Class AAAA: Five Questions for the 2025-26 Season

When we look at the Class AAAA season from the long view we come up with these five questions as we start thinking about the winter season.   Can Anybody Stop Wayzata from a Repeat Championship?   There are candidates but I don't think most will have the depth to beat Wayzata but they will have enough talent and coaching to maybe catch the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''] on the right day. Remember, Tonka beat Wayzata in the 2024 title game and Hopkins, Tonka, Totino-Grace and Orono all beat Wayzata last season.   The teams that have the depth, experience and talent to make a push at the champs should be Maple Grove, Alexandria, Hopkins and Cretin-Derham Hall. When it comes to the Crimson, they were at state last year and they return two of their top three players plus they have returning reserves. In addition, [player_tooltip player_id='2126442' first='Bennett' last='Cizadlo'] will be playing now that he is eligible after a transfer, [player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] transferred in, and there might be another name to talk about.   Alexandria lost Mr. Basketball Chase Thompson and starting wing Samson Hagstrom but they return everything else. Double figures scorers [player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick'], [player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt'] are all back plus reserves are ready for bigger roles and there are good JV kids ready for a strong role. The Cards have the depth and the experience for a run.   Hopkins has [player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore'] and his brother [player_tooltip player_id='2560534' first='Tre' last='Moore'] back, [player_tooltip player_id='2420169' first='Ahmed' last='Nur'] is ready for another step, transfer [player_tooltip player_id='1874906' first='Kyree' last='Nelson'] and some JV pieces ready for a top five season. CDH returns three starters (led by [player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560868' first='Joseph' last='Mitchell III']) and their key bench pieces.   All that said...... Wayzata has more players back from last year than any of these teams, the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''] have more coming up than most of these teams, and they've had the most success.   Has Class AAAA taken back the status as the place where the top players play?   100 percent yes. A season ago Class AAA had a lot of big dogs including Chase Thompson, Nolan Groves, Jalen Wilson, Brady Wooley, Chace Watley, Brogan Madson and others. Class AAAA was of course deeper than Class AAA in talent overall BUT when you talked about individuals and you talked about the top ten teams in each class, Class AAA was right there with Class AAAA.   That is over.   The best four player prospects in the senior class - Anderson, Wiggins, Moore and Tomes - are all in Class AAAA plus Mitchell and Iversen meaning six of the top eight seniors are Class AAAA. Then you look at the junior group and you see that Schlagel and Nur are Class AAAA players as well.   It was a change of pace for a bit but things are back to normal   Is Alexandria ready for Class AAAA?   I firmly believe so. Last year Alex beat Maple Grove and Moorhead (state teams) and they lost two score games to CDH and Sauk Rapids-Rice (top ten teams). [player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] was the second leading scorer and a 46 percent three point shooter last year, Talan and Gavin both had really good 17u seasons, and the list of up and comers/returning role players is excellent. The names include [player_tooltip player_id='2115658' first='Myles' last='Gray'], [player_tooltip player_id='2119601' first='Thomas' last='Hinrichs'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2126865' first='Grady' last='Starzl'] plus they have good underclassmen.   Can Centennial be the 8th different 7AAAA team to play at state in the last ten tournaments?   This is kind of wild. Anoka was at state last year, Coon Rapids was at state in 2024, Andover was back to back in 23 and 22 (and 2017), Duluth East was at state in 2021, there was no state in 2020, Cambridge-Isanti went in 2019, Forest Lake went in 2018, and Blaine went to state in 2016. That is seven different teams from the section in the state tournament in the last nine years. The one team missing is Centennial.   The Cougars have never been to the state tournament so if they could make it all eight teams in the last ten state tournaments it would be an incredible story.   Centennial was the third best team in the section a year ago with a 15-14 record that far exceeded the expectations others had for them. They did graduate a lot but [player_tooltip player_id='1560850' first='Tristan' last='Hanson'] will be one of the best players in the section and [player_tooltip player_id='1874940' first='Zach' last='Espinosa'] returns as well, but the Cougars lost six of their top eight guys. That is not a lot of experience returning, but we can still dream!   What is the new top Class AAAA rivalry?   I think you have to look at Eagan and Apple Valley. We talked about this recently in the 3AAAA article but it's worth talking about again.   We know North vs South in 1AAAA, we know Wayzata vs Hopkins vs Tonka, CDH vs East Ridge has been a rivalry talked about that is must see, Prior Lake vs Shakopee is kind of an underrated one as is Park Center vs Champlin Park (which will have a bigger spark this year) and you could throw in a couple others. But with Apple Valley and Eagan's 2026 kids having had so much varsity success, and each of the teams getting to state the last two years, these Eagles vs Wildcats games should be must see.

When we look at the Class AAAA season from the long view we come up with these five questions as we start thinking about the winter season.