The Mid-State Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pequot Lakes won a share of the Mid-State Conference for the fifth straight season last year and they are expected to be the favorite once again in 2022-23. Who will be their top contenders? We look at the Mid-State Conference today!</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> Pequot Lakes</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pequot Lakes will be an overwhelming favorite in this league. They are a top ten Class AA team, they have by far the best player in the league in Laposky, they have the most experience returning, and they are the most talented team! The goal is a victory in the state tournament but to start reaching those goals they first need to win their league and we think they will do that by several games. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>:  Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids, Crosby-Ironton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Detroit Lakes was the second best team in the league last year, but they graduated most of their rotation. Crosby-Ironton had the second best record in the league last season, but they also graduated most of their rotation. Park Rapids had a pretty good 16 win season, and they graduated most of their rotation. Each of these teams has a very good player returning but a lot of talent needs to be filled in around them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong> Staples-Motley, Aitkin</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Staples-Motley was one of the worst teams in their class last year but we think they will take a nice step in their rebuild. [player_tooltip player_id='962311' first='Isaiah' last='Schultz'] looks like a very good player. If the Cards get their chemistry right with what is back, and a few of the teams struggle with their chemistry, they could shoot up a couple spots. Aitkin is the team in the most trouble because they were 10-15 a season ago and lost most of their line-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>22-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Pequot Lakes</li><li>Detroit Lakes</li><li>Crosby-Ironton</li><li>Park Rapids</li><li>Stapley-Motley</li><li>Aitkin</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Mid-State Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962249' first='Eli' last='Laposky'] of Pequot Lakes (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mason Carrier of Detroit Lakes (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284199' first='Noah' last='Morris'] of Park Rapids (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sam Rysavy of Pequot Lakes (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962311' first='Isaiah' last='Schultz'] of Staples-Motley (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284152' first='James' last='Stokman'] of Crosby-Ironton (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brayde Spiczka of Pequot Lakes (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Noah Larson of Park Rapids (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Meyer of Crosby-Ironton (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ethan Carrier of Detroit Lakes (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grant Loge of Pequot Lakes (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mason Yliniemi of Park Rapids (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alex Palm of Aitkin (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jordan Mount of Crosby-Ironton (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dakota Hannigar of Staples-Motley (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hunter Miller of Staples-Motley (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->