2025 Boys High School Preview: Section 3A

Teams:  Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield, Delano-Watertown-Mayer, Hutchinson, Montevideo, Monticello, Princeton, St. Cloud Apollo, Willmar

• 2024 Section Champion:  Hutchinson – 403 pts
• 2024 Section Runner-up:  Monticello – 386 pts

Notable Graduates: 

• Conner Hogan (Hutchinson) – 50 Free (1^st Sections/1^st State), 100 Free (1^st Sections/1^st State)
• Jackson Kramer (Hutchinson) – 100 Back (5^th Sections)
• Riley Yerks (Hutchinson) – 200 IM (3^rd Sections/11^th State), 100 Free (3^rd Sections/11^th State)
• Carson Callstrom (Monticello) – 50 Free (3^rd Sections/6^th State), 100 Free (2^nd Sections/14^th State)
• Paul Fasen (Monticello) – 200 Free (2^nd Sections/5^th State), 100 Free (9^th Sections/9^th State)
• Jason Jones (Monticello) – 200 IM (6^th Sections), 100 Breast (4^th Sections/12^th State)
• Josh Miller (Monticello) – 50 Free (7^th Sections)
• Grant Stahlback (Monticello) – 100 Fly (2^nd Sections/13^th State)
• Boston Pryde (DWM) – 100 Back (2^nd Sections/4^th State)
• Tyler Winter (DWM) – 200 IM (2^nd Sections/4^th State), 100 Breast (1^st Sections/8^th State)
• Gavin Arends (Montevideo) – 50 Free (6^th Sections), Diving (4^th Sections/13^th State)
• Austin Dunn (Montevideo) – 100 Free (5^th Sections/16^th State), 100 Back (1^st Sections/7^th State)
• Mickey Hess (Montevideo) – 50 Free (5^th Sections/13^th State), 100 Free (8^th Sections)
• Cade Jacobson (Apollo) – 50 Free (8^th Sections), 100 Free (6^th Sections/15^th State)
• Hunter Jokinen (Apollo) – 50 Free (2^nd Sections), 100 Fly (1^st Sections/5^th State)
• Jonas Malmanger (Apollo) – 500 Free (8^th Sections)
• Jacob Loerzel (Willmar) – 100 Breast (5^th Sections)
• Pau Valdivieso Segade (Princeton) – 100 Fly (6^th Sections)

Team Outlook

In 2024, 43 points separated 1^st and 3^rd in the team standings at sections with Hutchinson coming out on top and scoring a 3^rd place finish at the state meet.  They will be the favorites in this section in 2025 and will be led by senior Carter Johnson.  Johnson was section champion in the 200 and 500 Free and placed 4^th in both at the state meet.  Fellow senior Anthony Witte also scored well for the Tigersharks last season, placing 4^th in the 100 fly and 3^rd in the 100 Back.  At state, he was 10^th and 8^th in those events, respectively.  Another senior, Eric Oberg will be a strong contributor this season as well.  Oberg placed 4^th in the 200 IM and 7^th in the 100 Free at sections.  Senior Breaststroke specialist Grayson O’Neill placed 3^rd last year at section in that event and 11^th at the state meet.  Freshman Leyton Yerks looks to build on his strong 8^th grade performances in 2025.  Yerks placed 5^th in the 200 Free and 2^nd in the 500 Free at sections and scored a 9^th place finish in the 500 at state.

While Monticello graduated significant points, they still have a strong core of seniors and top ranked diving crew.  Senior Ethan Bad Heart Bull placed 5^th in the 100 Fly and 4^th in the 100 Back at sections.  He would go on to place 13^th in the Back at the state meet.  Fellow senior Tyler Grue placed 7^th in the 200 IM and 5^th in the 100 Breast at the section meet in 2024.  Sophomore Sam Martin had a strong section meet last year, finishing 5^th in the 500 Free and 7^th in the 100 Back.  On the diving side, the Magic return the 1^st and 3^rd place divers from 2024.  Senior Gabe McDermott was section champion and placed 4^th at state and sophomore Noah Miller placed 3^rd at sections and 12^th at state.

DWM also graduates some top points and strong relay swimmers from last year’s class but can be sneaky with their depth in both swimming and diving.  Senior Sam Daniels placed 4^th at sections in the 50 and 100 Free.  At the state meet, he was 16^th and 13^th in those events.  Junior MacKay Hoglund placed 4^th in the 200 Free and 3^rd in the 500 Free at sections in 2024.  He would go on to place 12^th and 13^th respectively at the state meet.  Teammate junior Luke Grosshuesch placed 4^th in the 500 Free and 6^th in the 100 Breast at sections and freshman Henry Becker was 8^th in the 200 IM.  Junior diver Oscar Hoglund placed 2^nd at sections and scored an 8^th place finish at the state meet. 

Other Notables

Montevideo senior Nolan Christopher placed 3^rd in the 200 Free and 7^th in the 500 Free at sections in 2024 and will be the top returning point scorer for the squad.  At the state meet, Christopher finished 11^th in the 200 Free.  Senior Tyson Brandt placed 7^th in diving and sophomore Hayden Bloom finished just outside the top 8 with a 9^th place finish in the 100 Breast.

St. Cloud Apollo sophomore Charlie Bobick lit up sections last year, winning the 200 IM and placing 2^nd in the 100 Breast.  At the state meet, he finished 5^th in the IM and 10^th in the Breast.  Another sophomore, Amittai Preisler, had a strong section meet in 2024, finishing 6^th in the 200 Free and 7^th in the 100 Fly.   Orion Preisler was 6^th in diving and will be in the running for a top 4 spot in 2025.

Willmar senior Evan Wallestad returns after placing 8^th in the 100 Fly and 100 Back in 2024.  He will be joined by fellow senior David Lammers, who placed 5^th in the 200 IM.  Junior Soren Newberg will also help lead the way after finishing 7^th in the 200 Free and 11^th in the 500 Free last season.

Princeton junior Matthew Fouquette is the top returning performer for his squad.  Fouquette placed 3^rd in the 100 Fly and 10^th in the 100 Back.   He went on to place 11^th in the Fly at state.

Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield has a core of seniors, Will Carlson and Mattias Slinden, along with juniors Dominic Borg and Matthew Defries.  Carlson placed 9^th in the 100 Back, Slinden 10^th in the 200 Free, Borg 11^th in both the 50 and 100 Free, and Defries 12^th in the 100 Free.