Tomahawk Conference Preview
The Tomahawk Conference houses two state title contenders this upcoming winter as both Springfield and Cedar Mountain/Comfrey could make a claim to be the top team in the state.
Thanks to top-notch individual talent on both sides, those two teams are sitting pretty when it comes to the conference as well. But it’s much more than a two-team league as both the New Ulm schools (Minnesota Valley Lutheran and New Ulm Cathedral) should be strong.
There was a massive gap between the top three teams in the league a year ago and the bottom six as the fourth best team finished with just 11 wins. The gap might be wider this year between the top two and everyone else, but everyone else should be more comparable to everyone else.
Conference Commentary
Favorites: Springfield, Cedar Mountain/Comfrey
Picking a favorite between Springfield and CMC is tough as both teams return significant players from top-fiveish teams in the state a year ago. Springfield gets a slight edge if only because the Tigers went 3-0 against CMC a year ago (overcoming a double-digit deficit in the Section 2A title game) and have Isaac Fink.
Fink is one of the top players in the state as just a junior and is coming off a season in which he averaged 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He had a great summer playing up with D1 Rise 17s and should continue to pile up huge numbers as he gets better.
He’s elite and the Tigers have no shortage of firepower around him. Tanner Vogel (14.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 apg) and Decker Scheffler (10.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.6 apg) are both back as well and both could see their overall numbers rise as the team makes up for the graduation of Kale Meendering. Andrew Beckman is back to provide some size inside and Mitchell Buerkle could be a player to watch as he earned minutes last season as just a freshman.
Springfield is a top-three team in Class A heading into the year and with Minneapolis North now in Class AA, there’s a feeling that the field of state title contenders is as open as it’s been in a while. Springfield is certainly on the short list when it comes to favorites at this point.
CMC lost just three times last season. All three were to Springfield with the final one coming in overtime in the Section 2A final. The Cougars return enough talent to potentially get over the hump this year. They’ve got experience in the form of four returning starters who are all upperclassmen and they’ve got top-shelf talent.
Wambde Diaz is a potential Player of the Year candidate at point guard as he’s a stat stuffer similar to Fink. Diaz won’t score as much as Fink but he’s a terrific defensive player, rebounder and shot-creator. He averaged 12 points, nine boards, six assists and nearly four steals per contest a year ago.
Dylan Hillesheim was the team’s leading scorer a year ago averaging about 18 points per night and returns after a solid summer playing with the Southwest Minnesota Stars. Eli Samuelson and Lewis Pendleton both return after knocking down better than 40 percent of their 3-point attempts a year ago. Samuelson averaged about 14 points and five rebounds and could put up even better numbers this year as the team’s second scoring option.
CMC looked good over the course of the summer too, winning the Breakdown State tournament. The Cougars look like a legitimate top-five team (perhaps closer to No. 2 or 3) heading into the season.
Next Up: New Ulm Cathedral, Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Minnesota Valley Lutheran won 19 games a year ago and while repeating that might be difficult, the Chargers return a number of excellent young players in Jake Kettner and Matthew Munsen. Kettner played up with D1 Rise this summer and averaged 15.7 points, 5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as a sophomore. Munsen could take a big step after a solid sophomore year in which he averaged 11 points per game in conference play. Overcoming the loss of Nick Fischer will be difficult though as he was one of the best bigs in the conference.
New Ulm Cathedral won 11 games a season ago and could be one of the most improved teams in the league. Nathan Hauser is one of the top scorers in the conference and returns after averaging better than 18 points per game. Jon Zinniel averaged 13 points per game as just a freshman a year ago and could make a big jump. Alex Hillesheim is also back to give the team a third potential double-figure scorer.
The Rest: Sleepy Eye, Wabasso, Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart
Sleey Eye returns several key players including Zach Haala (13 ppg, 6 rpg) and Ben Laffen (9 ppg) off a team that won nine games. The Indians should be improved.
Wabasso only won five games last season but returns a number of key contributors including Tony Franta and Myles Zeug. Franta averaged 14 points, five rebounds and three assists while Zeug averaged 11 and seven rebounds. Cooper Taylor is back as well after leading the team in assists per game.
Similar to Wabasso, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop returns a handful of guys off last year’s team and could be much improved. Zach Weber averaged better than 13 points per game in conference last season. Martin Ortiz, David Herrera and Kyle Huiras all averaged 9-11 points per game as well.
Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s returns Nick Labat who averaged 12 points per game as a freshman, along with several other key guys like Carter Currans. But they’ll have to replace two of their top players in Cole Owens and Alex Woitas – which will be difficult.
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart won just one game a season ago. Of the Mustangs’ 25 losses, 18 were by more than 15 points. The good news is that Trent Weispfennig is back. But they’ve got a long way to go.
Conference Predictions
- Springfield
- Cedar Mountain/Comfrey
- Minnesota Valley Lutheran
- New Ulm Cathedral
- Sleepy Eye
- Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
- Wabasso
- Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s
- Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart
All Tomahawk Conference
First Team
Isaac Fink (POY), Springfield, Jr.
Wambde Diaz, CMC, Sr.
Dyllan Hillesheim, CMC, Sr.
Jake Kettner, MVL, Jr.
Nathan Hauser, New Ulm Cathedral, Sr.
Second Team
Tanner Vogel, Springfield, Sr.
Eli Samuelson, CMC, Jr.
Decker Scheffler, Springfield, So.
Matthew Munsen, MVL, Jr.
Tony Franta, Wabasso, Sr.
Third Team
Trent Weispfennig, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, Sr.
Jon Zinniel, New Ulm Cathedral, So.
Zach Weber, GFW, Sr.
Zach Haala, Sleepy Eye, Sr.
Nick Labat, Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s, So.
Myles Zeug, Wabasso, Sr.
Lewis Pendleton, CMC, Jr.