Wolves earn three medals at state meet

By GARY LARSON
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 3/6/03

Milaca wrestlers earned three medals at the Class AA State Individual Wrestling Tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

"We had six entrants and came away with three wrestlers who placed...thatís a good showing in a tournament that gets tougher and tougher every year," said Milaca Coach Randy Zimmer. "It was a good way to end the season."

Junior Clay Hoeck at 135 pounds, junior Mitch Vedders at 160 and sophomore John Fradette at 125 were the Wolvesí medal winners. Hoeck placed second while Vedders claimed a third place and Fradette notched a fifth place.

Sophomore Chuck LaMee at 103, junior Josh Dehart at 112 and junior Steve Jacobson at 215 also competed for Milaca but didnít place.

ïHoeck, Milacaís lone Section 6AA champion this year and a fourth-place finisher at 125 pounds at the state meet last year, opened his 2003 bid by topping junior Cole Roeder (32-8 record) of Stewartville 18-5 in the first round. Roeder entered the state meet ranked No. 7 at 135 by The Guillotine magazine while Hoeck was No. 2.

Hoeck then stopped sophomore Kurt Haakinson (27-8) of Sauk Centre 9-3 in the quarterfinals and junior Dustin Boumeester (32-16) of Scott West 8-3 in the semifinals.

Hoeck faced No. 1-ranked and unbeaten junior Mike Folie (36-0) of Waseca in the finals and dropped a 6-0 decision.

"He was very strong--it was hard to get anything going against him," said Hoeck. "Overall, Iím happy with how I wrestled--Iíd just like to finish one place higher."

Hoeckís 3-1 mark at the state meet boosted his season record to 34-4 and his career record to 161-37. He ranks No. 3 on Milacaís all-time victory list behind Matt Roth (169-16) and Adam Johnson (163-55). Roth graduated from Milaca in 1998 while Johnson graduated from Faith Christian School in 2001.

ïVedders, who placed second at 152 pounds at the 2002 state meet, dropped an 11-3 decision to senior Kyle Kohls (38-2) of Watertown-Mayer in the first round. Vedders, who took a 33-1 mark into the state meet, was ranked No. 1 at 160 while Kohls was ranked No. 10.

Vedders then had to hope Kohls won his quarter-final match which would allow Vedders to continue in the wrestlebacks. Kohls did, then went on to place second, losing to No. 3-ranked Andy Przekwas (35-2) of Roseau in the finals.

Vedders, meanwhile, strung together four-straight wins to place third.

He stopped senior Adam Buboltz (29-5) of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 10-2, sophomore Kevin Landry (41-2) of Cannon Falls 3-2 and senior Travis Gottschalk (27-5) of Litchfield 6-1 to reach the third-place match. Landry was ranked sixth at 160 while Gottschalk was No. 5.

Vedders stopped junior Chas Betts (31-4) of St. Michael-Albertville 4-2 for third place. Betts, who had earlier topped second-ranked senior Joey Stoutland (42-3) of Scott West, was ranked seventh.

"It was tough waiting to see if Iíd be able to move into the wrestlebacks," said Vedders, who boosted his season record to 37-2. "I was pretty determined to come back from the loss and take third place."

Vedders lifted his career record to 138-53.

Big Lake junior Ben Hoglund, who topped Vedders for the 6AA title, placed 1-2 at the state meet and didnít place.

ïFradette, who was 0-2 at 135 pounds at the 2002 state tournament, opened his 2003 bid at 125 by topping sophomore Aaron Cook (31-8) of Waconia-Mayer Lutheran 7-5. Fradette, who wasnít ranked, then handled seventh-ranked junior Corey Swenson (33-8) of Pequot Lakes-Pine River 10-4 in the quarter-finals.

Fradette then ran into unbeaten and top-ranked senior Tony Noyes (40-0) of New London-Spicer and lost a 5-3 decision. Noyes went on to stop Section 6AA champion and No. 2-ranked senior Kent Nathe (33-2) of Sartell 6-4 in the title match.

Fradette lost to sophomore Zach Winter (32-3) of Sauk Centre 8-2 in his first consolation match before stopping junior Jeff Stuckenbroker (36-8) of Windom Area 9-6 in the match for fifth place. Winter was ranked No. 3 while Stuckenbroker was No. 6.

"I went into the meet with a goal of placing in the top six," said Fradette. "Overall, I felt I wrestled well against some tough competition. Noyce is a great wrestler but I felt I stayed with him."

Fradette finished with a 29-11 season record, which boosted his career mark to 53-26.

ïDehart dropped his first match to senior Shane Walton (30-7) of Pequot Lakes-Pine River 8-7 in double overtime Walton, who was ranked fifth, went onto place second, losing to No. 2-ranked junior Tyler Safratowich (35-1) of Park Rapids 8-2 in the title match.

Dehart stopped sophomore Eric Schoenberg (30-6) of Melrose 15-14 in the first round of wrestlebacks before losing to senior Nate Rausch (39-4) of Walker-Hackensack 10-8. Rausch, who was ranked fifth, went on to place fifth.

Section 6AA champion and No. 1 ranked senior Ryan Holthaus (41-3) of Foley placed third. He lost to Safratowich 5-2 in the semifinals before topping senior Zach Nelson (35-7) of Kasson-Mantorville 14-7 in the third-place match.

Dehart finished the season with a 22-14 record and has a 28-18 career record.

ïLaMee lost in the first round to No. 2-ranked ninth grader Travis Elg (38-0) of Windom Area 16-0. Elg went on to win the 103-pound crown, topping ninth grader Mike Thorn (39-4) of St. Michael-Albertville 16-4 in the finals. Elg didnít have a close match in the tournament.

LaMee then lost to eighth grader Phillip Moenkedick (35-5) of Perham 5-4 in the wrestlebacks.

Section 6AA 103-pound champion sophomore Jeff Holmgren of North Branch went 2-2 and didnít place.

LaMee finished with a 27-10 season record, moving his career record to 53-24.

ïJacobson lost to junior Kevin Robling (38-5) of Scott West 7-0 in the opening round. Jacobson suffered an ankle injury during the match and was forced to default his match in the wrestlebacks.

Robling, ranked No. 5 at 215, lost in the semifinals to No. 1-ranked senior Kevin Meiners (37-0) of Caledonia 6-1 in the semifinals and eventually placed fifth.

Meiners capped his perfect season by topping No. 2-ranked senior Justin Bronson of Princeton 37-2 in the title match.

Becker junior Jeremy Pederson was Section 6AAís lone state champion as he won the title at 189 and finished the season unbeaten.

Section 6AA team champion Becker lost to 4AA champion St. Michael-Albertville 30-28 in the first round. The Bulldogs, who took a 20-0 mark into the state meet, then lost to Scott West 35-20 in the consolation semifinals.

Litchfield stopped St. Michael-Albertville 33-20 in the Class AA championship match. Hibbing topped Windom Area 32-26 in the third-place match and Scott West handled Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 39-20 for fifth place.

Editorís note: In an oversight, Milaca senior Nic Zieglerís path to third place at 130 pounds at the Section 6AA Tournament was omitted in last weekís Times.

Ziegler topped Brad Aasen of Princeton 9-1 in the quarter-finals, then lost to Greg Stumvoll of Foley 7-3. Ziegler bounced back and pinned Andrew Demuth of Sartell in 1:40 before stopping Joe Lofboom of North Branch in the third-place match 8-6.