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During the course of the season, Ely’s Nordic Wolves seemed to get better by the week.
It seemed only fitting then that they topped a section championship performance with a run at the state title - setting for a second-place finish overall.
The Ely boys were second only to Twin Cities suburban behemoth Wayzata at the state Nordic skiing meet, which wound up late Thursday at chilly Giants Ridge near Biwabik.
Senior Dylan Durkin finished eighth overall, sophomore Aksel Skustad was 19th and freshman Wyatt Devine was 39th in the classic pursuit.
Those results, together with a second-place showing by the sprint relay of Eli Olson and Oliver Hohenstein the day before, powered the Wolves to 359 points and second place out of 16 teams at the single-class meet.
Wayzata led the way with 370 points, but Ely was a solid second and topped Mounds Park Academy (345) with plenty of room to spare.
Minneapolis Washburn (329) and Brainerd (328) rounded out the top-five.
With nearly everyone back from a team that took eighth in the state a year ago, the Wolves entered this season with high hopes and they only picked up steam as the winter progressed, picking off rival Duluth East in regular season events and last week’s section championships.
The Wolves showed off their depth all season and again at state, with Durkin heading a strong day Thursday.
The senior was eighth after the early freestyle event and kept his spot in the pursuit, finishing in a combined time of 29:50.1.
Head Coach Todd Hohenstein was cautiously optimistic heading into the afternoon pursuit races, noting his team was “in a solid second,” and the Wolves more than held their own in the finale.
Skustad (30:34.3) moved up a spot to take 19th and Wyatt Devine (39th, 31:44.5) made the top-40 in his debut at state.
Junior Otto Devine (48th, 32:22) and senior Milo McClelland (76th, 33:55.5) rounded out the lineup in the individual competition.
On Wednesday, Olson and Oliver Hohnestein combined to take second in the boys sprint relay, giving the Section 7 champion Ely team valuable points heading into the bulk of the competition.
Olson, a senior, was edged out “by a boot or two” in the relay final. He teamed with Hohenstein, a sophomore, to finish in 13:40.54.
Logan Drevlow of Hopkins won the individual state title Thursday with a combined time of 27:59.3.
Ely’s Anna Dunn was the only member of the Wolves’ girls team to qualify for state.
She was in 78th place after the freestyle but made a big jump in the pursuit, moving all the way up to 65th overall.
