The Wright County East Preview
The eastern part of the Wright County Conference is a daily fight and this year the heavyweights will be Delano and Orono.
Last Year. A year ago the league was won by New Prague and Orono who both won eight of ten games but things have aged quite differently in those programs. New Prague graduated a lot of seniors and their coach Bryce Tesdahl took a new job. Blake Nicols takes over but he has to replace the top four scores from his team where as Orono has just about everyone back from last year’s team including all of their top scorers.
Delano steps into the spot as top contender to Orono led by Calvin Wishart and let’s not forget about Waconia led by Pat Hayes. The Cats have a lot of talent that will likely have them top ten quickly if not right from the start. They were 15-12 a year ago but remember, few teams played the schedule that Waconia did.
Holy Family was 12-17 last season and should improve where as Hutchinson was 3-24.
Conference Commentary
State Contender: Orono. The Spartans are not only the heavy favorite to win not only this league but they are expected to be the heavy contender to try and knock off DeLaSalle. They were a possession away from doing it last year and have the pieces to make the run this year.
Top Ten: Delano, Waconia. Delano lost more than people understand from last year’s team but they do have one of the state’s elite playmaker in Calvin Wishart plus a shooter (Techam) and frontcourt size (O’Neill). The Wildcats bring more back from last year’s team and have pieces returning at all spots. Don’t be surprised of the Wildcats won about five more games than they did last year.
Compete with Most: New Prague, Holy Family. New Prague has Tyler Kemp back from last year’s team but he is just one of two that return from the rotation. The Trojans will be good but there is a lot of talent to refill. Holy Family brings their top players back but they just barely hit ten wins in the regular season last year. Do they have the depth?
Rebuilding: Hutchinson. A bunch of seniors last year and they only one three games. Tough going out there.
Conference Predictions
Power Rankings.
- Orono
- Delano
- Waconia
- New Prague
- Holy Family
- Hutchinson
Preseason All Wright County (East)
First Team
Jarvis Thomas, Orono, Sr
Calvin Wishart, Delano, Sr
Max Bjorklund, Orono, Sr
Nick Fulford, Waconia, Sr
Colton Codute, Orono, Sr
Second Team
Nathan Hendler, Holy Family, Sr
Tyler Kemp, New Prague, Jr
Charlie Gove, Waconia, Sr
PJ Hayes, Waconina, Soph
Derek Techam, Delano, Jr
Third Team
Griffen Sage, Orono, Sr
Keegan O’Neil, Delano, Sr
Lincoln Cizek, Holy Family, Sr
Thomas Lecy, Orono, Sr
Ryan Biehn, Waconia, Jr