Category: Announcements

Preseason National Tournament

Eight ZM Cougars competed in the 2015 Cliff Keen USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals this past weekend in Cedar Falls, IA. The Cougars had a good showing in a very tough tournament…nice job, guys! Just 3 weeks til the official start of the 2015-2016 season!

Michael Vath, 120 lbs: 3-2
Spencer Defrang, 132 lbs: 1-2
Sam Nordquist, 138 lbs: 1-2
Maverick Jackson, 145 lbs: 3-2
Hayden Voxland, 152 lbs: 1-2
Tyler Soltau, 160 lbs: 2-2
Caden Steffen, 182 lbs: 3-1, 2nd place
Jarret Haglund, 195 lbs: 1-2

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Sam, Caden, Hayden V., Spencer, Mavrick, Tyler, and Jarret (Missing from photo, Mikey Vath)
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Caden Steffen, 2nd place, 182 lbs

Caden Steffen is the #14 Ranked Cadet at 170

Congratulations to Caden Steffen for currently being ranked the #14 170 lbs. Cadet in the country by USA Wrestling’s ‘Future Olympian Rankings‘!  This ranking is based upon Caden’s performances at Greco and Freestyle tournaments this spring.  Wrestling has given Caden the opportunity to travel to several different states to compete.  Caden had a wonderful experience, made many new friends, and can’t wait for next year to do it again!  Tell your wrestlers to ask Caden about his experiences, he’d love to share with the little Cougars!

If you have questions about how to get involved with spring-time wrestling, please contact Link Steffen or Chris Lexvold.  We’d love to see several ZM wrestlers listed in these rankings next season!

Go Cougars!

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Granite Falls and Fargo Pictures

12 wrestlers spent a few days in Granite Falls, MN this week.  They attended a wrestling camp and enjoyed the outdoors.

Caden Steffen was in Fargo this week competing against the nation’s best in the Cadet/Junior National Championships.  Caden went 2-2 in Greco-Roman and 5-2 in Freestyle.

ZM Wrestling Camp 1 Week Away; Steffen Selected to Minnesota Storm Cadet National Dual Team

baumanThe ZM Wrestling Summer Camp is only 1 week away.  To sign up, please fill out and mail in the registration form.  Joel Bauman will be the guest clinician two days of camp.  Joel is a 2010 graduate from Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.  He is a 2X Minnesota State Champion and part of the 2009 KMS state championship team.  In 2007, he was a Cadet national champ in Greco, 2008 (2nd), 2009 (8th) and 2010 (2nd).  Earned Greco All-American honors at Junior Nationals in Fargo.  Joel is currently ranked #7 in the nation in Senior Greco-Roman at his weight class.

Caden Steffen has been selected to the 2015 Minnesota Storm Cadet National Dual Team.  Caden’s performance this spring at the MN/USA Freestyle and Greco tournaments helped garner this honor.  The National Dual Tournament will take place in York, Pennsylvania June 9-13, 2015.  Congratulations Caden!

Congratulations to John Poulin for finishing 29th out of 400+ runners in the Med City 5K this weekend.  John’s time was the 4th fastest in his age group.

Last Chance to Qualify for Kids & Cadets State Freestyle Tournament

This Saturday in Owatonna is the last chance to qualify for the MN/USA Kids & Cadets State Freestyle Tournament.  MN State Greco is an open tournament.  If you plan on wrestling at Northern Plains in June, you must wrestle in the State Tournament.  Online registration for the State Tournament will close Sunday, May 10 at 10:00 PM.

Upcoming Events

  • Tuesday – FS/GR practice led by Joey Majerus for Grades K-12 at 6:30 in Mazeppa
  • Saturday – Owatonna Greco and Freestyle MN/USA State Qualifiermnusa

Freestyle/Greco Practice Moved to Thursday This Week

Freestyle/Greco practice has been rescheduled to Thursday night this week.  Joey Majerus will be leading.

Ryan Lexvold, Hayden Voxland, Hayden Stensland, Jarret Haglund, Michael Majerus, Caden Steffen, and Jacob Bennett took to the mat in Stewartville on Saturday competing in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle.

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Upcoming Events

Junior Greco & Freestyle State Tournament Next Weekend

Wrestlers born September 1, 1995 and later who are enrolled in grades 9-12 during the 2015 spring semester are eligible for the Junior Greco-Roman and Freestyle State Championships next weekend in Forest Lake.  This tournament will be used as a basis for selecting the Junior National Teams.  Pre-registration deadline is 5:00 PM on Thursday.  Full details here.

Thank you to all the volunteers that helped clean the ZM Wrestling stretch of road ditches on Tuesday!

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Upcoming Events

Freestyle and Greco-Roman Practices in Mazeppa

ZM wrestling is having Freestyle/Greco-Roman open mat practices once a week starting Tuesday, March 17th in the Mazeppa wrestling room.  A total of 9 practices for any ZM wrestler K-12.  There is no cost.  Currently scheduled and very excited to lead these practices include Chad Matthees, Paul Pagel, and Joey Majerus.

Here is a great article that explains why one should consider wrestling Greco-Roman and Freestyle in the spring.  In short- these practices are designed to be relaxed and fun, yet very productive.  No worries about cutting weight.  No pressure from a team.  You can focus on individual skills and experiment with different things.  Don’t worry about not knowing the ins-and-outs of these styles, wrestling is wrestling.  My son Ryan really enjoys FS/GR and looks forward to attending the practices as well as the local and regional tournaments.

The current schedule is as follows.  Practices will run from 6:30 – 7:30 PM.

  • Tuesday, March 17
  • Tuesday, March 24
  • Tuesday, March 31
  • Monday, April 6
  • Tuesday, April 14
  • Tuesday, April 21
  • Tuesday, April 28
  • Tuesday, May 5
  • Thursday, May 14

More information about FS/GR and a calendar of tournaments can be found at http://www.mnusawrestling.org/.

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Another oppoturnity is the Cannon Falls Mat Rats Freestyle Program.  It starts Tuesday, March 17th.  The practices are open for K-12 and are held Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM.  Full calendar is here.  The practices are run by Chad Otterness.

Welcome Home for Wrestlers; NYWA practice

The welcome home reception for the wrestlers will be tomorrow morning, Monday, March 2nd, at 8:00 am in the ZMHS Auditorium.

Also, Jeff Matthees would like to remind those wrestling on the 7th-8th grade NYWA team that practice will be  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday this week after school till about 5:00. Thank you.