Area Male Athlete: Flyers' DeDomines wears the C with pride

Attitude and effort is the Little Falls Flyers' boys hockey motto.

Few exemplify that better than senior forward Bryce DeDomines.

The two-year varsity player battled through the hockey ranks. His sophomore season he played junior varsity. He was a third-liner last season. This year, he's leading the team in points and in the locker room.

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Bryce DeDomines

• Year: Senior
• School: Little Falls
• Sport: Hockey
• Position: Left wing
• Highlights: Tallied two goals and two assists against Mandan and a goal and two assists against Fergus Falls

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"He made it right up to the first line because of his work ethic," said Flyers head coach Tony Couture. "He was voted by the kids to be a captain so he has some leadership skills that they felt were important."

The honor was not lost on DeDomines, who took the C on his sweater and according to Couture has worn it with pride. He dedicated his summer to become a "sparkplug" for the Flyers.

"That was a pretty big boost, knowing that they all trust me and see me as a leader," DeDomines said. "They want me to lead by example and take this team as far as we can go."

Little Falls is 9-3 and enjoying an eight-game win streak. In the Flyers' 5-1 victory over Mandan Dec. 30 in the final round of their holiday tournament, DeDomines tallied two goals and two assists. He added a goal and two assists in the Flyers' 5-1 win over Fergus Falls Jan. 3.

Linemate Ben Sowada posted two goals and two assists and fellow first-liner Adam Josephson scored a goal. Both Josephson and Sowada lead the team with 10 goals, while DeDomines leads the team with 24 points (eight goals and 16 assists)

"Everything is just clicking together," said DeDomines. "Adam works extremely hard. He does the puck battles and gets those done. Ben and I work together. We were on a line together last year and everything is just coming together it seems like."

DeDomines is enjoying a plus-13 with four game-winning goals, one short-handed goal and six power-play assists.

Couture said he saw sparks of DeDomines finding his place on the team last season and that confidence grew.

"I think it was more support from my teammates," DeDomines said. "Last year, they were always telling us that the third line was buzzing and stuff like that. That boosted our confidence. It carried over to this year because I knew I had to be a leader and one of the top players on the team."

Couture said despite Dedomines' lack of size, he is the first mentioned among hockey fans because of his work ethic.

"He's not a very big kid," Couture said. "He's short in stature, but he's got a heavy heart and he works extremely hard for us. He's the type of kid, on a 45-second shift, he's working hard for all 45 seconds. He's not an overly physical kid, but he's not afraid to get into the corners and muck it up a little bit."

Hockey is DeDomines' only sport. He said it's a family passion and that's how he plays. He said it's an amazing feeling to have his hard work payoff with a winning season.

"It's great, honestly," said DeDomines. "Being a captain on the team or being successful it's been a real fun year and I'm excited for what's to come."

Other notable performances:

Basketball: Matt Tautges, Pierz, scored 15 points against Watertown-Mayer, 22 against Concordia Academy and 23 against Braham to land a spot on the St. Cloud Cathedral all-tournament team.

Noah Gindorff, Crosby-Ironton, finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds against Maples of Canada. He added 22 points and 16 rebounds and six blocks against Moose Lake-Willow River and 22 points and 10 rebounds against Fond du Lac.

Noah Ross, Wadena-Deer Creek, scored 25 points against Frazee.

Zach Sjoblad, Pequot Lakes, scored 30 points against Hermantown.

Trey Jacobs, Crosby-Ironton, finished with 32 points and six steals against Fond du Lac.

Hockey: Max Phillips, Wadena-Deer Creek, finished with two goals and two assists against Breckenridge.

Jake Dykhoff, Wadena-Deer Creek, finished with two goals and two assists against Breckenridge.

Josh Maucieri, Northern Lakes, finished with two goals and three assists against La Crescent.

Wrestling: Nate Williams and Kaven Blazek, Crosby-Ironton, each won individual titles at the Benson tournament.