Luverne Sports

The Luverne Redbirds fell to the Kimball Express 10-0 in the first round of the 2024 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament Saturday, Aug. 17, in Belle Plaine. With the loss, the Redbirds have been eliminated from the tournament and end their season with a 20-5 record. Kimball moves on to the Sweet 16 to take on the Foley Lumberjacks Saturday, Aug. 24, in Jordan. Against Kimball, Luverne…

The Luverne High School girls’ tennis team opened the 2024 season at home Saturday, Aug. 17. In the first match of the season, the Cardinal girls beat Morris Area 4-3, and lost to Benson 4-3 in the second match of the day. Against Morris the Luverne Cardinals won their four singles matches. Senior Augusta Papik in the No. 1 spot defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-1. Senior Emma Nath took the No. 2…

Mary Jo Graphenteen won the 2024 Women’s Club Tournament Friday, Aug. 16, at the Luverne Country Club. Graphenteen shot a 77 in the 18-hole event. Melissa Sandbulte finished second in the championship flight with an 81, Paula Lammert was third with an 87, and Makayla Sterrett finished fourth with a 99. In the President’s flight, Sharla Reisch placed first with a 92. Colleen Nath was second…

Ben Nath was crowned champion of the Luverne Country Club men’s club tournament Sunday, Aug. 18. Nath shot a two-day total gross score of 147, a 76 on Saturday and a 71 on Sunday in the two-day, 36-hole tournament. Owen Sudenga, took second in the championship flight with a 151, and Brady Bork and Pete Connell tied for third at 156. Other championship flight results were Michael Strassburg in…

The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team made history this past weekend at the 2024 Division II State Tournament in St. Charles. Though they placed second in the championship, falling 6-3 to Holdingford, this year’s Luverne Junior Legion team is the first to play for a state title. Luverne won their first two games in the tournament beating Ely 5-1 Friday, Aug. 9, and taking down the host team…

The Luverne Redbirds fell to the Fairmont Martins two games to one in the Region 13C Championship series this past week. Fairmont won the No. 1 seed and will have a bye in the first round of the state tournament. The Gopher League No. 2 seed Luverne Redbirds are scheduled to take on the Central Valley League No. 2 seed Kimball Express in the first round of the state playoffs Saturday, Aug. 17,…

Luverne High School senior Lucky Dara won the 2024 Cardinal Pride competition on the opening day of football practice Monday, Aug. 12. The Cardinal Pride competition is an eight-event challenge staged on the first morning of practice every season to test physical abilities of each high school player prior to the season. Dara won the competition with 1786.75 total points. Senior Eli Woodley…

Following are racing results for local drivers competing in Fairmont, Rock Rapids, Hartford, Slayton, Worthington and Brandon for the week of Aug. 5-11. Fairmont Raceway Fairmont, MN – Aug. 9 Hobby Stock 4th - #10 Blake Schneekloth Stock Car 4th - #20K Spenser Kalass   Murray County Speedway Slayton, MN – Aug. 9 MCRA Bombers 3rd - # 17J Christopher Johnson 6th - #22H Cody Hansen IMCA…

The 2024 Senior Men’s Club Tournament took place at the Luverne Country Club Saturday, Aug. 10. The one day, 18-hole tournament featured 37 players competing in three different flights. In the 50-59 age division, Jim Stratton was the winner, shooting a 73. Corey Stratton was second, shooting a score of  80. In the 60-69 division, Chris Nowatzki placed first with a 74. Tim Knoll was second with…

The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team is headed to the 2024 Division II State Tournament after beating Sleepy Eye 12-7 in the sub state championship game Tuesday, July 30, in Springfield. The team is led by Redbird players Jake Haugen and Ben Serie, both second-year coaches at the helm of the program. “Through all my years of playing, I have had really impactful coaches like Mike Wenninger,…

The Luverne Redbirds are heading back to state after defeating Windom 5-2  twice in Final Four series action. This marks the sixth straight year of state tournament appearances for the Redbirds. Luverne beat Windom 5-2 Wednesday, July 31, in Luverne and took the second game 5-2 in Windom Saturday Aug. 3. The Redbirds are scheduled to face Fairmont in the best-of-three Region 13C Championship…

The Luverne Redbirds beat the Lakefield Horned Frogs in two games to move on to the Final Four in Region 13C playoffs. Luverne beat Lakefield 10-0 at home Wednesday, July 24, and 5-3 on the road Friday, July 26. The Redbirds will open the Final Four, Game 1, in a best of three series against the Windom Pirates at Redbird Field Wednesday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 will be played Saturday,…

The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team won two games and lost one in the 2024 Southwest Sub State Tournament this past week in Springfield. Luverne beat Slayton 5-4 and won against Sleepy Eye 5-3 on Sunday, July 28. Sleepy Eye then beat Luverne 5-4 on Monday, July 29, forcing another game between the two teams on Tuesday, July 30, in the double elimination tournament. Tuesday’s game was…

Luverne Senior Legion Post 123 ended its season Friday, July 26, falling 7-1 to Windom at home in the American Legion Division II Southwest sub-state tournament. Luverne finished its 2024 season with a record of 13-5-1 overall. Losing the coin toss, Luverne was assigned as the visiting team and was first up to bat. Luverne was not able to score in the top of the first, but in the bottom of the…

The Luverne Post 123 Senior Legion baseball team stayed alive in Division II Southwest Sub State action over the past week, winning two games and falling once. Luverne beat Wabasso 5-2 in the opening game at Redbird Field Thursday, July 18, and shocked Springfield with a 1-0 walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday, July 19. Luverne lost a 3-1 lead Saturday, July 20, to fall…

The Luverne Junior Legion baseball team is the Southwest Sub State (A-Pod) champion after beating Russell-Tyler-Ruthton twice at home this past week. On Sunday, July 21, Luverne defeated RTR 7-0, and on Monday night, July 22, they won again 13-1. There were only three teams in the Southwest Sub State A-Pod tournament, Luverne, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Adrian. Edgerton was the fourth seed and…