Minnewaska Area wrestlers host SC-Melrose and Kimball for triangular
Sports | Published on January 30, 2023 at 3:00pm CST
The Minnewaska Area wrestling team was set to host Sauk Centre-Melrose and Kimball Area for a triangular last Tuesday night. Results of the triangular will be highlighted in next week’s paper.
The Lakers were 5-7 overall and 1-3 in the WCC going into the home triangular. Coming up is a quadrangular at Eden Valley-Watkins, Tuesday (tomorrow) followed by the Kimball Invitational, Saturday, Feb. 4.
Minnewaska Area’s five wins this year have come against Crosby-Ironton (69-12), Quad County (51-28), Redwood Valley (63-18), Fulda-MCC (42-34) and BOLD (66-18).
The Lakers are currently seeded eighth of 10 teams in Section 5A. Minneota (9-1) and KMS (9-1) were the possible top seeds as of Thursday of last week, followed by Canby (11-4), Benson (13-6), Paynesville Area (9-5), BBE (5-3), ACGC (10-8), Minnewaska Area, Ortonville (2-5) and BOLD (0-15).
The Section 5A Team Tournament is set to begin Thursday, Feb. 16 at various sites and the “Final Four” is set for Saturday, Feb. 18 at Benson. The Section 5A Individual Tourney meanwhile, is set for Saturday, Feb. 25 at Minnewaska Area High School.
The Lakers currently have an unofficial seven wrestlers with at least 10 victories so far this year — Miles Wildman (16-0), Chase Smith (15-1), Nick Ankeny (14-2), Myles Reichmann (12-4), Chase Boelke (12-5), Jayce Kovarik (12-6) and Xander Johnson (10-8).
• Senior Jacob Blair and ninth-grader Chase Smith earned state berths last year with Blair going 1-2 at state and Smith 2-2. Smith (30-6 last season) had the best record last year among returning wrestlers, while other returning wrestlers with at least 20 wins last year were Nick Ankeny (30-8), Mason Schiffler (23-14), Miles Wildman (21-10) and Chase Boelke (20-11).
In state rankings this winter, Miles Wildman is ranked eighth at 106 pounds as of Tuesday, Jan. 24, while Chase Smith is ranked ninth at 126 pounds and Nick Ankeny is ranked eighth at 138 pounds.
In state Class A team rankings, Section 5A participants BBE is ranked fifth, Minneota is ranked sixth and Paynesville Area, KMS and Canby also received votes. Of the top 15-rated teams in Class A, five are from Section 5A, three are from Section 7A and three are from Section 1A, including top-ranked Dover-Eyota.
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