Jacob Oyster and United North Central Wrestling
By Brian Jerzak
United North Central (a co-op of Menahga High School and Sebeka High School) had been close to punching their ticket to St. Paul for the last three or four years, and head coach Jacob Oyster knew it.
"I thought in 2020, we could have gone to State, but we lost by two points in the section semifinals," Oyster said. "The COVID year, I thought we had the best team, but we had a couple of key injuries late in the season. Then, we lost another tough kid to COVID protocols."
This past season could have ended like it had the last handful of years – short of a trip to state, but the team brought home a section title for the first time in program history.
"This year felt like a long time coming to everyone in the program. As soon as we locked up the section title – I can't remember if it was at 182 or 195 – but it was a load off my shoulders," Oyster admitted. "I was putting a lot of stress on myself because I thought we should have done it the last couple of years. For the seniors, that was something they had been working for and dreaming about. They knew we should have been there already too. It was huge for them."