By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
Last season was not a terrible one for the NRHEG High School wrestling team.
But coach Shawn Larson and the Panthers are shooting for something better in 2023-24.
"We are expecting to make a strong attempt at regaining a top-three finish in the conference," said Larson. "We are hoping to learn from our setbacks from last season, and have a winning season this year."
The Panthers, as usual, had a challenging schedule last season, when they finished 1-5 in the Gopher Conference and 5-19 overall, reaching the section semifinals before falling to LCWM. Larson is back for his 11th season as head coach, assisted by Nate Jensen and Erik Olson. Jensen has been with the program for 26 years while Olson is in his first season with the junior high wrestlers. The Panthers have went 79-108 under Larson's guidance.
The Panthers will miss Aden Berg and Makota Misgen, who graduated last spring.
"Aden was a help for us last season at 195 and 220, and we will miss his experience in the upper weights," said Larson. "Makota was a three-time state tournament entrant and a two-time placewinner, second at 285 in 2022 and third at 285 in 2023. Makota had over 100 wins for our program. It will be very difficult for us this season not having him in that anchor spot in our lineup."
As usual, this year's Panthers have a number of wrestlers with a lot of varsity experience.
Senior Reese Routh (152/160 pounds) reached the state tournament last year, while senior Annabelle Petsinger (130-136) captured a girls' state championship at 120 after placing third as a sophomore.
The rest of the returning letterwinners are seniors Parker Bunn (133) and George Roesler (172/189), juniors Harbor Cromwell (160), Jace Ihrke (215/285) and Aidan Schlaak (145/152), sophomores Deven Parpart (133/139), Jacob Karl (127/133) and Wyatt Larson (172/189), and freshman Ryan Schlaak (152/160).
Two former Panthers are wrestling at the collegiate level, Misgen at Minnesota State-Mankato and Nikolas Petsinger at Rochester Community College. Annabelle Petsinger has signed a national Letter of Intent to wrestle at Iowa Central Community College.
According to Coach Larson, the Panthers have been doing what it takes to prepare in the offseason.
"We had several wrestlers who were able to get some work in with clubs where they practiced and competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling," said Larson. "Also, we had 13 wrestlers attend a team camp last summer at Fort Dodge, Iowa."
Larson's biggest concern this season is the same as it has been: fitting everyone into the lineup and fielding a full lineup.
"Our team’s strength comes from having underclassmen who have had experience on the varsity, and therefore know what is expected of them," said Larson. "We had a decent season last year, and we are optimistic that we can be better this year because we brought almost everyone back. We are a bit older and more experienced from our last season, and ready for competition. Our main issue will be maintaining a full lineup as we have several wrestlers in the same weight range."
Larson also looks for the Panthers to eliminate bonus points for their opponents and, hopefully, score some for themselves.
"We need to get athletes to wrestle full matches," said Larson. "Last season, our downfall was giving up too many bonus points. If we can eliminate that, we will be much more competitive. We also need to take risks to score points in situations where we have been tentative in the recent past. If we focus on scoring instead of the winning and losing, the wins should come as a result."
In Larson's opinion, Kenyon-Wanamingo appears the favorite in the Gopher Conference, while several teams are expected to compete for the section title, led by LCWM.
NRHEG High School
2023-24 Wrestling
Sat., Dec. 2 at St. James Inv., 9:45 a.m.
Thurs., Dec. 7 vs. Maple R., USC, 7 p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 14 Tri. at Lkvl. So., 5 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 15 at Redwood Riot, 4 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 16 at Redwood Riot, 9 a.m.
Thurs., Dec. 21 Tri. at Medford, 5/7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 12 vs. Westfield, 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 13 at Stewartville Inv., 8 a.m.
Thurs., Jan. 18 vs. Triton, 7 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 20 at Hayfield Inv., 10 a.m.
Thurs., Feb. 1 vs. WEM/JWP, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 3 at Maple River Inv., 10 a.m.
Thurs., Feb. 8 at Kenyon-Wana., 5 p.m.