Crookston

Over 30 Northlanders from more than 20 schools earned "Spotlight on the Arts" awards to have their work featured at the state festival May 9, 2026, at Wayzata High School.

Speakers from Bemidji, Cass Lake-Bena, Pequot Lakes, Pillager, Walker, Laporte, Cherry, Mountain Iron-Buhl, Red Lake County, UNC, Staples-Motley and Crookston took home hardware.

The qualifiers span 27 Northern Minnesota teams and all 13 categories. Over 30 are repeat qualifiers, including five medalists and one reigning champion.

Wrestlers from Grand Rapids, Staples-Motley and Badger-Greenbush/Middle River topped the podium at state Feb. 28, 2026, with another 35 Northlanders from 12 teams winning medals.

Over 100 student-athletes from rural Northern Minnesota will wrestle at the 2026 state tournament in St. Paul, with a strong representation from the north-central region.

An official census will be announced by the Board of Regents in early October, but U of M Crookston said it expects to pass the record set in the 2014-15 school year.

The Aug. 20, 2025, open house will detail the planned reconstruction project slated for 2027.

The state funds aim to help the competitiveness of projects in Little Rock, northern Itasca County, Crookston, Mahnomen County and beyond, which are pursuing federal funds.

Four speakers from three rural Northern Minnesota school districts took first at the state Speech meet last weekend, and 14 more finished in the top eight.

The region will be well represented in the Class A meet, with 69 entries; Northern Minnesota has five entries in the 2A meet.