As his Hermantown teammates from last year’s Class A championship squad started to conclude their college recruiting with Division I commitments, it was only a matter of time before Wyatt Aamodt followed suit.
Aamodt did just that Wednesday, announcing on Twitter that he will play at Minnesota State-Mankato.
He will join the Mavericks for the 2018-19 season and eventually be reunited with current Hermantown senior Ryan Sandelin, who last month committed to the WCHA school. Fellow Hawks Cole Koepke, who graduated last spring, and senior Dylan Samberg are bound for Minnesota Duluth.
Aamodt was the News Tribune’s All-Area Player of the Year last winter after helping Hermantown snap a six-year streak of state title-game defeats. Along the way, he was a Mr. Hockey finalist and won the Reed Larson Award as Minnesota’s top senior defenseman. Aamodt combines physicality with an excellent ability to see the ice, as evidenced by his 37 assists as a senior, when he also was an Associated Press All-State first-team pick.
The blueliner has 11 assists in 15 games this fall for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League.
Football
Locals selected for All-Star game
Six Northlanders will compete in the Minnesota Football Showcase next month at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The All-Star game for high school seniors is part of an all-day event at the Vikings’ home, which includes a youth football clinic and autograph sessions with ex-Vikings. It’s hosted by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association.
Representing the area on Team North: Josh Heiman, Ely; Zion Smith, Cromwell-Wright; Spencer Potter, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin; Beau Adams, Proctor; Tyler Keech, Two Harbors; Connor Cusick, Virginia.
Moose Lake-Willow River’s Dave Louzek is among the coaches.
The game is Dec. 3; tickets start at $8, with all proceeds going to the MFCA and the Tackle Cancer Campaign.
-- Speaking of high school football, it looks probable that Cook County will return to Class A in 2017. The Vikings just finished their second season as a nine-man team, but as a result of the classification process could be bumped back up. Coach Mitch Dorr expects it to be a two-year arrangement. Thus, the Vikings could play a nine-man regular season - to maintain consistency in the program - and Class A in the playoffs for the next two years.
Girls swimming
Hernesman reaches diving finals
Grand Rapids senior Amanda Hernesman was the only one of five Northland divers to qualify for the 1-meter finals on Wednesday’s opening day of the Minnesota girls swimming and diving state meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
Hernesman totaled 231.05 points through the semifinal round to come in ninth of 32 divers. The top 20 qualify for Friday’s finals.
Duluth Denfeld junior Shelby Johnson (22nd), International Falls senior Alyssa Mathis (29th) and Hibbing sophomores Anikka Mattonen (30th) and Nyah Adams (32nd) did not qualify.
Volleyball
Minnesota tops Wisconsin in All-Star game
Team Minnesota defeated Team Wisconsin 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-12 in the St. Luke’s Orthopedics & Sports Medicine High School Volleyball All-Star game, held Wednesday night at Mertz Mortorelly Gym.
Jordyn Thomas, a senior setter for Hermantown, was named the game’s most valuable player.
