2019-20 winter sports and activity roundup
(03/12/20) With the winter sports and activity season wrapping up, here’s a look at who’s heading to state, and how they fared when they performed and played. This story will be updated regularly throughout the season.
Debate
State was held at the University of Minnesota Jan. 17-18.
- Among individuals, the only state finisher was in congressional debate, with Andover High School’s Hallie Anderson finishing 10th.
- Other individual qualifiers for state included:
- Congressional debate: Joseph Morphew from Anoka High School.
- Lincoln-Douglas debate: Abranette Barry and Phuong Doan from Blaine High School.
- Policy debate: none.
- Public forum: the teams of Hayat Abdullahi and Ahmad Wazwaz from Champlin Park High School; the teams of Josiah Novak and Will Volk, and
- Erin Sterling and Rachel Sterling from Coon Rapids High School; and the team of Amy Hoskins and Maxwell Schahn from Blaine High School.
- Among teams, Blaine High School qualified for the Lincoln-Douglas debate, but didn’t advance out of the preliminaries.
One Act Play
State was held at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University Feb. 6-7.
- Anoka-Hennepin didn’t have a team qualify.
Alpine skiing
Boys and girls state was held at Giants Ridge in Biwabik on Feb. 12.
- No teams qualified for the team competition.
- Individually, in the girls competition, Anoka High School’s Stella Gronski finished 52nd and Blaine High School’s Kendra Entsminger finished 57th.
- In the individual boys competition, Blaine’s Nate Killian finished 46th.
Nordic skiing
Boys and girls state was held at Giants Ridge in Biwabik on Feb. 15.
- In boys team results, Champlin Park High School finished 10th. Meanwhile, no girl’s teams qualified.
- Individually, in boys 5K freestyle, Champlin Park High School’s Mark Scheller finished 22nd, Connor Preston 27th, Jack Nightingale 55th, Joseph Eisenberg 83rd, Keegan Poston 104th, Zachary Oldroyd 109th, and Kyle Ostendorf 139th; Blaine High School’s Ben Lewis finished 93rd; and Coon Rapids High School’s Joshua Thoen finished 94th.
- In boys pursuit, Champlin Park’s Mark Scheller finished 34th, Connor Preston 43rd, Jack Nightingale 75th, Zachary Oldroyd 96th, Joseph Eisenberg 111th, Keegan Poston 116th, and Kyle Ostendorf 137th; Blaine’s Ben Lewis finished 103rd; and Coon Rapids’ Joshua Thoen finished 80th.
- In girls 5K freestyle, Champlin Park’s Annie Miller finished 27th; Andover High School’s Claire Beckman finished 53rd and Breanna Russell 111th; and Coon Rapids’ Abby Ellenbecker finished 65th.
- In girls pursuit, Champlin Park’s Annie Miller finished 45th; Coon Rapids’ Abby Ellenbecker finished 47th; and Andover’s Claire Beckman finished 76th and Breanna Russell 106th.
Dance team
The state dance tournament was held at the Target Center in Minneapolis Feb. 14-15.
- In high kick, Anoka High School finished eighth and Blaine High School finished 11th at state.
- In jazz, Anoka finished ninth and Blaine 10th at state.
Girl’s hockey
The state tournament was held Feb. 19-22, at the Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul.
- Andover High School won its first ever state title in girls hockey Feb. 27, defeating Edina High School 5-3.
Gymnastics
The state gymnastics tournament was held at Maturi Pavilion at the University of Minnesota Feb. 21-22.
- Anoka-Hennepin didn’t have a team qualify to compete for the team state title.
- In the all-around, Anoka High School’s Adreanna Willodson finished 14th.
- Individually, on the vault, Champlin Park High School’s Champlin Park’s Tashina Beyioku-Alase finished 12th, Anoka’s Willodson finished 18th, and Blaine High School’s Jennifer Riley finished 45th.
- On uneven bars, Willodson finished 10th and Champlin Park’s Emma Saksa finished 21st.
- On the balance beam, Willodson finished 39th.
- On floor exercise, Champlin Park’s Beyioku-Alase finished ninth, and Anoka’s Willodson finished 11th and Annie Hjelle finished 30th.
Wrestling
The state wrestling tournament was held Feb. 27-29 at the Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul.
- Anoka-Hennepin didn’t have a team qualify to compete for the team state title.
- 106-pound weight class: None.
- 113-pound weight class: Anoka High School’s Elijah Paulson finished fifth.
- 120-pound weight class: Anoka’s Carter Ban finished sixth, and Andover High School’s John Babineau also competed.
- 126-pound weight class: Anoka’s Brendan Howes finished sixth.
- 132-pound weight class: Blaine High School’s Luke Studer finished fifth.
- 138-pound weight class: Anoka’s Jacob Whitaker and Blaine’s Tyler Studer competed.
- 145-pound weight class: Coon Rapids High School’s Alex Kowalchyk finished sixth.
- 152-pound weight class: None.
- 160-pound weight class: Coon Rapids’ Demetrius Seals competed.
- 170-pound weight class: Andover’s Mitchell Nowlan finished fifth.
- 182-pound weight class: Andover’s Danny Reynolds finished sixth.
- 195-pound weight class: Blaine’s Isaac Atchison and Andover’s Aidan Winter competed.
- 220-pound weight class: Anoka’s Tyler Nebelung competed.
- 285-pound weight class: Coon Rapids’ Gavin Layton finished second.
Boys swimming and diving
The state swimming and diving tournament was held Feb. 27-29 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, University of Minnesota.
- Andover High School finished 21st as a team.
- The 200-yard medley relay team of Noah Rabb, Asher MacPherson, Mason Smisek and Bek Allenson finished 14th.
- In the 200-yard individual medley, Rabb finished 21st.
- In the 50-yard freestyle, Allenson finished 25th.
- In the 100-yard freestyle, Mason Smisek finished 21st.
- In the 100-yard backstroke, Noah Rabb finished third, and Smisek 19th.
- In the 100-yard breaststroke, MacPherson finished 15th.
- Blaine High School finished 29th as a team.
- In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Reece Wilson, Jayce Dayton, Wyatt Brenny, and Alexander Totev, finished 10th.
- The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Reese Wilson, Jayce Dayton, Wyatt Brenny, and Alexander Totev finished 17th.
- Anoka High School finished 32nd.
- In the 200-yard freestyle, Ben Urbaniak finished 19th.
- In the 100-yard butterfly, Maxim Brown finished 17th.
- In the 100-yard freestyle, Urbaniak finished 25th.
- The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Nate Anderson, Maxim Brown, Ben Eskro, and Ben Urbaniak finished 11th.
- Coon Rapids High School finished 36th.
- The 200-yard medley relay team of Matthew Strus, Tyler Schultze, Nick Melsha, and Abba Mayanja finished 16th.
- In the 200-yard individual medley, Schultze finished 13th.
- In the 500-yard freestyle, Nick Melsha finished 14th.
- In the 100-yard breaststroke, Schultze finished 14th.
- Champlin Park High School finished 43rd.
- In one-meter diving, Garrett Phillips finished 18th.
- In the 100-yard freestyle, Mark Kroening finished 16th.
- In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Mark Kroening, Tyler Bruchmann, Dalton Stohlmann, and Donovan Durand finished 18th.
Boy’s hockey
The state tournament will be held March 4-7 at the Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul.
- Andover High School won the Section 7AA championship, earning their first trip to state, however the Huskies lost their opening game and next play in the consolation bracket against Moorhead High School on March 6 at 12 p.m. at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Girl’s basketball
The state girls basketball tournament was held March 11-14 at Williams Arena, University of Minnesota.
- Anoka-Hennepin didn’t have a team qualify.
Adapted floor hockey
The state floor hockey tournament for both cognitive impairment (CI) and physical impairment (PI) divisions will be held March 13-14, at Bloomington Jefferson High School, Bloomington.
- The Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs qualified for the state floor hockey tournament in both the CI and PI divisions.
- The CI division team enters with an 11-0 record and as the No. 1 seed and will play Dakota United at 5 p.m. on March 13.
- At 5-4 on the year, the PI division team enters as the No. 2 seed and opens the tournament at 6:30 p.m. on March 13 against Minneapolis South.
Boy’s basketball
The state boys basketball tournament will be held March 18-21 at the Target Center, Minneapolis.
- Anoka-Hennepin didn’t have a team qualify.