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2024-25 winter sports and activities round-up

Anoka High School girls basketball team with section championship trophyUpdated (03/20/2025) With the winter sports and activities season wrapping up, here’s a look at who’s heading to state, and how they fared when they performed and played. Also included is information about postseason awards gathered by student-athletes and coaches. 

Visit mshsl.org/tournaments for state tournament information.

Boys Basketball

The Minnesota State High School League Boys Basketball State Tournament was held March 18-22 at the Target Center, Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus and the Gangelhoff Center at Concordia University, St. Paul.

The Anoka High School boys basketball team won the Section 7AAAA Championship on March 13 with a 57-45 victory over Centennial High School to earn the program’s ninth state tournament appearance in school history. This will be the first trip to the state boys basketball tournament since 1993 for AHS.

The Tornadoes earned the No. 6 seed and played No. 3 seed Shakopee High School in the quarterfinals on March 18. Shakopee defeated Anoka 85-32. Anoka's season ended in the consolation bracket with an 85-77 loss to Moorhead High School.

Anoka finished the season with a record of 23-8. 

Girls Basketball

The Minnesota State High School League Girls Basketball State Tournament was held March 12-15 at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus and the Gengelhoff Center at Concordia University, St. Paul.

The Anoka High School girls basketball team won the Section 7AAAA Championship on March 6 with a 47-44 victory over Centennial High School, earning the program’s fifth state tournament appearance in school history. 

Anoka earned the No. 7 seed in the state tournament and faced No. 2 seed Eastview High School in the quarterfinals. The Tornadoes lost 62-39 to Eastview and moved to the consolation bracket, where they lost 75-63 to Chaska High School. 

Anoka finished the season with a record of 20-8.

Boys Hockey

The Minnesota State High School League Boys Hockey State Tournament was held March 5-8 at the Xcel Energy Center and 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The Andover High School boys hockey team made its fifth state tournament appearance since 2020 after winning the section 7AA Championship on Feb. 27.

For the first time, the MSHSL seeded tournament teams 1-8. Andover (15-14) earned the No. 7 seed and took on No. 2 seed Stillwater Area (23-6) in the quarterfinals on March 6. The Ponies defeated the Huskies 5-0 after jumping out to an early three-goal lead in the first period. Andover’s season came to an end in a 5-2 loss to Shakopee in the consolation bracket. 

The Huskies finished the year with a record of 15-15.

Boys Swimming and Diving

The Minnesota State High School League Boys Swimming and Diving championships was held March 6-8 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus. 

Anoka-Hennepin was represented by seven individuals and three relay teams at this year’s state championships:

Andover High School

  • Rogan Ellis (200-yard IM and 100-yard Breaststroke).
  • Isaiah Croaston (1-meter diving).
  • Charles Nohner (1-meter diving) - 16th place.
  • Raymond Maki (500-yard Freestyle).

Anoka High School

  • Dante Framke - (100-yard Freestyle) 10th place; (100-yard Backstroke) 11th place.
  • 200-yard Medley Relay - Dante Framke, Wesley Anderson, Levi Garberg, Abe Olson - 15th place.
  • 400-yard Freestyle Relay - Richard Vojtek, Kaleb Erickson, Framkey, Anderson.

Champlin Park High School

  • Kiptyn Helmrick (100-yard Backstroke).
  • 200-yard Medley Relay - Kiptyn Helmrick, Nash Woodward, Henry Finke, Vincent Pham.

Coon Rapids High School

  • Jackson Ling (500-yard Freestyle).

Adapted Floor Hockey

Coon Rapids High School was proud to host the 2025 Minnesota State High School League Adapted Floor Hockey PI and CI tournaments March 7-8.

The Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs qualified for the state tournament in the PI division, earning the No. 5 seed. The Mustangs lost 11-1 to the Rochester Raiders in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, Anoka-Hennepin lost 10-6 to the South Suburban Flyers. 

The Mustangs finished the 2025 season with a record of 3-7-1.

Boys and Girls Wrestling

The Minnesota State High School League Boys and Girls Wrestling Championships was held Feb. 27-March 1 at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Anoka-Hennepin was represented by 13 student-athletes at this year’s state wrestling championships:

Andover High School

  • The Huskies had one state qualifier (weight class): Tramaine Davis (285 pounds).

Anoka High School

  • The Tornadoes qualified five individuals for state: Declan Dahl (107 pounds), Gabrielle Bragg (114 pounds), Austin West (160 pounds), Luke DeSchen (189 pounds) and Michael Chamberlain (215 pounds). 
  • Dahl placed fifth overall at 107 pounds.

Blaine High School

  • The Bengals qualified three individuals for state: Landen Lorch (133 pounds), Zackary Johnson (145 pounds) and Mandi Lu (155 girls).
  • Lu placed fifth overall in the 155 girls bracket.

Champlin Park High School

  • The Rebels qualified two individuals for state: Alex Gau (121 pounds) and Bri Voight (142 girls).

Coon Rapids High School

  • The Cardinals qualified two individuals for state: Jack Bridenstine (133 pounds) and Hayden Skillings (285 pounds).
  • Bridenstine placed fifth overall at 133 pounds.

Girls Hockey

The Minnesota State High School League Girls Hockey State Tournament was held Feb. 19-22 at the Xcel Energy Center and TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center. 

Andover High School made its eighth consecutive and 10th overall state tournament appearance in 2025. For the first time, the MSHSL seeded tournament teams 1-8. Andover earned the No. 6 seed and opened the tournament against No. 3 seed and eventual state champion Hill-Murray. 

In the opening game against the Pioneers, the Huskies rallied from a three-goal deficit to make the score 4-3 with 12:04 remaining in the game but the Pioneers potted an empty-net goal to secure the 5-3 victory. 

Andover then took on conference-foe Centennial/Spring Lake Park in the consolation bracket and earned a 5-2 win and a spot in the consolation final. In the last game of the season, Andover defeated Moorhead High School 7-0 to close the year with a record of 21-9-1.

Senior defender Courtney Little and junior goaltender Clairebella Hills were named to the All-Tournament Team. At the Ms. Hockey Award banquet on Feb. 23, Little was named All-State Honorable Mention and Ms. Hockey Award finalist Mackenzie Jones was named to the All-State Team. 

Gymnastics

The Minnesota State High School League Gymnastics State Meet was held Feb. 21-22 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. 

Anoka-Hennepin was represented by two student-athletes at this year’s state gymnastics meet. 

Blaine High School junior Grace Vasil qualified for the state meet in the bars and floor exercise. She placed seventh in the floor exercise and 23rd on the bars. 

Anoka High School freshman Kylee Loren placed 19th in the vault for the Tornadoes. 

Boys and Girls Alpine Skiing

The Minnesota State High School League Alpine Skiing State meet was held Feb. 11 at Giant’s Ridge Golf and Ski Resort. 

Anoka-Hennepin will be represented by three student-athletes at the state meet.

Blaine High School’s Sydney Kalina placed 31st out of 87 athletes with a time of 1:22.74. Grace Flynn of Anoka High School placed 64th with a time of 1:29.08. 

In the boys' race, Jared Killian of BHS placed sixth overall with a time of 1:15.86 to earn all-state honors.

Boys and Girls Nordic Skiing

The Minnesota State High School League Nordic Skiing State meet was held Feb. 12-13 at Giant’s Ridge Golf and Ski Resort.

Blaine High School

  • The Blaine High School boys’ Nordic ski team qualified for the state tournament, winning the Section 5 meet for the third straight season. BHS finished 16th in the team standings.
  • Students who represented BHS in the team race were Reece Miller (66th), David Meberg (71st), Talan Spaniol (74th), Blake Pearson (95th), Xander Jund (98th).
  • Jack Zellmer and Austin Matrious placed 22nd in the team sprint race with a time of 17:22.33.
  • Audrey Schwen placed 74th in pursuit.

Coon Rapids High School

  • Ruby Demmer and Bethany Law placed 5th in the girls' team sprint race.
  • Lachlan Demmer placed 18th in pursuit.
  • Joshua Hyatt and Alberto Ludwig placed 23rd in the team sprint race.

Champlin Park High School

  • Abby Hibbs placed 34th in pursuit.

Dance

The Minnesota State High School League Jazz and High Kick State competitions will be held Feb. 14-15 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Blaine High School Dance Team qualified for both the Jazz and High Kick competitions after a successful run at the Section 3AA competition. The Bengals placed second in Kick and third in Jazz.