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Ram Wrestlers Are Recognized and Honored

Submitted by Ryan Sprabary 

On Sunday, April 14, the Roseau Ram wrestling program held their annual end of the year banquet.  

The PreK through 2nd grade boys’ coaches, Joe Morisch and Jarek Ludwick, kicked off the banquet by speaking about the successful season the boys had and the growth they saw in all the wrestlers.  

Coach Morisch mentioned how proud he was to be a part of the Roseau wrestling program. He himself grew up in a very successful Long Prairie, Minn. program. “I can’t explain to you how excited these kids are for each practice. They are jumping at the bit for the high school practice to get over with every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.”  

Coach Jarek mentioned the growth in the young boys’ wrestling technique.  

As a small town program, Roseau is lucky to have such experienced, patient, and passionate coaches to start these boys’ wrestling careers off at such a young age.  

Awards were given out to the following Prek-2nd grade boys for this past season.

Prek-2nd Grade Awards

• Most Improved - Jackson Morisch

• Hardest Worker - Colten Larsen

• Team Player - Thorin Kapphahn

• Ram Award - Keithyn Gausen

The next group was our older youth boys, grades 3rd-6th.  Presenting them were Coach Tanner Hovda and Coach Adam Solberg.  

I can personally say you can see the excitement in Coach Hovda’s face every time he starts talking about wrestling.  He had a smile on his face the whole banquet and talked about the success this group had in team competition.  

“I think they shocked a lot of people and coaches from other towns with their performance” Tanner said.  “No one gave this group much of a chance to win any duals after losing such a large number of good wrestlers from last year’s youth team to the high school program, but they proved so many wrong in each dual going 5-6 in team competition.”  

Coach Solberg added, “I noticed this group’s chemistry building over the season and the awesome bond the kids made,” which he knew only helped their success.  

A lot of times you hear from parents how lucky these kids are to have coaches that put in such long hours to this program.  Here in Roseau we are fortunate to have youth wrestling coaches who care so much about these kids.

Awards were given to the following 3rd-6th grade boys for this past season.

3rd - 6th Grade Awards

• Most Improved - Meryk Ullman

• Hardest Worker - Owyn Maxwell

• Team Player - Isaac Erickson

• Ram Award - Brody Larson

Up next were the youth girl wrestlers and coaches Lindsey Krank and Lisa Mack.  

Right away, they let the crowd know how amazingly strong and such hard workers these girls were this past season. They even challenged the high school wrestlers to a push up contest from one of their best, Alyssa Johnson.  

Coach Krank mentioned how she was so proud of this group of girls and how Roseau girls had the second most wrestlers down at the State tournament in Rochester. “Throughout this season, we could see the growth in each girl and are so proud of them for their desire to learn during each and every practice.”  

Coach Mack added, “I am really impressed with their care and kindness for their teammates throughout the season.”

Awards were given out to the following Prek-6th grade girls for this past season.

Youth Girls Awards

• Hardest Worker Award - Alyssa Johnson

• Most Improved Award - Evelyn Jack

• Leadership Award - Kendyl Mack

• Team Player Award - Rachel Thomas

• Sportsmanship Award - Kamil Williams

Coach Jim Mack, the high school boys and girls head coach, ended the night. He started off with the boys explaining to the crowd that this group of wrestlers are continuing to shock the state. 

He mentioned how proud he was of this group of wrestlers for their effort in each and every practice.  “Only those who have wrestled know how hard it is.”

He further commented on the amazing season this young group of wrestlers had, pointing out that not many teams are made up of 7th and 8th graders and only a few 9th and 10th graders. 

“So for this group to do so well this season is extremely impressive.”

Coach Mack mentioned the girls had such an amazing season and how hard they worked and he could see their passion for the sport grow throughout the season. With this being only the second year of girls wrestling at the high school level, boy did they impress. They ended their season with a profound showing at the super section tournament winning several matches. One thing I learned about this group of high school girls is nothing seems to stop them, so get ready to hear much more about them in the near future. Coach Mack was very thankful for the help of his assistant coaches - Ryan Sprabary, Jason Cummings and Nathan Cossentine.

Awards were given out to the following high school wrestlers for this past season.

High School Girl Awards

• Hardest Worker Award - Mylee Vacura

• Most Improved Award - Morgan Skoien

• North Star Wrestling Conference All Conference - Morgan Skoien

High School Boys Awards

• JV Award - Asher Dunham

• Most Improved Award - Jayden Anderson

• Tru Grit Award - Hayden Picard

• Hardest Worker Award - Weston Sprabary

• MVP Award - Seth Cossentine

• Halls and Falls Recognition (wrestler having a net pin count of 10 or higher) - Seth Cossentine (19) & Weston Sprabary (10)

• North Star Wrestling Conference Honorable Mention - Weston Sprabary

• North Star Wrestling Conference All Conference - Seth Cossentine

 

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