Wrestling: Down payment on the future

Taylor Venz  Class 3A 106-pound state champion

Coach Chad Olson had a good number of bodies in the wrestling room most nights although he was a little short on seniors.

But that lack of veteran experience, not to mention physical maturity, didn't prevent the Tigers from putting together a quality 2012-13 season.

"We had a good year," Olson said. "We ended on a high note at the section and state tournaments. Injuries and illness prevented us from always putting our best lineup on the mat, but it gave a lot of underclassmen some valuable varsity experience."

Twenty-five Tiger grapplers earned varsity letters for their work this winter, with only two going to seniors: Alex LaVictoire  and Jamie Scavone.

Nine juniors also met letter requirements: Brian Caravantes, Joe Hoeve, Sam Kealy, Joe Liden, Chris McCue, Godfrey Mpetey, Seth Nechville, Jake Rudeen and CJ Wynnings.

Other monogram winners included sophomores Kyle Benjamin, Brayden Chapman, Logan Haakana, Matt Rustad and John Walz; freshmen Trevor Frost, Victor Gliva, Mason Hawkins, Kyle Heusbourg, Hayden Kendall, Jamin LeDuc, Zach Seufer and Taylor Venz and eighth-grader Skyler Raymond. 

Two of the ninth-graders had exceptional seasons. Venz became the second Tiger to become a state champion, winning the Class AA state 106-pound title and setting a new school record for wins in a season with 43 (against 2 losses).

Jamin LeDuc 6th place at state meet (photo by Jim Lindquist)

LeDuc closed out his first varsity campaign with a sterling 33-5 mark and placed sixth at 113 pounds at the state meet.

Hoeve and Benjamin also qualified for the state meet. Other post-season awards will be announced at the team's banquet on April 1.

"We tied the school record for state entrants (4) and state place earners (2)," Olson said. "We were competitive  in just about every dual meet."

On the down side, Olson said his team's season-long battle with illness and injury cost it the opportunity to fare even better.

"We never once had our full 14-man lineup," he said. "We were able to fill 13 spots once and 12 just twice."

The Tiger coach added the loss of just two graduating seniors and the return of four state meet wrestlers, things look good for next season and beyond.

"The four state wrestlers will give us a good nucleus to build around," he said. "We are also moving from Section 2 to Section 1 and we should be very competitive with the top teams there"