The Bemidji High swimmers and wrestlers cap their seasons this weekend competing in their section meets.
The wrestlers will be home for the 8-3A individual tournament seeking to qualify two or more of their young squad for next week's state meet at St. Paul.
The swimmers make their debut at the 3A meet at Detroit Lakes, standing a good chance of sending at least two individuals and two relays to the state at the U of M next weekend.
It will be Bemidji's first venture into the Single A ranks after a career in double A under the two class system.
They are not likely to find too much relief .
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For 10 of the 13 teams at the section scored at the state meet last year with Fergus Falls fifth, Willmar sixth, Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield ninth and Hutchinson 10.
Hutchinson won back to back state titles in 2004-05.
Coach Woody Leindecker rates Hutchinson as the team to beat this year.
He ranks Fergus Falls, Willmar, Melrose and Bemidji as the next four.
With the larger number of teams and only four sections in Class A., the meet sends the top four individuals and the top four relays to the state meet plus the top 16 divers.
And swimmers bettering the state qualifying standards will also advance even if not in the top four.
Bemidji's best shots would seem to be Matt Wilcox in the 100 and 200 free, Dylan Hoven in the 50 and 100 free plus the two free relay teams which will round out with Paul Voss, Adam Falk, Nick Nyberg or Nick Gubbels.
Rounding out the field are host Detroit Lakes, Montevideo, Thief River Falls, Park Rapids and Morris.
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Last year the Jacks were second to Brainerd at the 8AA meet, their best finish since 1995 and sent five swimmers to the state.
They were Wilcox in the 100 free and IM, Tucker Asper in the 200, 50 and 500 and the 200 free relay of Hoven, Nick Lee, Wilcox and Jared Vanasse plus the 400 relay of Asper, Lee, Vanasse and Wilcox.
That group went on to score 77½ points at the state and finish ninth, its second highest total in history.
This year's group seemingly has the potential to duplicate that finish.
Coach Woody Leindecker goes tonight with Wilcox, Paul Voss, Falk and Nyberg in the 200 free, Hoven, Gubbels and Jared Becker in the 50 free and Dylan Tillemans, Gunnar Nelson and Anthony Hanson in diving,
It will be Falk, in the fly, Wilcox, Hoven and Gubbels in the 100 free and Paul Voss, Nyberg, Pat Voss and Eli Wright in the 500,
Seth Olson and Matt Arndt will swim the breaststroke.
Bemidji will have no entrants in the I M or backstroke.
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The relays do not have to be set until the start of their events.
Matmen hopeful
Rance Bahr's youthful mat team goes into the individual meet hopeful.
Best bets to reach the state are Corey Huber and Dale Norton, neither a stranger to the big event.
Huber will be shooting for his third straight trip, going 2-2 as a sophomore and1-2 last year.
Norton qualified as a sophomore in 2008, dropping both matches. He did not wrestle in 2009.
Bemidji will open with:
103-Tyler O'Beirne (1-3); 112-Logan Crosby (18-15), 119-Jake Crosby (22-14); 125-Craig Maas (20-11); 130-Kade Johnson (9-16), 135-Norton (29-7; 140- Cody Thoring (2-13), 145-Kodi Craft (1-11), 152-LeRoy Pacheco (7-17); 160-Huber (32-4); 171 Brenden Fredrickson (2-17); 189-Tyler Molitor (0-1); 215-Brandon Larson (1-1) and heavyweight-Alex Johnson (19-14).
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Bahr accords the Crosby's Maas and Alex Johnson as having shots at a top two finish.
The team will have a seventh grader, eighth grader and three freshmen on the mats.
Wrestling begins at 5 tonight with the preliminary round and quarter finals scheduled.
It resumes at 11 tomorrow with wrestlebacks with the semifinals set for 2 and the title bouts at 5.
As always, there will be true second place matches with the third place finisher accorded a chance to take on the champion if he was not in the same bracket.
