Wolves primed and ready on eve of section
Posted 2/14/03

"Weíre as ready as we can be," said Milaca Wrestling Coach Randy Zimmer Monday night, on the eve of the opening two rounds of the Section 6AA Team Wrestling Tournament. "Weíre wrestling well, we have our wrestlers at the weights where we want them and we have a positive attitude.

"Now, weíll see if thatís enough."

Milaca was scheduled to open defense of its 6AA crown Tuesday night against Mora in the quarter-finals of the tournament at Foley. Third-seeded Milaca defeated sixth-seeded Mora 50-20 Jan. 14 and was favored to advance to the semifinals, set Friday at Becker.

Becker, seeded No. 1 with a 17-0 regular-season dual meet record, and Foley, seeded No. 2 with a 24-3 record, were also expected to easily advance to Fridayís semifinals, along with the winner of the North Branch-Princeton match. North Branch was seeded fourth while Princeton was fifth.

The tentative semifinal matches Friday will then match Milaca against Foley and Becker against either North Branch or Princeton at 5 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship match at 8 oíclock, with a trip to the Class AA State Tournament on the line.

Milaca closed its regular season by topping Princeton 45-16 and Aitkin 40-20 in a triangular Friday at Milaca. The wins boosted the Wolves to a 17-9 dual record.

"We looked sharp for the most part," said Zimmer.

Milacaís tentative lineup for the 6AA team meet included (with varsity records in parenthesis):

103 - sophomore Chuck LaMee (21-7) or ninth grader Torin Erickson (9-7).

112 - LaMee or junior Josh Dehart (18-10).

119 - Ninth grader Steven Vedders (22-6).

125 - Sophomore John Fradette (22-8).

130 - Senior Nic Ziegler (10-4) or sophomore Ben Johnson (5-3).

135 - Junior Clay Hoeck (27-2) or senior Doug Lanz (9-12).

140 - Hoeck, Lanz or junior Marshal Anson (6-14).

145 - Sophomore Axel Totzke (6-10).

152 - Sophomore Andy Kotsmith (22-8).

160 - Senior Tony Swenson (11-11) or junior Mitch Vedders (29-0).

171 - Mitchell Vedders or Tony Swenson.

189 - Sophomore Clinton Swenson (5-12) or junior Steven Jacobson (15-8).

215 - Jacobson or ninth grader Andy Peterson (0-4).

Heavyweight - Junior Bryan Witschen (9-5) or sophomore Chris Peterson (4-13).

Milaca dropped regular-season matches to Becker (36-30) and Foley (33-20). Both matches were in December.

"That was then and this is now," said Zimmer. "Becker and Foley have improved since then but so have we."

Beckerís sterling season

Coach Brad Novakís Bulldogs won the tough Wright County Conference (Litchfield, Dassel-Cokato) title with a 7-0 record. And, Becker won five of the six invitational tournaments it competed in.

"Itís been a wonderful season," said Novak, whose Milaca wrestler Andy Kotsmithís uncle. "Itís been a great experience for the wrestlers, the coaches and the school. Weíve wrestled hard and weíve wrestled well."

Still, not winning the 6AA title would take some of the shine off the Bulldogsí accomplishments.

"Weíre at a point where we want to keep going as a team," said Novak, whose team is ranked No. 2 in The Guillotine magazineís Class AA state ratings. "And, that means getting through the section and into the state.

"But, we know that wonít be easy. Both Foley and Milaca have solid teams. Thatís the big advantage of the No. 1 seed--we donít have to beat both of them. And, weíre not looking past our own semifinal match against either North Branch or Princeton."

Becker has nine wrestlers who posted 20 or more wins during the regular season.

That group includes junior Jeremy Pederson (31-0) at 189 pounds, ninth grader Russ Lumley (30-2) at 112, senior Kent Backes (29-3) at 130, junior Jon Koranda (29-3) at 140, senior Eric OíBrien (29-4) at 145, junior Jadian Foley (25-5) at 160, eighth grader Rob Koranda (24-6) at 103, Josh Saba (21-11) at 135 and senior Jevon Foley (21-11) at 152.

"A key for us has been how much our younger wrestlers improved during the season," said Novak. "They really gave our veterans a boost."

Foley on a roll

Foley, which lost to Becker (36-28) in December, ended the regular season by topping powerful Forest Lake 31-30. The Falcons also stopped potent Elk River 28-26 down the stretch.

"Itís been an outstanding season for us," said Foley Coach Lyle Freudenberg. "We had some big wins and weíve wrestled very well the past month.

"Weíre where we had hoped to be going into the section meet."

Senior Ryan Holthaus at 112-119 is 32-2 while senior Greg Frank is 29-4 at 171 and sophomore Greg Stumvoll is 29-5 at 130.

Ninth grader Josh Gondeck at 103, junior Eric Seppelt at 135, junior Jeremy Rau at 145-152, junior Josh Freudenberg at 160 and senior heavyweight Ryan Henry also reached 20 wins.

Milaca 45, Princeton 16
Hwt - Josh Hein (P) dec. Chris Peterson, 3-1, OT.
103 - Torin Erickson (M) tech. fall over Joe Meinert, 15-0.
112 - Chuck LaMee (M) dec. Nick Peltier, 11-6.
119 - Josh Dehart (M) pinned Jac Crawford, 1:00.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) pinned David Malchow, :48.
130 - Nic Ziegler (M) dec. Brad Aasen, 7-1.
135 - Tony Peltier (P) dec. John Fradette, 3-2.
140 - Clay Hoeck (M) tech. fall over Matt Jensen, 17-2.
145 - Phil Meinert (P) major dec. Axel Totzke, 12-3.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Evan Pemberton, 8-2.
160 - Tony Swenson (M) dec. T.J. Hobbs, 9-5.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) tech. fall over Scott Chalupnik, 15-0.
189 - Steven Jacobson (M) pinned Peter Beck, :59.
215 - Justin Bronson (P) pinned Andy Peterson, 2:57.
Note: The match began at the heavyweight classification.
Milaca 40, Aitkin 20
Hwt. - Bryan Witschen (M) pinned Mikael Arvidson, 3:01.
103 - Torin Erickson (M) dec. Korey Tibbets, 2-0.
112 - Trevor Sterling (A) dec. Chuck LaMee, 3-2.
119 - Scott Chester (A) major dec. Josh Dehart, 16-3.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) dec. B.J. Wasserzieher, 8-5.
130 - Jordan Keil (A) major dec. Nic Ziegler, 13-3.
135 - John Fradette (M) tech. fall over Shannon McLean, 18-1.
140 - Clay Hoeck (M) tech. fall over Daniel Appel, 17-1.
145 - Axel Totzke (M) dec. Jon Arness, 4-2.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Adam Langren, 9-3.
160 - Mike Wagner (A) dec. Tony Swenson, 2-0.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Josh Setzer, 1:20.
189 - John Lehrke (A) pinned Clinton Swenson, 3:30.
215 - Steven Jacobson (M) pinned Jacob Miller, :45.
Note: The match began at the heavyweight classification.