Century gains redemption at state swimming meet, has three All-State finishes

Mar. 2—MINNEAPOLIS — Century senior Nate Kram and sophomore Grady Bradfrede had a bit of redemption during the Class 2A boys state swimming and diving meet on Saturday.

Kram and Bradfrede were part of Century's 200 medley team which was disqualified during Friday's prelimary round. But the two were a big part of two Century relays that had fifth-place finishes in the championship finals on Saturday.

"It was obviously disappointing, but things like that happen, there are slip ups," Bargfrede said. "There was a little bit of redemption."

The Panthers had three top-eight finishes in three events, which earn individuals All-State honors.

Overall, Century placed eighth in the state in the team standings. Edina nipped Minnetonka for the team championship. It's was Century's ninth top-10 team finish since 2008.

"The team came together and the guys just rolled, it was awesome," Century coach Linda Freeman said. "It's so fun to be around a group of guys who have that competitive drive and they're all just great young men."

Kram was part of the 200 freestyle relay along with Eli Holmes, Owen Kelly and Andrew Linden that placed fifth, and the squad had an All-American consideration time.

"It's unbelievable," Kram said. "At the end of the season, I couldn't have dreamed of this."

The Century foursome also set a school record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:25.61.

"I think we all just wanted it," Kram said. "We were all pumped up for the relay, it's everyone's favorite."

In the final event of the state meet, Century was fifth in the 400 freestyle relay. The finish secured a top-10 finish in the team standings for the Panthers.

Century's 400 freestyle relay squad of Holmes, Bargfrede, Andrew Linden and Kelly posted a time of 3:11.47.

"It was fantastic," Bargfrede said. "We did so well and dropped so much time."

Bargfrede was competing at state in individual events for the first time, and he had record-setting success.

"A little bit of nerves, but really it's just slow breathing (to keep calm) and our coach talked us through this," he said.

Bargfrede had the two best individual finishes for Century. He placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke to earn All-State status and won the consolation title in the 200 individual medley with a ninth-place finish.

His time of 56.89 in the 100 breaststroke set a school record.

"I was very happy," he said. "I dropped a bunch of time, especially in the 100 breast(stroke). I was really close to All-American consideration, but there's always next year."

Kelly swam in the consolation finals in two individual events. The junior placed 13th in the 50 freestyle and 15th in the 100 freestyle.

Century freshman Silas Wagstaff was competing at state in diving for the second straight year and he was much more relaxed this time around.

Wagstaff finished 16th a year ago at his first state meet and he said "my nerves got to me" on his 11th and final dive.

This year he placed 12th and he was just just one-ten of a point out of 11th place. "If I would have pointed my toes a little harder, I would have gotten it," he said of his final dive.

Wagstaff said he had more practice this year between the preliminary and semifinal round, which was held Thursday, and the championship round, which was Saturday.

"And I brought my headphone so I could listen to music, that definitely helped a lot," he said.

Wagstaff said he added some new and more difficult dives than a year ago which helped his point total. He also had a strong state meet, scoring about 23 more points than he did at the Section 1 meet.

"There are some things that could have gone better," he said, "but overall I'm pretty happy with it."

CLASS 2A SWIMMING/DIVING STATE RESULTS

Team results, top 10

1. Edina 289, 2. Minnetonka 283, 3. Prior Lake 252, 4. Wayzata 188, 5. Lakeville South 167, 6. Eagan 102, 7. Duluth East 94.5, 8. Century 87, 9. Sauk Rapids Rice 84, 10. East Ridge 79.

Individual results

Winners, Century top 16

200 medley relay — 1. Prior Lake 1:31.48.

200 freestyle — 1. Micah Davis (St. Cloud Tech) 1:36.74.

200 IM — 1. Evan Witte (Minnetonka) 1:48.41, 9. Grady Bargfrede (Century) 1:54.37.

50 freestyle — Rohan D'Souza Larson (Edina) 20.55, 13. Owen Kelly (Century) 21.73.

Diving — 1. Lucas Gerten (Rosemount) 539.60#, 12. Silas Wagstaff (Century) 378.10.

100 butterfly — 1. Micah Davis (St. Cloud Tech) 46.94#.

100 freestyle — 1. Evan Witte (Minnetonka) 44.59, 15. Owen Kelly (Century) 49.15.

500 freestyle — 1. Jiarui Xue (Edina) 4:25.19.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Edina 1:23.13, 5. Century (Eli Holmes, Owen Kelly, Nate Kram, Andrew Linden) 1:25.61.

100 backstroke — 1. Ethan Kosin (Prior Lake) 48.67.

100 breaststroke — 1. Jack Hackler (Waconia) 54.27, 8. Grady Bargfrede (Century) 56.89.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Minnetonka 3:03.93, 5. Century (Eli Holmes, Grady Bargfrede, Andrew Linden, Owen Kelly) 3:11.47.

# — State record.