The Minot High boys swimming and diving team welcomed Grand Forks and West Fargo to the Magic City for a tri-dual as a warmup for the next day’s Minot North Invite across town.

The Magicians toppled Grand Forks with relative ease, winning 139-44, but West Fargo got the better of them in a close dual, knocking off Minot High, 100-85, as the Magicians settled for a split on Friday, Jan. 23.

Andrew Francis posted Minot High’s lone two individual victories, with the Packers winning six others and Grand Forks earning one. Francis bested the field in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1 minute, 53.42 seconds. Teammate Caden Brey finished second in 1:59.31.

The Magicians also went 1-2 in the 100 backstroke. Francis took the top spot for his second win of the duals, just finishing under a minute at 59.98. Hunter Barnard was second in 1:05.05.

The Magicians 400 freestyle relay team of Brey, Francis, Talmage Pehrson and Luke Neumann got the team’s lone relay victory, winning by more than eight seconds over West Fargo in 3:26.85.

The Packers won the other two relays and Jonah Ayers completed a sweep of his individual events in the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle. West Fargo posted the top three times in both the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestyle. Logan Engelstad won the 50 freestyle and Isaiah Ayers did the same in the 100 breaststroke.

Michael Schill delivered Grand Forks its lone win of the day, taking the crown in the 500 freestyle, beating out Minot High’s Josiah Reiss by five seconds.

The following day, all three teams were back in the pool over at Minot North at the Minot North Invite. The Magicians finished third in the 11-team field with 261 points. West Fargo finished runners-up with 385 points. Bismarck Century won the meet with 403 points. Fargo Davies (255) and Bismark Legacy (206) rounded out the top five. Host Minot North was eighth with 153 points. Grand Forks placed 11th with 69 points.