SPORTS MEMORIES 3-10-23

March 7. 1968 - Bob Backlund won the state 175-pound title in wrestling and finished 26-0, beating Pat Wiggins of Osseo in the district, region and state finals . . .Tom Enger scored 13 and Jim Rajala and Steve Carlson 10 apiece in a 72-53 loss to Anoka in District 16 quarterfinals.

March 15, 1973 - Princeton beat Onamia 52-44 to advance to the District 16 semifinals as Tom Holbrook and Chuck Young each had 15 points and Holbrook 16 rebounds . . . The Teachers beat Security Federal 96-63 in the title game of the first year of the city basketball league as Mike Arnold scored 45 points and Gary Schmoyer 20. Luther Dorr had 20 for Security and Jerry Bergeron 14.

March 9, 1978 - Michelle Ziegler was first in three events and second in another in section gymnastics . . .Former PHS diver Jim Pokorny, an NAIA All-American the year before for Southwest State, won the one-meter event in the Northern Intercollegiate Conference meet . . . Lynn Donner led the PHS girls in scoring (11.5) and rebounding (12.0).

March 10, 1983 - Princeton beat Sauk Rapids 76-48 to assure PHS of its first winning season since 1978.  Nathan Murphy had 14, Tom Blomberg and Brian Trunk 13 apiece and Brian Dorr 10 . . . Tom Oliver set a school record in the 100 freestyle at the region meet . . . Cambridge upset Princeton in the subregion, 51-45, as Barb Blomberg had 22 points and Kelly Auers 16.

March 11, 1988 - Ernie Sanborn had 22 points and Craig Talberg 14 in a 63-60 win over Cambridge and Eric Minks had 22 points and 9 rebounds in a 59-56 win over St. Cloud Apollo . . .  Princeton lost 59-38 to International Falls in region quarterfinals as Judy Bornholdt scored 17.

March 11, 1993 -  Princeton beat Proctor 60-49 in a section game as Corrine Lundell had 29, Heather Carlson 12 and Kris Seifert 10 . . .  Brent Hofman scored 11 points in a 64-41 loss to St. Cloud Tech . . . Paul Sather, a PHS grad, headed to the NAIA tournament as the starting center for Northern State, 31-1.

March 5, 1998 - Chris Anderson won two events at the section swim meet and had the top seed times for those events at state . . . ,The boys basketball team ended the regular season with a 72-47 win over Milaca as Mike VandeRiet had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Nate Torborg 13 points.

March 6, 2003 - The boys basketball team finished the regular season at 13-13 after losing to Foley and Milaca in its last two games. Eli McVey had 18 and Gordy Sanford 17 in the loss to Milaca . . . The girls basketball team finished 5-22 after a 62-47 loss to Grand Rapids in a section quarterfinal game. Angie Haehn had 12 points and Tessa Gronli 11.

(Luther Dorr compiled these items, is the former editor of the Princeton Eagle (2 years) and Princeton Union-Eagle (32 years), and has written about sports in the Princeton area for the past 55 years.)