Pipestone County Star

The Pipestone Athletics’ amateur baseball team opened the 2026 season at the Flandreau Blue Teal this past Sunday. And this Sunday, May 10, Pipestone plays host to the Gopher League opener versus the Milroy Irish. The first pitch is set for 2 p.m. at A’s/City Field. “Milroy is a tough game, and they have a good squad,” Pipestone head coach Avery Ploeger said. “We’re looking forward to the challeng...

INFORMATION CALENDAR Thursday, May 7 Baseball 4:30 p.m., Murray County Central at Pipestone Area (A’s/City Field) 4:30 p.m., Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (Ruthton, Parents Night) 4:30 p.m., Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian at Adrian-Ellsworth Boys and Girls Golf 9 a.m., Elkton-Lake Benton at Colman-Egan Invitational (Sunrise Ridge, Colman, S.D.) 4 p.m., Windom Area at Pi...

The Pipestone Area Schools’ boys tennis team dropped three matches last week against staunch competition. Redwood Valley topped the Arrows, 7-0, on Tuesday, April 28 — followed by a 7-0 road loss to St. James Area on Thursday, April 30. Fairmont defeated PAS, 6-1, on Friday, May 1, with Joel Cardenas earning the team’s lone victory. PAS played at home versus Worthington on Tuesday, May 5, before t...

Shots were fired on Saturday, May 2 at the Pipestone Sportsmen’s Club shooting range. Those shots marked the beginning of the year for the venue, which conduct its fourth annual fundraiser banquet on Friday, May 8 at the Pipestone National Guard Armory. The event begins with a social hour and drawing sales at 5 p.m. — followed by the dinner at 6:30 p.m. Dinner will be provided by the Pipestone Cou...

Pipestone Area Schools’ student Lane Fruechte competed at the Minnesota/USA Wrestling freestyle tournament last weekend in Rochester. The meet was conducted at Rochester Community & Technical College. Fruechte finished fifth in the Junior 138-pound bracket. Mason Fruechte also competed in the tournament (Junior 144). Lane Fruechte (shown in the photograph at the far right) earned fifth on a me...

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University pitcher Cody Wichmann just wrapped up his junior season playing baseball. Wichmann, during the 2026 season, was named National College Baseball Writers Association Central Region pitcher of the week, and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference pitcher of the week once (Feb. 25). A former Russell-Tyler-Ruthton student-athlete, Wichmann pitched in 13 g...

The City of Pipestone Parks and Recreation Department has announced its offering the annual trip to see the Minnesota Twins play. This season, local fifth- and sixth-graders will have the opportunity to watch the Twins play the Cleveland Guardians in this American League Central clash. The Twins-Guardians game is set for Thursday, July 9, with the first pitch at 12:40 p.m. Cleveland currently lead...

The Pipestone County Board of Appeals during its April 27 meeting approved a variance allowing Allan Hachmann to build a new house less than 150 feet from the center line of U.S. Highway 75, as required by the county’s zoning ordinance. The approval included the condition that the structure be no closer than 125 feet from the center line of the highway. Hachmann said he plans to remove an existing...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Howard Wood Dakota Relays are a showcase event for the activity of track and field. In the 101st installment of this event, both the Elkton-Lake Benton and Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton programs showed they belong on the grand stage at Howard Wood Field. The relays featured dozens of schools from across the five-state area, including Minot High School in North Dako...

Pipestone Area Schools’ sophomore Americ Suvandy defended his home track at the 50th Annual Bob Nangle Relays. Suvandy claimed gold in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes during the event. Americ posted a time of 11.41 in the 100 and 23.35 in the 200. With those performances, Suvandy scored 20 of the 24 points the Arrow boys accrued. The 4x400-meter relay group featuring freshmen John Goelz and Aus...

A Pipestone Area Schools graduate performed critical engine analyses on the rocket engine that took four astronauts around the moon in a record-breaking lunar fly-by earlier this month. Seth Lingen, PAS Class of 2021, is an intern with L3Harris Technologies near Los Angeles, Calif. As a NASA defense contractor, L3Harris developed the space launch system that propelled the four-member Artemis II cr...

Pipestone County Commissioners during their April 14 meeting voted to fill the county coroner position by appointment rather than election as has historically been the case. The change will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Long-time Pipestone County Coroner Dr. Larry Christensen submitted a letter to Pipestone County Administrator Steve Ewing in February indicating that he didn’t plan to seek reelection...

TO THE EDITOR: THANK YOU Pipestone Star for doing a great job of writing the ALC article. If the school board votes to eliminate the ALC kids from their graduation ceremony it’s out of SPITE, not because of the facts presented by the SWWC President and the ALC President. Also note, the school board will be asking the taxpayers for more money this coming November. Let them know how you feel. I want...

Recently, there have been a number of conversations about the Pipestone Alternative Learning Center at the school board table and within the community. The Alternative Learning Centers, also known as ALCs are part of Minnesota’s broader system of State-Approved Alternative Programs. These programs were created with the intent to serve students who struggled in the traditional school settings. Stud...

On Wednesday, April 15, Tax Day, Senate Republicans held a press conference to spotlight how DFL tax increases and unchecked spending have driven up costs and made life less affordable for Minnesota families. “From rising property taxes to climbing license tab fees, Minnesotans continue to tell me they want our state to be more affordable,” Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne), Republican lead on the Senat...

The Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) prom is scheduled for Saturday, April 25 at the high school. Each year the PAS Junior Class Committee helps plan the prom. This year’s Committee includes Abbi Haack, Valencia Murphy, Iva Witte, JaNasia Larkins, Kaysa Douty, Brooke Einck, Matthew Swenson and Kailyn Burmeister. The students started planning for the prom in October. They’ve selected an enchanted garde...

Once again, the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton speech team proved to be head-and-shoulders above the rest. The Knights scored 64 points at the Section 3A meet on Saturday at Redwood Valley High School — their fourth consecutive title. Eleven RTR students advanced to the Class A state competition. What’s more, Edgerton Public’s Joey Fleischman will be a first-time state participant. Fleischman, competing in...

The estimated market values (EMV) of some properties in Pipestone increased and the EMVs of others decreased this year. City Assessor Erik Skogquist explained during the city of Pipestone’s annual Local Board of Adjustments and Appeals meeting on April 7 that assessors set property values and classifications each year. The values are based on what they think the fair market values are and the clas...

Pipestone Area Schools’ Kaysa Douty pitched, perhaps, the finest game of her career on Friday, April 10. Douty tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout as the Arrows downed visiting Esko, 8-0, at the Paulsen Athletic Complex. She fanned 13 batters, and the PAS defense committed just one error. “It was nice to see her pitch that well,” PAS head coach Robert Petersen said. “Her change-up was the ke...

There were plenty of dynamics at work as Pipestone Area Schools played host to their second meet of the season Thursday, April 9. Golfers from PAS, Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton and Adrian-Ellsworth persevered through temperatures in the low 40s (wind chills lower) to post strong scores. This marked 2025 state qualifier Vivian Brockberg’s first competitive round of the season. And SWC/E j...

ELKTON, S.D. — The Elk Nation Hall of Fame banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25. The event will take place at the Elkton Community Center (physical address 109 North Elk Street). The Hall of Fame Class of 2026 features Mary Jo Culhane, Annette Stein, Joyce Kramer, Steve Brown, Michelle Gilbertson, Jane Duin and Nicki (Kinner) Holmen. Culhane was on the first Elkton track and field team...

Pipestone Area Schools’ Troy Chaulsett kept Luverne’s batters at bay during the second and third innings. That allowed the Arrows to forge a tie with their Big South Conference rivals at 3-all in the bottom of the third. However, Luverne pushed across six runs in the top of the fourth and the Cardinals eventually earned a 12-7 win at A’s/City Field on Friday, April 10. Chaulsett came in relief of...

Pictured are winners of the Three Eye Mixed bowling league first place roll off. Here they are. Front row (from left) Ryan Ridl, Dave Nissen and Greg Nelson. Back row, Curt Fey, Steve Kor and Michael Nelson. INFORMATION BOWLING SCORES From Bole-Mor Lanes Pipestone Thursday, April 9 Lynnette’s Ladies Standings Stay In Your Lane 32-20, American Legion 31.5-20.5, JBS 28.5-23.5, Rock Lobsters 26-26, B...

LUVERNE — Several Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton boys track and field performers snagged gold medals during a Tuesday, April 7 meet at Cardinal Field. Competitors braved temperatures in the low-40s (with wind chills below the freezing point). The Eagles’ Ryan Pap was tops in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 53.77. SWC/E state qualifier Silas Van Essen captured gold in both the 100 hurdle...

INFORMATION CALENDAR Thursday, April 16 Baseball 3:30 p.m., Jackson County Central at Pipestone Area (DH, A’s/City Field) 4:30 p.m., Adrian-Ellsworth at Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian Boys and Girls Golf 4:30 p.m., Southwest Minnesota Christian at Luverne (Luverne Country Club) Boys Tennis 4 p.m., Milbank, S.D. at Pipestone Area (PAS Courts) Softball 4 p.m., Fairmont at Pipestone Area (Pau...