Sports

Braaten caps off tremendous high school career with top-10 finish in Fargo

By Matthew Semisch

06/03/2014

A special era for amateur sports in Westhope came to an end Wednesday afternoon.

Hunter Braaten finished tied for sixth Wednesday at the NDHSAA Class B boys’ state golf tournament in Fargo. It’s a significant accomplishment, but that was just the tip of the iceberg in what the Westhope-Newburg senior was able to accomplish over the 2013-14 school year.

Braaten played football, basketball and golf for W-N, thus making him a three-sport athlete for the Sioux. “Three-sport hero,” however, feels like a more accurate label.

Finishing all-state in three different sports in the same academic year will do that for you.

He had hoped to do himself one better by winning the Class B state golf championship. That didn’t happen, though, as both he and Northern Lights’ Dalton Poitra finished six strokes behind eventual champion Jack McClintock of Rugby.

PLAYING IN HENRY’S HONOR

Braaten’s senior academic one had been a stressful one. Matters weren’t helped there on April 8 when his grandfather, Darrell Henry, passed away.

Given all that, for him to come out on the other side by achieving his accomplishment in Fargo is something in which he takes a lot of pride.

“One of my goals for the golf season this year was to finish in the top 10 in the state,” Braaten said, “And making that happen was really special.

“Things had been stressful for me between it being my senior year and my grandpa passing away, and as he was the one that really inspired me to get into golf, what I did out there in Fargo was dedicated to him.”

Henry himself had a big part to play in the development of the Sioux athletic department. He served as both a track and field and girls’ basketball head coach for W-N, and he also spent several years coaching grade school basketball.

He was also instrumental in the creation of the Westhope Country Club (WCC), and Braaten credits him as the one who turned him onto golf as Braaten’s first sporting love.

Also key to the creation of WCC was Jeff Cooper, father of W-N co-head golf coach Jordan Cooper. Henry had meant a lot to the younger Cooper, too, and both were determined to honor their mentor last week in Fargo.

“His grandpa’s passing was really tough for him, and he was the one that sparked Hunter’s love for golf,” Cooper said. “What makes it even more interesting to me is my dad and his grandfather were two of the main guys that built the Westhope Country Club.

“I grew up with his grandpa coaching me through high school, and he and my dad were really good friends, and Darrell was the one that designed the Westhope golf course.

“They were out there when I was really young while they built that course, and Darryl was a big influence for both me and Hunter, and while his passing was hard, Hunter’s senior season was absolutely for Darrell.”

CAPPING A RECORD-BREAKING CAREER

Braaten’s performance at the state golf meet capped off what was an extraordinary high school athletics career.

He had been the quarterback and free safety on Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn’s nine-man football team. He shined on the gridiron for the Sioux and, by the end of the 2013 season, found himself holding 12 school football records.

His Sioux football records are as follows: Tackles in a season (139 in 2012); career tackles (30); pass deflections (18); career rushing yards (4,360); career touchdowns (83); career pass completions (273); career passing yards (3,502); career carries (682); touchdowns scored in a season (39 in 2013); pass completions in a season (110 in 2012) and points scored in a season (284 in 2013).

He was also named all-state for football twice in his career for W-N-G.

Listed as a 5-foot-10 point guard on Westhope-Newburg’s boys’ basketball team, Braaten was also a force to be reckoned with on the court.

He played five seasons for the Sioux’s varsity team, and his talents on the basketball court almost equal what he’s been able to do on the football field.

Having scored 1,815 career points for the Sioux, he holds W-N’s school record in that category by a considerable distance. He’s also the school’s boys’ basketball team’s career leader in assists and is second all-time for the Sioux in both rebounds and steals.
Braaten was a three-time all-district player for the W-N boys’ basketball team.

In the fall, he’ll attend Minnesota State University-Moorhead and play football for the school. Braaten is one of the 26 members of this year’s recruiting class for the Dragons, which play at the NCAA Division II level.

He said that, although he’ll miss playing golf as competitively as he did in high school, he’s excited to continue on in a sport in which he’s been so successful.

“I’ll definitely miss golf, but football’s probably been my favorite sport this senior year,” Braaten said, “So at least in terms of that, I’m glad I’m able to continue on with it and see what I can do in college football.

“It’s not great to think I won’t be playing golf competitively like I have been for Westhope, but I’m excited about what I hope the future holds for me.”

A COACH'S DREAM PLAYER

Perhaps Braaten’s most underrated asset is his ability to take direction from his coaches. Cooper called him a very coachable player and said it’s charges like Braaten that make his life as a coach easier.

“If every athlete was like Hunter and just exceptionally talented and listens to everything you say and tries it even if he doesn’t agree with it and is so accepting of all of his coaches,” Cooper said, “There would be a lot more coaches around.

“Everybody would be coaches because he’s just so welcoming and open to every single thing you say to him, and he’s so respectful about everything you say to him, and he’s just one of those kids where it’s tough not to love him. With his approach to everything he does and his natural athleticism, it’s so easy to coach him.”

Cooper didn’t stop there. Braaten, he said, is also an inspiration for younger student-athletes in the area.

“He’s just one of those kids where I hope some of my kids can be even close to being like him,” Cooper said. “He’s someone you want nothing but the very best for, and I don’t know if there’s ever been another young person I’ve ever had quite the pleasure to know as I have with Hunter.

“Hunter is absolutely everything you as a coach want in an athlete and a student and a kid, and he’s a great inspiration and a great example for kids around here to look up to.”