The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Sports

November 29, 2008

Cougars' Davis sets bar high

East gears for wrestling season

By Jim Rueda

MANKATO — Most student athletes like to set goals before the start of their particular sports seasons. In the case of Mankato East wrestler Daniel Davis, he prefers to set lofty ones.

The senior middle weight is coming off a19-17 season and is shooting for at least 30 wins this winter. But that’s not the ‘lofty’ part of his goals — he also wants to qualify for the Class AA state tournament.

“That’ll be tough,” said Davis, who expects to start the year at 152 pounds and then drop down to 145. “There are some good wrestlers in our section at 145. Three of them are ranked in the preseason poll.”

According to The Guillotine wrestling newspaper, Class AA’s 145-pound preseason rankings include Scott West’s Tyler Kivel in the No. 1 spot, Hutchinson’s Ryan Madson in the fourth position and Watertown-Mayer’s Max Poikonen at No. 9. All three schools are in Section 2AA along with East.

Although the task of qualifying for state may be a challenging one, Davis appears up for it. He has improved every season he’s been on the team and comes from pretty good stock. His father, Randy Davis, used to wrestle at Lake Crystal and his older brother, Michael Davis, was a state qualifier who now wrestles at Minnesota State University.

Daniel Davis has been wrestling since kindergarten. This past offseason he attending Greco-Roman nationals in both Las Vegas and Fargo, N.D. as part of the Minnesota Storm team.

He won his first three matches in Las Vegas before suffering a concussion and had to withdraw from the tournament. He won his first two matches in Fargo and then was eliminated after losing his next two.

“Going to state is something I think every wrestler shoots for,” Davis said. “You have to work hard and pay your dues in practice, and then good things can happen.”

A year ago East compiled an 8-17 record. The 2008-2009 version of the Cougars will be similar in that the squad will be thin in the lower weights and deeper in the middle to upper weights.

“From 145 on up we have a lot of seniors, so that should be our strength,” Davis said.

Davis figures to be one of the team’s most consistent winners as do senior heavyweight Paul Kratzke (30-7 last season) and senior Wyatt Dernyck (24-16).

“We think Nate Roberts is going to turn the corner and be a pretty good wrestler for us this year, too,” East head coach Bruce Urbatch said. Roberts was 13-22 last season.

Owatonna and Albert Lea are again the two favorites in the Big Nine Conference while Scott West and Delano appear to be the teams to beat in the section.

“If we improve the way I think we can, I think we can finish in the middle of the pack in the Big Nine this year,” Urbatch said. “I’d be pretty happy if we can do that.”

The Cougars open the season Saturday, Dec. 6, at Rochester John Marshall.

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