The winter sports season is upon us as competitions are starting for area schools. The Patriot is here to give our readers a preview of the teams and who they are, when they play, and their outlook for the season to come.

NOTE: The Patriot reached out to every head coach associated with the teams for information. If there is no photo attached to this article for a team, they did not respond to our request.

The Big Lake boys basketball team will be looking to build upon their 17-10 record from last season when their season starts this Friday. The team is coached by Tom Critchley, Sheridan Johnson, Chuck McConville, and Timothy Peterson. Once again competing in the Mississippi 8 Conference, the team should contend for the conference crown with recent power Princeton losing a lot of production from last season.

No roster was made available to the Patriot by press time.

The Hornets will head up to Hermantown for a couple of games. The first will be against the host Hawks on Dec. 1, and will play again the following day against Duluth Denfeld. Other games for December are 12/5 vs. Hutchinson, 12/12 @ Annandale, 12/14 vs. North Branch, 12/19 vs. Princeton, 12/22 vs. Mankato East, and 12/27-28 @ Perham for the Grand8 Holiday Classic.

Their January schedule will be almost all conference matchups starting with 1/4 vs. Zimmerman then 1/9 @ St. Francis, 1/12 vs. Monticello, 1/13 @ Bemidji, 1/18 vs. Becker, 1/23 vs. Chisago Lakes at the Target Center, 1/25 vs. Cambridge-Isanti, and 1/30 @ North Branch. February starts with a trip to Princeton on February 1, after that comes 2/6 @ Zimmerman, 2/9 vs. St. Francis, 2/13 @ Monticello, 2/16 vs. Delano, 2/20 @ Becker, 2/23 vs. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 2/26 @ Cambridge-Isanti, and they close out the regular season on 2/29 vs. Chisago Lakes.

The Big Lake girls basketball team hopes to improve on their 2-25 record from last season.

Kevin Chant, Reyan Robinson, Rebecca Holmes, and Mitch Coulson make up the coaching staff for this year’s team.

No roster was made available to the Patriot by press time.

The team opens with two games in November against Little Falls (11/28) and Maple Lake (11/30). December starts with a game against St. Cloud Apollo at St. Cloud Tech HS on Dec. 5, followed by 12/12 vs. Cambridge-Isanti, 12/14 @ North Branch, 12/15 vs. New Prague, 12/19 @ Princeton, and a trip to Fergus Falls for a holiday tournament on 12/29-30.

January opens with Zimmerman at home on Jan. 4 then 1/9 @ St. Francis, 1/12 vs. Monticello, 1/18 vs. Becker, 1/19 @ Chisago Lakes, 1/25 @ Cambridge-Isanti, and ending with 1/30 vs. North Branch. February goes 2/1 vs. Princeton, 2/6 @ Zimmerman, 2/8 vs. Legacy Christian Academy, 2/9 vs. St. Francis, 2/13 @ Monticello, 2/15 @ Spectrum, 2/17 vs. Duluth Denfeld, 2/20 @ Becker, 2/22 vs. Chisago Lakes, and the regular season ends with Sauk Rapids-Rice at home on 2/23.

The Becker/Big Lake hockey team features two key returners from last year’s team that should help them improve on last season’s record. Seniors Jase Tobako and Brayden Graning were the team’s top scorers last season, and will be looking to build off that success. Tobako scored 18 goals with 21 assists for a total of 39 points in 26 games, and Graning led the team in both goals and assists with 27 of each for 54 points in 25 games. Coaches for this year’s squad are Zach Barzee, Thomas Kluk, and Henry Brady.

Forwards for the team are Tobako, Graning, Elliot Ginter, Lucas Schmitt, Josh Miller, Tyler Lillemo, Beckham Laska, Trevor Briggs, Jack Schwartz, Samuel Rusin, Rylan Tobako, Gavin Jacobson, Garrett Marotz, Raymond Clark, Carter Tatge, Josh Peterson, Jackson Peterson, Nolan O’Neal, Keegan Kraft, Tate Spilde, Wyatt Bodle, Lucas Hancock, Tucker Tatge, Ethan Coates, Easton Leckelt, and Tanner Felton. 

The defensemen this year are Grayson Kipka, Brody Barth, William Johnson, Blayne Varner, Ethan Grafnitz, Gavin Leitold, Hayden Kipka, and Gunnar Hanson. 

Between the pipes will be goalies Thomas Zerwas, Andrew Holm, Cooper Peterson, and Declan Weber.

The team has two games in November on 11/28 vs. Sauk Rapids-Rice and 11/30 @ Wahpeton.

December starts with a trip to Bagley on Dec. 2 followed by 12/5 vs. Moose Lake, 12/7 vs. Pine City, 12/14 @ Princeton, 12/15 vs. Prairie Centre, 12/19 vs. Cambridge-Isanti, and 12/21 @ Chisago Lakes.

January starts with a trip to East Bethel to take on Northern Edge on 1/4 then 1/5 vs. Windom, 1/11 @ Monticello, 1/15 vs. Willmar, 1/19 @ Pine City, 1/23 vs. ROCORI, 1/25 vs. Princeton, 1/27 vs. Wahpeton, and 1/30 @ Cambridge-Isanti. 

February has a trip to Prairie Centre on 2/1 followed by 2/2 @ Moose Lake, 2/5 @ River Lakes, 2/8 vs. Northern Edge, 2/10 vs. Bagley, and concludes with 2/13 @ Mora.

Big Lake wrestling sees their season get underway with a home invitational this Friday. The team is coached by Ryan Prom, Matt Nelson, and Justin Nelson.

No roster was made available to the Patriot by press time.

After the home invitational on December 1 the team travels to Annandale on 12/5 for a triangular then hosts a triangular on 12/7, 12/9 invitational @ Maple Grove, 12/15-16 invitational @ Pequot Lakes, 12/21 dual vs. Anoka, 12/28-29 invitational @ Rogers. January starts with a triangular @ St. Francis on 1/4 followed by 1/6 tournament @ Tartan, 1/11 quadrangular @ Glencoe-Silver Lake, 1/18 triangular @ Monticello, 1/20 invitational @ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, and 1/25 @ ROCORI. February only has two meets the first being a home triangular on 2/2 and the second being an invitational @ Chanhassen on 2/8.

The Big Lake gymnastics team will open their season by hosting St. Francis on December 7th.

After that the team travels to Chisago Lakes on 12/14 then an invitational in Brainerd on 12/16.

The team then has an extended break before picking back up on January 4th when they travel to North Branch. On 1/6 they host an invitational following that is 1/11 @ Monticello, 1/19 vs. Becker, 1/23 @ Cambridge-Isanti, 1/27 is True Team @ Worthington, and 1/30 the team hosts Princeton to close the regular season.

No roster was made available to the Patriot by press time.

The team is coached by Landon Goldsmith, Kristopher Kitzman, Abby Schreifels, and Theresa Johnson.

The Big Lake dance team will field their largest team in the history of the program this season.

Comprised of 26 dancers, four coaches, and two managers, the program will field five teams for the first time in its history. Those five levels are Varsity Jazz, Varsity Kick, JV Jazz, JV Kick, and B-Squad Jazz. The team is excited about attending three new invites, as well as hosting their own invite for the season year in a row. The head coach of the team is Kayla Kleinsteuber in her sixth year, Emily Merkley and Charlie Sundberg in their second, and Madison Wahlberg in her first season on staff.

The team is made up of dancers from 12th to seventh grade. Seniors on this year’s team are Emma Forpahl, April Gerth, Grace John, and Rowan Payne. All four senior dancers will also serve as team captains. Juniors are Victoria Lundquist, Jayden O’Brien, Madeline Peterson, and Calissa Pishney. Sophomores are Amanda Marcks, Brooklyn May, Audrey Myers, Alivia Voss, Maia Wenderski, and Danika Wyborny. Freshmen are Ruby Blakeney, Gillian Harrington, Hailey Holland, Braelynne Lieser, Morgan Panek, and Liliah Schaller. The two eighth graders are Jadyn Markfort and Bobbi Russ. Elsie Jagusch, Jessica Osowski, Camryn Spaeth, and Kyla Wenderski make up the seventh grade class.

The high kick season kicks off on Sat., Dec. 2 with a trip to the Academy of Holy Angels for an invitational. After that it goes 12/7 conference meet @ Becker, 12/9 invitational @ Albany, 12/16 @ Stewartville, and 12/19 conference meet @ Zimmerman. After the first of the year the team will have their conference championship at Monticello on 1/6, then the team will host an invitational on January 15. The regular season finishes with trips to New Prague and Mounds View on January 20 and 27 respectively.

The jazz season will consist of the two conference meets at Becker on December 7th and at Zimmerman on 12/19 before concluding with the conference championship at Monticello on January 6th.