Minnesota State Handball Association

Northshore Handball Tournament 

August 4-5, 2023 

Downtown YMCA, Duluth, MN 

In its 5th showcase, the Northshore Handball Tournament would see three returning champions vie to be the first repeated name on the Alva Rankin Memorial Cup: Dave Schiller (2019), Quinn Foley (2020), and defending champion Luke Sandy. Each, along with two-time runner-up Mat Langhorst, cruised through the first round with relative ease, averaging fewer than 7 points allowed per game. 

The consolation bracket was reformatted following a medical emergency, with Anthony Macias, Erling Holdahl, and John Laliberte competing in a round robin. Holdahl and Laliberte went the distance in a match that was exhausting just to watch, but inching slowly and ever away in the 2nd and 3rd games was Holdahl: 15-21,21-8,11-3. Laliberte made things interesting by successfully surmounting a 6-20 deficit against Macias: 21-15,21-20. This also gave Laliberte a shot at the consolation championship, but it required Macias to play spoiler. Holdahl would make the math simple in the end, but not without a close challenge from one of Minnesota’s most exciting new talents in Macias, just a couple years into playing the game. A final score of 21-16,21-17 secured Holdahl the consolation title. 

In the main bracket semi-finals, Sandy and Schiller showed themselves to be a cut above in continuing their cruises to the championship: 21-9,21-9 over Langhorst and 21-12,21-4 over Foley, respectively. Sandy’s semi-final included a serious injury timeout, compelling an early start to the championship to stave off a more painful stiffness. Many might have bet on the death-defyingly acrobatic and intense Schiller to take advantage, where his chances were not out of scope even against a fully healthy Sandy. However, one year has passed since Sandy posted two giant-felling victories to claim the 2022 title, and his well of talent has grown that much deeper. After a close challenge from Schiller in the first game, Sandy, if still in pain, would only find himself in a groove and replete with energy. With Sandy’s pedal to the floor, Schiller would not recover from fading into the distance. Final score: 21-16,21-6. The bar has never been higher to claim the Cup as Sandy, still on the rise, will want his name on the next plate and the next. Let the challenge be known. 

The finale was for 3rd place, an entertaining Foley-Langhorst rematch of the 2020 championship. Games were split and went long with plenty of exciting close rallies. The tie breaker, patterned like a series of coin flips, saw neither player taking full command and either could have walked away a deserving victor. Fortune was in Foley’s favor in the end: 17-21,21-14,11-8. 

The awards banquet followed at Dubh Linn Irish Brew Pub with players and guests in attendance. Awards included prize money and woodcraft medallions for the top 5 finishers, and a new engraving plate for Luke Sandy on the Cup. Items were also raffled off, concluding with a 50:50 of the funds raised. 

Several trends sustained through the first four years would not continue in 2023, highlighted by the first repeat champion in Luke Sandy. He also is the first champion to have played in any previous edition of the event or to have started as the top seed. (Indeed, that seed was looking like a curse when the injury timeout was called in the Sandy-Langhorst semi-final.) There also had never been appreciable changes to the scheduling or format, but things like that were due and the event continues to be an overall success. 

For more, including videos of matches and media coverage, check out the Discussion tab on the Facebook event page: facebook.com/events/1512700456138369. 

Please join the community in remembering Henry Arneson this coming weekend at the Clayland Park one-wall courts in St. Paul. Henry, during his participation in the 2020 Northshore Handball Tournament, showed us the ropes for live streaming from a GoPro camera.