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Fear the Beard!

16 Mar

Beard closeupWhen Austin High School Senior Tommy Olmsted decided to participate in “No-Shave November” he had no idea of where it would lead. The idea is to see how much facial hair contestants can grow in a month.

But as Tommy, a reserve guard for the Packer basketball team, was discussing it with his teammates, somehow the decision was made that he couldn’t shave until after an Austin loss.

Thus was born “Fear the Beard!” And since Austin is now 28-0, Tommy’s beard has had a lot of time to grow.

Tommy profile

James Harden has nothing on Tommy…at least in beard-growing ability.

When the Packers all agreed to shave their heads before the January 17 “Hoops for Hope” game in honor of Samantha Gasner, a teammates mom who is fighting cancer, it made for a contrast that was interesting to say the least. Here Tommy is pictured with Joe Aase just after both had their haircuts:

Tommy and Joe

Tommy has made it clear that when the season is over, the beard will be gone, too.

Now the goal for the Packers is to make sure he doesn’t get to shave until Sunday morning.

Fear the Beard!

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Packers to Face Blake at State

16 Mar

The Austin Packers earned the #2 seed as expected, and drew #7-ranked Blake from the unseeded pool for their quarterfinal match-up in the Minnesota State High School League Class AAA Boys Basketball Tournament.

The Packers face the Bears at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.

Here is the complete bracket:

AAA Bracket

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The Streaks Continue

13 Mar

Court storming

With their cliffhanger win over Winona Saturday night, the Austin Packers extended their winning streak for the 2012-13 season to 27 games. They remain the only undefeated team in Class AAA, and there are no undefeated teams in AAAA or AA. Class A Upsala (29-0) is the state’s only other unbeaten team.

Over the last couple of years, the Packers have built some other streaks as well, which are now on hold until next year. Among those are:

  • Consecutive Home Wins (25) dating back to a March 4, 2010 loss to Rochester Century.
  • Consecutive Big Nine Wins (29), since a 39-34 at Owatonna on January 27, 2012.
  • Consecutive Regular Season Wins (32), with the last loss being at Minneapolis Washburn, last year’s Class AAA runner-up, on February 4, 2012.

The Packers have an opportunity to add to their season streak, and more importantly claim a spot in the MSHSL State Tournament, with a win Friday night in Rochester against Red Wing. Game time is 6 p.m. at Mayo Civic Arena.

Let us know on Facebook that you’re coming, and invite your friends!

The Box Office opens for ticket sales at 4:30 Friday, and the doors to the arena open at 5.

Let’s have a great crowd to cheer the Packers to victory!

Packers to Host Kasson-Mantorville Wednesday

2 Mar

The Austin Packers will kick off defense of their MSHSL Section 1AAA title on Wednesday at home against #8 seed Kasson-Mantorville. Game time is 7 p.m. The Packers played the Komets in the first game of the season on Dec. 1, and came away with an 88-54 win.

New Prague grabbed the #2 seed and will host #7 Faribault, while #6 Albert Lea travels to #3 Red Wing and #4 Winona hosts #5 Waseca. See the complete bracket below:

Screen shot 2013-03-02 at 10.29.54 AM

Here are the links (and top seeds) to the brackets for all of the Class AAA sections (Sections 5, 7 and 8 will be announced Sunday:

JM Game Rescheduled for Tonight

23 Feb

Due to snow and school closings, Friday’s game at Rochester John Marshall was postponed and rescheduled for tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Big 9 Standings

The second-place Rockets will be looking to avenge their Jan. 17 loss at Austin.