Herald-Journal_335175

ROYALS BULLDOGS LAKERS CRUSADERS Spor ts Herald Jour nal All-Area Sport Teams Herald Journal • Dassel-Cokato Enterprise Dispatch • Delano Herald Journal W INTER H IGH S CHOOL S PORTS 2023 Simonson’s big season earns her All- Area Girls Hockey Player of The Year BY KIP KOVAR Sports Editor DELANO – All season long, the Delano girls hockey team went as Kayla Simonson did. Thankfully for the Tigers Simonson was on her game for most of the season as she either led them to wins or kept them in games on her way to earning the 2022-20223 All- Area Girls Hockey Player of The Year. Simonson nished the sea‐ son with a record of 12-13-1 in net for the Tigers this past sea‐ son. She allowed just 53 goals in 26 games as she played in every single game for Delano. She nearly helped lead De‐ lano to an upset win in the rst round of the section tourna‐ ment. After losing two games to Mound Westonka earlier in the season by a combined 10 goals, Simonson brought her A game when her team needed it. In the postseason matchup, Simonson held the White Hawks to just one goal as she made 50 saves in a tough loss. On the season Simonson nished with a goals against average of 2.02 and made 898 saves. She posted six shutouts and her goals-against average was good enough to be in the top 30 in the state. PHOTO BY KIP KOVAR Delano’s Kayla Simonson is the 2022-2023 All-Area Girls Hockey Player of The Year. Brown’s stellar season nets him All-Area Boys Hockey Player of The Year BY KIP KOVAR Sports Editor DELANO – Playing for a section championship is noth‐ ing new for Will Brown. The senior on the Delano boys hockey team knows all about that as he helped lead the Tigers to their fth-straight ap‐ pearance in the section title game earning him the 2022-2023 All-Area Boys Hockey Player of The Year. Brown had another big sea‐ son in his nal year in a Tigers uniform, particularly down the stretch. He netted a hat trick in the Section 2A semi nals against Waconia to send De‐ lano to their fth-straight sec‐ tion championship game. In his nal three games, he n‐ ished with seven points (four goals and three assists). On the year he nished with 21 goals and 18 assists in 28 games. He had nine multi- point games including a mon‐ ster ve-point performance against Southwest Christian. He also added four other games in which he recorded four points as he could muster up points in bunches. Brown was a Wright County Conference All-Conference selection for Delano. In his ca‐ reer, Brown nished with 103 total points (56 goals, 47 as‐ sists). PHOTO BY KIP KOVAR Delano’s Will Brown is the 2022-2023 All-Area Boys Hockey Player of The Year. Mayer Lutheran’s Guetzkow named All- Area Girls Basketball Player of The Year BY KIP KOVAR Sports Editor MAYER – It was a senior season to remember for Mayer Lutheran’s Madeline Guet‐ zkow. Not only did she hit a career milestone, but also helped lead the Crusaders to be one of the top-ranked teams in Class A all season long. For the impressive season she had and the leadership she showed in big games over and over, Guetzkow is the 2022-2023 All-Area Girls Basketball Player of The Year. “She was our leading scorer and a key to our success,” Mayer Lutheran coach Kris Gustin said. “Her ability to shoot from the outside, post up, and create her own shot made her a focal point of our o ense. She ran the point at times while defending all ve positions throughout the year. Perhaps her greatest asset was her leadership on and o the court.” Guetzkow was a tough matchup for opposing teams as her versatility made her a threat anywhere on the oor. Able to score inside the paint and play on the perimeter, Guetzkow emerged as the go- to player when Mayer Lutheran needed a big play. One of her best games in the season came on a special night for her. Going up against Bu alo Lake-Hector-Stewart (the No. 2 ranked team in Class A), Guetzkow showed up in a big way scoring 28 points, 17 of which came in the second half to lead the Crusaders to a huge win. In the game, Guetzkow also sur‐ passed the 1,000 career points milestone. On the season, Guetzkow averaged 15.5 points, 5.8 re‐ bounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. She was e ‐ cient as they come shooting nearly 50 percent from the oor throughout the season. Guetzkow was a Minnesota River Conference All-Confer‐ ence selection and the confer‐ ence’s Most Valuable Player. She was also named All-State for Class A. PHOTO BY KIP KOVAR Madeline Guetzkow is the 2022-2023 All-Area Girls Basket‐ ball Player of The Year Friederichs’ undefeated season and state title earns him All-Area Wrestler of The Year BY KIP KOVAR Sports Editor WATERTOWN – It was a season to remember for Water‐ town-Mayer’s Titan Friederichs. To sum it up, he was perfect. Friederichs went a perfect 45-0 on the season on his way to winning the Class AA state title at 113 and earning him the All-Area Wrestler of The Year award. With his undefeated season and state championship, Friederichs became just the second wrestler in program history to nish the season un‐ defeated. The only wrestler to do so was his coach Bill Mc‐ Donald. In his 45 matches, Friederichs picked up 23 pins as he was dominant all season long. He also racked up 137 takedowns and gave up just one all season long. Friederichs was also a Wright County Conference All-Conference award winner. Strandemo’s exciting season earns him All-Area Boys Basketball Player of The Year BY KIP KOVAR Sports Editor DELANO – There’s no lack of excitement when De‐ lano’s Will Strandemo takes the oor. The junior sharp‐ shooter for the Tigers had an‐ other monster season on his way to being named the 2022- 2023 All-Area Boys Basket‐ ball Player of The Year. “Will had an outstanding season,” Delano coach Terry Techam said. “He made great strides in his leadership and nding open teammates on top of probably the best pull- up jumper I have ever seen.” Despite other teams know‐ ing about Strandemo’s signa‐ ture pull-up jumpers, he was still able to score at will this season. Strandemo scored in double gures in all but two games he played in. On the season, he had seven games of 25 or more points including a season-high 37 points against Orono in the Section 6AAA semi nals. For the season, Strandemo averaged 19.3 points per game but also got his team‐ mates involved averaging more than ve assists per game. PHOTO BY KIP KOVAR Delano’s Will Strandemo is the 2022-2023 All-Area Boys Bas‐ ketball Player of The Year. PHOTO BY KIP KOVAR Titan Friederichs is the 2022-2023 All-Area Wrestler of The Year after going undefeated and winning a state title. ALL-AREA WRESTLER OF THE YEAR ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR BOYS HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE YEAR ALL-AREA GIRLS HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE YEAR