Crookston

The Guillotine – February 11, 2021

The February 11, 2021 issue of The Guillotine has arrived! Content in this issue includes: Wrestling For Family - Derrick Cardinal | Driven to Win by a Hatred of Losing - Chase DeBlaere | The Natural - Dominik Vacura | Lace ‘Em Up - Heartbreak and Uncertainty | Camps-Clinics-Training | MWCA Report | High School Rankings | Officially Speaking - Officiating Challenges | Performance Nutrition - Supplements | Culture Starts In The Room - Wes Hanson and Crookston Wrestling | Ask The Doc - Following Guidelines | Where Have They Gone? - Rick Ties.

View this issue below.

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Culture Starts In The Room

Wes Hanson and Crookston Wrestling

By Brian Jerzak

In any sport, success doesn't start during a competition. Success begins in the offseason and during practice. To have practices that lead to success, the athletes need to buy into what the coaching staff is selling. That process starts by establishing a culture that begins not on the mat but in the practice room. Crookston head wrestling coach Wes Hanson has taken the Pirates from a sub-.500 program to a team that has had back-to-back-to-back winning seasons and might be on the verge of their best season in years. Hanson and his staff have done it by establishing a culture of hard work, not only in competition but in the practice room.

Hanson's father was a successful wrestler and started his son down the wrestling path.

"My dad wrestled and ended up wrestling at Bemidji State. He introduced me and did some coaching. I started at a young age. Right away, it was enjoyable for me, and once I started competing, I liked the individual nature of the sport. It was a lot of fun."

His dad started him in wrestling, but Hanson's friends were instrumental in stoking a passion for wrestling.

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Pirates have high expectations on the mat

Some coaches will tell you they couldn’t care less about where their team is ranked; that they don’t feel the need to buy whatever hype outside observers are selling.

Wes Hanson isn’t one of those coaches.

In November, Minnesota wrestling website The Guillotine released its first preseason rankings. Five Crookston wrestlers were ranked in the Top 10 of their respective weight classes (four were ranked in the most recent rankings, released Sunday), and as a team, the Pirates were named a “Lean and Mean” team, ranked just outside the Top 10.

“It tells you that these guys have earned some respect,” Hanson, who’s going into his sixth year as Crookston’s head coach, said then. “And they’ve accomplished a lot already.” Continue reading at crookstontimes.com →