Wolves continue to remain
in hunt for Rum River crown
Posted 1/23/03

Milaca will try to keep its Rum River Conference wrestling hopes alive Friday night when it travels to Big Lake for a pair of matches. The triangular also includes Pine City.

The Wolves face Pine City at 6 p.m. and the host Hornets at 7:30. Pine City will face Big Lake at 4:45 p.m.

Milaca boosted its RRC record to 3-1 and its overall mark to 11-7 with a pair of wins last week. The Wolves topped Mora 50-20 in a conference match Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Milaca, then trimmed Pierz 37-22 in a non-conference match Friday at Pierz.

Conference newcomer St. Michael-Albertville leads the Rum River with a 5-0 record while Foley, which topped Milaca Dec. 19, is 4-1. Milaca hosts SM-A Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7:30.

"We wrestled well against Mora and Pierz but we know we still need to improve," said Milaca Coach Randy Zimmer. "Weíll see some good matches Friday."

Against Mora, ninth grader Torin Erickson at 103 pounds, ninth grader Steven Vedders at 125 and sophomore Ben Johnson at 135 scored falls for the Wolves while sophomore John Fradette at 130 and sophomore Andy Kotsmith at 160 notched technical falls.

Against Pierz, junior Mitch Vedders remained unbeaten with a pin at 160. Junior Steven Jacobson, back in action after being sidelined with an injury, scored a pin at 215 and junior Bryan Witschen notched a pin at heavyweight.

WOLVES NOTES: Mitch Vedders leads the Wolves with a 21-0 record while Hoeck is 19-2. LaMee is 16-4, Steven Vedders is 15-5, Fradette is 16-6 and Kotsmith is 15-7.....

Milaca dropped out of the top 12 in the Class AA state team rankings published by The Guillotine last week for the first time in several years. Scott West leads the poll, followed by Becker and Paynesville. Foley is ranked No. 12....

Juniors Josh Dehart and Tony Swenson wrestled strong matches against state-ranked Mora wrestlers. Dehart dropped a 6-4 decision to junior Tom Ollestad while Swenson lost to senior Ed Rodenberg 9-3. Ollestad is ranked No. 3 at 119 in the Class AA state individual ratings while Rodenberg is No. 4 at 171. Mora junior Dylan Rosenberg is No. 1 at 152. Mitch Vedders is No. 1 at 160 while Hoeck is No. 2 at 135....

Milaca 50, Mora 20
103 - Torin Erickson (Mil) pinned Chris Sawatzky, 3:37.
112 - Chuck LaMee (Mil) won by forfeit.
119 - Tom Ollestad (Mo) dec. Josh Dehart, 6-4.
125 - Steven Vedders (Mil) pinned Cal Koecher, :59.
130 - John Fradette (Mil) tech. fall over Zach VanVleet, 4:22.
135 - Ben Johnson (Mil) pinned Matt Anderson, 3:39.
140 - Clay Hoeck (Mil) major dec. Joel Patenaude, 16-4.
145 - Mike Mackedanz (Mo) pinned Doug Lanz, 3:55.
152 - Dylan Rosenberg (Mo) tech. fall over Axel Totzke, 6:00.
160 - Andy Kotsmith (Mil) tech. fall over Kim Thompson, 4:37.
171 - Mitch Vedders (Mil) won by forfeit.
189 - Ed Rodenberg (Mo) dec. Tony Swenson, 9-3.
215 - Randon Jackson (Mo) dec. Clinton Swenson, 16-13.
Hwt. - Chris Peterson (Mil) won by forfeit.
Note: Match began at the 145-pound weight class.

Milaca 37, Pierz 22
103 - Chuck LaMee (M) dec. Kyle Bednar, 9-4.
112 - Nathan Janson (P) major dec. Josh Dehart, 15-2.
119 - Jon Andres (P) pinned Dan Crain, 5:24.
125 - Steven Vedders (M) dec. Warren Gall, 8-6.
130 - Kyle Girtz (P) dec. John Fradette, 3-2.
135 - Clay Hoeck (M) major dec. Nathan Britz, 12-3.
140 - Craig Luberts (P) pinned Doug Lanz, 1:35.
145 - Tony Andres (P) dec. Marshal Anson, 6-1.
152 - Andy Kotsmith (M) dec. Tim Young, 12-5.
160 - Mitch Vedders (M) pinned Jesse Zajak, 1:49.
171 - Tony Swenson (M) dec. Josh Otremba, 8-1.
189 - Clinton Swenson (M) dec. Cody Luberts, 14-7.
215 - Steven Jacobson (M) pinned John Brenny, 3:17.
Hwt. - Bryan Witschen (M) pinned Tyler Stumpf, :35.
Note: Match began at the 160-pound weight class.