New Richmond PeeWee hockey team wins state title

• PeeWee state champs

New Richmond’s state championship PeeWee A team includes (front, l-r) Chris Lubow, Eric Hedlund, Tucker Holmquist, Ben Karno, Jake Erickson, Noah Towberman, Eric Langer and Cole Thomas; (middle) Dylan Marty, Blake Kretovics, Sam Christensen, Brady Werner, Ryan Greer, Nick Johnson and Dane Swanda; (back) coaches Matt Page, Nate Calleja and Brian Peterson.
• Hurtis benefit

Mike and Kari Hurtis, parents of New Richmond Youth Hockey player Croix Hurtis, are shown accepting a $600 donation from Randy Calleja. The $600 is a joint donation from the St. Croix Tavern League and the Wisconsin Tavern League. The local funds were raised in a benefit held at Ready Randy’s.

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The New Richmond Tiger PeeWee A’s defeated the McFarland Spartans 6-2 to bring home the PeeWee 2A State Championship on Sunday in Janesville.

Capping off a successful season of league play in Minnesota District 2, the Tigers defeated Somerset and Menomonie in the playoffs in order to make it to the state tournament. On Saturday, the Tigers defeated the Rice Lake Warriors 5-2 in an afternoon battle, before defeating the Everest Flames 4-1 in an exciting night game. The Tigers faced off with the McFarland Spartans at 2 p.m. on Sunday to win the state championship.

In a show of support for fellow New Richmond hockey player Croix Hurtis, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia, the PeeWees wore orange socks with a French cross on them, since Croix means “cross” in French. During introductions at the beginning of the state championship game, the crowd took a moment to think of Hurtis and his family.

The New Richmond PeeWee A’s finished the season 32 wins, nine losses and one tie; that includes three overtime losses. They finished in first place out of 12 teams in the Minnesota Hockey D2 record with a record of 12-4.

Tags: sports, tigers, hockey, prep