Like all areas, Austin and the surrounding communities saw their share of big sports stories from 2017.

From the Austin Packers boys soccer team making the state soccer tournament to Grand Meadow football’s winning run coming to an end.

From the good to the bad, these are the stories that kept the area hopping.

1. History calling

The Austin boys soccer team put together it’s best season in school history as they went 18-1-3 overall and finished third in the Minnesota Class A State Soccer Tournament.

The Packers lost to Saint Thomas Academy 4-3 in overtime in the Minnesota Class A State Semifinals and it tied Orono 0-0 in the third place game.

The Packers also won their first ever Big Nine title in school history in 2017. Their appearance in the state tournament was the second in school history and their third place finish was the highest finish in program history.

2. Back on the brink

The Austin boys basketball team played in its third Minnesota Class AAA State Title game in six years as it lost to DeLaSalle 72-44.

The Packers finished with a record of 29-3 overall in the 2016-2017 season.

Austin senior Kyle Oberboekling said getting to the state title game was a big deal for the Packers.

“We showed the town what we had and then we came here and we showed the cities what we had. It’s pretty cool to have all the community support and all of the fans have been great,” Oberbroeckling said after the game. “When I come back to high school 50 years from now and I see that plaque on the wall, I can smile and say I was part of that and my teammates were too.”

3. Football break-through

The Packers made big strides on the gridiron this past fall as they hosted their first playoff game in at least a decade and it gave some tough teams a good fight as it finished 5-5 overall this fall.

The Packers gave eventual Minnesota Class AAAAA State Champion Owatonna its closest game of the season as it lost to the Huskies 62-41 in the Section 1AAAAA semifinals.

The Packers were within 41-34 late in the third quarter against Owatonna.

All five of Austin’s losses came against teams that were ranked in the top-10.

4. A big gym-pact

The Austin gymnastics team tied its best ever finish at the Minnesota Class A State Team Meet and senior Maddie Mullenbach finished her Packer career on a high note in the 2016-2017 season.

The Packers finished third at the team meet with a score of 147.175 and Mullenbach took took first in floor, second in all-around, second in vault and seventh in bars in the individual meet.

“It was a weekend with a lot of struggles, but I’m content,” Mullenbach said after the meet. “I love my teammates and I love competing with them. Seeing them do so well makes my high school career ending very bittersweet.”

It was the sixth straight year that Austin competed in the state team tournament.

5. Taking home the title

Blooming Prairie senior Tommy Braaten set a school record when he won the Minnesota Class A Golf State Meet in 2017.

Braaten’s first day score of 68 was a BP record for a round and he finished with a two-day score of 140 to win the title by 10 strokes.

It was the third appearance at state for Braaten.

BP’s Taylor Christianson competed in her fourth straight state meet as she finished in 19th place,

As a team, the BP boys finished seventh out of eight teams at state in their second straight season at the state meet.

6. Grand Meadow’s run comes to an end

The Superlarks had their five-year run of dominance come to an end this past fall. The Superlarks had a 51-game winning streak come to an end when they lost to Houston in the regular season and they had their string of four straight Class Nine man championships come to an end when they lost to eventual state champ Spring Grove 40-17 in the Section 1 semifinals.

GM, which was 7-3 overall this season, had played in the last five nine man state championships.

7. Vikings make it a three-peat

The Hayfield softball team competed in its third straight Minnesota Class A State Softball Tournament where it finished fourth place.

Hayfield lost to Sleepy Eye/Saint Mary’s 10-9 in the state semifinals.

The Vikings finished the season with a record of 19-8 overall and Carrie Rutledge was named to the All-State tournament team after she tied a state tournament record with three doubles in a game.

8. Surviving a setback

Austin sophomore Gavin Brady saw his life take a major turn when he was involved in a car accident that left him hospitalized with two skull fractures, two brain bleeds and a broken leg at Mayo Clinic this past November, but he was able to get a boost from his wrestling teammates.

The Packer wrestlers were quick to pay a visit to Gavin and he is serving as the team’s manager this season as he recovers from his injuries. Gavin is expected to wrestle again next year and his mother Tarin Brady said being around the team has been key for him as his condition has improved.

“He seems a lot happier when he’s around the team. He’s sad that he’s not going to wrestle this year and I was afraid that he was never going to wrestle again,” Tarin said. “The community has been awesome and the wrestling family has been really good to Gavin. It was scary. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for sure, but he’s getting back to his teenage self.”

9. Razorbacks find success

With Blooming Prairie and Hayfield both short on wrestlers, it only made sense that the two schools would combine their programs to form the Westfield Razorbacks in 2016-2017.

That combination gave the Razorbacks a lot more competition for spots and it helped them send five wrestlers to the Minnesota Class A State Wrestling Meet.

Junior Mitchell Oswald took third at 220 pounds, freshmen Colton Krell took fourth at 160 and Ethan Arett, Morgen Moreno and Trey Chatman all were knocked off in the first round for Westfield.

10. Running strong

Pacelli junior Kayla Christopherson continued to put up big results at the Minnesota Class A State Cross Country Meet as she finished all-state for the fourth straight year in he fifth straight appearance at state.

Christopherson finished in ninth place at state with a time of 19:07.4.

“I put it all out onto the course,” Christopherson said after the race. “In that last mile I had to keep telling myself ‘you’re strong, you’re strong,’ because I was dying.”