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With the red and yellow leaves turning brown and the green grass starting to gather frost in the middle of the night, the penultimate chapter of the fall sports season has come to a close.

With only the late-ending girls swimming and diving remaining on the upcoming schedule, it's time to start looking forward to a the hardwood courts and the foam mats, to the snow-covered slopes and the colored sheets of ice.

It's winter sports time and there is a multitude of storylines to follow in the upcoming months.

One big -- and I mean really big -- tale of this basketball season is going to be a certain six-foot, eight-inch red-haired fellow entering his senior season.

Josh Figini is the best basketball player that the Wildcats' Head Coach, Herb Jangor, has ever put out on the court. "I haven't had a talent like Josh here since I've been coaching," Jangor said in May after Figini was named to Minnesota Basketball News' second team All-State team. Last year, Figini averaged 23 points, 12 boards and two blocks per game for the 6-21 Wildcats. No doubt that they will be looking to improve their standing in the NSC in Figini's senior campaign.

It should be a two-horse race in the stacked North Suburban Conference for Player of the Year honors between Figini and Cooper's Rodney Williams, who recently committed to Tubby Smith and the Minnesota Gophers.

North Branch's thrilling storyline falls on the shoulders of a much smaller competitor than Figini. No less tenacious, but much smaller.

Boyd Suparat returns after his historical run to the 130-pound state title last year in Class AA wrestling.

Suparat, a co-captain of last year's team, was touted as a top tier wrestler coming into the season, but was overshadowed by teammate Erik Kostik, who had an impressive showing in the state tournament the previous year.

He punished and pinned his way to a 34-3 record during the regular season and earned his trip to the state meet with a convincing run at sections, all the while creeping into the bottom half of The Guillotine's top 10 rankings.

Nobody on the Minnesota wrestling scene expected what happened next from the little guy from North Branch. Suparat scratched and clawed his way to the finals, winning three matches by a combined eight points, including a 1-0 decision win in the second round.

But he saved his best for last and earned a quick fall in the finals to earn North Branch's first ever state championship.

"I've had a lot of good wrestlers in my 20 years, and this is just a relief to have a state champion," head coach Tony Aho said at the time.

Now, the big question is 'can Suparat repeat? Many upperclassmen move up a weight class, and that presents challenges, but even if Suparat remains at 130 pounds, things aren't sunny at that weight class. Twelve of the 16 state participants in the Class AA 130 pound weight class are back for another crack at the top. And atop that perch is Suparat.Will he be able the hang on to his crown with everyone gunning for him?

Sticking to the North Branch wrestlers, after losing two emotional and veteran leaders, will they be able to defend their title as the kings of the North Suburban Conference?

With mainstays Kostik and Greg Arnt, who finished sixth in the state at 171 pounds last year, gone, how will the team rebound and fill their shoes?

At opposite ends of the weight spectrum, heavyweight John Morrison and 103-pounder Jake Kostik will be expected to carry a heavier burden this year for the Vikings.

With a very slim win over Chisago Lakes last year, is this the year that the Shawn Fredrixon-led Wildcats dethrone North Branch? Or will traditional power St. Francis return to NSC glory?

Other questions remain about some of last year's top performers. The Chisago Lakes swimming team, which earned a 15th place finish last year at the state meet returns some of its most accomplished swimmers and divers. Andy Willhite and Kevin Roggeman lead the charge, as Willhite earned a fifth place medal in diving, and the two teamed up with the now-graduated Alex Lundberg and Tom McGurk for a seventh place medal in the 200-yard medley relay.

The other relay team that earned a trip to state, the 200-yard freestyle relay squad, returns three of its four competitors, Roggeman, Willhite and Brody Heggerston.

The toughest part of the guys' season will be replacing McGurk, who along with that seventh place earned a fifth place medal in the breaststroke.

With so many questions, and such a short time to find the answers, this winter season should be just as exciting as the wild fall season was.

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Chisago County Press

Attn: Jeff

12631 Lake Blvd.

Lindstrom, Mn 55045

or, you may bring it in to the office.

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