Eight Minnesotans earned All-American honors by placing in the top eight at the NHSCA National High School Wrestling Championships held March 31-April 5 at Virginia Beach, VA.
Thousands of wrestlers from across the country competed in separate three-day tournaments split by grade in high school – freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior divisions.
Team Minnesota had two individual champions. Tony Nelson of Cambridge-Isanti took first place at 215 pounds in the high school senior division and Steven Keogh of Thief River Falls took first place at 140 pounds in the high school sophomore division.
Nelson won six straight matches en route to his 46-man bracket title including a 30-second pin over Grant Haschak of Washington in the championship match.
Keogh won five straight matches to win his 31-man bracket. He pinned Ian Miller of Ohio in overtime in the title match.
Placing second for Team Minnesota was Tony Vaske of River Valley at 130 pounds in the junior division.
Other Minnesota All-Americans were – Senior Division: Phillip Levine of Rosemount – 5th place at 103 pounds, Justin LaValle of Apple Valley – 5th place at 130 pounds, and Mic Berg of Simley – 5th place at 189 pounds; Junior Division: Tyler Lehmann of Apple Valley – 4th place at 171 pounds; Freshmen Division: Clayton Jennissen of Cambridge-Isanti – 7th place at 152 pounds.
2009 NHSCA National Wrestling Championships
Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior
March 31, 2009 – April 5, 2009 • Virginia Beach, VA
HS Senior Division
Top 20 Team Results
1. California 186.5
2. New York 177.5
3. Michigan 170.0
4. Pennsylvania 162.5
5. New Jersey 161.0
6. Kansas 143.0
6. Ohio 143.0
8. Virginia 127.0
9. Missouri 116.5
10. Minnesota 116.0
11. North Carolina 93.0
12. Washington 81.5
13. Wyoming 78.5
14. Illinois 77.0
15. Utah 76.5
16. Colorado 69.5
17. Florida 67.0
18. Iowa 66.0
19. Indiana 62.5
20. Maryland 58.0
Team Minnesota Individuals (32 MN wrestlers)
103 – Phillip Levine, Rosemount (3-2) 5th Place
103 – Sean Stebbins, North (St. Paul) (1-2) DNP
112 – Logan Otomo, Dover-Eyota (0-2)
112 – Charlie Wilczek, Little Falls (0-2)
119 – Ali Mohammed, Burnsville (1-2)
125 – Julius Stone, Browerville/Eagle Valley (2-2)
130 – Devon Bonds, St. Paul Humboldt (3-2) 1 win from top 8
130 – Hector Millan, Owatonna (1-2)
130 – Justin LaValle, Apple Valley (5-2) 5th Place
130 – Justin Reinsma, Fulda/Murray County Central (2-2)
135 – Matt Bailey, Robbinsdale Armstrong (0-2)
135 – Cody Goldschmidt, BOLD (1-2)
140 – Brady Schrupp, Becker (1-2)
145 – Kevin Fynboh, Thief River Falls (1-2)
145 – Patrick Smith, Chaska (3-2)
152 – Jake Begin, Anoka (3-2)
152 – Kevin O’Brien, Becker (2-2)
152 – Jordan Engen, Thief River Falls (1-2)
160 – Andy Henning, Fulda/Murray County Central (1-2)
160 – Kevin Steinhaus, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (5-2) 1 win from top 8
171 – Connor Finn, Mounds View (0-2)
171 – Travis Peralta, Thief River Falls (1-2)
171 – Brendan Eichmann, Hastings (1-2)
189 – Alex Bach, Maple River (3-2)
189 – Mic Berg, Simley (5-2) 5th Place
189 – Erik Berdahl, Coon Rapids (3-2)
215 – Bradley Kneisl, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (2-2)
215 – Kris Olson, Foley (1-2)
215 – Tony Nelson, Cambridge-Isanti (6-0) Champion
285 – Jake Kettler, Anoka (3-2) 1 win from top 8
285 – Thomas Bouressa, Alexandria (3-2)
285 – Jake Lee, Blue Earth Area (1-2)
HS Junior Division
Top 20 Team Results
1. Pennsylvania 259.0
2. New Jersey 221.0
3. New York 218.0
4. California 143.5
5. Ohio 119.0
6. Indiana 113.0
7. South Dakota 105.0
8. North Carolina 101.0
9. Georgia 90.5
10. Arizona 81.5
11. Minnesota 81.0
12. Missouri 76.5
13. Colorado 75.0
14. Illinois 69.0
15. Maryland 63.0
16. Texas 62.0
17. Virginia 60.5
18. Alaska 59.5
19. Utah 53.0
20. Florida 46.0
Team Minnesota Individuals (18 MN wrestlers)
103 – Jesse Loges, Minneapolis South (1-2) 1 win from top 8
119 – Drew Fleming, Watertown-Mayer (2-2)
119 – Adam Bates, Sibley East (0-2)
125 – Kyle LeDuc, Thief River Falls (2-2)
130 – Paul Norgren, Maple River (3-2)
130 – Erik Cooreman, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (0-2)
130 – Mike Dyrdal, Thief River Falls (1-2)
130 – Tony Vaske, River Valley (5-1) 2nd Place
135 – Andrew Youngblom, Mora (4-2) 1 win from top 8
135 – Jordan Novak, New York Mills (2-2)
152 – Troy Morisette, Tartan (0-2)
152 – Jake Braaten, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale (1-2)
160 – Justin Bowland, Foley (2-2)
160 – Colby Mehrkens, Zumbrota-Mazeppa (0-2)
171 – Tyler Lehmann, Apple Valley (5-2) 4th Place
171 – Ben McPhail, Pine Island (2-2)
189 – Benjamin Dahl, Zumbrota-Mazeppa (2-2)
189 – Logan Brand, Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson (1-2)
HS Sophomore Division
Top 20 Team Results
1. Pennsylvania 277.5
2. New York 206.5
3. New Jersey 169.5
4. North Carolina 122.0
5. West Virginia 113.5
6. Florida 100.5
7. Ohio 97.0
8. Colorado 91.5
9. California 86.5
10. Virginia 85.0
11. Illinois 58.0
12. Missouri 53.5
13. Kentucky 52.0
14. South Dakota 51.0
15. Delaware 49.0
15. South Carolina 49.0
17. Tennessee 47.5
18. Minnesota 44.5
19. Nebraska 44.0
20. Georgia 39.0
20. Oregon 39.0
Team Minnesota Individuals (6 MN wrestlers)
103 – Jacoby Bergeron, Thief River Falls (2-2) 1 win from top 8
112 – Zachary Goldberg, Lakeville North (0-2)
130 – Grant Kyllo, Zumborta-Mazeppa (2-2)
135 – Adam Kelling, Cambridg-Isanti (1-2)
140 – Steven Keogh, Thief River Falls (5-0) Champion
215 – Nick Cervantes, Thief River Falls (1-2)
HS Freshmen Division
Top 20 Team Results
1. Pennsylvania 204.5
2. New York 185.0
3. New Jersey 165.0
4. Virginia 127.5
5. California 122.0
5. Ohio 122.0
7. Florida 93.5
8. West Virginia 80.0
9. North Carolina 77.0
10. Tennessee 74.5
11. Alaska 68.0
12. South Carolina 59.0
13. Alabama 58.0
14. Indiana 55.0
15. Colorado 54.0
16. Oregon 48.0
17. Texas 46.0
18. Maryland 44.0
19. Kentucky 42.0
32. Minnesota 9.0
Team Minnesota Individuals (2 MN wrestlers)
103 – Tyler Tischer, Cambridge-Isanti (0-2)
152 – Clayton Jennissen, Cambridge-Isanti (3-2) 7th Place