Goodhue Wrestling 2010-2011 Varsity Post-Season Review
To begin, thank you to everyone who has been involved and participated in the Goodhue Wrestling program. All of your efforts and support contributed to an enjoyable and successful season the mat. On staff, appreciation goes to coaches Travis Goodman, Brandon Schafer, and Mark Schoenfelder, and statisticians/videographers Olivia Drehmel, Kendrah Schafer, Paige Hokanson, Christyn Hokanson, and Courtney Ryan. I hope you continue this support in future seasons as well, as it is very much appreciated.
In terms of team performance, the program continued to make considerable improvements over the past two years. In the 2008-2009 campaign, we held a 13-21 record. A year ago, we were .500 at 17-17. This year, we finished with a much more competitive record of 20-13. All but three of our losses came to ranked opponents, and many of those teams went on to earn state tournament honors. And most notably, one of our losses came to the #1 nationally ranked Apple Valley, MN, who we faced in the Robbinsdale Armstrong Duals. While we were not victorious, we were not shutout against their starting lineup, with Kyle Drehmel earning an exciting overtime victory over a state-ranked 119# opponent.
In the competitive HVL conference, we were 5-6. Along the way, we avenged losses to teams we had not defeated in the past two seasons but still succumbed to, among others, state place-winners Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Kasson-Mantorville. In the Section 1A team tournament, we defeated Dover-Eyota, but lost in the quarter-finals to state-ranked and section finalist Kenyon-Wanamingo. Overall, the coaching staff was very pleased with the level of continuous progress the program has made in the past 3 years and the increased level of commitment the wrestlers are making to earn those achievements.
Individually, the wrestlers continued to make progress that contributed to the team success. Perhaps the strongest factor was the level of lineup balance this year as 12 wrestlers had varsity records over .500. Earning 20+ wins included Justin Simmons, Ryan Tipcke, and Weston Gadient. Matthew Lexvold and Charlie Dicke earned 25 and 29 wins respectively, and Mitchell Breuer kicked in 30, one win behind team leader Kyle Drehmel’s 31. Not to be outdone by Drehmel in each category, Breuer turned in a team-leading 50 takedowns and a whopping 21 falls. Statistically, this means Mitchell pinned 50% of any opponent he faced this season, and 70% of the wrestlers he would go on to defeat!
As it does each year, the program says goodbye to a group of seniors. This year saw a collective 67 individual wins, defeating nearly 70% of their opponents. Like the rest of the team, seniors Tyler Breuer, Zach Carlson, Charlie Dicke, and Tyler Lexvold were excited when fellow senior Ty Stecklein was cleared in January to wrestle in his final season, returning from a knee injury that kept him from the sport his entire junior year. Four of these seniors went on to place at the 2011 Section 1A individual tournament: Tyler Lexvold (4th), Charlie Dicke (6th), Tyler Breuer (4th), and Ty Stecklein (3rd). Thank you to these young men for their fine careers at Goodhue.
There were many other accomplishments that should be noted. Charlie Dicke (145#) and Kyle Drehmel (119#) earned HVL All-Conference honors, with Mitchell Breuer (135#) earning Honorable Mention. Mitchell Breuer, Kyle Drehmel, and Charlie Dicke won their weight classes in the Chisago Lakes Invitational, and Kyle Drehmel and Matthew Lexvold each championed their bracket at the Cresco, IA Flanagan Invite.
Numerous career accomplishments were reached by the end of the season as well. Seniors Tyler Breuer, Tyler Lexvold, and Ty Stecklein finished with 50+ career wins, and Charlie Dicke came just nine wins short of 100. All of the four seniors had 25+ pins in their career. And sophomores Mitchell Breuer and Kyle Drehmel each secured their 60th win this season as well.
As student-athletes, the following students were able to carry a grade-point average of 3.25 or greater during the season: Zach Carlson, Dan Clugston, Kyle Drehmel, Matthew Deneen, Casey Deneen, Jordan Taylor, Matthew Lexvold, Mitchell Breuer, Logan Breuer, Jacob Gilsdorf, and Nathan Altendorf.
Finally, these wrestlers earned some very prestigious team awards. Olivia Drehmel earned the program’s “Extra Mile” award for all of her efforts behind the scenes. “Most Valuable Wrestler” went to Charlie Dicke and “Hardest Worker” went to Kyle Drehmel. Because so many wrestlers had made such remarkable improvement from the previous season, the “Most Improved” award went to three deserving individuals: Matthew Lexvold, Justin Simmons, and Ryan Tipcke.
