By Jim Rueda

MANKATO — For years, Andre Harnitz could see a talented crop of wrestlers coming up through his feeder program and knew, that at some point in time, he would be coaching them in the state tournament. It may have come a year sooner than he expected, but that time is now.

The Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial team came of age this season, compiling a 15-1 record and earning a Class A state tournament berth with a 38-27 victory over BOLD in the finals of the Section 4A Tournament. The sixth-ranked Knights’ only loss came in their first dual of the season when they dropped a 37-32 decision to Jackson County Central.

“The learning curves of these kids has been amazing,” Harnitz said. “They’ve picked up so much from the beginning of the year until now. They respond well to the way we train; they believe in what we’re doing.”

Harnitz didn’t see the state tournament berth coming until the end of January when the Knights competed in the Lake City Invitational. LCWM led the tournament after the first day and wound up in second place behind Medford (another state tourney entrant) in the final standings.

“When that happened I thought we had a chance,” Harnitz said. “I started believing more when we won the Valley Conference Tournament.”

The starting lineup for the young LCWM squad boasts just four upperclassmen. It also includes two eighth-graders, three freshman and five sophomores.

Senior 135-pounder Dylan Yarger is the team’s biggest winner with a 33-6 record. Senior Tyler McMonagle is next at 31-4 while competing mostly at 189 and 215 pounds.

Cody Tibbetts has also reached the 30-win mark. He’s 30-9 while competing at 145-152.

The Knights have truly had a balanced lineup this year. The roster includes only one ranked wrestler in McMonagle, who’s rated seventh at 215.

Harnitz says his most improved wrestlers this year have been sophomore Thomas Sandt (23-16) at 160, senior Denver Colin (26-11) at 171 and freshman Nate Meixell (22-15) at 189.

“Nate has been invaluable to us. He’s wrestled everywhere from 160 up to 215, so he’s helped us out a lot.”

As for making it to state, Harnitz labels it a pleasant surprise.

“My assistant coach (Dean Tibbetts) predicted we would go to state before the start of the season but I just kind of laughed it off because he’s always predicting crazy things like that. I suppose next time he makes a prediction I won’t laugh.”

The Knights begin the state team competition at 11:30 a.m. Thursday against No. 1-ranked Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Scott West

Perennial state tournament entrant Scott West has again qualified for Class AA tournament out of Section 2. The Panthers bring a 23-1 record and a No. 6-ranking to the Xcel Energy Center.

Senior 145-pounder Tyler Kivel, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, has the most wins on the team with a 37-2 record. Sophomore Jake Siegle (125) is next at 30-4 and senior Dillon Fogarty (160) is 30-9.

Junior Lee Goldberg (119), senior Mark Dvorak (130), sophomore Tyler Zilverberg (119), senior Connor Fogarty (171), freshman Michael Kroells (189) and junior Travis Hentges (215) all have at least 25 wins.

The Panthers’ only loss this season was a 38-27 decision against Plainview-Elgin-Millville. Scott West opens up the state tournament at 11:30 a.m. Thursday against No. 1-ranked Simley.

Notes

A couple of quick kudos to two area teams that did not make it to the state tournament.

Don Krusemark and his Mankato West Scarlets put together a 26-9 season, which gives them the most wins of any team in the history of the program.

Krusemark has been at the helm of West for the last 22 years. His previous best team was the 2000 squad that qualified for state with 21 victories.

“This team was really well-balanced,” Krusemark said. “We didn’t have a superstar type person but our balance allowed us to win a lot of meets.”

Saturday’s Section 2AAA Tournament was a prime example. West came out of the competition without an individual champion but had one runner-up in 171-pound Mat Malone and five third-placers.

Zack Lowe (103), Alex Thompson (119), Jake Mattison (125) and Alex Dittrich (160) all made it to true-second bouts before settling for third place. Evan Jones (189) also finished third.

Recognition needs to go out as well to the combined Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton program.

On their own, the two teams had been floundering with numerous forfeits the last few seasons. When they combined this year, they became instantly competitive and put together an impressive 18-10-3 campaign.

Hats off to co-head coaches Andy Jewison and Adam Roesler for a job well done.