Section 1A 2022-23
Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2022 6:57 pm
2022-23 Section 1A Preseason Preview
Section 1A is one of the most unpredictable and sometimes unknown sections in the state. Most of Southern Minnesota’s small-school teams spend the winter beating up on each other while sticking primarily to the confines of their geographic region in Big 9 & Big South Conferences. Two years ago section realignments brought back old powers of 1A to Class A from AA one of which surprised the other when New Prague upset Northfield and ended up representing Section 1A at State. This offseason brought back another familiar program back from AA as Dodge County was granted a return by the MSHSL and the last time we saw them in Class A they were playing the State Title game. This season is sure to provide more intrigue and mystery as to who will represent the South in St Paul come early March.
Section 1A Preseason Poll (12 Teams)
1- Northfield
2- New Prague
3- Albert Lea
4- Rochester Lourdes
5- Dodge County
6- Faribault
7- La Crescent
8- Winona
9- Waseca
10- Red Wing
11- Austin
#1 Northfield- The Raiders return just about everything this winter from a 20 win team a year ago and are the obvious choice to be the favorite in 1A. The Raiders return dynamic forwards Junior’s Kamden Kaiser & Cayden Monson along with a large cast of others who will help Northfield have no issue in the goal scoring department. On defense they return Junior defenseman Ty Frank and Senior defenseman Michael Fossum who ranked fourth and sixth on the team in scoring and will make the Raiders a well rounded unit. Add in Senior goaltender Keaton Walock entering his 3rd year as the main starting goaltender and Northfield looks on paper to be the obvious choice to win this section.
#2 New Prague- The defending Section 1A champions do bring back leading scorer John Schmidt who led the team in points while Juniors Willy Seymour, Braeden Woitas, Michael Beckius will be back to add good scoring depth for the Trojans. However, the early departure of Luke Portner who had over 20 points from the blue line will be a big loss. Also the big question will be can New Prague find a goalie but they will play a tough schedule and have a bad record but as we saw last year that only helps them be more prepared as they will be a serious threat to repeat in Section 1A.
#3 Albert Lea- The Tigers were one game away from State last winter as they came up just short in Section 1A Championship Game and they will bring back a ton of experience led by Seniors Joseph Yoon & Tim Chalmers and they will also return Senior Starting Goaltender Dakota Jahnke who won 17 games before missing the entire Sectional due to injury. Albert Lea also returns 9 of its top 10 leading scorers this winter from a team that won 19 games and the Tigers will look to be a serious threat to take it one step further this winter and return and win the Section 1A Championship game.
#4 Rochester Lourdes- The Eagles showed last year they are back as a program that needs to be considered when thinking about Section 1A as last year's group won 19 games and returned to Section Semis. This year's team will be interesting to watch as they lost a tremendous group to graduation. If Lourdes wants to build on last years success they will need even bigger years from returning scoring leaders Junior Forwards Peyton Loeslie & Aidan Ritter and they will need to continue to get stellar goaltending from Junior Xander Carter-Kleven who has played nearly every minute for the Eagles the last two years and enters this winter as maybe one the top goalies not only in 1A but all of Class A.
#5 Dodge County- The last time we saw the Wildcats in 1A they were taking 2nd place at State going the furthest we had ever seen a Section 1A team since the Johnny Pohl Red Wing 90’s teams. This Dodge County team is not that group but they will serve as a threat in 1A. They return their two leading scorers in Juniors Gyffon Funke & Cooper Jacobson who each had double digit goals. However, there are lots of question marks after that as this team was hit hard by graduation. No, Brody Lamb isn't walking through the door anytime soon again, but they do have an interesting team and could be top 5 in 1A.
#6 Faribault- “IF” the Falcons are indeed returning everyone I may have them too low as they could be the 4 seed as they took the young team label to a whole different level last winter. Up front they return and are led by Junior forward Oliver Linnemann and two 9th graders Jackson Kurth & Tommy Kunze from a team that played a lineup littered with underclassmen and multiple middle schoolers last winter. Again, “IF” everyone stayed this could be the surprise team in Section 1A.
#7 La Crescent- The Lancers are looking to build off their program's recent success when the program reached its first ever Section Semi-Final two years ago and followed that up with a 14 win campaign last winter and fell one goal shy of returning to the Semi’s a year ago. In order for the Lancers to continue to knock on that door they will need to rely on their dangerous scoring duo of Juniors Wyatt Farrell & Colton Holzer to keep up their tremendous scoring output they also return scoring depth (6 of the top 10 leading scorers) and both of their goalies and look to have a solid year.
#8 Winona- The Winhawks were one of the most improved teams down the stretch in Section 1A last winter. They return scoring punch this winter as Junior Teis Larsen & Sophomore Aven Prodzinski can create a Winona offense that could score in bunches last winter. However, the scoring punch was needed as they had one of more shaky defenses and goaltending in southern Minnesota and winning shutouts can only take you so far.
#9 Waseca- The Bluejays are a team coming off of a very tough year but they do return one of the better scoring duos in the state as Seniors Kyle Ahlschlager & Griffin Krautkramer to give the Bluejays a chance to out score you each night. However, again this is a team that has made defense optional but they do return pieces and will look to be improved.
#10 Red Wing- The Wingers are in a rebuilding mode this winter as they lost 5 of their top 6 scorers and their cornerstone in net. They do return Junior Robbie Tripp who put up 26 points last year but this could be a rough year for a once proud Section 1A Program.
#11 Austin- The Packers will look to improve on their 1 win campaign a year ago. They do return a lot and will look to build around Seniors Toby Holtz & Isaac Stromlund as they look to be more competitive this winter.
Section 1A is one of the most unpredictable and sometimes unknown sections in the state. Most of Southern Minnesota’s small-school teams spend the winter beating up on each other while sticking primarily to the confines of their geographic region in Big 9 & Big South Conferences. Two years ago section realignments brought back old powers of 1A to Class A from AA one of which surprised the other when New Prague upset Northfield and ended up representing Section 1A at State. This offseason brought back another familiar program back from AA as Dodge County was granted a return by the MSHSL and the last time we saw them in Class A they were playing the State Title game. This season is sure to provide more intrigue and mystery as to who will represent the South in St Paul come early March.
Section 1A Preseason Poll (12 Teams)
1- Northfield
2- New Prague
3- Albert Lea
4- Rochester Lourdes
5- Dodge County
6- Faribault
7- La Crescent
8- Winona
9- Waseca
10- Red Wing
11- Austin
#1 Northfield- The Raiders return just about everything this winter from a 20 win team a year ago and are the obvious choice to be the favorite in 1A. The Raiders return dynamic forwards Junior’s Kamden Kaiser & Cayden Monson along with a large cast of others who will help Northfield have no issue in the goal scoring department. On defense they return Junior defenseman Ty Frank and Senior defenseman Michael Fossum who ranked fourth and sixth on the team in scoring and will make the Raiders a well rounded unit. Add in Senior goaltender Keaton Walock entering his 3rd year as the main starting goaltender and Northfield looks on paper to be the obvious choice to win this section.
#2 New Prague- The defending Section 1A champions do bring back leading scorer John Schmidt who led the team in points while Juniors Willy Seymour, Braeden Woitas, Michael Beckius will be back to add good scoring depth for the Trojans. However, the early departure of Luke Portner who had over 20 points from the blue line will be a big loss. Also the big question will be can New Prague find a goalie but they will play a tough schedule and have a bad record but as we saw last year that only helps them be more prepared as they will be a serious threat to repeat in Section 1A.
#3 Albert Lea- The Tigers were one game away from State last winter as they came up just short in Section 1A Championship Game and they will bring back a ton of experience led by Seniors Joseph Yoon & Tim Chalmers and they will also return Senior Starting Goaltender Dakota Jahnke who won 17 games before missing the entire Sectional due to injury. Albert Lea also returns 9 of its top 10 leading scorers this winter from a team that won 19 games and the Tigers will look to be a serious threat to take it one step further this winter and return and win the Section 1A Championship game.
#4 Rochester Lourdes- The Eagles showed last year they are back as a program that needs to be considered when thinking about Section 1A as last year's group won 19 games and returned to Section Semis. This year's team will be interesting to watch as they lost a tremendous group to graduation. If Lourdes wants to build on last years success they will need even bigger years from returning scoring leaders Junior Forwards Peyton Loeslie & Aidan Ritter and they will need to continue to get stellar goaltending from Junior Xander Carter-Kleven who has played nearly every minute for the Eagles the last two years and enters this winter as maybe one the top goalies not only in 1A but all of Class A.
#5 Dodge County- The last time we saw the Wildcats in 1A they were taking 2nd place at State going the furthest we had ever seen a Section 1A team since the Johnny Pohl Red Wing 90’s teams. This Dodge County team is not that group but they will serve as a threat in 1A. They return their two leading scorers in Juniors Gyffon Funke & Cooper Jacobson who each had double digit goals. However, there are lots of question marks after that as this team was hit hard by graduation. No, Brody Lamb isn't walking through the door anytime soon again, but they do have an interesting team and could be top 5 in 1A.
#6 Faribault- “IF” the Falcons are indeed returning everyone I may have them too low as they could be the 4 seed as they took the young team label to a whole different level last winter. Up front they return and are led by Junior forward Oliver Linnemann and two 9th graders Jackson Kurth & Tommy Kunze from a team that played a lineup littered with underclassmen and multiple middle schoolers last winter. Again, “IF” everyone stayed this could be the surprise team in Section 1A.
#7 La Crescent- The Lancers are looking to build off their program's recent success when the program reached its first ever Section Semi-Final two years ago and followed that up with a 14 win campaign last winter and fell one goal shy of returning to the Semi’s a year ago. In order for the Lancers to continue to knock on that door they will need to rely on their dangerous scoring duo of Juniors Wyatt Farrell & Colton Holzer to keep up their tremendous scoring output they also return scoring depth (6 of the top 10 leading scorers) and both of their goalies and look to have a solid year.
#8 Winona- The Winhawks were one of the most improved teams down the stretch in Section 1A last winter. They return scoring punch this winter as Junior Teis Larsen & Sophomore Aven Prodzinski can create a Winona offense that could score in bunches last winter. However, the scoring punch was needed as they had one of more shaky defenses and goaltending in southern Minnesota and winning shutouts can only take you so far.
#9 Waseca- The Bluejays are a team coming off of a very tough year but they do return one of the better scoring duos in the state as Seniors Kyle Ahlschlager & Griffin Krautkramer to give the Bluejays a chance to out score you each night. However, again this is a team that has made defense optional but they do return pieces and will look to be improved.
#10 Red Wing- The Wingers are in a rebuilding mode this winter as they lost 5 of their top 6 scorers and their cornerstone in net. They do return Junior Robbie Tripp who put up 26 points last year but this could be a rough year for a once proud Section 1A Program.
#11 Austin- The Packers will look to improve on their 1 win campaign a year ago. They do return a lot and will look to build around Seniors Toby Holtz & Isaac Stromlund as they look to be more competitive this winter.