Ever since it was announced last fall that Jackson County Central would host a meet that would bring together each of last year’s three Minnesota state champion wrestling teams excitement has been building, not only among the schools involved but statewide.
On Friday, the state Class 1A champion Huskies will host the ‘Night of Champions’ with Class 2A champion Simley and Class 3A winner St. Michael-Albertville coming to Jackson. Traditional Iowa power Osage had originally been scheduled to make the event a quadrangular but the Green Devils withdrew from the event last week.
JCC will wrestle the first two duals, facing Simley at 5 p.m. and STMA at about 6:30. Simley and STMA wrestle the final dual of the night at around 8 p.m.
Before we get into Friday’s event, let’s hop in the Way Back Machine and take a look at some history between Jackson County Central and St. Michael-Albertville.
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.
Here are the linescores of the 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.
Football
It’s probably worth mentioning that JCC and St. Michael-Albertville have met once in football.
The Huskies defeated the Knights in a Class 3A semifinal at the Metrodome in 1997.
Jackson County Central is now in Class 2A in football while STMA is in Class 6A.
Mount Rushmore
If you were to build a Mount Rushmore of the top high school wrestling programs in the state, the three that will gather in Jackson Friday could make a strong case to grab one of the spots over the past three decades.
Let’s look at some numbers
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 (STMA is on a streak of 24 straight trips) 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.
Individual state champions
Simley is second on the list of all-time state champions with 63. Apple Valley is first with 96.
St. Michael-Albertville is sixth with 42 state champions and JCC seventh with 38.
Individual state entries
Simley has the most all-time state tournament entries with 377. Anoka is second with 363 and STMA third with 340.
Now let’s focus on this year’s teams.
Dual records
St. Michael-Albertville and Simley are undefeated heading into Friday’s event.
The Knights are 17-0 after two wins Thursday, beating Hopkins 72-3 and Maple Grove 71-6.
The Spartans are 15-0 after a 34-24 win over Class 3A No. 5 Hastings.
Jackson County Central is 7-4.
Here are the season results:
JCC (7-4)
Jackson County Central 46, Luverne 21
Jackson County Central 72, Redwood Valley 0
Jackson County Central 54, Marshall 12
Jackson County Central 66, Worthington 9
Jackson County Central 43, Willard, Mo. 16
Jackson County Central 48, Glenbard North, Ill. 20
Bettendorf, Iowa 46, Jackson County Central 24
Zumbrota-Mazeppa 42, Jackson County Central 21
Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa 52, Jackson County Central 18
Osage, Iowa 34, Jackson County Central 30
Jackson County Central 49, Adrian 15
Simley (15-0)
Simley 73, White Bear Lake 6
Simley 63, GMLOS 16
Simley 56. Anoka 15
Simley 59, St. Thomas Academy 13
Simley 59, Cambridge-Isanti 13
Simley 51, Kenyon-Wanamingo 12
Simley 72, Plainview-Elgin-Millville 3
Simley 81, Mondovi, Wis. 0
Simley 77, Independence, Wis. 6
Simley 39, Southeast Polk, Iowa 34
Simley 58, Desert Vista, Ariz. 13
Simley 78, Tartan 6
Simley 74, South St. Paul 0
Simley 63, Farmington 8
Simley 34, Hastings 24
St. Michael-Albertville (17-0)
St. Michael-Albertville 77, Minnetonka 0
St. Michael-Albertville 75, Rogers 6
St. Michael-Albertville 66, Prior Lake 6
St. Michael-Albertville 56, Farmington 16
St. Michael-Albertville 48, Eden Prairie 20
St. Michael-Albertville 55, Zumbrota-Mazeppa 9
St. Michael-Albertville 43, New Prague 20
St. Michael-Albertville 73, Oak Park, Ill. 4
St. Michael-Albertville 46, Hastings 21
St. Michael-Albertville 44, Bettendorf, Iowa 18
St. Michael-Albertville 45, Joliet Catholic, Ill. 15
St. Michael-Albertville 73, Edina 3
St. Michael-Albertville 48, Lakeville North 24
St. Michael-Albertville 57, Stillwater Area 9
St. Michael-Albertville 43, Waconia 16
St. Michael-Albertville 72, Hopkins 3
St. Michael-Albertville 71, Maple Grove 6
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; and St. Michael-Albertville brings back seven qualifiers with four placewinners.
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
Ranked wrestlers
The three teams have a combined 28 state-ranked wrestlers. This is according to The Guillotine.
The Knights have 11 ranked wrestlers, Spartans 10 and Huskies seven.
Here they are. Listed are weight, name, year and ranking.
Jackson County Central
132: Nolan Ambrose, jr., 3rd
138: Thomas Freking, sr., 1st
145: Logan Butzon, sr., 3rd
170: Dylan Withers, sr., 3rd
195: Matthew Haley, sr., 3rd
220: Caleb Vancura, sr., 2nd
285: Cameron Scholten, sr., 7th
Simley
106: Austin Grzywinski, jr. 2nd
113: Jake Kos, 8, 6th
120: Brandon Morvari, sr., 1st
126: JJ Salas, jr., 7th
138: Kaiden Schrandt, sr., 5th
145: Cash Raymond, jr., 2nd
170: Travis Smith, sr., 3rd
195: Lano Oduwaiye, jr., 8th
220: Gavin Nelson, sr., 1st
285: Soren Herzog, sr., 1st
St. Michael-Albertville
106: Lincoln Robideau, 7, 3rd
113: Chase Mills, fr., 5th
120: Mason Mills, sr., 1st
126: Ian Schultz, jr., 5th
132: Landon Robideau, soph., 1st
138: Parker Janssen, sr., 2nd
145: Jarrett Wadsen, soph., 6th
152: Eli Davis, sr., 4th
160: Noah Jorgenson, jr., 4th
170: Jed Wester, jr., 1st
220: Myles Dehmer, sr., 7th
Tailgate meal
The JCC Post Prom committee is serving a meal Friday evening.
On the menu are a pulled pork sandwich, cheesy potatoes and cookie for $8.