No. 1 shows why again
º Photo by Kyndell Harkness
Totino-Grace junior Lance Benick, right, won his third consecutive wrestling state championship, winning his second 195-pound title in a row when he scored a technical fall over Foley's Mitch Struffert. Benick is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the country at his weight.
classy hug goes viral
ø Photo by Vanessa Schlueter
After his defeat in the state title match at 120 pounds, Malik Stewart approached his opponent's father, who is battling cancer in his lungs and chest, and gave him a hug. The crowd at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul cheered as enthusiastically for Stewart, a sophomore at Blaine High School, as for his victorious opponent, Mitchell McKee of St. Michael-Albertville. The "Today" show ran an 88-second segment on Malik, using still photos taken of the hug that has gone viral.
four years of progress
ø Photo by Jeff Wheeler
Taylor Lindy of Centennial finished third at state meet in Biwabik. Lindy, who first strapped on skis at age 2, placed 27th at the state meet as a freshman in 2011, third in 2012 and sixth last season.
No licenses, no problem
![Park Center celebrates. ] Girls Basketball Championship Game - Class 3A - Park Center Pirates vs. Marshall Tigers. Park Center won in three overtime periods 73-71. (MARLIN LEVISON/STARTRIBUNE(mlevison@startribune.com)](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/ECXAMF3RQPH5PD4FX2Z26T7BWQ.jpg?&w=1080)
º Photo by Marlin Levison
Park Center won a Class 3A girls' basketball state title without star player, Cayla McMorris, who fouled out late in regulation. The Pirates also did it without drivers' licenses: No player on the floor for the Pirates at the end of the three-overtime victory against Marshall was out of 10th grade. Four of them — guards Danielle Schaub and Ann Simonet, forward Feyisayo Ayobamidele and center Mikayla Hayes — were freshmen.
![Centennial's Ryner Gorowski celebrates his second goal and game winner against Champlin Park during Centennial's 4-2 win in boys' hockey tournament section 5 finals Friday, March 1, 2013, at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum in St. Paul, MN.] (DAVID JOLES/STARTRIBUNE)boys' hockey tournament section 5 finals Friday, March 1, 2013, at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum in St. Paul, MN.**Ryner Gorowski,cq ORG XMIT: MIN1303012036310724](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/3J3PO4QMFRRPXDZWP4P575WW7E.jpg?&w=1080)
![Brenner Hohenstein swam in the 100 yard backstroke during a meet against Coon Rapids on Wednesday, January 22, 2013, in Coon Rapids, Minn. ] (RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER reneejones@startribune.com)](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/BKMRCQJ5FYIOFEA4CRMIGKXRQQ.jpg?&w=1080)
