Section 2A: First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey earned the spot at state last year but they've graduated just about everything so 2A looks wide open, and the North looks to have more contenders than the South.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Summer Summary</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The North should be wide open.  If we have to pick a favorite it would be BOLD with All State player [player_tooltip player_id='2449974' first='Jack' last='Gross'] and most of their line-up returning.  They are battle tested through the West Central Conference and they are the most experienced team.  Sleepy Eye has a couple starters back led by [player_tooltip player_id='2447234' first='Landon' last='Wendinger'] inside and a strong sophomore group while SESM has three starters back. Teams that could take a jump forward are ACGC, Mayer Lutheran, and Cleveland. Keep an eye on Lester Prairie too, the Bulldogs always seem to reload with hard working players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The South is a bit of a different story.&nbsp; The North's top team Mt. Lake Area-Comfrey was a senior dominated team so their entire rotation that played at state, has graduated.&nbsp; They are a good program that likely still has some players but Springfield looks in line to be the favorite. &nbsp; Mankato Loyola should be the top contender while Madelia has the potential to be an up and comer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 3 2A Players</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2449974' first='Jack' last='Gross'] of BOLD</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2575629' first='Brayden' last='Sturm'] of Springfield</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2447234' first='Landon' last='Wendinger'] of Sleepy Eye</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Should Improve Their Record</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BOLD (14-13)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mayer Lutheran (9-18)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mankato Loyola (14-14)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Might Not Match Last Year's Win Total</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey (27-5)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>GFW (19-11)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>USC (13-14)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->