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13th Annual
Central Minnesota Mat Rats Report

By Roger Mischke

February 12, 2008

Coaches, please keep me informed of your team's success throughout the season. With each edition, I would like to share their success in The Central MN Report. Please send relevant information for Class A individual and team ratings as well. I will also report your results to The Guillotine results page if you would like. Please either fax (1-320-363-4192) or email matrat@charter.net / cmmatrat@hotmail.com those tournament brackets and your dual meet results. Thanks, The Mat Rat Roger Mischke.


Central Minnesota’s Top Class AA Teams

1. Foley Falcons

The Falcons have been on a roll; they won the West Central Conference Dual meet championship over No. 5A ranked Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 41-22. The Falcons topped section 6AA foe Becker 48-21, No. 11AAA ranked Centennial 38-21 and AAA lean and mean Sauk Rapids 46-19. They had a great showing at the Saint Michael-Albertville Duals with wins over No. 4AA ranked Saint Michael-Albertville 30-22, Section 6AA foe AA Lean and Mean Annandale-Maple Lake 54-10 and AAA Lean and Mean Mounds View 57-7. They dropped a dual to No. 9AAA ranked Prior Lake in a very good dual 36-21. Brandon Seppelt, Jacob Bowland, Kris Olson and Jordan Linn were all 4-0 and Zach Jackson, Justin Bowland and Mike Siegler all went 3-1 on the day the STMA duals.

2. Saint Michael-Albertville Knights

The Knights topped Mississippi 8 foe Princeton 65-12. They went 2-2 at their dual meet invitational topping AA Lean and Mean Annandale-Maple Lake 52-18 and AAA Lean and Mean Mounds View 49-18. They dropped duals to No. 9AAA ranked Prior Lake 36-24 and No. 3AA ranked Foley in a very good dual 30-22. David Thorn was unbeaten and Dustin Kottke, Jake Lillie, Jordan Scherber and Kyle Schumm were all 3-1 for the Knights at the STMA duals. The Knights topped No. 8AA ranked Milaca 31-26.

3. New London-Spicer Wildcats

The Wildcats topped former Section 5AA rival Bold/BLH 52-9 in dual meet action. They had a very good showing at the Purple Pride tournament in Albany with 225 points and eight wrestlers placing in the top four. Chad Henle, Brandon Keller and John Nething all won championships and Shawn Hatlestad, Billy Dean and Tom Duscher all earned second place. Levi Schultz and Zach Borka earned third place for the Wildcats.

4. Milaca Wolves

The Wolves have had some really impressive showings with wins over Section 7AA foes Grand Rapids 44-19, Chisago Lakes 76-0 and AAA Lean and Mean St. Francis 46-19. The Wolves earned fourth place at the Paynesville duals with a quarterfinal win over AAA Lean and Mean Buffalo 38-14. They dropped a very exciting dual to No. 3A ranked Canby 28-25 and for third place the tired Wolves team dropped a dual to No. 11AA ranked Watertown-Mayer 34-26. David Fradette, Mitch Nelson, Dennis Taute, Roy Ash and Carter Ash all were unbeaten at the Paynesville duals. The Wolves dropped their final season dual to No. 4AA ranked Saint Michael-Albertville 31-26.

5. Monticello Magic

The Magic have been on a roll with a wins over Mississippi 8 Conference foe Rogers and AAA rival Elk River 52-15. They topped Section 6AA foe 33-27 and Mississippi 8 Conference foe Rogers.

6. Fergus Falls Otters

The Otters dropped a dual to Central Lakes Conference foe Alexandria 47-19 and they topped St. Cloud Apollo 36-18. They topped non-conference rival Wheaton-Herman/Norcross 38-32.

7. Dassel-Cokato Chargers

The Chargers topped Wright County Conference rivals Glencoe-Silver Lake/LP 41-21 and Mound-Westonka 52-9. They dropped a very close dual to Section 6AA foe Monticello 33-27.

8. Albany Huskies

The Huskies won two big duals as they topped Section 6AA foes Willmar 52-24 and Rocori 36-30. They also topped AAA St. Cloud Tech 42-30 in non-conference dual meet action. The Huskies had a great performance at their Purple Pride invitational with 159.5 points and 9 wrestlers placing in the top four. Taylor Holthaus won the only championship, Matt Dowell, Jamie Holt, Bryan Schlangen, Kurt Schlangen and Keith Maciejeski all earned second place. John Bredick, Kyle Litchy and Scott Groetsch all earned third place.

9. Annandale/Maple Lake Lightning

The Lightning have struggled a bit as of late; they dropped a pair of Wright County Conference duals to Litchfield 36-31 and a very good Delano team 51-17. They went 1-3 at the Saint Michael-Albertville duals with a win over AAA Lean and Mean Mounds View 31-27. They dropped duals to No. 9AAA ranked Prior Lake 45-18, No. 3AA Foley 54-10 and No. 4AA Saint Michael-Albertville 52-18. Jake Anderson was 4-0 and Brian Redemske and Joe Puncochar were both 3-1 at the STMA duals.

10. Pequot Lakes/Pine River/Backus Road Crew

The Road Crew have been struggling a bit as of late due to a couple of starters missing from their lineup. The Road Crew topped Section 8AA foe Detroit Lakes 42-36. They dropped duals to No. 1AA Perham 58-17 and to Lean and Mean New York Mills 49-20. The Road Crew did have a very good day at the Park Region Conference Tourney by earning third place with 171 points and ten wrestlers placing in the top four. Nic Harrison and Dustin Campbell both won championships and Troy Griffith, Darlan Rubner and Marcus Hernandez all earned second place. Joe Knutson and Zach Humphrey both earned third place and Chris Harrison, Levi Allen and Pat Bresnahan all took fourth place.

11. Mora Mustangs

The Mustangs topped Section 7AA foe Virginia 54-12 and Class A rival Braham 58-16. They dropped matches to Delano 40-32 and to Big Lake 19-51. They had a good showing at the Purple Pride tourney in Albany with 137 points to earn fifth place, despite sitting out one potential champion. The Mustangs had nine wrestlers place in the top four including championships by Dusty Thorhauer and Andrew Youngblom. Blake Menard, and Alex Dahms both earned third place and Ethan Purdy, Seth Saftner, Zane Van Vleet, Tyler Carlson and Britt Drews all took fourth place.

12. BOLD/BLH Warriors

The Warriors dropped a dual to No. 7AA ranked New London-Spicer 52-9. They had a couple of very good duals at the Paynesville tourney with a win over Sauk Centre 50-28 for seventh place. They dropped their quarterfinal dual to No. 3A ranked Canby 39-19 and to No. 9A ranked Paynesville 36-25. Brett Janke, Sam Mouldry and Cody Hatch were all 3-0 at the Paynesville duals.

Litchfield Dragons

The Dragons had a great dual as they topped Wright County Conference rivals Annandale-Maple Lake 36-31 and Orono.


Central Minnesota’s Top Class A Teams

1. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints

The Fighting Saints topped Section 3A foe Benson 58-18 and in a very good showing they topped the field at the Morris Area/Hancock Tourney with 190 points and eight wrestlers advancing into the finals. Kurt Timmons, Klinton VanHeuveln, Kevin Steinhaus, Mitchell Hagen, Joel Bauman, Brad Kniesl and Brad Kinney all won championships and Chris Braaten earned second place. Brad Kinney won his 100th Career Match in the semifinals and Kurt Timmons won his 60th Career match in his first round match.

2. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons

The Falcons dropped their West Central Conference Dual meet championship to N0. 3AA ranked Foley 41-22. The Falcons topped Section 5A foes Eden Valley-Watkins 62-6 and Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 57-11.

3. Paynesville Bulldogs

The Bulldogs earned sixth place at their dual meet invitational with win over BOLD/BLH 36-25. They dropped duals to No. 11AA Watertown-Mayer 43-18 and to AAA Lean and Mean Buffalo 32-30 in a very good dual. Jordan Christian and Cory Spanier were both unbeaten at the Bulldog duals. The Bulldogs closed out their regular season with big wins over Section 5A rival Kimball 52-18, AA rival Rocori 51-7 and Section 3A foe MACCRAY 57-12. Jeff Albright, JordanChristian, Hayden Spaeth, Jon Kerzman and Jordan Spaeth were all unbeaten at the quadrangular.

4. Yellow Medicine East Sting

The Sting earned third place at the Anoka duals with wins over AAA foes Eagan 40-27 and Rosemount 37-29. They dropped a 36-22 dual to Nationally ranked and No. 2AAA ranked Hastings 36-22. The Sting split a pair of duals to Section 3A foes, they topped a tough Pipestone Area team 32-24 and lost a nail biter to Minneota 28-27.

5. Minnewaska Lakers

The Lakers earned third place at the Big Ole Tournament in Alexandria with 166.5 points and ten wrestlers placing in the top four. Danny Braaten and Brandon Manderschied both won championships. Danny Braaten earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his performance at the tourney. Colin Jergenson, David Bond, David Cowen and Austin Otto all earned second place, Cam Schafer and Grant Winter both earned third place. Jacob Braaten and Justin Frederick both took fourth place. They topped Class A Staples-Motley 52-18 and they dropped a non-conference dual to No. 1AA ranked Perham 45-18.

6. Aitkin Gobblers

The Gobblers topped Section 7A foe Royalton 48-22 and Great River Conference foe Hinckley-Finlayson/Pine City 60-10. They topped a pair of Lean and Mean AAA foes Brainerd 36-27 and Sauk Rapids 50-16. The Gobblers had a great showing at the Great River Conference tourney as they topped the field with 233.5 points and eleven wrestlers placing in the top four including championships by Andrew Hallberg, Justin Chouanard, Matt Christensen, Keith Wasserzieher, Dalton Stevens and Nathan Cummings. Taylor Wilke and Craig Leathers both had excellent tourneys to earn second place and Jordan Chouanard, Levi Stifter and Ryan Smith all earned third place.

7. Wadena/Deer Creek Wolverines

The Wolverines topped a pair of Section 6A foes rival Staples-Motley 42-27 and Barnesville 34-32. They did have a very good showing at the Big Ole Tourney in Alexandria where they earned fourth place with 145 points. They had eight wrestlers place in the top four including a pair of championships by Tony Wegscheid and Mitch Steffens and Jordan Rentz earned second place. Jared Wegscheid, Trey VanOrsdel, Eddie Lustila and Isaac Lustila all earned third place and Aaron Uselman took fourth place. The Wolverines dropped a dual to AA rival No. 1 ranked Perham 49-14.

8. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale Raiders

The Raiders turned in a very good performance to win the Park Region Conference Tourney with 186.5 points with eight wrestlers placing in the top four including five championships by Ethan Kern, Matt Moenkedick, Sam Moenkedick, Jake Braaten, Amos Schmidt. Zak Lambert and Wade Moenkedick both earned second place and Dakota Aeling took fourth place. The Raiders topped Section 6A foe CAGC 55-21 and Browerville/Eagle Valley 35-27.

9. New York Mills Eagles

The Eagles had an excellent showing at the Park Region Conference Tourney to earn second place just one point behind Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale with 185.5 points and ten wrestlers placing in the top four. The Eagles topped AA lean and mean Pequot Lakes/Pine River/Backus 49-20. The Eagles topped Walker/Hackensack/Ackley/Nevis 63-6.

10. Browerville/Eagle Valley Broncos

The Broncos topped CACG 67-10 and they dropped a dual to Park Region Conference foe Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale in a very good dual 35-27. The Broncos earned fourth place at the Park Region Conference tourney with 149 points and seven wrestlers in the top four including three championships by Travis Borchert, Tyler Spychalla and Brian Denny. Keith Pudwill, Randy Shamp and Julius Stone all earned second place and Chris Minor took fourth place. The Broncos topped Park Region Conference foe United North Central 63-10 and Staples-Motley 42-27.

11. Osakis Silverstreaks

The Silverstreaks topped Park Region Conference foe UNC 66-7 and Section 5A foe Sauk Centre 39-27. They earned fifth place at the Park Region Conference Tourney with 145.5 points with seven wrestlers placing in the top four including one championship by Wendall Larson. Clinton Wiener earned second place and Isaia Duchene, Cole Erie and Matthew Garvin all earned third place. Chris Ludwig and Austin Collins both took fourth place.

12. Royalton Royals

The Royals have been on a roll as they topped two Section 7A foes Crosby-Ironton in a very close dual 37-35 and Pierz 43-33. They did drop a very close dual to Section 7A foe Mille Lacs 36-33. The Royals topped Central Minnesota Conference foes Howard Lake/Waverly/Winsted 35-33 and Holdingford 40-22 to win the Central Minnesota Conference championship. However they may have been a little tired from the tri with HLWW and Holdingford they did travel to the Morris Area/Hancock tourney where they had a good showing with 141.5 points to earn third place with nine wrestlers placing in the top four. Ben Presler won a championship and also won his 100th career match in an earlier round and Jordan Wentland won a championship. Neil Zimmerman earned second place, Peter Borash earned third place and Brook Hackett, Odin Guerard, Jacob Kasella, Dan Gadacz and Craig Lensing all took fourth place. A special congratulations to the Royals for winning the Central Minnesota Conference Championship.

Crosby-Ironton Rangers

The Rangers dropped a very close dual to Section 7A foe Royalton 37-35. They did earn fourth place at the Wolf Pack Tourney in Walker with 140.5 points and seven wrestles placing in the top four. Hayden Zillmar and Sam Srock both won championships and Andrew Kayfes, Levi Kugel and Ben Rothstein all earned second place. Brandon Biever earned third place and David Booth took fourth place.


Central Minnesota’s Top Class AAA Teams

1. Cambridge-Isanti Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets topped Mississippi 8 Conference foes Big Lake 45-17 and Zimmerman 73-3 to claim the Championship of the Mississippi 8 Conference. The Blue Jackets earned second place at the Blaine Duals with huge wins over AAA Irondale 72-0 and AAA Rochester Mayo 58-6 before dropping the championship to Section 7AAA foe and No. 3AAA ranked Coon Rapids 47-13. Tony Nelson, Derek Swenson, Chad Larson and Dain Olson were 3-0 at the Blaine Duals. Special Congratulation to the Blue Jackets on their Mississippi 8 Conference championship.

2. Alexandria Cardinals

The Cardinals topped Central Lakes Conference foes Fergus Falls 47-19, Sartell 55-15 and Willmar 63-13 to win the Central Lakes Conference Championship. They topped the field at their own Big Ole invitational with 232 points and twelve wrestlers placing in the top four. John Amundson, Charlie Kirscht, Tanner Weltzin, Taylor Morical, Mike Kirscht and Tom Bouressa all won championships. Nate Kelly and Lucas Betterman both earned second and Josh Betterman earned third place. Kyle Fulghum, Isaac Meyer and Ross Carlson all took fourth place. A special Congratulations to the Cardinals on winning the Central Lakes Conference championship.

3. Brainerd Warriors

The Warriors topped Central Lakes Conference foes Sartell 62-7, Sauk Rapids 31-26 and St. Cloud Tech 56-15. And they dropped a pair of duals to AA Big Lake 38-26 and rival Class A Aitkin 38-26.

4. Buffalo Bison

They topped the field of teams at the White Hawk invitational at Mound with 217 points and with nine wrestlers placing in the top four. Carter Vogt, Matt Jeska, Brace Manz and Dylan Tibary all won championships and David Baker, Danny Maghrak and Zack Smith all earned second place. Nick Viner earned third place and Mike Simeon took fourth place. The Bison earned fifth place at the Paynesville duals with win over Sauk Centre 59-12 and for fifth place Class A No. 8 ranked Paynesville 32-30. They dropped their quarterfinal match to No. 8 AA ranked Milaca 38-14. Danny Maghrak and Matt Jeska were both unbeaten at the Paynesville duals.

5. St. Cloud Apollo

The Eagles had a very impressive showing at the Purple Pride tourney in Albany where they earned fourth place with 138 points and they had six wrestlers place in the top four. Four championships were won by all underclassmen Mitch Bengtson, Matt Shaver, Chris Rocheleau and Matt Spoden. Matt was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of tourney and Matt Shaver won the Fall Award with his 2 falls. David Then earned third place and Marcus Ramos took fourth place.

The Eagles topped Wheaton/Herman/Norcross 61-17 in non-conference dual meet action; they did drop a pair of Central Lakes Conference duals to Little Falls in a very close dual 37-33 and to Fergus Falls 36-18.

6. Sauk Rapids Storm

The Storm split a pair of Central Lakes Conference foe Rocori 42-23 and lost to Brainerd in a very good dual 31-26. They dropped duals to No. 3AA ranked Foley 46-19, Becker 44-36, No. 11AAA ranked Centennial 46-21 and to Lean and Mean Class A Aitkin 50-16.

7. Bemidji Lumberjacks

The Lumberjacks topped Spring Lake Park 39-38 at the Blaine Duals and they dropped duals to No. 3AAA ranked Coon Rapids 63-8 and Rochester Mayo 42-33. They topped Section 8AAA foe Moorhead 49-24.

8. Elk River Elks

The Elks dropped a pair of duals to rival Monticello 52-15 and to No. 3AAA Ranked, Section 7AAA foe Coon Rapids 57-11 and No. 9AAA ranked Champlin Park 49-14.

9. St. Cloud Tech Tigers

The Tigers dropped three Central Lakes Conference duals to Little Falls 39-30, Willmar 39-30 and Brainerd 56-15. They also dropped a dual to Lean and Mean AA Albany 42-30.

10. Moorhead Spuds

The Spuds dropped a Section 8AAA dual to rival Bemidji 49-24; they also had a dual with Fargo South; but no score reported on that dual. The Spuds earned fifth place with 87 points at the Big Ole Tourney in Alexandria with five wrestlers placing in the top four. John Wychor won their lone championship, Mark Wychor earned third place and James Stetz, Derek Osland and Nick Langeberg all took fourth place.