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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 - settling 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 at the single-class state meet.
Four Wolves - Durkin, Skustad, Olson and Hohenstein - were named to the all-state ski team as well.
With nearly everyone back from a team that took eighth in the state a year ago, the Timberwolves 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.
“I would say back in December both (assistant coach) Tyler (Fish) and I were looking at each other and saying I don’t know if it would all come together,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “But the Marshall Sprints (in mid-January), where we ended up with four of our guys in the finals, and only two from Duluth East, I think that gave us a big boost of confidence and from that point forward we didn’t lose to Duluth East. That I think was the tipping point and we kept building and finding a new level.”
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 and winning his individual spot on the all-state team.
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.
“You just never know going into that first race how kids are going to reach and if nerves are going to play a big role, and for our boys in particular they were able to navigate that very well,” he said. “The Brainerd team came in rated first but they had some issues whether that was wax or whatever, and it kind of opened the door for us.”
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.
“We knew as we headed out on the second race that if they were able to hold their positions, that the point spread was big enough that we would be second,” said Hohenstein. “As soon as those top three guys and even the top two with Aksel moving up, that we had it. There was a sense of relief at first but also that feeling of accomplishment to take second in the state.”
Junior Otto Devine (48th, 32:22) and senior Milo Mc-Clelland (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.
“Classic has been Anna’s strength,” said Hohenstein. “And she approached it that she was going to do her very best in the morning, knowing she would move up in that the second race would be her strength. At the beginning of the season, her goal was to qualify for state and anything and everything on top of that was going to be icing on the cake.”
