It was a day of close calls, tight finishes, an untimely tangle and even a tiebreaker.
When the dust, or more appropriately, the snow, settled, the Ely Nordic Wolves had one section champion, a team moving on to state, as well as another individual and a relay.
The Ely boys, fueled by a one-two finish individually from juniors Oliver Hohenstein and Aksel Skustad, finished second to perennial powerhouse Duluth East by a mere two points in Wednesday’s Section 7 Nordic skiing meet at Giants Ridge.
The Wolves’ girls team tied for second and was edged out by a tiebreaker that allowed Cook County to claim the second and final state meet berth out of the section.
Nonetheless, Ely’s Molly Brophy will advance to state individually, as will the freshman relay combination of Addison Kannas and Ivy Ohlhauser.
The state meet is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 11 and Thursday, Feb. 12, back at Giants Ridge.
As Section 7 teams gathered Tuesday, the Ely boys were hoping to topple Duluth East and a strong start in the freestyle, as well as Hohenstein’s victory and Skustad’s close second in the pursuit, sent the Wolves on their way.
But Ely needed a strong finish in the relay portion of the race, and prospects for that tumbled because of an untimely situation at the start of the relay final, which ended with George Sponholz and Otto Devine combining to take fourth.
“We had anticipated being right close to Duluth East (in the relay) but we did have a situation right at the beginning of the relay finals where George Sponholz was our lead out and he got tangled with another skier from another school and it popped his ski off momentarily,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “He had to stop and put his binding back on his ski, and that was probably a 20-second delay. We went from probably second to seventh and it was right from the get-go that we were trying to catch up. The boys did, and skied really well, but we were only able to get back to a fourth-place finish and that caused a nine-point swing in favor of Duluth East.”
That proved to be the difference in the final totals as the Greyhounds prevailed by a mere two points, but both the Ely relay and the entire Wolves team will get another chance at state.
“The one thing we were talking about right away, Duluth East and us, is that we’ll be able to have a rematch next week,” said Todd Hohenstein.
Sponholz and Devine combined for a finish of 13:50 in the finals, while individually, Oliver Hohenstein came storming back in the pursuit, overcoming nearly a 21-second deficit after the freestyle to pass Skustad and win the section title.
Hohenstein won in a combined time of 29:48, beating Skustad by a second.
