Wrestling starts with several major rule changes. Firstly, takedowns will be worth three, not two points. Secondly, only one point of contact needs to be on the ground to be recorded as inbounds. Thirdly, there will be two, three, four and five near-fall points awarded (the latter for injured/bleeding defensive wrestlers after four near-falls). Another change relates to the 10-foot circle now being optional while a fifth deals with clarifying when a tech fall has concluded when near-fall criteria are no longer met. As to the actual mat action, Chatfield enters the season as the defending state champ and will look to defend their crown.
Last year, Chatfield had probably its greatest wrestling campaign on record, winning D-III at Bi-State, taking second at the prestigious “Clash”, winning the TRC title (9-0), topping Kenyon-Wanamingo for the 1A title, then ripping off three dominant wins at state. The Gophers beat Staples-Motley 47-7 to claim the Class A title. Chatfield finished 21-1, only loss to AAA state champ St. Michael-Albertville. Nine Gophers individually qualified for state. Notably, Carson Rowland (152) won a state title, Javier Berg (114) took second, Kail Schott (189) third, Gage Bartels (133) fourth, and gal Chloe Berg (124) fifth. Ayden Miner (160), Ben Carrier (172), Kaisen Johnson (121), Jack Dornack (145), and Miles Mulhern (285) also competed. Expectations will again be high for the boys teams. Matt Mauseth graduated some talent; notably four-time state entrant and 161-win Schott (34-3), three-time state entrant 121-win Bartels (38-9), Dornack (37-13), and Mulhern (39-11). But of their 11 All-TRC performers from last year, seven return. State champ Rowland (Sr. 44-9) and 2023 state champ Berg (Sr. 41-6) head the cast. Returning state qualifiers Miner (Sr. 33-11), Carrier (Sr. 33-14), and Johnson (Jr. 32-13) plus Jameson Priebe (107, Fr. 34-17) and Hunter Polikowsky (127, Fr. 27-15) round out their seven returning All-TRC guys. Berg, Johnson, Rowland and Miner are defending section champs. Priebe, Polikowsky, Alden Pearson (Sr. 139, 24-13), an All-TRC HM pick, and Will Boelter (215, Jr. 25-16) each took third at sections. And that is to name the namiest of names! On the girls side, state qualifier Berg graduated. Emily Bova (100, Jr., 16-8) and Brynn Horsman (118, Jr., 19-9) return after taking third and fourth at the Section 1/3 Meet. Elle Eickhoff (130, Jr., 16-10), Melody Ward (107, Fr.), Maizee Priebe (112, So. 10-9), and Amelia Sladek (148, Fr.) also competed. The Gopher guys notably have duals with K-M (away) and Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial (home) plus “The Clash.” They have two home triangulars: L/CH and LARP, GMLOS and PEM. Boys tourneys are at Lakeville-North, FCLMC, Crestwood and Lake City. The girls have tris at Mayo and South St. Paul, tourneys in Hutchinson, Eden Prairie and Rochester-Century. All Gophers have the Bi-State Tourney. Chatfield starts the year #1 in Class A with Priebe (#1 107), Rowland (#1 152), Miner (#2 160), Johnson (#4 133), Berg (#6 121), Pearson (#8 145), and Carrier (#8 172) all ranked.
One year removed from a section title and state berth, Caledonia/Houston had things a bit more difficult up a class in AA. The Warriors went 5-4 in the TRC and 18-21 overall. They fell to Kasson-Mantorville 57-12 in the 1AA quarters. Cal/Hou had two individual state placers in 145-pound runner-up Owen Denstad (51-1) and 139-pound sixth place Isaac Blocker (45-11). Both graduated. Denstad made state four times and is Cal/Hou’s all-time win leader with 197. Blocker thrice made state and had 159 career wins. Shay Mahoney and Justin Conway’s group notably returns six guys who placed top five at sections. Aiden Burns (107, Jr., 38-12) and Braxton Lange (133, Sr., 39-12) took third, Hunter Frank (121, Jr., 10-9) and Cooper Allen (172, Fr., 24-21) fourth, Will Allen (160, Jr., 20-27) and Aden Kulas (189, Sr., 30-18) fifth. Lange and Frank were state qualifiers in Class A in 2023. Aaren Kulas (114, 8th grader), Tanner Ginther (152, Sr., 21-18), and Logan Kinstler (Jr. 215) give Cal/Hou nine of 11 returnees from last year’s 1AA meet. Burns, Lange, Ginther and Ad-Kulas are returning All-TRC picks. C-Allen was All-TRC HM. The Warriors have two home tris, Chatfield and W-K, La Crescent/Hokah and Prairie du Chien, plus a home dual with Decorah. Dual meet tourneys are at St. Charles, Western Dubuque, The Clash in La Crosse, and Kasson-Mantorville. The sole individual weekend tourney is Bi-State in La Crosse.
Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson had a good span of wrestling last season, starting the year 11-0 and 15-1. The Screamin’ Eagles cooled off from there, finishing 19-8. They went 7-2 in the TRC and lost to Goodhue 36-31 in a 1A quarterfinal. Darrin Hegland is now LARP’s sole head coach. Former co-head Tim Tekautz has moved on. LARP had a guy and a girl state entrant last year in Christian Zibrowski (107, So, 39-9) and Lauren Honken (106, Sr., 16-6). Notable graduates were Honken, Jordan Zibrowski (139, 28-13), an All-TRC pick with 141 career wins, and All-TRC HM picks Camdyn Anderson-Ingram (160, 27-12, section third) and Titan Tekautz (145, section fourth). C-Zibrowski returns to highlight LARP’s line-up. He is ranked #2 at 114 to start the year. Third, fourth, and fourth place section finishers Owen Lange (121, So. 33-9), Carter Cady (152, Sr. 25-17) and Zach Plank (189, Sr. 30-12) are also back. C-Zibrowski, Lange and Plank made All-TRC, Cady All-TRC HM. Jaxson Johnson (114, Fr), Nolan Happel (8th grader, 127), and Jaden Perez (Jr. 285) are three more returning 1A individual guys. Seven of 12 section competitors return. On the girls side, fifth place Section 1/3 finisher Bobbie Wnuk (170, 11-9) is the top returnee while Taylor Rothering-Oevering (124, 15-11) also competed. LARP has two home triangulars, one in Lewiston (GMLOS, W-K) and one in Rushford (Cal/Hou, D-E). They have the Austin duals plus individual tourneys at FCLMC, PEM, Hayfield, Lake City and Pine Island. The girls have a tourney in Pine Island also.
Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland went 5-4 in the TRC and 13-11 overall last year. Randy Smith’s Bulldogs fell to Dover-Eyota in the 1A quarters 46-27. GMLOS had two girls make state; runner-up Diann Smith (136, Sr., 30-5) and Brandy Christensen (118). The latter (So., 20-12), who starts the year ranked #9 at 118, is their sole returning state entrant. Additionally, Kloe Meyer (235, So., 14-10) took third and Paisley Schlee (106, Fr. 16-12) fifth at the 1/3 Meet. Zoe Steinkamp (112, Fr., 19-11) is a fourth key returnee. The guys did not have a state entrant. Two of the Bulldogs’ four All-TRC picks graduated in section third place finisher Colton Gardner (285, 30-16) and fourth place Braxten Wiste (160, 40-10). Three section fourth place finishers return in Parker Armagost (114, So. 33-15), Cael Smith (127, Fr., 38-11), and Rowan Sween (215, Sr. 22-19). Smith and Armagost were All-TRC. Drake Payne (189, Jr., 31-19), Teague Alden (133, Sr., 21-23), Lincoln Soltau (107, 8th grade), Zac Gehling (Sr. 152), and Ayden Stier (Jr. 172) are six more key returnees. GMLOS has a home triangular (Riceville, Stewartville), and a home dual (FCLMC). They have the Austin duals and tourneys at FCLMC, Bi-State (boys and girls in La Crosse), Tartan, Stewartville (both boys and girls), Pine Island (girls), Lake Mills, Rochester-Century (girls), and Wisconsin Dells.
FCLMC enters this season having had a lot of open weights last year. Blaise Sass’ Wolves went 1-8 in the TRC and 4-19. They fell to St. Charles 58-12 in a 1A wrestle-in match. FCLMC did have three individual state entrants. Gal Katie Whelan (190, 14-7) took fourth, Kane Larson took fifth, and gal Vivienne Hoeltzle took sixth. Whelan graduated but Larson (160, Jr. 44-6) and Hoeltzle (118, Sr., 22-8) each return to head FCLMC’s cast. Larson starts the year ranked #6 at 172. Larson and Cole Sass (Jr. 152) are returning All-TRC picks. Larson and August Pfeffer (107) wrestled at sections last year. Section 1/3 Meet third finisher Charlotte Ferrie (130, 20-8), Kylie Knutson (106, 12-11), and Gwen Lieb (124, 13-12) are three more notable gals. Hoeltzle (#8 118) and Ferrie (#8 130) start the year ranked. The Wolves have two home tris: LARP and St. Charles (season-opener), La Crescent/Hokah and W-K. They have their home tourney plus trips to La Crosse Logan, PEM, Century and Pine Island. The girls have tourneys at St. James, Pine Island and Century.
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