Class AAA….A Taste
The Class AAA level. The favorites are quite obvious but who are the sleepers that could have a good team? NHR runs through it now.
Section 1AAA. The sleeper here could be Simley. They have a guy that they can count on for big numbers in Jake Binley but graduated a lot of their contributors. Their ability to make a push depends on how the sophomores and juniors step in and fill roles, but if they do that well, Simley is your sleeper (Austin the favorite, Northfield and Winona chasing).
Section 2AAA. I’ve mentioned this before but watch out for Worthington. The combo of Tyler Linder and OD Othow will do much of the scoring production but there are some athletes and some workers that will make their five man line-up very tough.
Section 3AAA. Richfield graduated a lot but Devin Wade-Henderson looks to be on the verge of a big season. The Spartans staff works hard with their crew so they will battle. Another sleeper could be Highland Park that lost their top scoring but Undre Ellis is now the coach and the returning players are Evan Brodtman and Mohamoud Bue as well as Gopher football commit Josh Aune.
Section 4AAA. Definitely St. Anthony. They have been on the edge of a big win for a long time and this could be the group to do it. Aaron Smith and Tait Nelson can hang with the best of them and the team has been good at developing talent.
Section 5AAA. Willmar. Monitcello has talent but is coming off a tough year, Big Lake lost a lot, and Rocori lost most of their rotation, so what their years will look like is a tough to know. Willmar has a scorer in Noah Slagter and they bring back just about everyone from a season ago.
Section 6AAA. Waconia and Cooper are the teams in the section that could pull off the huge upset of DelaSalle or Orono but with Cooper losing Melvin Newbern I would say the sleeper is Waconia. The Wildcats aren’t your normal sleeper but with the Islanders and Spartans anyone is a sleeper. Nick Fulford can do a lot of things and should have a big year, Charlie Gove is an excellent PG to trust, and PJ Hayes can stroke it.
Section 7AAA. Who will challenge GR is tough to know. Just about everyone loses pieces or playing young line-ups and had trouble winning games. Sleeper pick? Cloquet is ours. Watch Bryce Turnbull who has the talent to have a big season.
Section 8AAA. Fergus Falls is the two time champ, everyone knows Alexandria is always tough, Sauk Rapids-Rice has the talent but rarely performs up to expectations, and Detroit Lakes should be solid with Okeson as coach. Apollo could be a sleeper. If they can get Phillip Droomgoogle and Marquis Smith to lead the group they could win more games than expected.