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March 11, 2010

State wrestling tournament one for the books

As usual, the four-day state wrestling tournament was a grind last week, but it was the good kind of grind.

The wrestlers, of course, took a beating as they tried to win state titles both as individuals and as part of a team. The coaches also endured their share of pressure even though they weren’t the ones trying to fend off 215-pound attackers or being grabbed in headlocks and getting tossed to the mat.

Still, there’s a high level of stress for coaches, and that’s why Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial head coach Andre Harnitz’s response took me aback when I asked him how he was holding up after the third-day of the tournament. He basically proclaimed he was in his element and described the state competition as his ‘mini-Spring Break.’

Of course, that would be a spring break without the beaches or the water or the college hijinks. Perhaps coach Harnitz needs to take a ‘real’ vacation but I’m probably not the first one to suggest that to him.

Among the things that stuck out most from the tournament were the number of points scored in the closing seconds of matches that changed the outcome. I can’t remember a tournament where so many area kids either lost or won as the clock ticked down.

St. Clair/Loyola’s Chase Levos had a 3-2 lead over No. 1-ranked Christian Skillings of Minneota in the Class A 119-pound quarterfinals, but gave up a takedown at the final buzzer to lose 4-3. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s Dave Lindell lost his 189-pound semifinal match against Pipestone Area’s Jon Gorter when it was ruled Gorter successfully completed a takedown in the closing moments of overtime.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton’s Thomas Goldberg suffered a similar fate in his Class AA 130-pound quarterfinal. He gave up a late takedown to eventual champion Jake Short of Simley to lose 2-0.

Levos ended up finishing fourth while Lindell and Goldberg came back to take thirds. Not a bad end to a prep career for the three seniors.

The most memorable last-second changer came in the Class A 171-pound championship match between top-ranked Ben McPhail of Pine Island and Le Sueur-Henderson’s Josh Willaert.

Willaert delivered a desperation throw, complete with nearfall points, to pull out a 7-6 win as time expired.

 All in all, it was a pretty good show featuring a lot of dedicated student athletes. Congratulations go out to each of them for their skill and hard work in qualifying for the tournament.



Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com

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