New Ulm Area wrestling team having strong season despite youth
NEW ULM — Despite youth and a lack of senior leaders on the team this season, the New Ulm Area wrestling team is not without experience or success.
Senior Cole Ranweiler, the No. 7-ranked Class AA wrestler at 182 pounds, leads the 15-7 Eagles this season on the mat with a 19-1 record, 11 pins and 17 takedowns. He broke the New Ulm High School career pins record earlier this season on Jan. 26, giving him 107 career pins.
He now has 113 career pins and 164 career wins.
“Cole spends a lot of time working at his physical fitness outside of the room,” NUA head coach Kevin Briggs said. “Cole should be in as good of shape as anyone that he wrestles. So it’s just going to come down to having a good day at sections and hopefully getting back to the state tournament for him.”
While the team no doubt benefits by having Ranweiler as a senior leader, the Eagles also have a number of young standout wrestlers leading the way.
Parker Kamm and Logan Lee have also had strong freshmen campaigns for NUA. Kamm routinely competes at 106 pounds, while Lee competes at 113.
Kamm currently holds a 20-2 record with 13 pins and 21 takedowns, while Lee is 19-3 with 12 pins and 21 takedowns. Kamm is also second in team points with 113.
“Both of those kids have nine, ten years of experience already,” Briggs said of Kamm and Lee. “Both of those kids attend summer camps, and in the wrestling room they do work hard. This isn’t just that they decided to be good this year, it’s been a long time coming and they’ve got a long ways to go, both of them. I don’t know that they’re at where they want to be as far as winning our section, but they are two of our stronger guys in the lineup.”
Also making a leap from last season is junior heavyweight Jaden Drill. Drill is 20-2 with 13 pins and 16 takedowns, and he also is the team leader in points with 117.
“Jaden finally cracked the lineup,” Briggs said. “In the past he’s been a backup behind a couple of guys. Jaden’s another kid who’s wrestled through the youth program. He added some strength over the offseason and made the starting lineup — and now he’s wrestling with confidence — and that always helps.”
The Eagles have been fortunate to stay healthy this season and avoid having too many schedule changes due to COVID-19. They have only had two events this season altered due to COVID-19 protocols and none of the changes were due to the health of any NUA wrestlers.
“First and foremost, we’re happy we’re on the mat,” Briggs said. “Some of the schools around us are struggling with COVID, and so far that hasn’t hit us. We’re on the mat and I feel like the kids are wrestling for each other and trying to prove that they can beat some of these schools that we face.”
Briggs said that as the season winds down, he believes there are members of the team capable of making a push in the section tournament.
“Every year, you can throw the rankings out the window, you can throw the seeds out the window,” Briggs said. “Every year you’ll see a five or a six seed make the state tournament. … A lot of things have to go well that day, they have to be at the top of their performance that day, but the state tournament welcomes anybody. On their best day, there’s a lot of kids in our room who could make the state tournament.”
The Eagles are at Luverne on Friday before their final home meet of the season on Tuesday.