By David Heiller

Argus News Editor

Caledonia/Houston/Spring Grove is the team to beat in Section 1AA this year.

The Warriors have four wrestlers back who qualified for state last year: senior Collin Pitts, who finished second there at 103; senior Alex Burg, junior Avery Becker, and senior Karl Klug.

The team is ranked ninth in Class AA by The Guillotine, a weekly magazine about Minnesota wrestling.

Practices got into full swing on November 28. That was a week later than normal because several wrestlers were on the football team which played until November 25.

The late start prompted the rescheduling of the December 2 home meet with Chatfield to Monday, January 9. Coach Jay Tolleson said the delayed start wonít impact his wrestlers, because they have many meets and tournaments this year.

Several coaches have told Tolleson that Caledonia is the team to beat this year. The team made it to the sectional semi-finals last year, and only two varsity seniors, Justin Conway and Levi Danielson, graduated from that team.

One key to success will be staying healthy, Tolleson feels, because they are lacking depth at some weights. ìHealthiest teams are the ones that win the section,î he said.

Other teams to watch in Section 1AA are Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland (GMLOK), Stewartville, Plainview, and Kasson-Mantorville, Tolleson said. ìYou can always have a surprise in there too,î he said.

GMLOK had been in Class A, but moved into Class AA this year. Last year they won the Section 1A tournament and took fourth in the state tournament. They are ranked 10th by The Guillotine. Caledonia wrestles them in the last dual meet of the season on February 3 in Spring Valley.

The potential line-up

Here is a list of returning letter winners broken down by the weight class where they are likely to wrestle in the post-season.

103: Sophomore Lee Burg went 5-4 last year and filled in until Collin Pitts dropped down to his tournament weight. Eighth grader Zach Buttell will also likely wrestle at this weight, Tolleson said.

112: Collin Pitts has two consecutive state runner-up titles. He is ranked second in the state behind Cody Adams, who beat him in the state finals last year.

119: Junior Michael Pitts finished third in the sectional tournament last year.

125: Junior Kaleb Schmitz lost a true second match in the sectional tournament last year, then finished third.

130: Alex Burg was the sectional runner-up last year at 125.

135: Tolleson said this weight is a question mark. Everybody will shift down to it during the post-season tournaments. Junior Seth Danielson, sophomore Tyler Stemper, and freshman Brett Benson will compete, Tolleson said.

140: Junior Josh Gavin finished fifth in the sectional at 145 last year.

145: Avery Becker was last yearís sectional champion at 135.

152: Junior Brandon Vick is a returning letter winner.

160: Junior Zach Rollins is a returning letter winner. He had many tough matches last year, Tolleson said.

171: Senior Brent Knutson wrestled on junior varsity last year. ìHeís a big, strong kid,î Tolleson said.

189: Senior Kevin Klug was fifth in the sectional last year. He may make the same jump that Karl Klug made last year, Tolleson said.

215: Karl Klug was sectional runner up last year, and is ranked fourth in the state in Class AA.

275: Senior Lucas Thiele. ìLucas goes out there and gives it his all,î Tolleson said.

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