Coach Troy's High School Update: Week 15
Crimson Wrestlers, Managers, and Families-
Week Thirteen/Fourteen Recap:
As a team our goal going into the Section Tournaments was simply to wrestle the best we have up to this point. That is a lofty goal. Because of many factors (often health related) it’s nearly impossible for an entire roster to wrestle their best all at the same time. However, we put together two of our season’s best weeks of practice and it culminated with many of our wrestlers competing at their highest level. As a coaching staff we were really happy with the effort, intensity, and the competitiveness that we competed with. Some of the highlights being from our Seniors.
- Grady Mandle finished his wrestling career by earning a Fall. After that final match it was a reminder for me on what makes this tournament so special as it’s quite a bit more than a tournament that determines who qualifies for state. It’s the culmination of years of effort for many of our athletes and for those who’s careers come to a close – it offers an opportunity of reflection and appreciation. Grady exemplified this point on Saturday when he told me “Wrestling changed my life.” While I believe that’s true for so many of our athletes – it’s pretty cool to hear a high school athlete have the maturity and wisdom to be able to verbalize that. Congrats Grady!
- Jaeden Hubbard had one of the highlights of the Crimson tournament when he was down by 8 or more points and threw his opponent to his back with less than a minute to go in the match. Jaeden earned the fall and a spot in the third-place match where he would pin the wrestler who had pinned him in the first round of the tournament. This was Jaeden’s first time competing at an Individual Sections Tournament. Jaeden ended his Crimson career by competing in a Championship Singlet (for the first time in his career) as he wrestled for True Second and a chance to qualify for state. What an accomplishment and an accurate reflection of his character to overcome adversity and have the best tournament of his career. Congratulations Jaeden!
- Lastly Senior Connor Peterson earned his Team Record SIXTH career trip to the state tournament in style by winning the section title! Connor also earned the #1 overall seed at the state tournament and will be looking to make additional history this weekend. Congratulations and keep it rolling Connor!
Overall, we placed 12 wrestlers at the section tournament (tied with Wayzata for the second most in our section). Our individual sections place winners included:
1st Place Finisher: Connor Peterson (139)
3rd Place Finishers: Beckett Seubert (107), Alex Fox (152), Amir Bouzouma (160), Jaeden Hubbard (189).
4th Place Finishers: Ethan Hong (145) and Joseph Natysin (215).
5th Place Finishers: Reese Redlinger (133) and Grady Mandle (172).
6th Place Finishers: Egan Hong (114), Ayman Ahmed (121), and Lincoln Rudek (127).
Looking ahead to the final week of the season - hopefully we’ll see our four remaining athletes compete at their highest level this weekend at the State Tournament!
As I’ve expressed many times to our wrestlers who continue to show up for practices despite their competition season being over - I’m impressed by the character we’ve seen in these athletes. To me being there for their teammates says a lot of who these athletes are. With that said, we have three team practices left in the season and we continue to encourage all of our wrestlers to finish the season as a team. Supporting our wrestlers who will be competing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday by helping to keep the training atmosphere consistent with what we’ve had all season is an important piece of this week’s training. We started this thing together with the idea that we would support one another throughout the season and that’s the way we’d prefer to end it. Please help me in encouraging your wrestler to participate in the final three team practices.
Here’s the information you’ll need for the final week (plus the info on the end of season meeting and voting day):
Week 15 Practice/Meet Schedule:
Monday, 2.23 – Wrestling at 3:10p until around 4:30p.
Tuesday, 2.24 – Wrestling at 3:10p until around 4:30p.
Wednesday, 2.25 – Wrestling at 3p until around 4p. Last day of the whole team practicing.
Thursday, 2.26 – First day of the Individual Tournament. Connor will wrestle with his round starting at 9a and 4p. Girls will wrestle starting sometime around 2p. Our wrestlers are done for the day after the girls 2p round.
Friday, 2.27 – Second day of the Individual Tournament. Connor will wrestle with his round starting at 9a and his second round around 4p. Girls will wrestle starting around 2p and again around 7p.
Saturday, 2.28 – Final day of the Individual Tournament (Boys and Girls). Rounds starting at 9a with wrestling going throughout the day and the state finals being wrestled around 3p.
Week 16 End of Season Team Meeting Date/Time:
Wednesday, 3.3 – End of Season Team Meeting, Awards Voting, Etc.
2025 – 2026 Wrestler of the Week Honors:
Week 2: Alex Fox, Max Schroeder, Alyssa Pearson
Week 3: Egan Hong, Charlotte Nadolski
Week 4: Reese Redlinger, Brooklyn True, Gabe Mullen
Week 5: Connor Peterson, Elizabeth Ofuasia, and Khoa Nguyen
Week 6: No Competitions.
Week 7: Ollie Bielat, Jonah Prum, Grant Berg
Week 8: Benyam Reda, London Graham
Week 9: Ethan Hong, Carol Stevenson, Nathan Palmer
Week 10: Maxwell Marsh, Rachel Kusie
Week 11: Camden Rodriguez-Hild, Avery Royal, Ayman Ahmed
Week 12: Russo Capel, Grady Mandle, Lamond McCabe, Chris Ignacio
Week 13: Joseph Natysin
Week 14: TBD
Mat Boss Video Access:
You have noticed our amazing managers are recording (as well as scoring) our matches. If you are not currently able to watch your videos please talk to coach Troy at practice this week. Wrestlers only have access to their own matches.
We are also doing what we can to ensure the matches are uploaded and as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, with events sometimes having 6 or more mats we will not be able to record every match. Wrestlers/Parents are encouraged to have someone record their own matches for review purposes as well.
Watching matches opens up all kinds of cool possibilities for the team. The most basic of which is that each wrestler can watch their matches once they are uploaded. Watching back matches can be a great learning tool and is highly encouraged. Have your wrestler make sure I receive their email address and look for their invite to begin utilizing this valuable tool.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Crossbar, Hello Teams, and Future Communication:
Lastly if you haven’t, please download the Crossbar and HelloTeam Apps, and register to receive future communications (even in the offseason). A QR code should have been sent out for Hello Team and you can register for Crossbar at www.crimson-wrestling.com. Parents and wrestlers should each sign up to receive future communications and schedule changes through the Crossbar and HelloTeam apps. Please let me know if you have any questions with this as we will use these apps for communications throughout the season and the offseason.
I would also encourage all of our wrestlers to try and make it down to the Excel Center (or Grand Casino Arena) to support our Crimson wrestlers still competing and take it all in. Hopefully many of our non-senior wrestlers will be working towards the state tournament in future seasons and it’s important for them to know what they are working for as well as have the knowledge of what the tournament environment is when they do have the opportunity to compete there.
Our four wrestlers who will compete this weekend represent every individual associated with Crimson Wrestling. None of them would be where they are with the help and support of many individuals including many of the athletes and families who have been there throughout the season and throughout their careers. Let’s get out and support our Crimson family this weekend and help them bring home some State Tournament hardware!
Please encourage your athletes to continue to show up for their team and be a part of the journey to the podium at the state tournament. As always – looking forward to it! Let’s Go Crimson!
Let me know if anybody has any questions.
Coach Troy
Mgwrestling99@gmail.com
763-913-0601