Editor’s note: All records and stats are up to date as of Dec. 20, 2025.
MANKATO — Area basketball fans have one last Christmas present waiting for them.
The 2025 Kwik Trip Holiday Tournament tips off Friday. And per usual, there will be plenty of intrigue.
The field
Defending champion Fairmont will look to defend their title. The Cardinals are 5-1 with their lone blemish being a 66-64 season-opening loss to Luverne while boasting a 69-33 win over Pipestone last week and wins over Redwood Valley, Blue Earth, Jackson County Central and Windom.
But watch out for 6-0 Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. They’re a Top 10 program in Class A and are outsourcing opponents 85-52.
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial is the only team to stay within single digits of JWP and hold it to under 60 points in a 51-44 loss on Dec. 2. LCWM enters the tournament at 3-1 with a 73-70 win over Waseca, the reigning Class AA runner-up.
The field also includes St. Clair (3-1), New Ulm (2-3), Maple River (3-2), Minnesota Valley Lutheran (3-1) and Mankato Loyola (4-3).
Players to watch
This field includes several returning All-Tournament players from a season ago.
Fairmont’s Logan Junkemeier will look to bring home another tournament title. At 6-foot-9 there’s no doubt the senior will be a menace in the paint.
JWP sophomore Gavin Bauer returns and helps provide a dynamic 1-2 punch with senior Dalton Bauer, yet it doesn’t lean solely on the Bauer’s. LCWM seniors Charlie Gentler and Jack Goeringer will also look to make some noise.
Loyola’s 6-foot-6 sophomore Covin Winter is also in the field. He’s a threat to score from all levels, and he’s beginning to scratch the surface of what he can become on the hardwood.
Watch for New Ulm junior Mitchell Hop, MVL junior Blake Sexton and MVL senior Luke Merseth to also make noise. And of course, watch out for the athletes that may use this tournament as the moment everything clicks.
The tournament record for points in a game for this tournament is still held by Jim Alexander, who earned 47 points for Gibbons-Fairfax-Winthrop in 1998.
2024 Fairmont
2023 New Ulm
2022 Maple River
2021 LCWM
2020 (No tournament held)
2019 MVL
2018 Fairmont
2017 St. Croix Lutheran
2016 NRHEG
2015 St. Croix Lutheran
2014 St. Croix Lutheran
2013 Fairmont
2012 Maple River
2011 Maple River
2010 LCWM
2009 NRHEG
2008 MVL
2007 Le Sueur-Henderson
2006 MVL
2005 MVL
2004 MVL
2003 MVL
2002 Mankato Loyola
2001 Maple River
2000 Mankato Loyola
1999 Mankato Loyola
1998 Mankato Loyola