The Birth of the Wolfpack

The Duluth Wolfpack is here today because of 22 years of volunteer coaches, committed parents, and the boys and girls players devoted to always getting better in the sport of lacrosse. The official birth of lacrosse in the Northland came in 1999 when the Superior Chargers varsity club program was created by Dan and Rose Heldt. The club was strong for several years, despite struggling to maintain numbers and interest, but a dedicated group of volunteers forged ahead. Teams in Grand Rapids, MN followed soon thereafter.

With the growth of lacrosse in the state of Minnesota, the program soon became the Duluth/Superior Chargers. This era brought in a JV team, a 7/8 team, and then a 5/6 team (later becoming U15, U13, and U11). These teams grew in popularity and players came from the cities of Superior, Duluth, Hermantown, Esko, Cloquet, Carlton, Two Harbors, Proctor, and even Ashland to play with the Chargers.

As the program expanded, more girls began playing in the youth level and it wasn’t long before a JV/Varsity club program sprung up for girls – the Duluth Nighthawks. Girls came from the Duluth middle and high schools, Hermantown, Marshall, and several neighboring schools. The Nighthawks’ most successful season came in 2013 when they finished 4th in the Minnesota Northcentral Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association championship. The Nighthawks program became the Wolfpack in 2016. The Chargers youth girls program started in 2018 and continues today under Wolfpack Youth.

The boys JV and varsity Chargers programs competed in the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association for several years, traveling across the state and throughout the Midwest. These teams had great success, winning multiple tournaments, and they were Minnesota state runners-up in 2014 and MBSLA State Champs in 2015. Parents and friends of the program dedicated countless volunteer hours scrounging for available field space, indoor space during winter months, hiring and training coaches, purchasing and managing gear, and organizing travel for the teams and fans. The Chargers varsity program’s success, coupled with the success of the Nighthawks, ultimately put lacrosse on the map for the Twin Ports.

For a few years beginning in about 2012, Jim Pratt and Dan Maddy began lobbying the Duluth school board to recognize lacrosse as an officially sanctioned high school sport. Despite being unsuccessful at the time, their work laid the foundation for Andy Holak and Pat O’Connell, who carried on his effort. Along with a group of dedicated volunteer parents, Andy and Pat helped lead the charge in 2015, ultimately inspiring the school board to approve high school lacrosse beginning with the 2016 season, though not at fully funded status. At the same time, other former Chargers parents, coaches, and players were lobbying for sanctioned lacrosse in Proctor and Hermantown, and the Stealth was also approved to begin play in 2016, followed by Grand Rapids in 2017.

Wolfpack Lacrosse is a co-op between Denfeld and East high schools, and 2023 represents the eighth season of both boys and girls high school lacrosse recognized by ISD709 and the Minnesota State High School League.

Other Twin Ports Lacrosse

In addition to the Chargers, Nighthawks, and Wolfpack, several other teams and leagues have existed over the last decade in the Twin Ports. The Northcoast/Duluth Jaxx was a very successful travel team that provided summer playing opportunities for middle and high school players. YMCA programs teach our youngest players the sport, and teams like the Northern Siege give high school aged players outside ISD709 another opportunity to play varsity lacrosse. The Duluth Lacrosse Box League, Northcoast Indoor Lacrosse League, Tower Lacrosse, and Superior Outdoor Lacrosse League each have offered many ways for players of all ages to continue their love of playing lacrosse. Many players and coaches come from the UMD men's and women's teams, two programs that have been great supporters of lacrosse in our area!

Duluth and Twin Ports teams and players are known throughout the Midwest and have participated in and won tournaments including the Grand Rapids Shootout, Cherry Bomb Tournament (Traverse City, MI), the Blue Ox Tournament (Minneapolis), Great Pumpkin Shootout (Minneapolis), Champlin IceBreakers Tournament, the Chicago Cup, and Lax at the Lake (Duluth).

The Duluth Jaxx were a summer travel team that scored victories in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.