Their once was a (handle-bar moustache) professional wrestler who used his mania to run wild. At the 2017 Minnesota state meet, a (mustached) Chatfield guy authored some mania of his own. Junior 145-pounder Jake Mandt spent most of the year ranked #1 in Class A. A few years back, he wrestled around with Chatfield’s last individual state titlist, Hank Friederichs. Mandt’s fate was thus fitting, albeit not easy; 14 of 15 winner’s bracket bouts at 145 were decisions. In the first round, on the strength of four takedowns, Jake beat Maple River’s Nathan Moore (30-13) 9-3. In the quarters, Mandt controlled Pipestone’s Bill Olsen (36-9) for a 5-2 win. It made the semifinal match-up a battle of #1 (Mandt) and #2 (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s 43-3 Adam Jaeger). The match was 1-1 in the third when Mandt countered a Jaeger shot into a takedown (3-1). After an escape, Mandt again countered a desperate shot for another takedown, the 5-2 win. Awaiting in Mandt’s first state final was Z-M’s unranked Maverick Jackson (37-9), the guy Mandt beat for the 1A title. Jackson got a second period escape and takedown (3-0). In the third, Mandt escaped and was awarded a point per clasping (3-2). He got a single-leg takedown with 1:20 left (4-3), then held a leg and stayed on top real late for the 4-3 win. Mandt, a quick and strong 5’4” 145-pounder, is state champ. Still a junior, his resume is already impressive;
: state team champion and section third place (32-9) at 126 (2014), section champ and state fifth place (42-4) at 132 (2015), section runner-up and state third place (32-4) at 138 (2016), and now section and state champ (31-2) at 145. He’s 137-19 the past four years. Meanwhile, LARP senior McCoy Tekautz added a nice cap to his fine career, competing on the state level for a second time this school year (football). The #2-ranked guy in AA at 152 beat Cloquet-Esko-Carlton’s #5 Conner Denman (30-6) in the first round 5-4, then topped Thief Rivers Falls’ #8 Josh Bernier (39-5) 10-4 in the quarters. In the semis sat Albert Lea’s #3 Zach Glazier (41-5). Tekautz fell to Glazier for the 1AA title 7-3. He made it closer at state with a berth in the finals on the line, but fell 7-6 by tie-breaker. Despite the very tough loss, Tekautz pinned Waconia’s #4 Justin Schultz (36-11) and beat Denman again 6-4 to claim third. Tekautz’z career resume, limited some by injury, is also impressive: section fourth place finish (23-11) at 106 (2013), section runner-up and state entrant (30-6) at 126 (2014), section third place (16-5) at 152 (2015), section runner-up and state fourth (12-4) at 152 (2016), and now section runner-up and state third (32-9) at 152 (2017). He’s 113-35 the past five years; a chip off the old block. Dad and Coach Tim Tekautz was a two-time Minnesota state champion, a D-II All-American at North Dakota State. FCLMC entrant, senior Jacob Thomas, got the tough one-and-done treatment. Thomas was tied 1-1 in the third with Holdingford’s Walker Nienaber, but fell 5-1. Nienaber then fell in the quarters, ending Thomas’ day. Jake caps a four-year varsity career with a 26-6 senior season.