The Cardinals have reportedly signed Lanesboro native Tyler Speerto their roster.
Speer's signing was reported by Howard Balzerof The Sports Xchange. Speer is a wide receiver who played his college football at Winona State. The athletic Speer also played basketball at Rochester Community and Technical College.
The 25-year-old Speer caught 52 passes for 806 yards and seven touchdowns for Winona State in 2012. He was listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds in college.
Speer's addition would give the Cardinals 10 wide receivers on the roster. The Cardinals already have two Minnesota natives at wide receiver in Larry Fitzgeraldand Michael Floyd, both first-round draft choices.
Fitzgerald played his college ball at Pittsburgh and Floyd played at Notre Dame.
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Fillmore Central grad Connor Nagleis a member of the Winona State women's basketball team.
Nagle, a native of Preston, is a 5-foot-6 sophomore guard. She has appeared in 22 games and made 12 starts. Nagle is averaging 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She scored a career-high 27 points against Minot State back on Jan. 11.
Winona State is currently 8-14 overall and 4-14 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
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The Rochester Honkers have announced the signing of their first players for the 2014 season, brothers Reidand Ryne Roperfrom the University of Illinois.The Ropers are the second set of Illinois brothers to play for Rochester, joining Justinand Jordan Parrfrom 2012.
Reid, a 6-foot, 200-pound redshirt junior infielder and right-handed pitcher, returns to Rochester for his fourth season. Last season he saw action on the mound and in the field. He hit .229 with 14 RBIs in 50 games while also making 12 appearances on the mound, including recording two saves.
At Illinois, Reid finished the 2013 campaign hitting .266 with three home runs and 22 RBIs. The Illini closer also had five saves.
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Ryne is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound freshman, who is also an infielder and right-handed pitcher. Selected as the 2013 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, Ryne was ranked as the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois and No. 15 in the Midwest Class of 2013 by Prep Baseball Report. As a senior, he hit .477 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs as the lead-off man. He also posted a perfect 11-0 record on the mound.
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His signing day is a year away, but Red Wing junior lineman Nick Connellyis getting a lot of attention from Division I football schools.
Red Wing activities director Matt Schultzsays Connelly is receiving strong interest from Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State and other high-end Division I programs. The junior visited the Gophers twice last fall and went to a Nebraska game in late November. He went to Iowa's junior day on Jan 18, according to 247sports.com.
Red Wing has a new coach in Rickey Foggie, who played quarterback at Minnesota back in the 1980s. Despite the presence of Connelly on the line, Red Wing figures to be a team rebuilding during the 2014 season.
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Rochester Community and Technical College will hold Fan Appreciation Night on Wednesday in between the men's and women's basketballs games at the UCR Regional Sports Center.
The RCTC women host Fergus Falls at 6 p.m. and the men's game follows at 8.
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All fans attending will receive a free meal at 7:30 p.m., which will include all-beef hot dogs, chips, cookies and a drink. The event is being sponsored by RCTC's Student Life program.
