Wrestling notebook
News looking ahead to tonight’s finals
For the 10th time in its 26-year history, Jackson County Central will compete for a state wrestling championship tonight. The top-seeded Huskies, 20-7, will meet second-seeded Caledonia (34-6) at 7 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
JCC has made its way to the finals today by beating West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 48-17 and fifth-seeded Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 54-18. The Warriors have topped United North Central 35-23 and third-seeded Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 33-27.
Ranked wrestlers
There should be several matchups of ranked wrestlers.
Caledonia/Houston has five rated wrestlers in seven weight classes from 120-160 while JCC has four from 132-170.
The Warriors have another ranked wrestler at 195 and the Huskies have ranked wrestlers at 195, 220 and 285.
Here are the ranked wrestlers:
Jackson County Central
132: Nolan Ambrose, 4th
138: Thomas Freking, 3rd
145: Logan Butzon, 5th
170: Dylan Withers, 5th
195: Matt Haley, 5th
220: Caleb Vancura, 2nd
285: Cameron Scholten, 5th
Caledonia/Houston
120: Braxton Lange, 3rd
132: Owen Denstad, 3rd
145: Tucker Ginther, 4th
152: Isaac Blocker, 3rd
160: Simon Seymour, 6th
195: Ayden Goetzinger, 2nd
Common opponents
The teams have no common opponents.
Both teams competed at The Clash in LaCrosse.
The Huskies placed fourth in Division 2, while the Warriors were first in Division 6.
The scores
In their first nine appearances in a state championship match, the Huskies have a 7-1-1 record. The scores:
1998: Dassel-Cokato 27, Jackson County Central 23
1999: Jackson County Central 30, St. Michael-Albertville 18
2000: Jackson County Central 26, St. Michael-Albertville 19
2008: Jackson County Central 42, Canby 10
2010: Frazee 32, Jackson County Central 23
2011: Jackson County Central 28, Frazee 28 (tie)
2012: Jackson County Central 31, Kimball Area 28
2013: Jackson County Central 38, Frazee 22
2022: Jackson County Central 45, Royalton/Upsala 23
No mas
You couldn’t blame Howard Lake-Waverly if it went Roberto Duran and said ‘No Mas.’
Google it.
JCC defeated HLWW 27-0 in the state football playoffs in November and 54-18 in the state wrestling tournament today.
The band is back together
The three teams that met Jan. 20 in Jackson are together again wrestling for state titles in St. Paul.
Simley (29-0) faces New Prague (30-2) for the Class 2A state title and St. Michael-Albertville (27-1) takes on Hastings (36-5) in Class 3A.