A busy period of 24 or so hours is ahead of the Jackson County Central wrestling team over the next two days.
On Friday the Huskies head west to Sioux Falls for a dual with South Dakota power Brandon Valley and then they’ll get back on a bus well before sunrise Saturday morning for a tournament in Mapleton.
Brandon Valley dual
JCC, rated first in Class 1A in Minnesota, will face South Dakota Class A (large school) No. 1 Brandon Valley at 6 p.m. Friday at Elmen Center on the campus of Augustana University.
After the Huskies and Lynx meet, Augustana hosts the University of Mary in an NSIC dual.
Jackson County Central has six ranked individuals although only four will be in the lineup on Friday.
BV has 10 ranked wrestlers and another who is an honorable mention selection. Of those, five are rated first including a run of three straight at 132, 138 and 145.
Here are the ranked wrestlers:
Jackson County Central
132: Nolan Ambrose, jr., 2nd
138: Thomas Freking, sr., 4th
145: Logan Butzon, sr., 3rd
170: Dylan Withers, sr., 4th
195: Matthew Haley, sr., 3rd
220: Caleb Vancura, sr., 2nd
Brandon Valley
106: Brandon Oehme, 8th, 3rd
113: Trevon Oehme, jr., 1st
120: Jesse Johnson, sr., 7th
126: Zander Nielsen, fr., 6th
132: Jordon Oehme, sr., 1st
138: Alex Mentzer, sr., 1st
145: Trason Oehme, sr., 1st
160: Gavin Chapman, jr., 4th
170: Lucas Slack, sr., 3rd
195: Noah Ballous, jr., HM
285: Navarro Schunke, jr., 1st
Augie dual
There’s a strong local flavor to the Augustana team that will host Mary in an NSIC dual. The Vikings and Marauders are tied for 14th in the last Division II team ratings.
As many as six of the starters for the Vikings Friday are graduates of Jackson County Central, Martin County West and Windom.
They are:
125: Jaxson Rohman, soph., Martin County West
141: Kade Sammons, redshirt fr., Windom
149 Connor Simmonds, redshirt fr., Martin County West
157: Miles Fitzgerald, redshirt soph., Martin County West
165: Payton Anderson, redshirt soph., Martin County West
174: Jacob Tvinnereim, sr., Jackson County Central
Another Jackson County Central graduate, Payton Handevidt, is a freshman at Augustana.
A further JCC connection to the Augustana program is recent Jackson County Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Cooper Moore, who is in his second season as a graduate assistant coach with the Vikings.
There’s a further connection from the high school dual as each team features a 2023 Augustana signee, JCC’s Logan Butzon and BV’s Alex Mentzer.
While it will be the first time Jackson County Central has wrestled at Augustana, the Vikings have competed in Jackson twice, wrestling a total of five duals in those appearances.
On Dec. 5, 1997, Augustana was part of a college triangular featuring the University of Minnesota and the return of Heron Lake-Okabena-Lakefield graduate Chad Kraft to the area.
The Vikings lost to the Gophers 53-0 and Truman State (Mo.) 24-18 that night.
On Dec. 7, 2012 Augustana was part of a quad in Jackson that saw the Air Force wrestling team and JCC graduates Cole Von Ohlen and William Baker visit Jackson.
The Vikings went 1-2 that night, losing to Air Force 36-0 and winning 42-6 over Northwestern and 44-6 over Dakota Wesleyan.
On Saturday, JCC will compete in the 15-team “Takedown on 22” at the new Maple River High School building in Mapleton.
Three of the teams are ranked in the top five in their class and another received mention.
JCC is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, New Prague is No. 2 in Class 2A and Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran is No. 5 in 2A. Marshall is among the others receiving votes in Class 2A.
Other teams competing are host Maple River/United South Central, Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Southland, Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther, Mankato West, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Owatonna, /Red Rock Central, Redwood Valley, Sibley East, Tri-City United, Windom/Mountain Lake, and Prescott, Wis.
Jackson County Central wrestling schedule
Sat., Dec. 3: at Don Hall Invitational, Glencoe, 1st of 9 teams
Tues., Dec. 6: vs. Luverne at Redwood Falls, W 46-21
Tues., Dec. 6: at Redwood Valley, W 72-0
Sat., Dec. 10: JCC Pizza Ranch Invitational, 2nd of 17 teams
Sat., Dec. 17: at Austin Roberts Memorial, Spencer, 1st of 11 teams
Tues., Dec. 20: Marshall at Worthington, W 54-12
Tues., Dec. 20: at Worthington, W 66-9
Fri., Dec. 30: at Rumble on the Red, Fargo, 3rd of 63
Fri., Jan. 6: Willard, Mo. at LaCrosse, W 43-16
Fri., Jan. 6: Glenbard North, Ill. at LaCrosse, W 48-20
Fri., Jan. 6: Bettendorf, Iowa at LaCrosse, L 46-24
Sat., Jan. 7: Zumbrota-Mazeppa at LaCrosse, L 42-21
Sat., Jan. 7: Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa at LaCrosse, L 52-18
Sat., Jan. 7: Osage, Iowa at LaCrosse, L 34-30
Fri., Jan. 13: Adrian, W 49-15
Sat., Jan. 14: Big South Conference, Pipestone, 1st of 13 teams
Fri, Jan. 20: Simley, L 47-20
Fri, Jan. 20: St. Michael-Albertville, L 47-27
Tues., Jan. 24: Sibley East at Grove City, W 69-6
Tues., Jan. 24: at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, W 68-3
Tues., Jan. 24: Holdingford at Grove City, W 40-24
Thurs., Jan. 26: Pipestone, W 52-24
Fri., Feb. 3: vs. Brandon Valley at Sioux Falls, 6 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 4: at Takedown on 22, Mapleton, 10 a.m.
Mon., Feb. 6: at Windom/Mountain Lake, 6 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 9: vs. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, BOLD and Marshall at Tracy, 5 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 10: Big South Conference championship
Thurs., Feb. 16: Section 3A team quarterfinals, 6 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 18: Section 3A team semifinals and finals, Lamberton, 12 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 25: Section 3A individual, Jackson
Thurs., March 2: State team tournament, Xcel Energy Center
Fri., March 3: State individual tournament, Xcel Energy Center
Sat., March 4: State individual tournament, Xcel Energy Center