High School News

Road Crew aims to continue wrestling success

The Road Crew was 28-2 last season with three state qualifiers

PINE RIVER — The Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus Road Crew wrestling team enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history last winter when they finished 28-2 overall. And now the Road Crew start over with three state qualifiers and a total of 18 letterwinners, on their roster.

“We had an outstanding season last year, maybe our best of all-time if you look at team stats and individual accolades,” said Road Crew coach Travis Hoffarth, whose team is scheduled to open the season by hosting Deer River and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley at PR-B Thursday, Dec. 1. “And yet we fell just a bit short of our ultimate goal of a team section title and state tournament appearance. So our mind set from day one of this season will be ‘we haven’t accomplished anything if we are still talking about last season.’ “

Hoffarth believes his squad does have a “chip on its shoulder” this season.

“We will have to count on a lot of kids to produce on a consistent basis at the varsity level, but I look forward to their continued growth,” he said. “At the same time we have a really strong core of experienced varsity wrestlers who will put points up on the board.” Continue reading at pineandlakes.com →

JCC wrestling team is aiming for the top again

The Jackson County Central wrestling team is top-ranked in the state, and it’s gunning for another state team championship

A typical game is played within the game of competitive sports. Teams with legitimate cravings for high post-season honors are supposed to temper their expectations. If it’s a high school program, coaches and athletes like to say they don’t talk about winning a state high school championship at the beginning of the season.

The idea may be in the back of their minds, and maybe they DO talk about such things privately. But such talk isn’t for public consumption. It’s considered bad form, an embarrassing display of chutzpah that is best kept under wraps.

Things are not like that this year for the Jackson County Central Huskies wrestling team. Yes, the Huskies talk about winning a state championship. Head coach Nate Hanson freely admits it.

And, to be honest, it would only be embarrassing if he and the Huskies pretended differently. Continue reading at dglobe.com →

GWC Announces Changes to Minnesota Christmas Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS – The high school wrestling season is back in swing here in Minnesota, and with it comes new and improved changes to the state’s premier prep invitational as announced by the Gopher Wrestling Club on Friday.

Gopher Wrestling Club is happy to announce that MatBoss has signed to be the official title sponsor of the event starting in 2022, as the tournament will now formally be known as the MatBoss Minnesota Christmas Tournament.

MatBoss is a wrestling stats digital app created by coaches for coaches that integrates wrestling stats directly into the video you record for each match. Developed in 2013, MatBoss was born with the vision to provide an all-inclusive tool for wrestling to aid coaches in creative more successful wrestling teams, working with thousands of high school and college programs across the country.

Continue reading →

High School Milestones – Thursday, December 1, 2022

  • 150th Pin – Ryder Rogotzke, Stillwater, 12th, 182 pounds
  • 100th Win – Jude Olson, Border West, 10th, 145 pounds
  • 100th Win – Jace Cacka, Glencoe-Silver Lake/Lester Prairie, 12th, 170 pounds
  • 100th Win – Brad Little, Woodbury, 10th, 160 pounds
  • 25th Pin – Charlie Born, St. Peter, 10th, 126 pounds
  • 50th Win – Marqvion Haefner, New Ulm, 12th, 152 pounds

Plenty of talent back for the Sabers to dominate on the mat

No. 10 Shakopee seeking sixth straight trip to state

Expectations remain high for the Shakopee wrestling team.

The perennial power Sabers return six state qualifiers — seniors Jadon Hellerud, AJ Smith and Leo Tukhlynovych, sophomores Kyle Linville and Tyler Turzinski and ninth grader Kyler Walters — from last year’s squad that finished 28-5 overall, won the Section 6AAA crown and finished third at state.

Second-year coach Alex Van Krevelen said the goal for the team this season is to get back to the state tournament and make the championship match again.

“A lot of people around the Minnesota wrestling community think Shakopee’s time of domination has run its course,” Van Krevelen said. “For those close to the program, they know that our young hungry group are busting their butts and ready to prove to our supporters that were still here.” Continue reading at swnewsmedia.com →