Section by Section: The Coach of the Year

Our Coach of the Year in each section and in each class.   And before I start this I want to be very clear, these are the coaches that I believe took their team and coached them up to be better than expected. Simply winning a ton of games does not make you coach of the year. And any coach who feels disrespected that they won their section or won state and didn't get coach of the year, that guy is being very selfish to me.   Because the best coaching job is not just winning games with most talented kids, it's bringing them to a higher level.     Class AAAA   Section 1: Jim Daly of Rochester JM   Section 2: Bryce Tesdahl of Minnetonka   Section 3: David Collier of Apple Valley   Section 4: Mark Klingsporn of Tartan   Section 5: Nick Schroeder of Maple Grove   Section 6: Bryan Schnettler of Wayzata   Section 7: Bernie Ward of Blaine   Section 8: Matt Ellingson of Moorhead   AAAA Coach of the Year: Bryan Schnettler of Wayzata   This was tough. This was a great year for AAAA coaches. Ellingson did amazing things, Ward and Ellingson both had teams with low predictions and high results. Schroeder's team set school offensive records, Klingssporn's team lost one game, and Tesdahl was 19-10 instead of the 10-19 expected. But I have to go with Schnettler.   The only way Schnettler's team was going to exceed expectations (picked number one in the preseason) was to have a very dominating State title win, and they did that. But it wasn't just that. Wayzata dealt with some stuff in February and they rebounded from that playing incredible team basketball.     Class AAA   Section 1: Kyle Finney of Byron   Section 2: Travis Carroll of Marshall   Section 3: Stephen Solaja of St. Paul Harding   Section 4: Anthony Harris of North St. Paul   Section 5: Nate Christensen of Zimmerman   Section 6: Barry Wohler of Orono   Section 7: Kyle Giorgi of Hibbing   Section 8: Forrest Witt of Alexandria   AAA Coach of the Year: Kyle Finney of Byron   Kyle Finney leading Byron to a 28-4 season with his team competing against, and defeating teams from the metro that they were not beating in the past. They took home the consolation prize in AAA and again, 28-4! To me they played above and beyond what was expected and I think Kyle really earned this.   A special mention has to go to others. Christensen and Giorgi turned teams around that were really bad last year, Witt led a team to a title, and Barry Wohler had to lead a team through a death of a layer and a bad injury to another, and they took third in state. Lots of great coaching performances.   Class AA   Section 1: Brad King of Caledonia   Section 2: Seth Anderson of Waseca   Section 3: John Sichmeller of Luverne   Section 4: Keven Seim of St Croix Prep   Section 5: Michael Tauber of Rockford   Section 6: Cory Schlagel of Albany   Section 7: Joe Kahl of Pierz   Section 8: Kyle Haberman of Perham   AA Coach of the Year/Minnesota Coach of the Year: Cory Schlagel of Albany   Undefeated all season. Two titles in three years. But the biggest thing is the way they played as a unit: tough, physical, and as a unit that all bought in. They accomplished what was expected and did it in a fantastic way.   Class A   Section 1: Scott Koenigs of Southland   Section 2: Jeff Van Hee of Madelia   Section 3: Daren Gravley of RTR   Section 4: Brian Moss of Hope Academy   Section 5: Jeremy Medina of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley   Section 6: Jordon Roos of Border West   Section 7: Ben Ellefson of South Ridge   Section 8: Trent Jerome of KCC   A Coach of the Year: Scott Koenigs of Southland   A one loss season where Southland held teams under 45 points a game. Under 45 a game! They held teams to 40 points or less 13 times! If you love defense you love Scott Koenigs

Our Coach of the Year in each section and in each class.