After a one-year blip, the Hutchinson boys swimming and diving team recaptured the Wright County Conference championship Saturday at Jerry Carlson Pool.
The Tigersharks scored 563 points to beat out last year's champ, Delano/Watertown-Mayer, by 49 points. It's Hutch's fourth conference title in six years and the program's 13th overall.
“We were seeded to lose by one point to Delano and we beat them by a good amount,” senior Ben Becker said. “I'm very proud of the team right now. It's unbelievable.”
The `Sharks earned their trophy largely thanks to the team's depth. Hutch had 15 finishers in the top five of their events, including three conference champs and five runners-up.
Hutch's divers were a major strength as Alex Oestreich and Cameron Wagner took first and second, respectively, repeating their performances from last year's conference meet.
Hutchinson's swimmers also earned first in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. Conner Hogan, Noah Tague, Tristin Nelsen and Dane Thovson opened the meet with a top placement in the medley relay. Hogan went on to take second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 100 freestyle. Tague also had a second- and third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. Nelsen earned second in the butterfly and fifth in the 200 IM.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Oestreich, Hogan, Nelsen and Matthew Olberg led the team. Olberg also had second-place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyle races.
“I think everybody really stepped up to the plate on this meet,” Olberg said. “We weren't supposed to win by that much and everybody really competed, and we wanted it more.”
The section hump
Hutchinson's next competition is the Section 3A Championship, and only one team from its conference also competes in its section: Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield. That means much of their competition are unknown teams such as Monticello, Princeton, Rocori, St. Cloud Apollo, Willmar and Montevideo.
But Becker feels the conference is more challenging than the section because of Delano. Judging by how Hutchinson defeated Delano, the Tigersharks are feeling confident.
“There's a lot of good momentum going into sections,” Olberg said. “I think we're all proud of our times. That's going to be more motivation to win sections.”
Hutchinson hasn't won a section title since 2009. The Tigersharks took second last year, but with Sauk Rapids, the defending champ, moved to a new section, the window of opportunity is wide open.
“I think it leaves us to take (the section),” Becker said. “At sections I think we're going to drop loads and loads of time.”
The Tigers have two weeks off to taper and prepare for the section meet, which starts with prelims at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at Carlson Pool in Hutchinson. The finals begin 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22.
2020 Boys Wright County Conference Championship (Feb. 8)
Teams: 1. Hutchinson 563, 2. Delano/Watertown-Mayer 514, 3. Orono 371, 4. Waconia 350, 5. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield 219, 6. Mound Westonka 157
200 medley relay (17): 1. Hutch A (Conner Hogan, Noah Tague, Tristin Nelsen, Dane Thovson) 1:43.13, 5. Hutch B (Alex Oestreich, Devon Bode, Gabe Stassen, Ben Becker) 1:50.34, 7. Hutch C (Jackson Kramer, Grant Kropp, Ethan Field, Cameron Wagner) 2:00.41
200 freestyle (26): 1. Colby Kern (D) 1:48.50, 2. Matthew Olberg 1:51.50, 6. Thovson 1:58.64, 7. Riley Yerks 2:01.06, 10. Max Einck 2:02.81, Carter Johnson 2:07.24, Joshua Bjorstrom 2:32.96
200 IM (20): 1. Josh Johnston (MW) 1:58.90, 3. Tague 2:06.73, 5. Nelsen 2:10.09, 11. Gabe Stassen 2:19.91
50 freestyle (53): 1. David Sinclair (Wac) 21.94, 4. Bode 24.04, 9. Charlie Jenum 25.25, 10 Becker 25.77, 12. Wagner 26.19, Kropp 27.00, Luke Johnson 29.43, Ben Campbell 30.35, Tyler Erlandson 31.68, Eric Oberg 32.91
Diving (7): 1. Oestreich (H) 413.60, 2. Wagner 316.70
100 butterfly (15): 1. Samuel Sinclair (W) 54.49, 2. Nelsen 57.45, 6. Stassen 1:00.17, 7. Oestreich 1:02.30, 11. Ethan Field 1:05.49
100 freestyle (41): 1. David Sinclair (W) 48.18, 3. Hogan 49.59, 10. Kramer 57.42, 13. Becker 58.48, 14. Carter Johnson 59.13, Erlandson 1:12.47
500 freestyle (21): 1. Matthew Krogman (W) 5:07.09, 2. Olberg 5:10.35, 5. Yerks 5:23.19, 6. Thovson 5:23.59, 11. Einck 5:30.54
200 freestyle relay (22): 1. Hutch A (Hogan, Oestreich, Nelsen, Olberg) 1:33.36, 7. Hutch B (Wagner, Jenum, Stassen, Einck) 1:41.54, 12. Hutch C (Carter Johnson, Bjorstrom, Luke Johnson, Yerks) 1:53.90, 16. Hutch D (Campbell, Oberg, Erlandson, Clayton Moore) 2:04.73
100 backstroke (22): 1. Nick Black (D) 54.23, 2. Hogan 55.92, 6. Kramer 1:07.13, 10. Kropp 1:12.50, Bjorstrom 1:23.14
100 breaststroke (27): 1. Johnston (MW) 59.80, 2. Tague 1:04.28, 4. Bode 1:07.17, 7. Jenum 1:09.17, 11. Field 1:16.52, Moore 1:25.12, Oberg 1:31.33, Campbell 1:33.51
400 freestyle relay (17): 1. Waconia A (Krogman, Samuel Sinclair, Nathan Sannito, David Sinclair) 3:24.08, 3. Hutch A (Olberg, Thovson, Bode, Tague) 3:32.93, 6. Hutch B (Einck, Jenum, Field, Yerks) 3:52.15, 9. Hutch C (Kramer, Kropp, Carter Johnson, Becker) 3:58.65, 14. Hutch D (Moore, Bjorstrom, Campbell, Luke Johnson) 4:34.60
