Wrestling heats up

College and high school wrestling teams have begun the 2010 portion of their schedules in earnest and this weekend is shaping up as a crucial one.

At the college level, Minnesota State makes its annual trek to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals Meet.

"This has been a good litmus test for us over the years," MSU coach Jim Makovsky said this week. "Last year, just like this one, we went in with a lot of questions about our team and weren't sure what to expect. We ended up in a big match against Central Oklahoma, got some big wins, some key pins, and beat them. That reinforced our belief in our system and what we do."

The bad news for the Mavericks is that they will be without the services of 197-pounder Pat Mahan. Mahan is set to have surgery on Friday on his shoulder and will be done for the season. His back-up, Derek Jacobs, is still coming off a broken hand so MSU may have to forfeit at 197 throughout the tournament.

MSU's lineup in Cedar Falls should be Andy Forstner at 125, Matt Nyvold (133), Robby Fischer (141), Travis Elg (149), Justin Turek (157), Tel Todd (165), Ben Becker (174), Aaron Norgren (184) and Brady Wilson (heavyweight).

MSU goes into the competition ranked 11th nationally and will see the top teams in Division II. Nebraska-Omaha, Newberry of South Carolina, Nebraska-Kearney and Central Oklahoma are the top four teams in the country and will all be wrestling in Cedar Falls. MSU is slated to take on sixth-ranked Western State of Colorado in Saturday's first round. The tournament concludes Sunday.

"We're excited," Makovsky said. "With the exception of Mahan and Jacobs we're about as healthy as we've been all season."

At the high school level, Montgomery-Lonsdale/Le Center will host the Coyote Invitational Saturday in Montgomery. The six-team meet includes Class A's seventh-ranked Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial and a United South Central team that is honorably mentioned in the latest Class A poll by The Guillotine.

The other teams are Lakeville South, Blooming Prairie, St. Clair/Mankato Loyola and host MLLC. Lakeville South brings three Class AAA-ranked wrestlers to the competition in Kevin Bright (160 pounds), Eric Hensel (171) and Zane Peterson (215).

LCWM's Class A-ranked wrestlers are Taner Trembley (112), Paul Norgren (5th, 135), Cody Tibbetts (3rd, 152) and Nate Meixell (6th, 171). USC's two-rated wrestlers Preston Staloch (7th, 145) and A.J. Dreyer (2nd, 215). Chase Levos of SCML is ranked third at 119 pounds.

The tournament begins at 10 a.m.

-- by Jim Rueda