WOLFPACK WRESTLING PREVIEW - Angell aims to build off last year; rest of the team looking to learn

WOLFPACK WRESTLING PREVIEW

After going 38-13 and placing fourth at the WIAA Division 3 state tournament as a freshman, Taydyn Angell is, without question, the leader of this year’s Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe Wolfpack wrestling team, despite his young age.

Behind Angell is a group of five new wrestlers, all of whom are new to the sport but “are hungry to compete,” according to second-year head coach Zach Person.

Three of the newcomers aren’t new to varsity sports. Senior Lee Zagorski earned second-team All-North Central East Conference honors as a defensive lineman for the Gilman Pirates’ football team this fall, while junior Sawyer Winger and sophomore Lucas Halida also were on that squad. Winger has had success in track and field as well for Gilman and moved to wrestling this week after starting the winter in basketball.

The next two newcomers are freshman female additions giving the sport a try, Kaitlyn Madlon and Aspen Person.

“My goal is for our new wrestlers to improve each match and become confident within themselves, along with finding success on the mat,” coach Person said. “My other goal is for our veteran Taydyn Angell to keep working hard and show his true potential this year and make it back down to the state tournament.”

With Person and assistant coach Justin Fredrickson back for another year, the Wolfpack will begin the new season Saturday with its annual trip to the Barron Invitational, which starts at 9 a.m. The Wolfpack will also head to the Auburndale Invitational on Dec. 21.

Angell shared Cornell-Gilman-Lake Holcombe’s state spotlight last year with Troy Duellman, who placed fifth at 157 pounds. Duellman has graduated and a couple of other wrestlers from a year ago did not return, leaving Angell as the lone veteran.

Angell made a name for himself down the stretch last season by beating some big dogs in the 215-pound weight class. He earned All Lakeland Conference honors by taking second at the conference meet behind Gavin Rossow of the Luck Co-op and then got to state with thirdplace finishes in regional and sectional competition.

Seeded 11th out of 12 state competitors in the weight class, Angell upset sixth-seeded senior Michael Upson of Random Lake in overtime and pinned seventh-seeded senior Jackson Geitner of Poynette to clinch a state medal and then beat fourth-seeded Cadott senior Alex Tegels to get into the third-place match that he lost 2-0 to second-seeded junior Bode Brokopp of Iowa-Grant/Highland.

“He is going to serve as our veteran this year leading our young pack,” Zach Person said.

Having six wrestlers in the room for practice is an improvement over last year, which Person said is encouraging for the program. While the Wolfpack will have their work cut out for themselves in getting the newcomers as prepared as they can for high school wrestling, Person said he’s eager to see how much they learn and improve.

“This year we are going to keep focusing on improving each match and making sure we are peaking late in the year around the tournament series,” Person said. “We are looking to have our new wrestlers to become confident in their new craft and find success on the mat.”

Dual meets in the Lakeland Conference won’t start until January. Like last year, they’ll be contested in a series of quads throughout the month. The Wolfpack will host one on Jan. 23 with Clear Lake, Turtle Lake-Clayton and Bruce. The Wolfpack will be at the Flameabu Quad on Jan. 4 with the host Falcons, Bruce and Shell Lake. The team will join Unity and Bruce at the Luck Co-op Quad on Jan. 16. Turtle Lake-Clayton will host the conference meet for the second straight year on Feb. 8. The Luck Co-op is the defending champion after going 7-0 in duals and winning the league meet last year.

The Wolfpack will attend their typical slate of invitationals in January, including Cadott, Ladysmith, St. Croix Falls and the two-day Northern Badger Invitational in River Falls during the holidays. The tournaments should give the girls chances to pick up several matches as well.

Post-season competition for the boys starts with the 14-team Edgar regional on Feb. 15 with the top four finishers in each weight class advancing to the Feb. 22 Ladysmith sectional. The girls have their own WIAA tournament this year with Merrill hosting the regional on Feb. 14 and Ladysmith hosting the sectional Feb. 21.

“This year our goal is to keep improving each match and every day,” coach Person said. “We want our wrestlers to become confident in their skills and moves to be successful this year. We are striving to have each one of our wrestlers to become ready for later in the season. Another goal of ours this year to to get our veteran to keep improving his skills to have him make it back to the tournament series and lead our young pack to success. Our last goal is to start becoming more competitive in dual meets with numbers growing. I’m excited to see how our team does this year.”