It’s still more than three months away, but there’s a date on the Jackson County Central wrestling schedule that is garnering a lot of attention.
On Friday, Jan. 20, each of last year’s Minnesota team champions (JCC in Class 1A, Simley in Class 2A and St. Michael-Albertville in Class 3A) will be in Jackson.
Making the night a quadrangular will be traditional Iowa powerhouse Osage.
JCC and STMA have wrestled in a dual four times, with the Huskies winning three.
Two of those wins came on a big, albeit unfamiliar stage.
The Huskies wrestled the Knights in back-to-back state championship matches in the 1999 and 2000 state Class 2A tournaments that were held at Target Center after the St. Paul Civic Center was demolished and Xcel Energy Center was under construction.
Jackson County Central won both of those matches, 30-18 in 1999 and 26-19 in 2000. Those were the first two of JCC’s eight state team titles.
Take a trip down Memory Lane and scroll through the lines cores of those two state championship matches.
1999
Jackson County Central 30, St. Michael-Albertville 18
103 - Travis Dahlheimer (STMA) dec. Kollin Leopold (JCC) 10-4
112 - Brett Hussong (JCC) dec. Nathan Lefebvre (STMA) 12-11 (OT)
119 - Marc Harwood (JCC) dec. Andy Vetsch (STMA) 11-9
125 - Derek Harwood (JCC) dec. Nick Beach (STMA) 6-5
130 - Billy Vee (STMA) dec. Nick Weets (JCC) 12-6
135 - Ben Caven-Johnson (JCC) pinned Andy Croteau (STMA) 3:44
140 - Andy Nesseth (JCC) dec. Stephan Zachman (STMA) 10-5
145 - Johnny Barthel (STMA) dec. Dusty Wilking (JCC) 3-1
152 – Nate Baker (JCC) pinned Randy Dehmer (STMA) 3:45
160 - Jon Doncombe (STMA) pinned Jacob Drahota (JCC) 1:21
171 - Dru Wilking (JCC) dec. Marty Hackenmueller (STMA) 4-3
189 - Brian Bammert (STMA) dec. Jeremiah Knabe (JCC) 6-0
275 - Bryce Vancura (JCC) dec. Jacob Barthel (STMA) 7-1
2000
Jackson County Central 26, St. Michael-Albertville 19
103 - Matt Becker (STMA) def. Jordan Burmeister (JCC) 5-4
112 - Kollin Leopold (JCC) def. Mike Marx (STMA) 8-2
119 - Nathan Lefebvre (STMA) def. Brett Hussong (JCC) 6-4
125 - Travis Dahlheimer (STMA) def. Kyle Arndt (JCC) 14-6
130 - Steve Majerus (JCC) def. Billy Vee (STMA) 10-7
135 - Nick Weets (JCC) def. Andy Croteau (STMA) 11-3
140 - Marc Harwood (JCC) def. Stephen Zachman (STMA) 10-1
145 - Mitch Hackenmueller (STMA) def. Ben Caven-Johnson (JCC) 7-1
152 - Dusty Wilking (JCC) def. Johnny Barthel (STMA) 3-0
160 - Nate Baker (JCC) pinned Randy Dehmer (STMA) 1:36
171 - Marty Hackenmueller (STMA) def. Jacob Drahota (JCC) 4-1
189 - Jon Duncombe (STMA) def. Blake Hendricks (JCC) 9-2
275 - Travis Ahrens (JCC) def. Jacob Barthel (STMA) 7-1
The Clash
JCC and STMA have also wrestled twice at The Clash, splitting those matches.
The Huskies won 33-25 in the Sixth Bracket on the second day of Clash V in 2006 and the Knights were 45-18 winners in a Division 1 match on the opening day of Clash XIX in 2021. Both are entered in Clash XX on Jan. 6-7 in LaCrosse.
Jackson County Central has never wrestled Simley in a dual.
Most team appearances
St. Michael-Albertville and Simley are second and third on the list of all-time appearances in the state team tournament. The Knights have appeared 32 times and the Spartans 27.
Apple Valley is first with 36 appearances.
As for the team from Jackson County, well….it’s complicated.
The MSHSL incorrectly lists Jackson/Heron Lake-Okabena-Lakefield with three state tournament appearances.
In 1993, HLOL was on its own and the Silver Bullets placed third in Class A.
The HLOL/Jackson Jaguars did qualify in 1996 and 1997.
Jackson County Central/Southwest Star Concept is listed as a qualifier and Jackson County Central has qualified nine times.
Got it? There will be a test later.
Osage
The Green Devils compete in Class 2A, the middle of Iowa’s three classes of wrestling.
Osage was second in the traditional state tournament in 2022. Burlington Notre Dame was first with 109 points, edging out the Green Devils with 108.5.
Osage was third in the state dual meet tournament.
State qualifiers
Each team has several wrestlers who were underclassmen in last year’s state tournament.
JCC returns 10 state qualifiers including five placewinners; Simley has 10 qualifiers and six placers; St. Michael-Albertville brings back seven qualifiers with four placewinners; and Osage has seven qualifiers back and they all placed. Iowa does wrestle a seventh-place match.
Here’s the list of returnees with won-loss records in parenthesis and state placing.
Jackson County Central
106 - Isaac Rodriguez (26-17) DNP
113 - Nolan Ambrose (52-0) 1st
126 - Landon Andrews (22-18) DNP
132 - Logan Butzon (46-9) 4th
138 - Thomas Freking (45-11) 4th
145 - Dylan Withers (35-18) DNP
152 - Isaiah Rodriguez (29-24) 6th
170 - Matthew Haley (40-12) DNP
182 - Caleb Vancura (50-6) 4th
285 - Cameron Scholten (34-17) DNP
Simley
106 - Austin Grzywinski (37-13) DNP
113 - Brandon Morvari (55-3) 1st
126 - James Salas (33-12) DNP
138 - Cash Raymond (48-10) 3rd
145 - Kaiden Schrandt (46-9) 5th
152 - Vristol Short (27-14) DNP
160 - Travis Smith (51-8) 4th
182 - Lano Oduwaiye (34-15) DNP
195 - Soren Herzog (53-4) 2nd
220 - Gavin Nelson (54-2) 1st
St. Michael-Albertville
106 - Chase Mills (41-10) 5th
113 - Mason Mills (42-3) 1st
120 - Ian Schultz (36-11) DNP
126 - Landon Robideau (46-1) 1st
138 - Eli Davis (35-16) DNP
160 - Jed Wester (42-3) 2nd
170 - Bryon Sauvy (18-15) DNP
Osage
126 - Tucker Stangel (53-3) 3rd
132 - Anders Kittelson (31-2) 4th
145 - Max Gast (42-10) 7th
152 - Chase Thomas (42-8) 4th
160 - Nicholas Fox (50-3) 1st
195 - Cole Jeffries (39-15) 6th
220 - Barrett Muller (48-6) 1st
And even with all reasons to be in attendance on Jan. 20 the most compelling may be that the night has Tim Stai’s endorsement: