Wolves notch third place
at Stillwater Tournament
Posted 1/15/03

Milaca won two of three matches to claim third place at the annual Stillwater Wrestling Invitational Saturday.

The Wolves, who were seeded No. 4 in the meet, topped fifth-seeded Stillwater 38-31 in the first round before losing to top-seeded Simley 46-15 in the semifinals. Milaca then stopped Rosemount 34-29 in the third-place match.

Simley, ranked No. 2 in the Class AAA state team ratings compiled by The Guillotine magazine and No. 8 in the national high school team poll, trimmed New Prague 49-16 in the championship match.

"We went into the tournament looking for three tough matches and thatís what we got," said Milaca Coach Randy Zimmer. "Simley has a great team and we won five matches and came close in a couple others against it.

"And, we beat a couple of good teams in Stillwater and Rosemount. We had some good performances."

Juniors Josh Dehart at 112 pounds, Clay Hoeck at 135 and Mitch Vedders at 160 and 171 went unbeaten for Milaca in the tourney.

Vedders, who was named outstanding wrestler in the tournament by meet officials, topped Simley standout senior Kyle Anderson 3-0. Anderson is ranked No. 1 in the Class AAA individual state rankings while Vedders is ranked No. 1 at 160 in Class AA.

Vedders, who now has a 19-0 record, topped Anderson by scoring a takedown in the first period and an escape in the third period.

Hoeck, who boosted his record to 17-2, topped two ranked wrestlers in the meet, stopping junior Chris Anderson of Stillwater 10-1 and sophomore Mitch Millner of Simley 5-0. Anderson is ranked No. 5 at 130 in Class AAA while Millner is No. 4 at 140.

Hoeck is ranked No. 2 at 135 in Class AA behind senior Jeff Cooley of Red Rock Central.

Milacaís other winners against Simley were ninth grader Steve Vedders at 125 and sophomore Andy Kotsmith at 152. Kotsmith topped junior Tony Biggs 9-7. Biggs is ranked No. 8 at 160 in Class AAA.

In the third-place match against Rosemount, sophomore Chuck LaMee at 103, Dehart at 112, sophomore John Fradette at 130, Hoeck at 135, senior Doug Lanz at 140, sophomore Axel Totzke at 152 and Vedders at 171 notched wins, with LaMee, Hoeck, Lanz and Totzke scoring falls.

Milaca, which trimmed North Branch 54-18 Tuesday, Jan. 7, in a Rum River Conference match at North Branch, travels to Pierz for a non-conference match Friday night at 7:30.

Milaca is 9-7 overall and 2-1 in RRC matches. The Wolves are ranked No. 8 in the Class AA state ratings.

Junior varsity

keeps on rolling

Milacaís junior varsity team continued unbeaten (10-0) by claiming the junior varsity title at the Stillwater meet. The Wolves rocked St. Paul Arlington 84-0, and Rosemount 48-21 before clipping Simley 55-18 in the finals.

Ninth grader Chris Kragt at 112, ninth grader Cody Kragt at 119, junior Mike Rygh at 140, sophomore Steven Swenson at 145, sophomore Tony Moscho at 152, sophomore Steven Yeats at 160 and sophomore Dominic Ruis at 171 scored pins against Simley. Ninth grader Torin Erickson won a major decision at 103, sophomore Ben Johnson won a decision at 130 and junior Tyler Theisen won by forfeit at 189.

Earlier this season, the Milaca junior varsity won titles at the St. Michael-Albertville and Milaca invitationals.

Stillwater Wrestling
Invitational
Saturday, Jan. 11
First Round
Milaca 38, Stillwater 31
Simley 84, St. Paul Arlington 0
Rosemount 33, Goodhue 25
New Prague 56, Tartan 15
Championship Semifinals
Simley 46, Milaca 15
New Prague 36, Rosemount 29
Consolation Semifinals
Goodhue 50, Tartan 17
Stillwater 78, St. Paul Arlington 0
Championship
Simley 49, New Prague 16
Third Place
Milaca 34, Rosemount 29
Fifth Place
Goodhue 34, Stillwater 30
Seventh Place
Tartan 72, St. Paul Arlington 4
Milaca 38, Stillwater 31
103 - Chuck LaMee major dec. Dan McSwain, 24-11.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) pinned Ryan Schumacher, 1:03.
119 - Mark Lehman (S) major dec. Zach Majerus, 14-3.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) pinned Andy Secor, 1:43.
130 - John Fradette (M) tech. Fall over Josh Gephart, 5:33.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) major dec. Chris Anderson, 10-1.
140 - Dylan Martinez (S) pinned Doug Lanz, 3:20.
145 - Ryan Gamoni (S) dec. Marshal Anson, 9-4.
152 - Dustin Dahlblom (S) won by forfeit.
160 - Andy Kotsmith (M) major dec. Eric Greeder, 22-10.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Kevin McCloskey, 2:22.
189 - Tony Swenson (M) dec. Ryan LeFrance, 10-7.
215 - Marcus Elmar (S) pinned Clinton Swenson, 1:18.
Hwt. - Aaron Stewart (S) pinned Chris Peterson, 3:02.

Simley 46, Milaca 15
103 - Dan Tabbert (S) pinned Chuck LaMee, 5:58.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) dec. Alex Watrud, 9-7.
119 - Seth Anderson (S) pinned Zach Majerus, 1:51.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) dec. Steve Staples, 2-0.
130 - Brandon Murphy (S) dec. John Fradette, 2-0.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) dec. Mitch Millner, 5-0.
140 - Jeff Grossland (S) pinned Doug Lanz, 1:25.
145 - Wally Schramm (S) dec. Marshal Anson, 8-5.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Tony Biggs, 9-7.
160 - Mitch Vedders (M) dec. Kyle Anderson, 3-0.
171 - George Lynaugh (S) won by forfeit.
189 - Joe Conley (S) major dec. Tony Swenson, 20-7.
215 - Nick Rydberg (S) pinned Clinton Swenson, 1:17.
Hwt. - Casey Hellenberg (S) pinned Chris Peterson, :37.

Milaca 34, Rosemount 29
103 - Chuck LaMee (M) pinned Justin Lebahn, 3:56.
112 - Josh Dehart (M) major dec. Matt Westin, 15-5.
119 - Justin Weeks (R) tech. fall over Zach Majerus, 5:58.
125 - Nick Walsh (R) dec. Steven Vedders, 5-3.
130 - John Fradette (M) dec. Jason Freeman, 6-0.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) pinned Colin Voigt, 4:52.
140 - Doug Lanz (M) pinned David Weber, 1:05.
145 - Scott Francios (R) dec. Marshal Anson, 12-5.
152 - Axel Totzke (M) pinned Eric Pittelkow, 1:50.
160 - Sam Benfonte (R) dec. Andy Kotsmith, 5-2.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) major dec. Zac Cornett, 11-0.
189 - Mitch Vaneps (R) pinned Tony Swenson, 1:57.
215 - Billy Fink (R) dec. Clinton Swenson, 15-10.
Hwt. - John Bloom (R) pinned Chris Peterson, 3:44.
********
Milaca 54,
North Branch 18
103 - Torin Erickson (M) pinned Chris Newham, :53.
112 - Jeff Holmgren (NB) dec. Chuck LaMee, 4-0.
119 - Josh Dehart (M) pinned Jack Xiong, 2:11.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) won by forfeit.
130 - John Fradette (M) pinned Erik Fritch, 1:48.
135 - Ben Johnson (M) pinned Vince Zaffke, 1:34.
140 - Clay Hoeck (M) pinned Ryan Decorsey, 1:21.
145 - Joe Holmgren (NB) dec. Marshal Anson, 5-2.
152 - Axel Totzke (M) dec. Alex Geizewski, 10-6.
160 - Andy Kotsmith (M) pinned Sam Suparal, 3:33.
171 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Luke Keocher, 3:25.
189 - Tony Swenson (M) dec. Matt Davidson, 9-4.
215 - Jarrod Swanson (NB) pinned Clinton Swenson, 4:42.
Hwt. - Jeremy Bergerson (NB) pinned Chris Peterson, 5:27.
Note: Match began at the 130-pound weight class.