The West Central Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The West Central is now a seven team league and coming off of a year where Montevideo was the class of the league. Will they be at the top again?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>:&nbsp;Montevideo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Montevideo is a team that we have picked to be playing in the Class AA State title game this year. Why? Because they return most of their players from last year's state team, they have a star in Epema, they have the size that many small schools don't have, they are experienced and they have up and coming talent. That is a lot for a resume right there and that is exactly why they are our favorite.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Contenders</strong>: Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, Sauk Centre, West Central Area</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MACA is the other team that was good last year and brings a lot back. A healthy [player_tooltip player_id='2118471' first='Riley' last='Asmus'] to go with [player_tooltip player_id='2377913' first='Alex' last='Asmus'] and the rest of the returning talent has the Tigers as a potential top ten team this year. And as a top ten team in Class AA potentially, that also makes them a contender in this league. Montevideo vs Morris Area/CA is going to be must see games </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Central Area has two starters and three reserves coming back so they will continue on that same track they always seem to be on, tough and successful. They will have to find some offense to replace the three starters and depth needs to be added but they will be strong. Sauk Centre has way more to develop as they have eight of their top ten players gone to graduation. Drevlow will be one of the best players in the league and they have up and coming talent, but they might have some tough nights as so many guys gain experience. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>:&nbsp;&nbsp;BOLD, Minnewaska Area, Melrose</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BOLD went to state last year after being an average team in this league. That is how tough this league is. For next year, BOLD does have to replace five of their top seven and remember, while they did go to state in Class A, they were in the middle of this league. Having to replace at least three starters is tough in this league. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnewaska Area has their top scorers back from last year and some decent experience. They improved to 12-15 last season and could flip that around, but conference play was tough for them. Melrose is in a very similar spot to Minnewaska, they have five of their top seven back but they did have some struggles in league play. Both Minnewaska and Melrose will be better, and BOLD is a good program you expect to also be able to compete every night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This league really has no punching bag. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>25-26 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>West Central Power Ranking</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Montevideo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) West Central Area</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4) Sauk Centre</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5) BOLD</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6) Minnewaska Area</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(7) Melrose</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason West Central Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2524646' first='Griffin' last='Epema'] of Montevideo (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2488739' first='Jacob' last='Drevlow'] of Sauk Centre (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2377913' first='Alex' last='Asmus'] of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118471' first='Riley' last='Asmus'] of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2841057' first='Marshall' last='Dewey'] of West Central Area (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2436768' first='Brody' last='Dack'] of Montevideo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2841055' first='Tyson' last='Grove'] of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2425367' first='Brady' last='Goihl'] of Melrose (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Owen Bamgartner of BOLD (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2841056' first='Jackson' last='Koenen'] of Montevideo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Marc Gruber of Minnewaska Area (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jack Kehoe of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tristan O'Neil of Minnewaska Area (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2569243' first='Isaac' last='Allen'] of West Central Area (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Adam Van Binsbergen of Montevideo (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ben Tiernan of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tyler Ruschen of BOLD (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nels Baukol of Montevideo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2425361' first='Riley' last='Elfering'] of Melrose (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Matt Zensen of Sauk Centre (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Danielson of Minnewaska Area (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teague Dusha of Melrose (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->