The Huskies are sending six individual wrestlers to state. Two of them are sophomores and one is a freshman. Peyton Robb, Taonner Cole and Brandon Moen each advanced to state over the weekend. Cole and Moen both claimed weight championships, and freshman Robb took true second. 
Huskies’ Coach Cliff Casteel is proud of the young blood on the team. 

Barbara A. Peterson, 58 of Blooming Prairie, died Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at her home. 

Helen I. J. Larson, 88, of Owatonna, died Monday, Feb. 16, 2015, at Clare Bridge Cottage, Owatonna.
Helen was born April 19, 1926, in Aurora Township, the daughter of Carl and Dagney (Prestegard) Selthun. She attended country school. Helen then worked at the bakery in Owatonna and also for a doctor in Rochester and for area farmers. 

Melvin “Mel” J. Ptacek, 81, lifelong resident of Owatonna, entered his heavenly home on Feb. 16, 2015, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. 
Mel was born on November 28, 1933, the son of Joseph and Irene (Wanous) Ptacek in Somerset Township, rural Steele County. 

Beyond frustration.
That pretty much sums up my feelings toward the U.S. Postal Service after the past three weeks of our newspapers going AWOL. 

Dwindling enrollment is forcing a long-time education institution in Steele County to close its doors.
St. Isidore School in Litomysl will be shutting down at the end of the school year after providing Catholic education to students for nearly 60 years, church officials announced last week.

She’s always been a farm girl determined to help her parents with chores and other tasks, but Dana Standke has been noticeably absent from farm work lately as she heals from what had been a life-threatening injury.
The Ellendale girl is recovering at home after losing her right arm in a farm accident last fall. Helping out on the farm has been nothing unusual ever since Dana was a toddler, her parents say. 

Last Saturday, Cambryn Rubin became the first Kasson-Mantorville/Triton gymnast to compete at state competition.
The merger with Kasson-Mantorville this season marked the first year of gymnastics for Triton high school. Rubin, an eighth-grader, finished third at the section tournament in Austin, giving her a chance to compete at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis for the state tournament. 

The dangers of nitrates from fertilizers leaching into groundwater was one of the topics of a workshop dealing with current issues facing feedlot operators in Blooming Prairie last week. The session was sponsored by the feedlot officers of Dodge, Freeborn, Goodhue, Mower, Rice and Steele counties and attended by several dozen area feedlot operators.