” Flom said.
At the state meet, Reisdorfer posted a 7.125 on the balance beam (48th out of 48th gymnasts) and 7.775 (45th out of 47) on the uneven bars. She lost points in both events after falling off the apparatuses.
Reisdorfer started the state meet on the floor exercise, scoring a 9.15, and finished tied for 24th out of 47 gymnasts competing.
Reisdorfer’s first pass on the vault, she landed low, receiving an average score of 8.55 from the four judges. She improved on her second pass for a score of 8.9 and finished 39th out of 44 gymnasts.
Reisdorfer earned a return trip to the state competition by finishing third in the all-around competition at the Feb. 12 Section 3A tournament in Marshall.
At the section meet, Reisdorfer broke her own school record in the all-around when she posted a 35.625.
The 2022 event is Reisdorfer’s third-consecutive state appearance and is the first time she qualified for the all-around competition.
As a seventh-grader she competed on uneven bars and last year on the beam.
In the team competition, the Section 3A team champions, Worthington, finished fifth (141.95) out of eight teams. Watertown-Mayor/Mound-Westonka (WM-MW) won the Class A title with a score of 145.75.
At the individual events, the first-place gymnast and score were:
•all-around: Reagan Kelley, a junior, WM/MW, 38.475.
•vault: Anna Mielke, senior, WM/MW, 9.8.
•bars: Kelley, 9.725.
•beam: Lola Visci, sophomore, Big Lake, 9.6.
•floor exercise: Miekle, 9.625.

The Luverne girls’ basketball team wrapped up its regular season with a 20-4 overall record and a perfect 11-0 record in Section 3AA. 
That accomplishment as enough to earn the Cardinals the No. 1 seed in the Section 3AA-South tournament, which begins Saturday, Feb. 26. 
Luverne will host the No. 8-seeded Redwood Valley Cardinals (1-25) in the Luverne Classic Gym Saturday at 7 p.m. Luverne defeated Redwood Valley by scores of 87-28 and 67-14 earlier in the season. 
With a win, LHS will face the winner of Jackson County Central and St. James Area Tuesday at 6pm at a neutral location to be determined. 
Fairmont (20-3) is seeded second in the South sub-section. 
In the North sub-section, Montevideo (20-3) received the top seed with New London-Spicer (21-3) the No. 2 seed. 
According to Luverne head coach TJ Newgard, the section tournament should be competitive. 
"I think seven or eight teams have a legit chance of coming out of Section 3AA," Newgard said.
"With that much parity, I think it makes it really fun knowing you have a chance if you can string together four good games."
The Cardinals won their final two regular season games of the season last week by defeating Adrian-Ellsworth 64-27 Feb. 15 and Jackson County Central 57-47 Friday night.
 
Luverne 64, A-E 27
Luverne was able to mix up the usual lineup and offer significant playing to a variety of players during a comfortable 64-27 win in Adrian on Tuesday, Feb. 15. 
"Our regular starters only played five minutes," Newgard said. 
The Luverne lead was 10-0 three minutes into the game when the starters were first replaced with five new players. The Cardinals led 29-2 when the starters left the game for the last time. 
In all, 11 Cardinals scored in the contest and 13 players received playing time. 
LHS led Adrian-Ellsworth 43-10 at halftime. 
Emma Beyer led the balanced scoring effort with nine points. Dennie Sandbulte, Elizabeth Wagner and Madee Schmuck had eight points each. 
Sandbulte also led the team with six rebounds. 
 
Box Score:
C. Wagner 1 0 0-0 2, Beyer 3 1 0-0 9, Ver Steeg 2 0 2-2 6, Sehr 0 0 0-0 0, E. Wagner 4 0 0-2 8, Stegenga 2 1 0-0 7, Sandelte 2 0 2-3 8, John 0 0 2-2 2, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Serie 3 0 0-0 6, Hansen 0 2 0-0 6, Schmuck 4 0 0-0 8, Jadyn Hart 1 0 0-0 2
 
Team Stats:
Luverne: 27 of 49 (55 percent), 6 of 9 free throws (67 percent), 30 rebounds, 14 turnovers
Adrian-Ellsworth: 10 of 43 (23 percent), 7 of 16 (44 percent), 31 rebounds, 20 turnovers
 
Luverne 57, JCC 47
The Cardinals won their seventh game in a row when they defeated the Jackson County Central Huskies 57-47 in Jackson Friday night. 
It was a close contest in the first half, with the teams tied at 20 with three minutes remaining before half time before the Cardinals took a 23-20 lead into the locker room.
Luverne outscored the Huskies 34-27 in the second half to secure the victory in the regular season finale. 
Brooklynn Ver Steeg led the offense for LHS with 17 points. Christina Wagner and Beyer added nine points each. 
Kira John collected 16 rebounds and scored eight points in the game. 
"We played through some foul trouble and picked up a nice conference win on the road," Newgard said of the victory over JCC. 
 
Box Score:
C. Wagner 3 1 0-0 9, Beyer 4 0 1-1 9, Ver Steeg 3 1 8-10 17, Sehr 2 0 1-4 5, E. Wagner 3 0 0-1 6, Stegenga 0 1 0-0 3, John 4 0 0-0 8, Hansen 0 0 0-1 0, Schmuck 0 0 0-0 0
 
Team Stats:
13 of 59 (22 percent), 16 of 27 free throws (59 percent), 33 rebounds, 12 turnovers
Section 3AA-South Tournament
Round 1
All games Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
#8 Redwood Valley at #1 Luverne
#5 St James Area at #6 Jackson County Central
#6 Windom Area at #3 Minnesota Valley Lutheran
#7 Pipestone Area at #2 Fairmont

The Hills-Beaver Creek boys’ basketball team had a busy stretch of games over the past week when they faced several conference foes at home and away.
They rolled to an easy 75-54 win over Heron Lake Okabena-Fulda on Feb. 15, but fell to the Luverne Cardinals Feb. 17 (see the related story) and Mountain Lake Area 68-61 Feb. 18.
The Patriots are 10-10 overall and 8-6 in the conference.
They were scheduled to face Southwest Christian (19-4) in Edgerton Tuesday night and RTR at home Friday before hosting the Edgerton Dutchmen Monday. 
HBC 75, HLOF 54
The Patriots were in control from start to finish Tuesday night, Feb. 15, in Hills when they took down Heron Lake Okabena-Fulda 75-54.
Seniors Cole Baker (23 points) and Liam Raymon (19 points) helped lead the Pates past the Coyotes. 
The game started slow, but it picked up when Baker hit two threes in two-straight possessions to give his team an 8-6 lead.
The Patriots never looked back from there as they worked themselves into a 34-21 halftime lead.
The second half was more of the same, although the Coyotes did cut the lead to 7 points with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
The Patriots would end the game on a nice little run to come away with a 75-54 victory.
Oliver Deelstra (11 points and 8 rebounds) and Andrew Harris (10 points) each scored in double digit for the Patriots who hit 8 of their 19 three-point attempts in the contest. Ty Bundesen also contributed for the Patriots with 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
 
Baker 3 5 2-8 23, Deelstra 2 0 7-8 11, Raymon 6 2 1-1 19, Harnack 1 0 0-0 2, Page 0 0 0-0 0, Leenderts 0 1 0-0 3, Bundesen 1 0 0-0 2, Gehrke 0 0 0-0 0, Metzger 0 0 0-0 0, Taubert 0 0 0-0 0, Tatge 0 0 0-0 0, Durst 2 0 0-0 4, Scholten 0 0 1-2 1, Harris 4 0 2-4 10, Wiersema 0 0 0-0 0
 
Team statistics
HBC: 27 of 59 (46 percent), 13 for 23 Free Throws (57 percent), 41 Rebounds, 7 Turnovers
HLOF: 18 of 63 (29 percent), 13 for 18 Free Throws (72 percent), 32 Rebounds, 11 Turnovers
 
MLAC 68 HBC 61
It was the Wolverines who ultimately came out on top after a tightly contested game Friday night in Hills.
Drew Leenderts (5 points) hit a 3 pointer from 5 feet behind the line just before time expired to tie the game at 24-24 headed into halftime.
Mountain Lake pulled away a little bit in the second half but the Patriots managed to keep it within single digits for most of the game.
The lead did grow as large as 15 but the Patriots pulled within 5 points after a three pointer by Liam Raymon (15 points) with just over 2 minutes remaining.
The Wolverines were able to put the game away at the free throw line to come away with a 68-61 victory.
Seniors Cole Baker and Oliver Deelstra also scored in double digits for the Pates with 18 and 12 respectively. Deelstra also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists while Ty Bundesen had 5 rebounds. 
The Patriots (10-10) fall to 8-6 in conference play. They travel to Edgerton Tuesday night to take on the Southwest Christian Eagles (19-4). 
Baker 5 2 2-4 18, Deelstra 3 0 6-7 12, Raymon 1 4 1-1 15, Harnack 0 0 0-0 0, Page 0 0 0-0 0, Leenderts 1 1 0-0 5, Bundesen 2 0 1-2 5, Gehrke 0 0 0-0 0, Metzger 0 0 0-0 0, Taubert 0 0 0-0 0, Tatge 0 0 0-0 0,  Durst 1 0 0-0 2, Scholten 0 0 0-0 0, Harris 2 0 0-2 4, Wiersema 0 0 0-0 0
 
Team Statistics
HBC: 22 of 57 (39 percent), 10 for 16 Free Throws (63 percent), 32 Rebounds, 18 Turnovers
MLAC: 25 of 60 (42 percent), 14 for 31 Free Throws (45 percent), 35 Rebounds, 13 Turnovers

The Luverne Cardinal boys' basketball team won its fifth and sixth games in a row before losing last week for the first time since Feb. 3. 
The home victories included a 14-point upset of rival Pipestone Area Feb. 15 and a second win over Hills-Beaver Creek Feb.17 (see related story). The loss was on the road at Jackson County Central. 
The Cardinals, now 9-12 on the season, were scheduled to host the Worthington Trojans on Feb. 22 after this edition of the Star Herald went to print. 
Luverne will wrap up the regular season with a game in Minneota Friday night. 
Currently Luverne is 4-7 against Section 3AA teams and in the sixth spot among the eight Section 3AA-South teams. 
Seedings for the section tournament will be determined this weekend with opening round games scheduled for March 5. 
 
Luverne 53, Pipestone Area 39
The Pipestone Area Arrows came to the Luverne Classic Gym Feb. 17 with an impressive 17-4 overall record. 
Luverne was ready for the challenge, however, upsetting their rivals from the north 53-39 for their fifth consecutive win.
After a brief 3-1 Arrow lead two minutes into the game, Luverne led the entire contest. The Cardinals took a 26-12 lead into the locker room at halftime. 
After the break, Luverne increased its lead to as much as 19 points with a balanced offense and stifling defense. 
The Cardinals scored 16 points off of 18 Arrow turnovers. 
Gannon Ahrendt tallied 20 points, while Connor Overgaard scored 12. 
Nathaniel Cole-Kraty collected ten rebounds for Luverne and Overgaard had eight. 
"This was our biggest win of the season," said LHS head coach John Sichmeller. 
"It showed our kids how good they can be when they lock in and give maximum effort," Sichmeller said, "They executed our defensive game plan perfectly and it was fun to watch."
 
Box Score:
Cole-Kraty 3 0 2-4 8, Schoeneman 1 1 2-4 7, Sehr 0 0 1-2 1, Radtke 0 1 2-3 5, DeBeer 0 0 0-0 0, Ahrendt 7 1 3-3 20, Overgaard 4 0 4-7 12
 
Team Stats:
Luverne: 18 of 39 (46 percent), 14 of 23 free throws (61 percent), 32 rebounds, 14 turnovers
Pipestone Area: 15 of 46 (33 percent), 2 of 5 free throws (40 percent), 23 rebounds, 18 turnovers
 
JCC 55, Luverne 42
The old saying "all good things must come to an end" came true for the Cardinals in Jackson Friday night. 
After winning six consecutive games, LHS fell to the Jackson County Central Huskies 55-42. 
The Huskies led the entire game on their home court as Luverne was unable to produce the efficient offense that had maintained the recent win streak. 
JCC outscored the Cards 27-18 in the first half and 28-24 after halftime. 
Connor Overgaard led the scoring for the Cardinals with 11 points. Gannon Ahrendt totalled eight points. 
 
Box Score:
Cole-Kraty 1 0 1-2 3, Schoeneman 0 2 0-0 6, Sehr 1 0 1-2 3, Radtke 0 1 2-2 5, DeBeer 0 2 0-0 6, Ahrendt 4 0 0-0 8, Overgaard 4 0 3-6 11
 
Team Stats:
Luverne: 15 of 30 (50 percent), 7 of 12 free throws (58 percent), 18 rebounds, 16 turnovers
JCC: 21 of 34 (62 percent), 9 of 13 free throws (69 percent), 21 rebounds, 8 turnovers

The Luverne boys’ hockey team fell to New Ulm 5-2 Thursday night at the Blue Mound Ice Arena during the final regular season game before section play begins this week.
The Cardinals came out blazing fast in the first period when Owen Sudenga received a breakout pass and chipped a pass around a New Ulm forechecker that ended up in Brock Behrend’s hands.
Behrend and Blaik Bork came in on a 2-on-1 that resulted in a pretty backdoor pass to Bork to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the game.
New Ulm responded with two first period goals in the next five minutes to take the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
New Ulm outshot Luverne 20-6 in Period 1. Luverne goalie Tyler Arends made 18 saves.
The second period saw a lot of action but only one goal.
There were 28 total shots on goal between the Eagles and Cardinals. New Ulm capitalized on a Luverne penalty and got a power play goal past Arends to take the 3-1 lead in the game.
Luverne outshot New Ulm 17-11 in the period.
The final period started with Behrend cutting the Eagles’ lead to 3-2 when he buried the puck with assists from Sudenga and Patrick Kroski.
The Eagles would get two more goals midway through the final period to increase their lead to 5-2 and escape Luverne with the victory.
Third period shots on goal were in favor of the Eagles 10-5 and 41-28 in their favor for the game. Arends ended the game with 36 saves.
The Cardinals drew the No. 3 seed in the Section 3A Tournament that starts Thursday night when the Cardinals host the No. 6 seed, the Worthington Trojans.