Crow and Fick Wrestle Their Way to State

By: Kevin Fick

“Mr. Meant To has a comrade

And his name is Didn’t Do.

Have you ever chanced to meet them?

Did they ever call on you?

These two fellows lived together

In the House of Never Win

And I’m told that it is haunted by

The Ghost of Might Have Been.”

                                                         -John Wooden

 Feb. 22-23

Individual Wrestling Sections…a place where diligence, hard work and preparation can bring the sheer joy of a state berth or throw the crashing reality of a gut wrenching loss into the face of a competitor who has towed the line and done what he thought would take him the distance.  Royal Crow and Hunter Fick will represent Section 6A in St. Paul this coming weekend, competing for all the marbles of the Minnesota High School wrestling world.  They will each join 15 other participants in their respected weight classes during the ‘Grand Daddy’ of what our state has to offer.  Although both grapplers have reached the same goal they have gone about it in very different fashions.  One has been a dedicated wrestler for years; the other is in it for his first year.  One has a quiet demeanor yet modern and up to date; the other runs with a mohawk and carries a gritty old-school approach to most situations suggesting a throwback of sorts.  One is a mat technician, flowing and graceful; the other is a ground and pound grappler who relies on power and strength.  As different as they sound make no mistake about it…both wrestlers have defeated not just some opponents but their ‘Ghosts’ as well.  They wrestled right past Mr. Meant To and Mr. Didn’t Do, they won when they had to and proved they can hang with the best in the section.  Next stop is Excel Center in St. Paul.  You have both made your communities proud! 

145 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) Soph. 2^nd seed [26-6] defeated Dylan Schleske (OTC) Fresh. 8^th seed [7-16] per major decision 13-1, Crow defeated Carter Behrens (BW) Fresh. 3^rd seed [19-12] per major decision 17-3, Crow defeated by Josh Stuehrenberg (Breck.) SR. 1^st seed per decision 3-10, True Second Match Crow defeated Alex Towbridge (BRNL) Jr. 4^th seed [23-6] per decision 6-2.

195 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) Soph. 3^rd seed [23-13] defeated Aaron Bengston (OTC) Sr. 6^th seed [11-21] per fall 3:37, Fick defeated Dana Berg (BRNL) Soph. 2^nd seed [28-10] per decision 3-1, Fick defeated by Tyler Patron (NYM) 1^st seed [24-6] per decision 1-2.

There was success by other WCAAE wrestlers over the two days also.  Five of the other Knight wrestlers saw the medal stand.  132 lb. Fresh. Jake Larkin 4^th place, 106 lb. 8^th Jake Nohre, 113 lb. 8^th Tyler Onstad, 138 lb. Soph. Kyle Mickelsen, 152 lb. Jr. Braedon Long, 182 lb Fresh. Sid Kamrath all placed 6^th.

The 10 teams competing in Section 6A are as follows: Barnseville (BRNL), Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale (BHV), Border West (BW), Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah (Breck.), New York Mills (NYM), Ottertail Central (OTC), Pelican Rapids (PR), Prairie Valley (PV), West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville (WCAAE), Wadena-Deer Creek (WDC)

About the two days Coach Gruchow states…”On Thursday afternoon the much anticipated section 6A wrestling tournament was in full swing and things were looking pretty well for us.   13 WCAAE wrestlers represented the team on Friday and Saturday.  We had 5 wrestlers within the top four seeds.  Those wrestlers seeded in the top 4 included: Jake Nohre 3rd at 106 lbs., Jake Larkin 4th at 132 lbs. Kyle Mickelsen 3rd at 138 lbs., Royal Crow 2nd at 145 lbs., and Hunter Fick 3rd at 195 lbs.  We ended up with 8 placers which I am very proud of....of course I wish there were 13 placers and all going to state but I am proud of what the boys accomplished over the last 2 days of competition.

It was nice seeing Jake Larkin get back into action after a long and nagging injury and he earned 4th place honors at 132 lbs. after bumping up a weight class.   Jake Nohre will be chomping at the bit for next season to start as he is not satisfied with finishing 6th place at 106 lbs. and will be ready to improve on that placing next year!  Jake is a very talented wrestler who is just a little undersized for the weight class.   Tyler Onstad wrestled hard for his 6th place medal and is ready to hit the mat this spring to improve next seasons section placing.  Kyle Mickelsen took 6th place honors.  Kyle Mickelsen had a great season and improved tremendously.  Kyle took 6th at 138 lbs. falling short of what he wanted but I know this will add fuel for the fire next season!  Braeden Long took 6th place at 152 lbs.  Braeden has made such an improvement because of his determination to improve. He is already talking about next year and is ready to take action to improve now!  Sid Kamrath also took 6th place. Sid competed at 182 lbs. and fought hard against his much older and tough competition. We are looking forward to continue watching Sid improve next year!  Keaton Long, Wyatt Odegaard, and T.J Waskosky did not place in the section but will be key wrestlers in the 2013-2014 team line-up. That is the good part, we get to work with all the same kids next year. We don't lose any seniors!

Anyone with any knowledge in the sport of wrestling, especially during the section tournaments, knows that upsets are a very common occurrence and we got to experience both sides of the upsets in the section tournament.  It's a very emotional tournament, the boys have prepared so long, worked so hard, and want to reach their goals in return for their great efforts. The winning, loosing, and close calls made by the referees bring out the agony of defeat and the ecstasy of winning not only in the wrestlers, but also the coaches and fans as well.  Although we would have loved to bring more than 2 wrestlers to the Excel, and trust me we do have others on the team that have the capability of making it to state, I am glad Hunter and Royal are representing WCAAE wrestling at the state tournament.

Royal did the extra work when no one was watching him to make his trip to the state tournament possible. Royal started every school day with an early morning workout. Coach Lorenson spent countless hours working out with Royal and helping him get to these workout sessions. I truly believe that this helped prepare Royal for his success he had at sections! He has a drive to be a great wrestler and that what makes him so good!  I am proud that Royal was able to refocus after his loss in his finals match with Stuehrenberg.  It's not an easy task to wrestle that true second match.  You wrestle a guy who is on a high from winning, while you're just coming off of a loss. Royal snapped out of the loss and got refocused within 5 minutes of completing his finals match. He wrestled with confidence to secure the true second match against Alex Trowbridge from Barnesville.

Hunter has done something that I personally don't know of anyone else doing.  I say this in a joking manner, but to make it to state in his first year of wrestling is almost unfair to us who spent years training to accomplish this feat.  However, Hunter is not like most people, he is ungodly strong, in fantastic shape, and has a drive for competition.  Hunter told me he wished matches were longer...most wrestlers would say 6 minutes of all out fierce battling is plenty but not Hunter. These attributes he carries in his daily character have made making it to state in his first year possible. Hunter has been a "sponge" since summer wrestling camp. I noticed he had a knack for learning and improving and that is what he did all season. He wrestled tough and smart throughout the whole tournament. His pin showed us he meant business in the first round. He then had a fantastic shot against Berg in the third period to seal the deal and put him in the finals. I hope there is a picture of his face while he was lifting him up...it was a look of determination at its finest. His finals match was by far the best he had wrestle all year, even though he lost 2-1 on a questionable stall point he looked good. 

I am excited for both of our wrestlers to compete with the best in the state. They deserve what they have earned. We will remind them not to be satisfied and to go for it down there!”

State wrestling action is held at the Excel Center in St. Paul.  The tournament begins with team wrestling on Thursday, Feb. 28th as Barnseville is representing Section 6A.  Friday is individual action.  The first round of Class A begins at 1 pm.  Finals are held Saturday.  Crow will take on Tanner Rohlik of Wabasso/Red Rock Central and Fick will face off with Colton Layman of West Marshall.  Best of luck to them both.