I’ve seen so many predictions on how the teams will do in 2 or 3 years.
Making predictions for a year from now is fine, but when making predictions for 3 years from now you have to be careful.
Yes, having a solid freshman class helps for the future, sure thing.
But….
Owatonna had the best freshman-and-under class in 2018, and best sophomore-and-under class in 2019 in the state.
But senior year (last year), they didn’t even make state. And that section wasn’t the toughest in the state to get out of. And based on how they did in 2020, they very much looked like they were in a good position to qualify for State. But other teams (like lakeville south) reloaded after losing most of their varsity squad in 2020.
So Owatonna never made state since 2012.
The quality of a team isn’t solely based on the returners, but it also depends on things like improvement, consistency, health, self-care, sleep, nutrition, motivation to continue to improve, peaking at the right time, and coaching.