The Park Region Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Henning won the league with an undefeated record but Wadena-Deer Creek was on their heels. Graduation should lead to Wadena-Deer Creek being the favorite but that Henning program is a beast!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Henning, Wadena-Deer Creek, Pillager</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Henning. One of the traditionally toughest programs in the state to beat. They were 28-2 last season and graduated some very important pieces. There are two ways to go with them this year in pre-season thinking and I believe both are accurate: 1) they have a lot to replace so picking them among the Class A top ten seems a little risky before seeing the results of how the new rotation does, and 2) this is one of the best programs and they will not fall far because they have budding star in [player_tooltip player_id='1560827' first='Kale' last='Misegades'] and it's a well coached team that will be in the running for league and section titles, and likely find it's way into the top ten. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wadena-Deer Creek was 12-2 in league play last season, they won 20 games, and they bring back all but one starter. It's a team that certainly has a chance to have a memorable season and it's the season they have been building towards since [player_tooltip player_id='1284206' first='Peyton' last='Church'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1284215' first='Teshe' last='Loer'] were on varsity/JV in grade eight. But can they beat Henning? The games were three/four score Henning wins last year. Also keep in mind Wadena-Deer Creek has lost ten straight to Henning. If there was a year that Wadena-Deer Creek could do it this is the year but this is one of those "you have to prove it first" spots I would say. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nobody should look past Pillager. They lost one player from last year's 15-13 team, they have three all league players back, and they have a really nice college prospect in [player_tooltip player_id='1633708' first='Christian' last='Hooge'] who is a junior. They have a strong chance to be a 20 win team and they will surely be a factor in the conference race too because if they beat one of the favorites they throw a wrench into the whole thing. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Menahga, Bertha-Hewitt, Verndale, Sebeka</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Menahga was 0-13 in non league games last year while being 7-7 in league play. That stat totally blows my mind. They have some returning talent but they are also quite small with the tallest listed returning playing being 6'1. Bertha-Hewitt should take a step forward this year led by Preston Miller. Their problem is also size, they have ONE returning guy that didn't have a five starting off their listed height on last year's roster. With their three best players back I would expect Verndale to move from a nine win team to a team that is above .500 next year. Sebeka won five games last year but has everybody back and they dealt with a lot of injuries and such a year ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: New York Mills</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New York Mills has two seniors and they are coming off of a two win season. They lost their all league player and it looks to be a rebuilding year again. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Park Region Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Henning</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Wadena-Deer Creek</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Pillager</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bertha-Hewitt</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Verndale</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Sebeka</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Menahga</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>New York Mills</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Park Region Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560827' first='Kale' last='Misegades'] of Henning (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1633708' first='Christian' last='Hooge'] of Pillager (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284206' first='Peyton' last='Church'] of Wadena-Deer Creek (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284215' first='Teshe' last='Loer'] of Wadena-Deer Creek (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Preston Miller of Bertha-Hewitt (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Parker Schaefer of Pillager (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brodie Berttunen of Menahga (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lane Dilly of Henning (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jasper Hosey of Sebeka (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shawn Schmitz of Verndale (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elijah Miller of Pillager (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kobe Snyder of Wadena-Deer Creek (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jaden Schulke of Verndale (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brady Rach of Bertha-Hewitt (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Logan Kostelecky of Henning (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Christian Berg of Sebeka (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Knaylor Howard of Menahga (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carter White of Verndale (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->