Congratulations to the Elk River Bantam AA team for capturing the 2013 VFW State Championship. This is Elk River’s first VFW State Championship in the 58 years of the historic tournament. The Elks had an amazing year capturing hardware in many tournaments, including 3rd place in the Eden Prairie “First Test of the Best” Tournament, 2nd place in the Duluth “Spirit of the North” Tournament, 1st place in the Maple Grove “Ultimate Showdown” Tournament, D10 Regular Season Championship, D10 Tournament Championship, 3rd place West Region, VFW District 7 Championship, VFW State Championship. In the VFW State Tournament they played Rosemount in the quarterfinals and had a dramatic come from behind 6 to 5 overtime win. In the semi-finals they beat Sartell 4 to 0 and in the finals they beat Hermantown 5 to 1 to capture the State Title. The Elks finished the season with a record of 52 wins, 12 losses and 2 Ties. The Elks had six second year bantams and 10 first year bantams on this year’s team. With such a young team, the Elks are poised for another solid year in the 2013/14 season.

The Elks would like to send out a special Thank You to 7th District VFW Chairman Jim Hesselgrave and the Elks local VFW Post 5518. Thank you for your generosity and support you showed all year.

Roster Includes:

Forwards – Alex Schwab, Mitch Thompson, Hunter Wesloh, Jax Murray, Jensen Zerban, Nate Horn, Max Michaelis, Dylan Diehl, Castor Mattos.

Defensemen – Matt Kierstad, Alex Corpe, Nick Perbix, Benton Maass, Logan Gacke.

Goaltenders – Nolan Kively & Benny Meyers.

Coaches – Adam Sharratt, Kelly Plude, Lars Johanson, Ryan Eason.