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)

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

Monday, January 12, 2026

Basketball - Boys - St. John's Prep at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Staples-Motley at Osakis 5:45pm

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

Hockey - Boys - Redwood Valley vs Prairie Centre North Stars in Sauk Centre on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio 7:00pm

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Basketball - Girls - Browerville-Eagle Valley at Upsala 4:45pm

Basketball - Girls - Swanville at Benson 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Henning at Browerville-Eagle Valley 5:00pm

Basketball - Boys - Bertha-Hewitt at Swanville 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Upsala at Mille Lacs 6:15pm

Hockey - Girls - Princeton/Becker/Big Lake at Prairie Centre Blue Devils in Sauk Centre 5:00pm

Wrestling Triangular - Border West & Frazee at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville in Long Prairie - 5:00pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Wrestling Triangular - Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa & Eden Valley-Watkins at Osakis 5:00pm

Gymnastics - Little Falls at Benson 6:00pm

Gymnastics - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville at Paynesville 6"00pm

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Basketball - Girls - Upsala vs Pierz at the College of St. Benedict 4:00pm

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Basketball - Girls - Browerville-Eagle Valley at Brandon-Evansville 4:45pm - Varsity game at 7:15pm on 99.7 FM Hot Rod Radio

Basketball - Girls - Maple Lake at Swanville 5:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle at Upsala 4:45pm

Basketball - Boys - Swanville at Benson 5:45pm

Wrestling Quad - Benson, Canby & Ortonville at BOLD 5:00pm

Wrestling Triangular - Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville & United Clay Becker at Sauk Centre/Melrose in Melrose 5:00pm

Wrestling Triangular - Ortonville & Pillager at Osakis 5:00pm

Gymnastics - Benson at Melrose 6:00pm

Gymnastics - Albany at Morris 6:00pm

Hockey - Boys - Morris/Benson at Wadena-Deer Creek 7:00pm

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.