- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 441,760
- Reaction score
- 44
Apr. 18—WILLMAR — The Willmar football team is making a familiar trek that the Cardinals took to Section 2AAAA.
New section realignments for the 2025-26 and 26-27 school years were announced by the Minnesota State High School League on April 4. Willmar, Marshall, Hutchinson, St. Peter and New Ulm are all staying put in Section 2AAAA. A new team joins the fray next fall: Rocori.
"Adding Rocori is a tremendous challenge," said Cardinals head coach Jon Konold. "It's another really good football program to come in and compete in the section.
"We're very familiar with that opponent."
Indeed. The Cardinals/Spartans rivalry has lived on through district play, which started in 2015. Now, the two are in the same section for the first time since Willmar was moved to 2AAAA in 2021.
Rocori was 6-3 and was the No. 3 seed in the 8AAAA tournament. The Spartans beat the Cardinals in the regular season, 29-7.
High-school football teams across the state will now wait until May for the new districts to be released so that schedules can be sorted out.
As far as postseason play goes, the degree of difficulty was raised in 2AAAA with Rocori's inclusion.
"It'll make our section, which was one of the toughest ones in the state, probably now the toughest section in the state," Konold said. "If you can come out of this section, you've got a great opportunity to play at U.S. Bank (Stadium) on Thanksgiving weekend."
The BOLD football team is getting out of the section with the three-time defending Class A state champion. But the postseason isn't much easier for the Warriors. Now, they're in a section with the state runner-up.
In '25, BOLD goes from Section 5A to 3A. Minneota is no longer the team to beat if the Warriors want to get to state for the first time since 2019. The top team in BOLD's section is now Springfield, which has finished as the Class A runner-up to Minneota the past three seasons.
"It's kind of out of the frying pan and into the fire," said Warriors head football coach/activities director Derek Flann. "You go from what's clearly been the best program in Class A over the last decade in Minneota and you hit Springfield, who's right now in the top two or three the last few years.
"I don't think there's any Class A coach in the state that would not be happy about moving out of Minneota's section ... but at the same time, we know Springfield brings a lot back from a very good team."
Along with BOLD and Springfield, Section 3A includes Murray County Central, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Sleepy Eye United and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. That's an added dynamic for Flann, who coached at TMB for 12 seasons before returning to his alma mater.
"I get some info from connections that I made when I was down there," Flann said, "but it's nothing that the majority of our coaching staff and our kids are familiar with. ... You don't have film on these teams because it's foreign territory for us. It'll be a few extra hours each week in the film room just getting things reset. When you have to plan on somebody brand new, you gotta start from jump street. We'll see how that goes."
The other teams in BOLD's previous section are getting a re-brand. The rest of the 5A teams — Canby, Dawson-Boyd, Lac qui Parle Valley, Lakeview, MACCRAY, Minneota and Yellow Medicine East — are now Section 4A. Section 5A includes teams previously in the new Section 5A include: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Benson, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville, Browerville/Eagle Valley, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Upsala/Swanville and West Central Area.
According to Flann, the switch was made to accommodate the new state seeding structure introduced last season, which grouped the north and south sections into separate brackets.
Now, Sections 1-through-4 are south. 5-through-8 are north.
Litchfield is used to bouncing around between sections.
In 2019, the Dragons went from 6AAA to 2AAA. In 2AAA, Litchfield made the section finals in 2021, '23 and '24. The Dragons lost 33-18 to Dassel-Cokato in the 2AAA final.
Now, the Dragons are on the move again, going back to 6AAA next fall. Section 6AAA will be composed of Albany, Litchfield, Melrose, Montevideo, New London-Spicer, Sauk Centre and St. Cloud Apollo. Apollo is new to the section after playing in 5AAA last season.
"I've been here for 27 years and we've gone back and forth for years," said Litchfield head coach Jim Jackman. "I'm not totally shocked by it. ... If you look at AAA football, there were a lot of changes. It's new for us; it'll be different. The teams are different, but it's still football."
Litchfield and Apollo moving into 6AAA wasn't the only move. Minnewaska was shifted to Section 8AAA.
The Lakers lost 29-21 in the 6AAA final last season. Now, they'll be paired with Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, East Grand Forks, Morris/Chokio-Alberta, Park Rapids, Perham and Thief River Falls.
Last season's 8AAA champion, Fergus Falls, was moved up a class to 8AAAA.
It's been a trend for Minnewaska to get moved to northern sections. Volleyball was moved from 3AA to 6AA in the last cycle. Same with wrestling, getting moved to 8AA. Football is the next on that northern trend.
"Football is following suit," said Lakers head coach Jared Lyle. He's also an assistant coach on the wrestling team. "It's kind of cool to see the different places and the different schools.
"Morris is going to be the most familiar foe we'll have. Historically, DGF has been a very good team. East Grand Forks isn't bad at all. ... We're excited about the kind of competition we'll have there."
* Elsewhere in football, Renville County West and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City will be making section moves. Fresh off of winning the Section 2 9-Player championship last season, RCW moves to Section 4. That section includes Hancock, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, Ortonville, Rothsay, Underwood and Border West. Border West is the defending section champion. ACGC is jumping up a class, going from 4A to 5AA. That section includes Eden Valley-Watkins, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Kimball, Paynesville, Redwood Valley and St. Cloud Cathedral.
* Football isn't the only sport moving up a class for ACGC. Other teams making the jump include volleyball (2A to 3AA) in the fall, boys and girls basketball (2A to 3AA) in the winter and baseball (4A to 3AA), softball (4A to 3AA) and girls golf (5A to 3AA) in the spring. According to the MSHSL's enrollment figures, ACGC went from 191 students to 223.
* After being bumped up to AA in several sports in the last cycle, KMS will see just two sports bumped back down to A with baseball (3AA to 6A) and softball (3AA to 3A). KMS' enrollment dropped from 220 to 209.
* NLS has three sports changing sections. The Wildcats drop down a class in cross-country (8AA to 6A) and track and field (8AA to 5A). Boys tennis moves from Section 8A to 3A. NLS' enrollment fell from 416 to 412.
* The only Willmar sport to change sections is girls tennis. The Cardinals shift from Section 8AA to 2AA. Along with Willmar, teams in 2AA are: Hutchinson, Mankato East, Mankato West, Marshall, New Ulm, St. Peter and Worthington. The move coincides with girls tennis going from two classes to three next fall.
School 2025-27 2023-25
Willmar 928 917
ACGC 223 191
BBE 161 178
Benson 163 169
BOLD 176 179
CCS 78 61
CMCS 96 90
D-B 154 143
KMS 209 220
LQPV 203 172
Litchfield 396 383
MACCRAY 174 166
Minnewaska 384 351
Montevideo 330 313
NLS 412 416
Paynesville 238 251
RCW 122 119
YME 173 170
Continue reading...
New section realignments for the 2025-26 and 26-27 school years were announced by the Minnesota State High School League on April 4. Willmar, Marshall, Hutchinson, St. Peter and New Ulm are all staying put in Section 2AAAA. A new team joins the fray next fall: Rocori.
"Adding Rocori is a tremendous challenge," said Cardinals head coach Jon Konold. "It's another really good football program to come in and compete in the section.
"We're very familiar with that opponent."
Indeed. The Cardinals/Spartans rivalry has lived on through district play, which started in 2015. Now, the two are in the same section for the first time since Willmar was moved to 2AAAA in 2021.
Rocori was 6-3 and was the No. 3 seed in the 8AAAA tournament. The Spartans beat the Cardinals in the regular season, 29-7.
High-school football teams across the state will now wait until May for the new districts to be released so that schedules can be sorted out.
As far as postseason play goes, the degree of difficulty was raised in 2AAAA with Rocori's inclusion.
"It'll make our section, which was one of the toughest ones in the state, probably now the toughest section in the state," Konold said. "If you can come out of this section, you've got a great opportunity to play at U.S. Bank (Stadium) on Thanksgiving weekend."
The BOLD football team is getting out of the section with the three-time defending Class A state champion. But the postseason isn't much easier for the Warriors. Now, they're in a section with the state runner-up.
In '25, BOLD goes from Section 5A to 3A. Minneota is no longer the team to beat if the Warriors want to get to state for the first time since 2019. The top team in BOLD's section is now Springfield, which has finished as the Class A runner-up to Minneota the past three seasons.
"It's kind of out of the frying pan and into the fire," said Warriors head football coach/activities director Derek Flann. "You go from what's clearly been the best program in Class A over the last decade in Minneota and you hit Springfield, who's right now in the top two or three the last few years.
"I don't think there's any Class A coach in the state that would not be happy about moving out of Minneota's section ... but at the same time, we know Springfield brings a lot back from a very good team."
Along with BOLD and Springfield, Section 3A includes Murray County Central, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Sleepy Eye United and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. That's an added dynamic for Flann, who coached at TMB for 12 seasons before returning to his alma mater.
"I get some info from connections that I made when I was down there," Flann said, "but it's nothing that the majority of our coaching staff and our kids are familiar with. ... You don't have film on these teams because it's foreign territory for us. It'll be a few extra hours each week in the film room just getting things reset. When you have to plan on somebody brand new, you gotta start from jump street. We'll see how that goes."
The other teams in BOLD's previous section are getting a re-brand. The rest of the 5A teams — Canby, Dawson-Boyd, Lac qui Parle Valley, Lakeview, MACCRAY, Minneota and Yellow Medicine East — are now Section 4A. Section 5A includes teams previously in the new Section 5A include: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Benson, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville, Browerville/Eagle Valley, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Upsala/Swanville and West Central Area.
According to Flann, the switch was made to accommodate the new state seeding structure introduced last season, which grouped the north and south sections into separate brackets.
Now, Sections 1-through-4 are south. 5-through-8 are north.
Litchfield is used to bouncing around between sections.
In 2019, the Dragons went from 6AAA to 2AAA. In 2AAA, Litchfield made the section finals in 2021, '23 and '24. The Dragons lost 33-18 to Dassel-Cokato in the 2AAA final.
Now, the Dragons are on the move again, going back to 6AAA next fall. Section 6AAA will be composed of Albany, Litchfield, Melrose, Montevideo, New London-Spicer, Sauk Centre and St. Cloud Apollo. Apollo is new to the section after playing in 5AAA last season.
"I've been here for 27 years and we've gone back and forth for years," said Litchfield head coach Jim Jackman. "I'm not totally shocked by it. ... If you look at AAA football, there were a lot of changes. It's new for us; it'll be different. The teams are different, but it's still football."
Litchfield and Apollo moving into 6AAA wasn't the only move. Minnewaska was shifted to Section 8AAA.
The Lakers lost 29-21 in the 6AAA final last season. Now, they'll be paired with Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, East Grand Forks, Morris/Chokio-Alberta, Park Rapids, Perham and Thief River Falls.
Last season's 8AAA champion, Fergus Falls, was moved up a class to 8AAAA.
It's been a trend for Minnewaska to get moved to northern sections. Volleyball was moved from 3AA to 6AA in the last cycle. Same with wrestling, getting moved to 8AA. Football is the next on that northern trend.
"Football is following suit," said Lakers head coach Jared Lyle. He's also an assistant coach on the wrestling team. "It's kind of cool to see the different places and the different schools.
"Morris is going to be the most familiar foe we'll have. Historically, DGF has been a very good team. East Grand Forks isn't bad at all. ... We're excited about the kind of competition we'll have there."
* Elsewhere in football, Renville County West and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City will be making section moves. Fresh off of winning the Section 2 9-Player championship last season, RCW moves to Section 4. That section includes Hancock, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, Ortonville, Rothsay, Underwood and Border West. Border West is the defending section champion. ACGC is jumping up a class, going from 4A to 5AA. That section includes Eden Valley-Watkins, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Kimball, Paynesville, Redwood Valley and St. Cloud Cathedral.
* Football isn't the only sport moving up a class for ACGC. Other teams making the jump include volleyball (2A to 3AA) in the fall, boys and girls basketball (2A to 3AA) in the winter and baseball (4A to 3AA), softball (4A to 3AA) and girls golf (5A to 3AA) in the spring. According to the MSHSL's enrollment figures, ACGC went from 191 students to 223.
* After being bumped up to AA in several sports in the last cycle, KMS will see just two sports bumped back down to A with baseball (3AA to 6A) and softball (3AA to 3A). KMS' enrollment dropped from 220 to 209.
* NLS has three sports changing sections. The Wildcats drop down a class in cross-country (8AA to 6A) and track and field (8AA to 5A). Boys tennis moves from Section 8A to 3A. NLS' enrollment fell from 416 to 412.
* The only Willmar sport to change sections is girls tennis. The Cardinals shift from Section 8AA to 2AA. Along with Willmar, teams in 2AA are: Hutchinson, Mankato East, Mankato West, Marshall, New Ulm, St. Peter and Worthington. The move coincides with girls tennis going from two classes to three next fall.
School 2025-27 2023-25
Willmar 928 917
ACGC 223 191
BBE 161 178
Benson 163 169
BOLD 176 179
CCS 78 61
CMCS 96 90
D-B 154 143
KMS 209 220
LQPV 203 172
Litchfield 396 383
MACCRAY 174 166
Minnewaska 384 351
Montevideo 330 313
NLS 412 416
Paynesville 238 251
RCW 122 119
YME 173 170
Continue reading...
