“We strive to find excellent students who also happen to be excellent wrestlers,” said Dean Jennissen, MWCA All-State Academic Chairperson. “These young men are truly the ‘best of the best’ and a great example of the caliber of student-athletes we have involved in wrestling state-wide.” The 2010 edition of the MWCA (Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association) All-State Academic Team consists of 28 student-athletes with a combined GPA of 3.72. These wrestlers have amassed over 3,800 career wins with a combined winning percentage of 81%
The 28 honorees will be awarded plaques at the 42nd Annual MWCA Recognition Banquet on Saturday, March 6th at the River Centre Grand Ballroom in St. Paul at 7:15 a.m.
Junior or senior wrestlers are chosen based upon the following criteria:
- Cumulative GPA – 3.95 = 395 points
- State Tournament Participation – 25 points per year
- Overall matches wrestled – wins and losses – 1 point per match
- Winning percentage – 77% = 77 points
- State Tournament Placement – 1st (50 points), 2nd (40), 3rd (35), 4th (25), 5th (20) and 6th (10)
Interesting Facts about the 2010 MWCA All-State Academic Team…
- 5 Individual State Champions made the team
- Foley and Apple Valley each had two winners.
- 8 members are from Class A, 12 from Class AA and 8 from Class AAA
- This year’s team consists of 6 Juniors and 22 Seniors
- 4.0 GPA’s were: Kasson Mantorville’s Garret Garness, Drew Lexvold from Kenyon-Wanamingo, Mora’s Andrew Youngblom and Marshall Ash from the Milaca Wolves.
- Kurt Timmons of KMS, Andrew Youngblom, Mora, Ethan Hildebrandt of St. James and Brandon Seppelt of Foley were members of the 2009 team.
- There were 176 total nominees up from 114 in 2009.
- Thank you to the coaches for nominating these deserving student-athletes and for promoting the great sport of wrestling! Goal for next year: 185 entries!
The 2010 MWCA All-State Academic Team:
| Wrestler | School | |
| 103 | ||
| Kurt Timmons – 12 | Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (A) | |
| Jordan Kingsley – 11 | Apple Valley (AAA) | |
| 112 | ||
| Nick Clobes – 12 | Hutchinson (AA) | |
| Cody Paulsen – 12 | Totino-Grace (AA) | |
| 119 | ||
| Christian Skillings – 11 | Minneota (A) | |
| Travis Borchert – 12 | Browerville/Eagle Valley (A) | |
| 125 | ||
| Sam Warne – 12 | Perham (AA) | |
| Matt Nelson – 11 | Big Lake (AA) | |
| 130 | ||
| Garret Garness – 11 | Kasson-Mantorville (AA) | |
| Drew Lexvold – 12 | Kenyon-Wanamingo (A) | |
| 135 | ||
| Ethan Hildebrandt – 12 | St. James (A) | |
| Ryan Swenson – 11 | Dawson-Boyd/Lac Qui Parle Valley (AA) | |
| 140 | ||
| Tony Vaske – 12 | River Valley (A) | |
| Andrew Youngblom – 12 | Mora (AA) | |
| 145 | ||
| Brandon Seppelt – 12 | Foley (AA) | |
| Dylan Ness – 12 | Bloomington-Kennedy (AAA) | |
| 152 | ||
| Destin McCauley – 11 | Apple Valley (AAA) | |
| Tommy Ruckmar – 12 | South St. Paul (AAA) | |
| 160 | ||
| Troy Morisette – 12 | Tartan (AAA) | |
| John Nething – 12 | New London-Spicer (AA) | |
| 171 | ||
| Ben McPhail – 12 | Pine Island (A) | |
| Justin Bowland – 12 | Foley (AA) | |
| 189 | ||
| Dalton Henderson – 12 | Owatonna (AAA) | |
| John Gusewelle – 12 | Sauk Centre (A) | |
| 215 | ||
| Mitch Hrovat – 12 | Centennial (AAA) | |
| Marshal Ash – 12 | Milaca (AA) | |
| Hwt. | ||
| Mark Wychor – 12 | Moorhead (AAA) | |
| Sam Pokornowski – 12 | Dassel-Cokato (AA) |