Sports

Be listening for our sports updates at 6:10am, 7:20am, 8:20am, 12:20pm & 5:20pm on Hometown Radio KEYL AM1400 & FM 103.1 and 99.7FM Hot Rod Radio 

Area high school sports schedule

(Events are subject to change due to weather conditions or other factors)

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Wrestling Tournament - Little Falls at Rock Ridge 10:00am

Hockey - Girls - Prairie Centre Blue Devils vs Morris/Benson in Benson 12:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Wadena-Deer Creek vs Prairie Centre North Stars at the Todd Expo Arena in Long Prairie 6:00pm

Friday, January 2, 2026

Basketball - Boys & Girls (Doubleheader) - Upsala at Braham 1:00pm

Wrestling Invitational - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Osakis, Ottertail Central, Watertown-Mayer, Pipestone, Red Rock Central, Marshall, Eden Valley-Watkins, Sibley East & Milaca at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 2:30pm

Hockey - Girls - Prairie Centre Blue Devils at Detroit Lakes 5:00pm

Basketball - Girls - Swanville at Staples-Motley 5:45pm

Hockey - Boys - Little Falls vs Prairie Centre North Stars at the Todd Expo Arena in Long Prairie 7:00pm

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Wrestling Invitational - Girls - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Pillager & Mora at St. James 9:00am

Wrestling Invitational - Boys - Little Falls at Cambridge-Isanti 9:30am

Wrestling Invitational - Girls - Osakis at Foley 9:30am

Gymnastics - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Fergus Falls & Morris at Park Rapids 11:00am

Hockey - Girls - International Falls vs Prairie Centre Blue Devils at the Todd Expo Arena in Long Prairie 11:00am - Varsity game at 1:00pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Gymnastics - Albany at Princeton 12:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Fairmont at Morris/Benson 1:00pm

Basketball - Boys & Girls (Doubleheader) - Osakis vs Little Falls at Target Center in Minneapolis 1:00pm

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Basketball - Girls - Browerville-Eagle Valley at Bertha-Hewitt 4:30pm

Basketball - Girls - Sebeka at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 4:45pm

Basketball - Girls - St. John's Prep at Ashby 5:00pm

Basketball - Girls - Swanville at New York Mills 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Upsala at Benson 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Royalton at St. John's Prep 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Browerville-Eagle Valley at Swanville 5:00pm - Varsity game at 7:15pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Basketball - Boys - Albany at Osakis 5:45pm

Hockey - Girls - Northern Lakes vs Prairie Centre Blue Devils in Long Prairie 5:00pm

Hockey - Girls - Detroit Lakes at Morris/Benson 6:00pm

Wrestling Quad - Little Falls, Fridley, & Chisago Lakes at Milaca 5:00pm

Wrestling Quad - Osakis, New York Mills, & West Central Area at Morris 5:00pm

Gymnastics - Redwood Valley at Benson 6:00pm

Gymnastics - Albany at Melrose 6:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Prairie Centre North Stars vs Morris/Benson in Benson 7:00pm

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Basketball - Boys - Verndale at Upsala 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - New York Mills at Browerville-Eagle Valley 5:00pm

Hockey - Girls - Morris/Benson vs Prairie Centre Blue Devils in Sauk Centre 5:00pm

Wrestling Triangular - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville & Royalton/Upsala at Deer River 5:00pm

Basketball - Girls - Upsala at Osakis 5:45pm

Basketball - Girls - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle at Swanville 5:45pm - Varsity game at 7:15pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Gymnastics - Morris at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville in Long Prairie 6:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Morris/Benson at Breckenridge/Wahpeton 7:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Prairie Centre North Stars at Park Rapids 7:00pm

Friday, January 9, 2026

Wrestling - Girls - Rick Lee Invitational - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie, Sauk Centre/Melrose, Staples-Motley, Pierz, Ottertail Central, Wadena-Deer Creek, & more at Bemidji High School 2:30pm

Wrestling Invitational - Little Falls at Minnewaska Area 4:00pm

Wrestling Tournament - Canby, Goodhue, Kimball, North Central, & Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus at Osakis 4:00pm

Basketball - Girls - Benson at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 4:45pm

Basketball - Girls - Swanville at Browerville-Eagle Valley 5:00pm - Varsity game at 7:15pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Basketball - Girls - Osakis at St. Cloud Cathedral 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Osakis at Upsala 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - St. John's Prep at Swanville 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Hancock at Benson 5:45pm

Saturday, January 10, 2026

Wrestling Tournament - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Pillager, Barnesville, Blackduck, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Ottertail Central, & Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie in Parkers Prairie 9:00am

Basketball -Boys - Hillcrest Lutheran Academy vs Browerville-Eagle Valley in Perham 10:00am

Wrestling Invitational - Osakis at Ogilvie 10:00am

Gymnastics - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville, Albany, Annandale, Little Falls, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead, Paynesville, & Princeton at Maple Lake 12:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Prairie Centre North Stars vs Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato in Litchfield 1:00pm

Hockey - Girls - Prairie Centre Blue Devils at Windom 1:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Windom at Morris/Benson 3:00pm

Hockey - Girls - Hastings at Morris/Benson 3:00pm

KEYL and Hot Rod Radio are proud of our Sports Director - Kevin Houdek 

KEYL/KXDL Sports Director Kevin Houdek honored with WCCO Viewers’ Choice For Best H.S. Football Announcer In Minnesota 

Kevin Houdek has been calling games for the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Thunder for 30 years. His knowledge of the teams and the game sheds a bright light for those who can’t attend.

“People all over the country [listen in],” Houdek said. “A guy from Browerville that’s down in Arizona, I’ll get a text from him every once and a while, you know, saying, ‘Great game.'”

On this night, the Thunder are playing the Staples-Motley Cardinals. Both teams were 0-2 — and hungry for a win.

“It’s not life or death,” he said. “It’s to have a good time and stay professional, and remember you’re broadcasting for two teams, not just your home team.”

Kevin Houdek (credit: CBS)

Sports teams and the media often clash, but Houdek has earned the respect of Activities Director Dan Zetah.

“Our coaches … really like him and respect him,” Zetah said. “He’s very savvy with the numbers, with stats. You ask him a stat about something, he’s got it right there.”

Listening to Houdek — as he delivers names and stats with computer-like precision — might be overwhelming to some, but it’s like poetry to someone who’s into the game.

“I think you can get some broadcasters … that can maybe get a little more opinionated or maybe get negative more, if you want to use that term. He doesn’t get that way at all,” Zetah said.

And it’s clear that Houdek loves his work.

“It’s so much fun,” he said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve appreciated it even more. Even at this level, I go to a game and every night I know somebody’s going to do something amazing.”

So if you’re ever driving through central Minnesota on game night, tune your radio to 1400 AM to hear the small-town guy who, in his own way, has hit the big time.

“A teenager’s going to pull off a big play, or they’re going to play their best game ever, and everybody’s having fun, and I’m having fun, too,” Houdek said.

-- Courtesy WCCO

 

KEVIN HOUDEK NAMED SID HARTMAN MEDIA AWARD WINNER

 

He was recognized at the 11th Annual Minnesota Football Honors on April 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - April 16, 2018 - Longtime radio sports director and broadcaster Kevin Houdek will receive the Sid Hartman Media Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation. He was recognized at the 11th Annual Minnesota Football Honors on April 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Houdek has spent 30 years as the sports director at KEYL/KXDL Radio in Long Prairie, Minnesota. Last fall he won WCCO TV’s Viewers’ Choice Award for Best High School Football Announcer. Houdek has been providing play-by-play for the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Thunder for three decades.

In addition to football, Houdek has broadcast other high school sports including volleyball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ hockey, wrestling, baseball and softball. He has covered Minnesota State High School League state tournament games for many of those sports for his station and the Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network.

Houdek is a Minnesota native who attended Danube High School before getting his associate’s degree in radio and television broadcasting at Brown Institute in Minneapolis. He is also a volunteer coach for youth baseball and wrestling and women’s slo-pitch softball, and is a 15 year veteran of the Long Prairie volunteer fire department.

The Sid Hartman Media Award is named after the Star Tribune’s most famous sports writer who is still covering local teams at age 98.