The Wright County East Preview

Last winter Waconia won the Wright County East by two games.  This year there’s a new team in the league, new look rosters, and a lot to talk about!  Conference Commentary Potential Top Ten in State – Hutchinson, Orono, Delano, Waconia, Jordan Five teams in about the same area. Teams that either lost a lot but will still be good (Delano, Waconia), brought back a lot from a team that had some struggles (Orono, Hutch), and a traditionally strong team that has holes to fill but is always good (Jordan).   Hutch, Orono, Delano, and Waconia is a total Class AAA toss-up.  In fact they make up four of the teams that are 16-20 in our Class AAA top 25.  I picked Hutch originally on top because they have the most talent back from a team that was over .500.  But the margin is thin, they were only 3-7 last year in league play, so I changed my mind.  If Waconia or Delano can fill those holes around Swanson and Longstreet in a solid way each of them can win it.  And Orono likely has the best combo of guards and bigs, it’s just that they only won 10 games last year.  But Orono was 6-4 last year in league play, and returns basically the same team.  So rethinking it, I put them in first.  The ex-factor is Jordan.  They played two teams from the league last year:  the Hubmen lost to Waconia 81-74 and beat Holy Family 66-50.  The problem for Jordan entering a new league is that they are doing it losing four of their top six players, but they do have an elite player in the league in Reagan KochReaganKoch6'3" | PGJordan | 2021StateMN. Compete with Most – Holy Family The Fire should be fairly good.  They have three key players back from last year’s team plus Boden KapkeBodenKapke6'10" | CHoly Family | 2023StateMN will take over as the go-to guy this year and for the coming future.  The Fire were six games under .500 last year but should be a bit better than that overall this season.  Rebuilding - New Prague New Prague will look almost entirely new.  In fact, the one guy they have back with experience is Andrew NerudAndrewNerud6'9" | CNew Prague | 2021StateMN, and he played only a bit as a sophomore and was injured two games into last season.  New Prague will look very new coming off a 5 win season (total).    20-21 Wright County East Conference Predictions Orono Hutchinson Delano Waconia Jordan Holy Family New Prague   Preseason All Wright County Conference  First Team Connor ChappellConnorChappell6'6" | PFOrono | 2021StateMN of Orono (Sr) Reagan KochReaganKoch6'3" | PGJordan | 2021StateMN of Jordan (Sr) Trey LongstreetTreyLongstreet6'7" | SFDelano | 2021StateMN of Delano (Sr) Sam RenschSamRensch6'6" | SGHutchinson | 2022StateMN of Hutchinson (Jr) Spencer SwansonSpencerSwanson6'5" | PFWaconia | 2021StateMN of Waconia (Sr)   Second Team Boden KapkeBodenKapke6'10" | CHoly Family | 2023StateMN of Holy Family (Soph) Zachary KuseskeZacharyKuseske6'0" | PGHutchinson | 2021StateMN of Hutchinson (Sr) Sebastian Loder of Orono (Jr) Andrew MandelAndrewMandel6'9" | COrono | 2021StateMN of Orono (Sr) Andrew NerudAndrewNerud6'9" | CNew Prague | 2021StateMN of New Prague (Sr)   Third Team Connor BehrendsConnorBehrends5'11" | PGWaconia | 2021StateMN of Waconia (Sr) Graham Beltrand of Orono (Sr) Jacob FarrellJacobFarrell6'1" | PGOrono | 2022StateMN of Orono (Jr) Jordan Klinker of Hutchinson (Sr) Noah Seck of Holy Family (Sr)   Fourth Team Jake Kirsch of Holy Family (Sr) Jojo Kloeppel of Jordan (Sr) Ashton SivilayAshtonSivilay5'10" | PGJordan | 2022StateMN of Jordan (Jr) Carter ToolCarterTool6'7" | PFDelano | 2021StateMN of Delano (Sr) Wally WisniewskiWallyWisniewski5'10" | PGWaconia | 2022StateMN of Waconia (Jr)