Skubal wins

arbitration

(AP) — Tarik Skubal has won his salary arbitration hearing with the Detroit Tigers, and the two-time Cy Young Award winner will be paid a record $32 million this year instead of the team’s $19 million offer. Jeanne Charles, Walt De Treux and Allen Ponak made the decision one day after listening to arguments.

Meanwhile, free agent pitcher Framber Valdez and the Tigers have agreed to a $115 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press

Valdez is a two-time All-Star and 2022 World Series champion. He was Houston’s ace last season with a 13-11 record and 3.66 ERA, and became a free agent for the first time.

Burklund,

Kriegl sign

HOUGHTON  – Michigan Tech football coach Dan Mettlach  on Wednesday announced the addition of 42 student-athletes on National Signing Day, including two from Dickinson County.

Athletes signing from Dickinson County are Maddex Burklund, a defensive lineman from Norway, and Jack Kriegl of Kingsford.

“We are excited about this year’s class. We took care of needs in all position groups replacing the large number of graduates over the past two years,” Mettlach said. “I can’t say enough about our staff for recruiting such a high quality group of guys that fit our program in every way.”

Wonders scores

12 in win

CLEVELAND — Cleveland State (10-14, 6-7) connected on a men’s basketball program-record 17 3-pointers to overcome a ten-point halftime deficit to win its fifth straight game, 91-78, over Oakland (14-11, 10-4) on Wednesday.

Five Vikings finished with double-digit points, led by a game-best 24 points from Tre Beard. Iron Mountain’s Foster Wonders came off the bench to score 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Vikings will take to the road on Saturday to take on IU Indy at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Johnson earns

NACC honor

DE PERE – St. Norbert College freshman Kamdan Johnson has been named the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference’s Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, announced Wednesday

by the conference office.

Johnson, a Florence native and graduate, broke the NACC record in the 60-meter hurdles at the UW-Whitewater Squig Converse Invite, clocking in at 9.04 seconds, breaking the previous record of 9.05 seconds.

The award is the second for Johnson.

Olympics

ready to go

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — When the Winter Games kick off with the opening ceremony today it won’t just be the athletes who are going to be tested. It’s a new era for the entire Olympic movement.

Spread out over a vast swath of northern Italy, these are the first Games to truly embrace the IOC’s reform plan of using existing venues no matter how far apart they are. This Olympic footprint covers an area of nearly 10,000 square miles. That’s about the size of the state of Massachusetts.

McKenna charged

with assault

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State hockey star Gavin McKenna has been charged with felony assault for allegedly breaking a man’s jaw and knocking out a tooth in an altercation last weekend. Police say McKenna twice punched the 21-year-old man in the face, requiring him to undergo surgery.

The 18-year-old McKenna is the presumptive top pick in this summer’s NHL draft. He was arraigned and released on $20,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.

The incident happened in the hours after Penn State lost to No. 2 Michigan State in an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium.