Century has won the past seven Big Nine Conference swim meets and the Panthers will be the favorite again when the event is held Friday and Saturday in Mankato.
The diving will be held on Friday at 5 p.m. at Mankato East and the swimming and diving finals will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at Minnesota State, Mankato. Century enters the meet ranked fourth in the state in Class AA. The Panthers have also won an amazing 76 straight dual meets dating back to the 2004-05 season.
"You don't want to count your chickens before they're hatched, but we have a very strong team," first-year Century coach Linda Freemansaid.
Century enters the Big Nine meet with the top-ranked swimmer in nine of the 12 events. The Panthers are seeded 1-2 in four events. Century does not have any divers competing, however.
"We have to have our swimmers try to make up for that," Freeman said of the lack of divers.
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Century does have a strong core, however. Senior Chris Freemanleads the way. He has set pool records in the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle in his last two meets, but will swim in the 200 and 500 freestyle events in the Big Nine. He is ranked No. 1 in the state in both the 200 and 500.
Other top Century swimmers include seniors Dennis Draper, Andrew Grosbachand Robert Real, junior Chris Triand sophomores John Cimaand Nikita Dolan.
— Guy N. Limbeck
WRESTLING
Perfect week for Wingert
It's hard to imagine a much better week on the wrestling mat. Plainview-Elgin-Millville senior 215-pound Daren Wingert was a perfect 6-0 last week, including three wins over top-10 ranked wrestlers.
Wingert also knocked off a No. 1-ranked wrestler.
The standout won a tight match over Waseca's Jamal McDaniel, who is ranked No. 10 in Class AA. Wingert earned an impressive 7-0 victory over Joe Jude of Monticello. Jude entered the match ranked No. 7 in Class AA.
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Finally, Wingert knocked off the top dog in Class AAA, beating Lakeville South's Zane Peterson 5-0. Peterson was a perfect 32-0 entering the match.
"Daren had a very dominating weekend," P-E-M coach Mike Matiash said. "It's not often you have a wrestler beat three ranked kids in dual meets in one week outside of maybe the Clash. I knew Daren had it in him from practicing with him. It sometimes takes three different coaches to give him a decent workout at practice."
With the big weekend, Wingert ran his record to 26-1 this season. His only loss this season came against Caledonia/Houston's Austin Goergen, who is the top-ranked heavyweight in Class AA. Wingert, who is ranked No. 4 in Class AA at 215 pounds, bumped up a weight class to take on Goergen.
"Not only has Daren really stepped it up on the mat this year, but he has also stepped it up in the practice room and as a team leader," Matiash said. "He is very valuable to the team not only a stopper at the top of our lineup, but also as an example of where hard work can get you. He has put a lot of time in this season outside of practice, working one-on-one with assistant couch and cousin Ryan Marx on technique."
— Ben Pherson
BOYS BASKETBALL
Area big-time scorers
Two Rochester-area player got their 1,000th point on Tuesday.
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Southland’s Alan Mayneeded just 10 to reach the milestone, and wound up with 23. That went along with 16 rebounds in Southland’s 90-77 win over Wabasha-Kellogg.
May is the third Southland player to score 1,000 points, joining Brad Tompkins (1984) and Matt Tompkins (1995).
Cannon Falls’ Cedric Dickealso got his 1,000th point Tuesday. Dicke did it in a 51-34 win over Pine Island, when he finished with 18 points. Dicke had a season-high 39-point game against Triton recently, the same evening that Triton’s Logan Spitzackwent off for 60 points.
• Speaking of Spitzack’s 60-point outburst, it’s been part of a wild scoring stretch within his family. Spitzack’s first-cousin Tyson Kalienscored 52 points on Saturday for Chippewa Falls (Wis.). Kalien is a junior guard.
— Pat Ruff
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Second Lancer approaches 1,000
The La Crescent girls basketball team will soon have a pair of 1,000-point scorers on the floor at the same time.
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Jena Kadlecscored her 1,000th career point last Friday toward the end of the Lancers' home win against Hayfield, and she now has 1,001.
Now, teammate Jenna McDonoughis fast approaching the milestone with 947.
Kadlec and McDonough, both senior guards, rank 3-4 on the La Crescent girls all-time scoring list. The Lancers are 15-8 overall and have won seven of their last eight games.
— Donny Henn
