Photo gallery: Wrestling state meet individual prelims
Big results
Lakeville North’s Jore Volk and Zach Hanson may be two of the smaller wrestlers on the Panthers’ roster, but there’s nothing small about their impact. Volk, a sophomore 106-pounder, improved to 43-1 after two victories Friday while Hanson, a freshman 113-pounder, was 42-4 after his Day 1 wins.
Both parlayed stellar summers and a wrestling room bond into big high school seasons. Volk won both the freestyle and the Greco-Roman U-16 titles at the USA Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, N.D., in July. Hanson won three championships — freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman — in the U-14 age group at the USA Kids Nationals.
Putting them together in the Lakeville North wrestling room has only hastened their development.
“It’s great to have a good practice partner like Zach,” Volk said. “We just push each other and make each other better.”
Hanson said Volk tends to have the edge when they hit the mat. “He’s better than me in the practice room,” Hanson said. “Every day, I’m just trying to get better and score points on him.”
Value in getting there
For White Bear Lake senior Nick Kastner and Armstrong senior James Ohm, just reaching the state meet is a major accomplishment.
Both lost their first-round matches — Kastner was pinned at 220 pounds, Ohm lost a 3-1 decision — but for each, simply being there a big deal.
“It was kind of surreal,” Kastner said. “I wasn’t even sure I would wrestle varsity this season. I was kind of going between varsity and junior varsity.”
Ohm lost nearly 80 pounds between his sophomore season and this year in hopes of reaching the state meet. The loss did nothing to lessen his achievement.
“I did what I set out to do,” said Ohm. “It’s been my goal since seventh grade. It means everything to get my name up on the wall in the wrestling room.”
Kastner, who missed his junior year with a knee injury, summed it up simply: “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in sports in my life.”
Always listen to Dad
Hopkins junior RJ Chakolis is making his fourth state tournament appearance, this year at 195 pounds. His past has been spotty, having never before finished sixth or higher.
After his winning his quarterfinals match, 3-2 in overtime over Wayzata’s MacAron Kukowski, his chance to end that streak is better than ever before. “I want to reach the podium. I’ve never gotten there before,” he said. “And not just the podium. I want to win this.”
His father, Happy, was a state tournament wrestler at Minneapolis North in the early 1990s. Happy is hard to miss, shouting instructions and encouragement to his son. RJ often looks to his father during a match, acknowledging him with a quick nod.
“He’s been my coach since I was young,” Chakolis said. “Sometimes my coaches get mad, but it’s hard not to listen to your dad.”
Undefeated
Derrick Cardinal, Forest Lake, 126 (48-0); Gabe Nagel, Little Falls, 40-0 (170), and Gavin Layton, Coon Rapids, 50-0 (heavyweight).
Champs still alive
Paxton Creese, Shakopee, 120; Derrick Cardinal, Forest Lake, 126; Pierson Manville, Shakopee, 126; Reid Ballantyne, Stillwater, 132; Willie Bastyr, Lakeville South, 152, and Gabe Nagel, Little Falls, 170.