Wolves host Tigers, Gobblers
before heading into section

By GARY LARSON
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 2/6/03

Milacaís wrestlers host Princeton and Aitkin in a triangular Friday, dropping the curtain on the 2002-2003 regular season.

The Wolves meet Princeton in a Rum River Conference match at 5 p.m., with Princeton facing Aitkin at 6:30 and Milaca meeting Aitkin at approximately 8 oíclock.

Princeton, boosted by three state-ranked wrestlers, is enjoying one of its best seasons in several years while Aitkin comes in on a roll after winning the Great River Conference Tournament last weekend.

"Weíll face some good matches," said Milaca Coach Randy Zimmer. "Both teams have some very good individuals. It will be a couple of good matches before we head into the section tournament."

The Section 6AA Team Tournament opens Tuesday (Feb. 11) with matches at 5 p.m. and 7 oíclock at both Becker and Foley.

The seeding for the meet was scheduled this week and Zimmer expected his team to get the No. 3 seed behind No. 1 Becker and No. 2 Foley. That would put the Wolves into Tuesday action at Foley, with a possibility Milaca would get a bye in the first round and see its first action in the quarter-finals at 7.

The 6AA team meet concludes Friday, Feb. 14, at Becker with the semifinals at 5 p.m. and the championship at 8. Milaca is the defending champion.

"We have our work cut out and we know where we have to improve if weíre going to make a bid to retain our section title," said Zimmer. "We feel we can make a strong showing."

The Section 6AA Individual Tournament is Feb. 21-22 at Big Lake.

********

Milacaís bid for another Rum River title came to an end Thursday, Jan. 30, as St. Michael-Albertville topped the Wolves 32-24 at Milaca. The loss dropped the Wolves to a 5-2 RRC mark.

A Milaca win wouldíve set up the likelihood of a three-way tie for the top spot with SM-A, Foley and Milaca sharing the title.

"We gave it a good effort," said Zimmer. "St. Michael has very good balance. We got some big wins but not as many as we needed."

Junior heavyweight Bryan Witschen and junior Clay Hoeck at 140 pounds notched pins for the Wolves while junior Mitch Vedders at 171, ninth grader Steven Vedders at 119, junior Nic Ziegler at 130 and sophomore Andy Kotsmith at 152 scored decisions.

Mitch Vedders, whoís ranked No. 1 at 160 in the Class AA state individual rankings, topped the Knightsí John Grygelko 6-0. Grygelko is rated No. 6 at 171.

At 125, sophomore John Fradette dropped a tight 8-7 decision to SM-A standout Brandon Dick, who won the Class AA state title at 112 last year and is ranked No. 1 at 119 this season.

At 103, the Knightsí Mike Thorn tipped Milaca sophomore Chuck LaMee 10-6 in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers.

Wolves 2nd at tourney

On Saturday, Milaca placed second at the Paynesville Invitational. The Wolves stopped Renville County West 79-0 in the first round, then trimmed New Ulm 52-18 in the semifinals before losing to No. 3-ranked Paynesville 45-23 in the championship match.

Milacaís junior varsity team, which had topped St. Michael-Albertville, also saw action in the varsity division of the meet as it took the place of West Central.

Milacaís JV lost to Paynesville 75-6 and Hutchinson 48-22 before topping Renville County West 48-25 in the match for seventh place.

"Our varsity won some big matches and our junior varsity held up well against some tough varsity teams," said Zimmer, whose team has a 15-9 record.

WOLVES NOTES: Hoeck claimed his 150th career victory at the Paynesville meet. He has a 25-2 mark this season and a career record of 152-35. Matt Roth holds Milacaís career record of 169-16....

Mitch Vedders is 27-0 this season. Other Wolves with 20 wins include LaMee (20-6), Fradette (21-7), Steven Vedders (20-6) and Kotsmith (20-8).....

LaMee, Fradette, Mitch Vedders, Hoeck and junior Josh Dehart (112) were unbeaten at Paynesville....

Paynesville Wrestling

Invitational
First Round
Milaca 79, Renville County West 0
New Ulm 34, Sauk Centre 28
Paynesville 75, Milaca Junior Varsity 6
Perham 32, Hutchinson 32, Perham advances in winners bracket because of tie-breaker
Championship Semifinals
Milaca 52, New Ulm 18
Paynesville 37, Perham 19
Consolation Semifinals
Hutchinson 48, Milaca Junior Varsity 22
Sauk Centre 51, Renville County West 25
Championship
Paynesville 45, Milaca 23
Third Place
Perham 31, New Ulm 28
Fifth Place
Hutchinson 35, Sauk Centre 32
Seventh Place
Milaca Junior Varsity 48, Renville County West 25
Milaca 79, Renville County 0
103 - Chuck LaMee (M) pinned Isaiah Johns, :47.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) dec. Jared Sietsema, 10-7.
119 - Steven Vedders (M) pinned Steve Johnson, 2:27.
125 - John Fradette (M) pinned Jordan Schwates, :41.
130 - Nic Ziegler (M) won by forfeit.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) won by forfeit.
140 - Doug Lanz (M) won by forfeit.
145 - Axel Totzke (M) pinned Eric Schmidtman, 2:35.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) major dec. Shane Zeitz, 13-4.
160 - Tony Swenson (M) pinned Ben Hale, :35.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Bob Huseby, :53.
189 - Clinton Swenson (M) won by forfeit.
215 - Steven Jacobson (M) pinned Dave Larson, 1:34.
Hwt. - Bryan Witschen (M) won by forfeit.
Milaca 52, New Ulm 18
103 - Chuck LaMee (M) tech. fall over Adam Hoffman, 5:26.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) major dec. Neal Wenninger, 16-4.
119 - Steven Vedders (M) dec. Jeff Giegeke, 2-0.
125 - John Fradette (M) tech. fall over Chris Koob, 5:28.
130 - Nic Ziegler (M) pinned Geoff Berunek, 1:09.
135 - Doug Lanz (M) pinned Curt Thoreson, :36.
140 - Clay Hoeck (M) tech. fall over Mike Kral, 6:00.
145 - Dan Mielke (NU) pinned Axel Totzke, 5:28.
152 - Paul Ruch (NU) dec. Andy Kotsmith, 7-3.
160 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Tim Kral, 1:36.
171 - Matt Wenninger (NU) dec. Tony Swenson, 10-7.
189 - Steven Jacobson (M) pinned Kyle Lebrun, 1:19.
215 - Travis Kufderheide (NU) won by forfeit.
Hwt. - Bryan Witschen (M) pinned Trent Zubel, :40.
Paynesville 45, Milaca 23
103 - Chuck LaMee (M) pinned Joey Sheridan, 1:23.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) dec. Cory Christenson, 9-4.
119 - Pat Noonan (P) dec. Steven Vedders, 6-5.
125 - John Fradette (M) dec. Sean Glenz, 7-4.
130 - Josh Johnson (P) pinned Nic Ziegler, 2:40.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) major dec. Justin Reeck, 11-1.
140 - Adam Christian (P) pinned Doug Lanz, 1:26.
145 - Matt Kerzman (P) pinned Axel Totzke, 1:57.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Joel Kerzman, 5-2.
160 - Josh Kerzman (P) pinned Tony Swenson, 3:53.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) major dec. Ryan Glenz, 18-10.
189 - Pat Utsch (P) pinned Clinton Swenson, 2:39.
215 - Marty Engen (P) won by forfeit.
Hwt. - Brad Person (P) pinned Bryan Witschen, 4:12.
Paynesville 75, Milaca JV 6
103 - Torin Erickson (M) pinned Joey Sheridan, 1:35.
112 - Cory Christenson (P) pinned Cody Kragt, 3:55.
119 - Pat Noonan (P) pinned Kaleb Coffee, 2:32.
125 - Sean Glenz (P) pinned Zach Majerus, 3:58.
130 - Josh Johnson (P) dec. Ben Johnson, 7-6.
135 - Adam Christian (P) pinned Mike Rygh, 1:50.
140 - Justin Reeck (P) pinned Marshal Anson, 1:46.
145 - Matt Kerzman (P) pinned Steven Swenson, 1:26.
152 - Joel Kerzman (P) pinned Tony Moscho, 1:56.
160 - Josh Kerzman (P) pinned Steven Yeats, :47.
171 - Ryan Glenz (P) pinned Dominic Ruis, 2:35.
189 - Marty Engen (P) pinned Tyler Theisen, :22.
215 - Pat Utsch (P) pinned Andy Peterson, 5:40.
Hwt. - Brad Person (P) pinned Chris Peterson, 5:39.
Hutchinson 48, Milaca JV 22
103 - Derek Bomitad (H) dec. Torin Erickson, 10-9.
112 - Corey Snufelt (H) dec. Cody Kragt, 11-6.
119 - Jake Schiller (H) pinned Kaleb Coffee, 1:29.
125 - Zach Majerus (M) pinned Tim Johnson, 1:06.
130 - Jacob Danger (M) dec. Nigel Erickson, 11-6.
135 - Mike Rygh (M) major dec. J.J. Goldschmidt, 17-4.
140 - Marshal Anson (M) pinned Will Eckstrom, 1:25.
145 - Andy Merkhs (H) pinned Steven Swenson, :28.
152 - Tony Moscho (M) dec. Keith Moon, 8-2.
160 - Blake Kaping (H) pinned Steven Yeats, 1:40.
171 - Mike Felling (H) pinned Dominic Ruis, 3:06.
189 - Tim Bjork (H) pinned Tyler Theisen, 1:23.
215 - David Markgruf (H) pinned Andy Peterson, 5:01.
Hwt. - Jon May (H) pinned Chris Peterson, :49.
Milaca JV 48,
Renville County 25
103 - Torin Erickson (M) pinned Zach Freiberg, :44.
112 - Cody Kragt (M) dec. Joe Dombroten, 10-5.
119 - Jared Sietsema (RC) pinned Kaleb Coffee, 3:16.
125 - Zach Majerus (M) dec. Cory Enstvedt, 4-2.
130 - Ben Johnson (M) won by forfeit.
135 - Mike Rygh (M) won by forfeit.
140 - Marshal Anson (M) won by forfeit.
145 - Eric Schmidtman (RC) major dec. Steven Swenson, 13-2.
152 - Shane Zietz (RC) pinned Tony Moscho, 3:55.
160 - Steven Yeats (M) pinned Ben Hale, 2:35.
171 - Dominic Ruis (M) pinned Matt Peterson, 1:01.
189 - Bob Huseby (RC) dec. Tyler Theisen, 17-13, OT.
215 - Dave Larson (RC) pinned Andy Peterson, 2:05.
Hwt. - Chris Peterson (M) won by forfeit.
********
St. Michael-Albertville 32,
Milaca 24
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) dec. John Grygelko, 6-0.
189 - Jake Bjorklund (SMA) pinned Clinton Swenson, :53.
215 - Adam Roden (SMA) pinned Steven Jacobson, 2:59.
Hwt. - Bryan Witschen (M) pinned Andy Gapinski, 1:34.
103 - Mike Thorn (SMA) dec. Chuck LaMee, 10-6.
112 - Joe Grygelko (SMA) dec. Josh Dehart, 8-4.
119 - Steven Vedders (M) dec. Matt Hackenmueller, 6-1.
125 - Brandon Dick (SMA) dec. John Fradette, 8-7.
130 - Nic Ziegler (M) dec. Chad Little, 7-4.
135 - Kurt Schumm (SMA) dec. Ben Johnson, 7-4.
140 - Clay Hoeck (M) pinned Jake Grygelko, 1:58.
145 - Mickey Kirk (SMA) major dec. Axel Totzke, 13-4.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Josh Becker, 6-3.
160 - Chas Betts (SMA) major dec. Tony Swenson, 16-7.