The wrestling season starts with teams trying to fill out as many of the 14 weights as possible. Chatfield looks to be the deepest, FCLMC’s numbers are increasing, while LARP has good quality in their numbers.
Chatfield wrestling finished 8-7 last season, falling 37-34 to eventual section champion Goodhue in the 1A semis. The Gophers graduated some key guys, including All-TRC picks Nathan Goldsmith and Davontae Goldsmith. But Travis Bartels returns 9 of 13 guys from last year’s 1A Meet. He has back five All-TRC picks. State participants Cael Bartels and Seth Goetzinger head the cast. Bartels was Section champ at 113. He took fifth at state and finished 34-10. The senior has come a long way since wrestling regularly as a 7th grader on varsity all the way back in 2014-2015. Goetzinger (junior) made his second state trip a season ago as the Section’s 126-pound champ. After taking third at 106 in 2018, Seth didn’t place last season (went 2-2 in St. Paul). He finished 29-9. From there, A.J. Karver (220, 285), Grady Schott (182, 195), and Cody Guenther (138) were also All-TRC. Karver (junior) took third at sections, finishing 26-10. Schott (sophomore) took sixth, finishing 16-13. Guenther (junior) didn’t place and went 13-16. Tate Karver (Jr., 132, 17-19, 6th place at sections), Sulley Ferguson (Fr., 106), Kail Schott (8th, 120), and Mason Clemens (So. 195) also competed at the 1A Meet. Campbell Berge (So., 170) and Luke Ihrke (Sr., 152) also have good varsity experience, while Isaiah Froese (Sr., 285) makes a key return after not wrestling last season. Chatfield has weekend duals in Rochester and Farmington, then the FCLMC, Bi-State (La Crosse), Crestwood, Lake City, and JWP Tourneys. Home duals are with LARP/Caledonia and FCLMC. They have away triangulars at D-E (PEM) and at St. Charles (La Crescent), plus pure away duals with GMLOS and W-K. The Gophers start the year ranked #11 in Class A. Bartels (#4 at 126) and A.J. Karver (#9 at 220) are individually ranked.
LARP wrestling went 9-17 a season ago. The Screamin’ Eagles won a 1A wrestle-in match but fell to section champion Goodhue in the quarters. LARP is back in Class AA. Co-coaches Tim Tekautz and Darrin Heglund return six of ten section competitors. Two 2019 state participants are back in the forms of Ross Herber and Gable Speltz. Herber (senior) won the 120-pound Section 1A title, taking fourth at state. He finished the year with a 31-7 record and is LARP’s only returning All-TRC pick. Speltz (junior) was Section runner-up at 126. He made state but got the one-and-done treatment. He went 29-14. After that, LARP returns 2018 state 4th place finisher Carter Jonsgaard. Jonsgaard moved from 113 to 132 last season, finding the sledding tougher (placed outside the top five at sections, 26-12). Tyler Kreidermacher (So., 106, 20-17) is a fourth key returnee. He took sixth at 106 at sections. Speltz, Jonsgaard, and Kreidermacher were All-TRC HM. Jacob Meyer (So., 160, 17-17) and Tristyn Heglund (Jr. 152) are a pair of other “sections” returnees. Jordan Zibrowski (106/113), Hunter Mart (126/132), Caleb Mueller (138/145) also have varsity experience. The Eagles will be short in the upper weights. LARP has tourneys in Faribault, Harmony (FCLMC Invite), La Crosse (Bi-State), and PEM. They have weekend duals at Z-M and K-M. They have just two home meets, La Crescent, and a quadrangular (FCLMC/GMLOS/USC). They have tri’s at Triton (Goodhue), St. Charles (W-K), Chatfield (Caledonia), Plainview (GMLOS), and Rochester-Century (Winona Sr.). They finish at D-E. Jonsgaard (#5 at 120) and Herber (#7 at 132) start the year ranked.
FCLMC comes off a win-less dual meet campaign a season ago. The short-handed Wolves went 0-17, falling to GMLOS in a 1A wrestle-in bout. Joe Cullen’s group returns all eight of its Section 1A Meet competitors from a year ago though. The Wolves had four top five section placers, but none top three. Stefan Nikoloski (Sr., 285, 15-24) and Caden Anderson (Jr., 132, 23-17) took fourth. Michael Barrett (Sr., 220, 17-20) and Cale Anderson (Jr., 120, 22-20) took fifth. The Anderson brothers were All-TRC HM. Caden was a state participant in 2018 at 120. Bradon Knutson (Sr., 106, 18-21), Orion Sass (Fr., 126, 16-19), Carter Hovland (Fr., 138), Pablo Ruen (Jr., 113), and Oliver Hoeltzle (8th, 145) also competed at the 1A Meet. Caleb Kunz (Jr. 152) and Devin Troendle (Jr. 152) are a pair of other returning varsity veterans. Mid-upper weights will be where FCLMC is short. The Wolves have their home holiday tourney while going to Ellsworth (WI), PEM, Riceville, and Rochester-Century. They have three home triangulars, PEM/SC, La Crescent/Lake City, and D-E/La Crescent, and a home meet with Triton. Away tri’s are Caledonia (D-E) and South Winn (Waukon). Away quadrangulars are at LARP (GMLOS/USC) and Caledonia (GMLOS/W-K). They also wrestle at Chatfield. Re-match duals are at the coach’s discretions.
Leave a Reply