Guillotine Grapevine Podcast: UMary head wrestling coach Adam Aho is burning the boats and building a program in Bismarck

We’re going to #BurnTheBoats with University of Mary head wrestling coach Adam Aho on the latest edition of The Guillotine Grapevine. Aho is a Frazee native who wrestled at North Dakota State before venturing to coach high school for a couple of seasons. He had an opportunity to coach with Jim Makovsky down in Mankato before the Mary gig opened up.

We’ll talk about his time in Frazee and what it’s like wrestling with that program, his relationship with Bucky Maughan and what it’s been like building a program in Bismarck.

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Bison Past And Present: Adam Aho, A Wrestling Life

Adam Aho continues to make an impact on and off the mat, this time as head coach for the University of Mary in Bismarck.

Adam Aho may not have known it, but he was destined to become a wrestling coach. With mentors like his father, Marty, an assistant coach at Frazee High School for 44 years, legendary Bison wrestling coach Bucky Maughan and Minnesota State University Mankato head coach Jim Makovsky, he was groomed to become a coach. He was not even 30 years of age when Aho got his first head coaching job at the University of Mary in Bismarck. He has now turned a once-dismal program around and is looking to leave his mark.

Coming from Frazee, Minnesota, Aho was immediately on the radar of North Dakota State’s wrestling program. His senior year with the Hornets saw him compile an unreal 47-1 record and a state championship. His 225 career high school wins is still one of the top marks in the state of Minnesota. Never the less, he was pursued by other schools, even after committing to be a Bison.

Aho says Wisconsin came to him very late in the recruiting season. This came after Aho himself defeated several Wisconsin commits in high school matches. While the glare of the Big Ten loomed largely, Aho stayed true to North Dakota State. Continue reading at www.bisonillustrated.com

Frazee’s Schermerhorn carries family tragedy with him on the wrestling mat

Missy Carlson had just put her sons to bed on a summer day in 2001. Josh was a week away from turning 6 years old and Tanner was 1½ —a few months from putting on his first wrestling singlet. She went out to the garage of their Frazee home to talk with her husband, as she often did at the end of their day.

Scott Schermerhorn, known to most in Frazee as “Shorty” based off his height, had gotten off work early that day. He was an avid demolition derby driver and was working on his car to get ready for Frazee’s Turkey Days. Missy and Shorty were high school sweethearts. Missy was the manager for the Frazee wrestling team and Shorty wrestled for the Hornets.

Missy came out to the garage to find Shorty not moving underneath his car. He was a three-time state qualifier and a state runner-up at Frazee. She had seen him get up many times. She tried to revive him before calling for an ambulance.

“I tried CPR, but in my heart I knew he was gone,” Missy said. Continue reading at www.wday.com