section2008previewA

2/20/2008

CLASS A SECTION PREVIEW

Section 1A
Rochester Lourdes (18-7-0, #1 seed), finished fourth in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (Class A), defeated Mankato West 4-3, Albert Lea 5-1, and Red Wing 5-4, lost to New Prague 5-4, also lost to St. Thomas Academy, International Falls, St. Cloud Cathedral, and Little Falls, record of 12-2-0 in 2008. Top players � junior forwards Tyler Voigt, Cole Peterson, and Taylor Funk.
Mankato West (22-2-0, #2 seed), finished first in the Big Nine Conference, split with Albert Lea in conference play, lost to Rochester Lourdes, defeated New Prague, did not play Red Wing during the regular season, highest scoring team in the state with 180 goals and 7.5 goals per game, senior forward Ricky Litchfield was the #1 point scorer in the state during the regular season, record of 9-1-0 in last ten games. Top players � Litchfield, senior forwards Corey Leivermann and Ryan Anderson, and junior forward Andrew Bruggeman.
Albert Lea (20-5-0, #3 seed), defending Section 1A champion, finished second in the Big Nine Conference, finished second to International Falls in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (Class A), split with Mankato West in conference play, lost to Rochester Lourdes, did not play New Prague or Red Wing during the regular season, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Casey Woodside and Jared Bowman, senior defenseman Adam Royce, and senior goalie Ben Waalkens.
New Prague (19-6-0, #4 seed), finished second in the Missota Conference, split with Red Wing in conference play, defeated Rochester Lourdes, lost to Mankato West, did not play Albert Lea during the regular season, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forwards Tyler Lapic and Schyler Adams, and freshman forward Seth Ambroz.
Red Wing (15-8-2, #4 seed), finished third in the Missota Conference, split with New Prague in conference play, lost to Rochester Lourdes, did not play Mankato West or Albert Lea during the regular season, record of 7-3-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forward Blake Schammel and senior forwards Ryan Kesti and Luke Halvorson.

Section 2A
Blake (16-8-1, #1 seed), was the Section 5A champion last year, finished tied for first in the Tri Metro Conference, finished sixth in the Schwan Cup Bronze Division, split with Breck in conference play, did not play Mound-Westonka or Holy Family Catholic/Waconia during the regular season, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forwards Josh Birkholz and Nick Brunette.
Breck (14-10-1, #2 seed), finished tied for first in the Tri Metro Conference, finished fourth in the Schwan Cup Silver Division, split with Blake in conference play, did not play Mound-Westonka or Holy Family Catholic/Waconia during the regular season, defeated St. Thomas Academy 6-5 in December, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forwad Joe Rehkamp and sophomore forward Tyson Fulton.
Mound-Westonka (14-10-1, #3 seed), finished third in the Wright County Conference, defeated and tied Holy Family Catholic/Waconia in conference play, did not play Blake or Breck during the regular season, defeated Warroad 2-1, lost to Duluth Denfeld and Hermantown, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Zach Johnson and junior forward Riley Horgan.
Holy Family Catholic/Waconia (15-8-2, #4 seed), finished second in the Wright County Conference, lost to and tied Mound-Westonka in conference play, did not play Blake or Breck during the regular season, lost to St. Cloud Cathedral, Little Falls, and Rochester Lourdes, record of 7-2-1 in last ten games. Top players � junior forward Chris Leivermann and senior forward Tyler Schwartz.

Section 3A
New Ulm (14-10-0, #1 seed), finished first in the South Central Conference, finished eighth in the Hilltopper Classic, defeated Hutchinson and Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato during the regular season, split with Marshall, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Sean Stewart and junior forward Kyle Reinarts.
Hutchinson (11-12-1, #2 seed), finished sixth in the Missota Conference, finished first in the Silver Bay Blue Line Club Tournament, lost to New Ulm , tied Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, and defeated Marshall during the regular season, record of 4-6-0 in last 10 games. Top players � junior forward Mitchell Cowger and Riley Bengston.
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato (9-14-2, #3 seed), finished sixth in the Wright County Conference, finished eighth in the Granite City Classic, lost to New Ulm and tied Hutchinson and Marshall during the regular season, record of 5-5-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards John Barrick and Jordan Lecher.
Marshall (16-7-2, #4 seed), finished first in the Southwest Conference, split with New Ulm, lost to Hutchinson, and tied Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato during the regular season, record of 5-4-1 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Tony Krogen and Aaron Ogdahl.

Section 4A
St. Thomas Academy (20-5-0, #1 seed), was the Section 3A champion last year, finished second in the Classic Suburban Conference, finished first in the Schwan Cup Silver Division by defeating Benilde-St. Margaret�s, defeated South St. Paul and Mahtomedi twice in conference play, did not play Totino-Grace during the regular season, lost to Hill-Murray twice in conference play, also lost to Duluth Marshall, 8-2, Breck, 6-5, and Minnetonka, second highest scoring team in Class A, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forward Ryan Walters, senior forward James Saintey, senior defenseman Rob Vannelli, sophomore goalie Kurt Altrichter.
South St. Paul (17-5-3, #2 seed), finished third in the Classic Suburban Conference, finished third in the South St. Paul Premier, lost to St. Thomas Academy twice and defeated Mahtomedi twice in conference play, did not play Totino-Grace during the regular season, also tied Hill-Murray, record of
7-1-2 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Cody Schwantes and junior defenseman Zach Palmquist.
Mahtomedi (15-8-2, #3 seed), finished fourth in the Classic Suburban Conference, finished first in the Schwan Cup Bronze Division by defeating Eastview, lost to St. Thomas Academy and South St. Paul twice each in conference play, defeated Totino-Grace during the regular season, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � sophomore forward Charlie Adams, senior forward Andy Fagely, and junior defenseman Mike McDonals.
Totino-Grace (15-9-1, #4 seed), finished second in the North Suburban Conference, lost to Mahtomedi during the regular season, did not play St. Thomas Academy or South St. Paul, record of 9-1-0 in last ten games with only loss to Rochester Lourdes, 3-2 in overtime. Top players � senior forwards Nick Nagel and Mike Schlagel and junior forward Dan DeLisle.

Section 5A
St. Cloud Cathedral (19-5-1, #1 seed), finished first in the Wright County Conference, finished third in the Granite City Classic, defeated Duluth Denfeld, 6-4, and Hermantown, 4-2, during the regular season, lost to Sauk Rapids-Rice, 3-2 in overtime, also lost to Duluth Marshall, Warroad, St. Cloud Tech, and Delano/Rockford, defeated Little Falls, 3-1, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � sophomore defenseman Nate Schmidt, senior forward Stephen Rindelaub, and sophomore goalie Nick Maiers.
Sauk Rapids-Rice (14-10-1, #2 seed), finished sixth in the Central Lakes Conference, finished sixth in the Granite City Classic, defeated St. Cloud Cathedral, 3-2 in overtime, defeated Duluth Denfeld and lost to Hermantown during the regular season, also defeated Little Falls, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Cole Christiansen and junior forward Andy Henkemeyer.
Duluth Denfeld (15-10-0, #3 seed), finished tied for second in the Lake Superior Conference, finished third in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (Class A), defeated Hermantown, 1-0, in conference play, lost to St. Cloud Cathedral and Sauk Rapids-Rice in December, also lost to Duluth Marshall, 3-2, and International Falls, 4-2, record of 5-5-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Jake Johnson and Chris Stafne.
Hermantown (16-9-0, #4 seed), was the Section 7A and State champion last year, finished tied for fourth in the Lake Superior Conference, won three games in the Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic, lost to Duluth Denfeld in conference play, lost to St. Cloud Cathedral and defeated Sauk Rapids-Rice during the regular season, also lost to Duluth Marshall, 3-2, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Joe Krause and sophomore forward Adam Krause.

Section 6A
Little Falls (22-3-0, #1 seed), was the Section 4A champion last year, finished first in the Central Lakes Conference, defeated Fergus Falls and Alexandria each twice and St. Cloud Apollo once in conference play, also defeated Rochester Lourdes, 3-2, only losses to Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl, St. Cloud Cathedral, and Sauk Rapids-Rice, third highest scoring team in Class A, record of 10-0-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Beau Hanowski and junior forward Ben Hanowski.
Fergus Falls (11-9-4, #2 seed), finished fourth in the Central Lakes Conference, lost to Little Falls twice, defeated and tied Alexandria, and defeated St. Cloud Apollo twice in conference play, record of 5-4-1 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Cody Peck and sophomore forward Luke Gervais.
Alexandria (14-9-2, #3 seed), finished third in the Central Lakes Conference, finished seventh in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (Class A), lost to Little Falls twice, lost to and tied Fergus Falls, and defeated St. Cloud Apollo twice in conference play, also tied St. Cloud Cathedral during the regular season, record of 7-2-1 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Luke Markstrom and Justin Hochsprung.
St. Cloud Apollo (11-14-0, #4 seed), finished seventh in the Central Lakes Conference, finished second in the Granite City Classic, lost to Little Falls once and Fergus Falls and Alexandria both twice in conference play, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Chad Hockemeyer and junior forwards Dustin Christen and Steve Theis.

Section 7A
Duluth Marshall (20-5-0, #1 seed), was the Section 2A champion last year, finished first in the Lake Superior Conference, finished second to Madison Edgewood WI in the Hilltopper Classic, defeated Hibbing/Chisholm and Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl during the regular season, did not play International Falls, also lost to Minnetonka, Benilde-St. Margaret�s, Superior WI, and Warroad, 3-2 in overtime, also defeated St. Thomas Academy, 8-2, and St. Cloud Cathedral, 2-0, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward David Hafferty, junior forward Zach Mausolf, senior defensemen Dano Jacques and Landon Olson, and junior goalie Willie Paul.
International Falls (22-3-0, #2 seed), finished first in the Iron Range Conference, finished first in the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Festival (Class A) by defeating Albert Lea, split with Hibbing/Chisholm and defeated Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl twice in conference play, did not play Duluth Marshall during the regular season, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Jake Youso and Ladd Corrin and sophomore goalie Mike Hart.
Hibbing/Chisholm (12-12-0, #3 seed), finished tied for third in the Iron Range Conference, split with International Falls and Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl in conference play, lost to Duluth Marshall, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forward Anthony DeCenzo and junior forward Aaron Jamnick.
Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl (15-10-0, #4 seed), finished fourth in the Iron Range Conference, split with Hibbing/Chisholm and lost to International Falls twice in conference play, lost to Duluth Marshall during the regular season, defeated Little Falls 5-4 in December, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forward Chris Westin and freshman forward Garrett Hendrickson.

Section 8A
Warroad (19-6-0, #1 seed), defending Section 8A champion, finished second in the Mariucci Conference, defeated East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls each twice in conference play, did not play Park Rapids during the regular season, lost twice to Roseau and once to Osseo, Grand Forks Red River ND, Mound-Westonka, and Duluth Denfeld, defeated Duluth Marshall, 3-2 in overtime, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards Bryce Ravndalen and Jeremy Hahn and junior forward Bryce Ravndalen.
Park Rapids (24-2-0, #2 seed), finished first in the Mid-State Conference, finished first in the Home Of Hockey Tournament in Eveleth by defeating Irondale, defeated East Grand Forks, 6-5 in overtime, and Thief River Falls during the regular season, did not play Warroad, only losses were to Kittson Central, 3-2, and Prairie Centre Area, 2-1, senior forward Zach Lehrke was the #2 point scorer and #1 goal scorer (with 48 goals) in the state, record of 8-2-0 in last ten games. Top players � Lehrke and sophomore defenseman Kevin McMorrow.
East Grand Forks (11-13-1, #3 seed), finished fifth in the Mariucci Conference, lost to Warroad twice and split with Thief River Falls in conference play, lost to Park Rapids, 6-5 in overtime, record of 5-5-0 in last ten games. Top players � senior forwards John Grabanski and Joey Wikoff and sophomore forward Jake Useldinger.
Thief River Falls (12-13-0, #4 seed), finished third in the Mariucci Conference, won two games and lost one in the Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic, lost the Warroad twice and split with East Grand Forks in conference play, lost to Park Rapids during the regular season, record of 6-4-0 in last ten games. Top players � junior forward Lucas Dillon and senior forward Aaron Langan.