Readers’ Choice: Wrestling Rivalries

One of my favorite things about athletics is the rivalries. The Vikings against the Packers, enormous in my baseball-crazed house, the Twins vs. the White Sox, the Gophers against Iowa – in any sport but for my money, football and wrestling, and some personal favorites from my youth that still gets my blood boiling: Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota in hockey (go Bulldogs), Milaca against Foley in anything, but especially wrestling, and Milaca against Princeton regardless of the sport.

As noted a few times, wrestling is saturated with great rivalries. A few months ago, I thought it would be fun to ask you – the reader – who you thought were the best high school wrestling rivalries in Minnesota. I decided to post a question on my Twitter page. What is the best high school wrestling rivalry in Minnesota? The rivalry that got the most votes would be the subject of my next story for The Guillotine. I got a great response from across the state. Here are the results:

1 Simley vs. Kasson-Mantorville
2 Albert Lea vs. Owatonna (tie)
2 Minneota vs. Canby (tie)

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Catching up with Dr. Tuomo Karilla!

By Chad Otterness

Tuomo Karilla was a foreign exchange student in 1985-86, attending Canby High School via Finland. One of the best “recruits” to ever come to Minnesota. After high school, he went on to become a two-time Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestler.

Karila’s host brother, Anthony Birk, shared some recollections from that time:

Tuomo was an experienced wrestler when he came to Canby as an exchange student in 1985 at the age of 17. The previous year he had taken the Bronze Medal wrestling Greco-Roman in the Finnish National Championships and also wrestled Freestyle. However, he had never wrestled folkstyle.

Our family had a wrestling mat in the basement, and from the time he arrived until the start of the wrestling season, Tuomo practiced and studied the rules of folkstyle wrestling. By the time the season started, he had begun to adapt quite well but still used a lot of Greco-Roman techniques.

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The Guillotine – October 13, 2006

The October 13, 2006 issue of The Guillotine has arrived! Content in this issue includes: Open Tournament Calendar | Lace ‘em up | Summer Wrestling in Review | MWCA President‘s Report | Ask the Doc | There is no ‘I‘ in TEAM... or in Canby | Junior/Cadet Nationals Results and Photos | Officially Speaking | Where are they going in 2006-07? | Through the Eyes of Mom | Coaching changes | Olympic Champion headlines clinic | Gophers picked first by RevWrestling | MN/USA Wrestling Awards Banquet.

View this issue below.

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