Despite Freson Bros. Tykes loss to Hanna over the weekend, there’s positives for the team.
    “We worked on some things in practice last week that we noticed in the game versus Trochu, and the kids responded well in the Hanna game,” says coach Dennis Olsen.
    “I am really proud of the kids for how well they listen and take instruction.  We have a really young team in comparison to the other teams we are playing.”
    Olsen notes the game with Hanna was only the team’s fifth game of the season, and the kids are adapting and progressing every game.
    The McDonald’s Novice Raptors won their weekend game against Chestermere 30 to 12.
    Coach Kit Clark says the team started slow then found their stride half way through the game.
    “The kids moved the puck around really well. I was really impressed with Ava Harrington and Tanner Moltun’s back-checking efforts.”
    The McDonald’s Raptors now stand second in Novice Tier 3, and play third place Airdrie at home this Saturday morning at 10:30.
    The Encana Atom Raptors also played a weekend game, winning 8 to 6 over Rockyford.
    “We started the game 5 - 0 and played a great first period,” says Coach Jeff Paarup.
    He says the second period was totally different as the kids didn’t show the same aggressive play.
    “The third period was better as the team got back to how they usually play.”
    Paarup says the two goalies were their players of the game.
    The Encana Atom’s  schedule has five regular season games in February with three of those played away.
    Hi-Way 9 Peewee Raptors won 3 - 2 over Vulcan and lost 4 - 1 to the 2nd ranked Foothills team.
    Coach Jason Ewing said the boys played very well in both games
    The game goals in Vulcan came from Kobe Ewing, Ryan Flemming and Darian Dart, with strong goaltending from Brayden Crone.
    The Foothills game goal came from Dale Pliva off a strong rush from Kaiden Morgan.
    “The team did an amazing job adapting to new offensive and defensive systems that were taught to the kids from Brian Curran of the Dragons,” says Ewing.
    “Brian came out to our practice and gave the players and coaches some great tips on how to better our game,” he explains.
    He says with more practice using coach Curran’s ideas, the team is looking forward to a strong finish to the year and a push for play offs.

    A Drumheller mixed marshal arts fighter is only four bouts into his career and already is fighting for a belt.
    Readers of The Drumheller Mail are familiar with former resident Andrew Kloot’s rise in the sport of MMA. So far, he has a record of 4-0 and on Friday night, January 31, he will be fighting in Red Deer for the Havoc FC Lightweight Amateur title.
    “Not that many fighters get the opportunity to fight for an amateur title,” Kloot told The Mail. “Most fighters will stay amateur for three to five fights before going pro. I just got lucky because of my good record at the right time. The former champion is going pro so the belt is up for grabs and they offered me the fight.”
    He doesn’t take the opportunity for granted.
    “This fight is important to me because it’s every athletes dream to be crowned a champion,” he said.  “It’s still amateur so hopefully I will move on to bigger things in my career, but at the moment this is my biggest opportunity and if I win, I will always have that belt to remind me that I was once a champion.”
    The event is called HavocFC4 and has a card with five amateur bouts and six pro fights. The featured event is the professional welterweight title.
    Kloot is facing another undefeated fighter, and expects a tough match with Josh Goodheart.
    “From what I have seen my opponent is a big guy. He normally fights at 165 pounds so I will have to look out for his strength and long reach,” said Kloot. “He has a very dangerous ground game so I will have to be mindful of that.”
    Kloot however brings power and a decent ground game. His goal is to go pro, and he is putting in the work to get there, training up to six days a week doing kickboxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu.
    “I feel like my gym, coach and training partners are what separates me from my opponent. I train at Champions Creed with some of the best fighters around. We have superb coaching and a great team who are always able to push me to the next level,” said Kloot.
    With four bouts under his belt, he has not had to go the distance, often scoring quick knockouts.  He trusts that his coach will determine when it is the right time to go pro.
    On thing that spurs him on is the support he receives locally.
    “It means so much to have so many people interested in what I’m doing and cheering me on. So many great Drumheller businesses have been there for me when I needed sponsorship… Their support has really helped me get to where I am today.”