TYLER SHILSON, Centennial • wrestling
A move from Maple Grove to Centennial has gone even better than the sophomore 132-pounder dared to hope.
Shilson wrestled for Maple Grove last year, but his state tournament hopes came crashing down when he lost in the semifinals of the section meet. Armed with the motivation of disappointment, his 10-0 start to this season is proof to Shilson that he made the right choice.
"The move to Centennial has been easy," he said. "It gives me my best opportunity for success."
Shilson was 6-0 last week with four pins, a technical fall and a decision, highlighted by a victory at 132 in Saturday's Andover Invitational.
"I'm improved in every aspect of my wrestling," he said. "My conditioning, my technique. And I've got really good [teammates] that I wrestle against that are intense and work hard. They make me better."
Just the edge he needs to erase the heartbreak of last year.
"I think about that, and it pushes me," he said. "I write 'state champ' on my calendar every day."
GRIFFIN BACK, Eden Prairie • swimming
The junior left Saturday's Minnetonka Invitational with four first-place finishes. His 200-yard medley relay team won in 1 minute, 37.77 seconds; he won the 200 individual medley in 1:56.27 and the 100 breaststroke in 59.95; and he anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay team in 3:11.54. All were meet-record times.
KATEY BRATTLAND, St. Paul Academy • basketball
Only a ninth-grader, Brattland leads the metro in three-pointers with 29 in six games. Last week, she scored 65 total points in victories over Trinity, Hope Academy and Mounds Park Academy, with 48 of those points coming on shots taken from beyond the arc.
