Winter Sports Season Full of Triumphs and Milestones

by Tony Yazbeck
March 26, 2025

The 2024-25 CDH Winter Sports season has been one to remember with three teams and several individuals qualifying for state tournament play. Let’s take a look back to the 2025 Winter Sports Season.

Alpine Ski had a strong season led by coach Carrie Frietag. The Raiders had a very competitive season battling a strong field from the Suburban east Conference at Afton Alps and Wild Mountain. 

Competitive Dance was within reach of a state tournament berth. Led by captains Alayna Verdeja ’25 and Penolope Deignan ’25 the Raiders finished third in the section meet losing to Benilde St. Margaret’s and Chisago Lakes. 

Girls Hockey was Suburban East Conference Champions and earned the #2 seed in the section tournament. They lost a heartbreaker of a game against Eastview 4-3 in double OT.

Gymnastics had another fantastic year repeating as section champions and earning a third place finish at the state tournament.

Wrestling: For the first time in program history CDH had 4 individuals qualify for the MSHSL State Tournament. Congratulations to Mickey Piazza ’25 who qualified at 145 pounds, Isaac Henry ’26 at 172 pounds, Jaziel Enriquez Olvera '26 at 189 pounds and Henry Prestegaard ’28 at 127 pounds. This is a new high mark for CDH Wrestling.

Boys Hockey: The boys’ hockey team ended a week earlier than expected with a heartbreaking 2OT loss to St.Thomas Academy 3-2.  It ended a terrific season for the Raiders that saw them win the SEC conference for the first time in 3 years and end the season with a 23-4-1 record. Owen Nelson ’25, Jimmy Dodig ’25, Max Bennett ’25, Nate Chorlton ’26, and Max Anderson ’26 all received SEC All-Conference Honors. Veszi Lippai ’25, Phoenix Cahill ’26, Max Thompson ’27, Marcus Matyas ’27, and Jonny Bloedow ’28 all received SEC All-Conference Honorable Mention. 

Girls Basketball: The girls basketball team opened up section play as the #1 seed in Section 3AAA and defeated #8 seed Highland Park 82-14 in the quarterfinals. They defeated #4 seed South St. Paul 66-27 in the semifinals to advance to the Section 3AAA Championship game where they defeated #2 seed Two Rivers 65-53 to send the Raiders back to the state tournament for the first time since 2018. The Raiders entered the state tournament as the #7 seed and drew #2 seed - undefeated Monticello. The Raiders pulled off the major upset and defeated the Magic 59-50 to advance to the final 4. The Raiders finished their season with a final record of 21-11 and a 4th place finish. 

Boys Basketball: The boys basketball capped off a great regular season by defeating Forest Lake 89-52 to win their second consecutive Suburban East Conference Championship. The Raiders finished the season with an overall record of 29-2 and a conference record of 17-1. The 29 wins this season is the second most in school history. The Raiders earned the #1 seed in the sectional playoffs where they defeated Stillwater 71-50 in the sectional semifinal on March 8 and on March 13 they defeated previously undefeated Tartan 73-68 in front of a capacity crowd and the Joe Mauer Field House to advance to the state tournament for the 16th time. The Raiders earned the # 1 seed in the state tournament and defeated Rochester John Marshall 69-57 in the state quarterfinals. The Raiders then faced Maple Grove on March 20 in the state semifinals at Williams Arena. After a slow start, the Raiders went on a 35-10 run to open the second half and defeated the Crimson 63-49 to advance to the state championship game where they were defeated by Wayzata to finish as MSHSL Class AAAA State Runner-Up.

Several Raiders earned postseason honors. Tommy Ahneman ’25, Jojo Mitchell ’26 and Ty Schlagel  ’27 were named to the Minnesota Tribune All-State Team and the St. Paul Pioneer Press All-Metro Team. Ahneman, Mitchell and Monteff Dixon ’25 were named to the MSHSL Class AAAA All-Tournament Team.

Congratulations to Tommy Ahneman ’25 who became the 17th Raider to eclipse the 1,000 career points scored in our February 15 game vs. DeLaSalle. The Raiders defeated the Islanders that night 74-60 to retain the Christian Brothers Golden Basketball.