Three Mora wrestlers make their way to State podium

Mora’s wrestling team, along with nine individuals, made their way to the Minnesota state wrestling meet at the XCel Center in St. Paul, and competed from Thursday, March 2, through Saturday, March 4. When all the dust settled, Lindsey Nosbush, Nora Houglum and Nathan Nelson made their way to the podium. All three earned All-State accolades.

Mora, as a team, came in as the seventh ranked team in Class AA, and competed on Thursday, March 2, versus New Prague and Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle/Montevideo United. They were first matched up against a very good New Prague team, who eventually took second place, losing to Simley.

Mora versus New Prague

106: Lawson Eller (New Prague) over Joseph Connor (Mora) (Fall 0:16)

113: Kyle McCarthy (New Prague) over Stratton Nelson (Mora) (Fall 5:35)

120: Mason Nelson (Mora) over Isaac Pumper (New Prague) (TF 24-9)

126: Cooper Sjodin (Mora) over Cody Thompson (New Prague) (Dec 9-4)

132: Nathan Nelson (Mora) over Cayden Feit (New Prague) (Fall 1:38)

138: Brandon Michel (New Prague) over Cole Grams (Mora) (Dec 7-2)

145: Cole Herrmann (New Prague) over Brock Folkema (Mora) (Dec 6-1)

152: Koy Buesgens (New Prague) over Avery Nelson (Mora) (Fall 3:11)

160: Colton Bornholdt (New Prague) over Connor Gmahl (Mora) (TF 23-8)

170: Evan Farley (New Prague) over Tucker Hass (Mora) (MD 9-0)

182: Brady Westall (New Prague) over Jared Yates (Mora) (TF 20-5)

195: Brock Peterson (Mora) over Owen Johnson (New Prague) (Fall 1:40)

220: Joey Novak (New Prague) over Dyllon Adams (Mora) (Fall 2:45)

285: Brady Gregory (New Prague) over Ben Everson (Mora) (Dec 7-2)

Final Score Mora 20 New Prague 47

Mora then headed to the consolation bracket to take on Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle/Montevideo United, where it could have gone either way. Unfortunately, United took advantage of the few Mora mistakes to win 30-42.

Mora versus DBLU

106: Eli Olson (DBLU) over Joseph Connor (Mora) (Fall 0:33)

113: Ben Gunlogson (DBLU) over Stratton Nelson (Mora) (Fall 1:21)

120: Mason Nelson (Mora) over Holland Schacherer (DBLU) (Dec 12-6)

126: Daniel Gunlogson (DBLU) over Cooper Sjodin (Mora) (Fall 3:00)

132: Nathan Nelson (Mora) over Bentleigh Bothun (DBLU) (Fall 0:50)

138: Kameron Sather (DBLU) over Cole Grams (Mora) (Fall 2:25)

145: Zander Clausen (DBLU) over Brock Folkema (Mora) (Dec 4-2)

152: Avery Nelson (Mora) over Ethan Moravetz (DBLU) (Dec 8-2)

160: Connor Gmahl (Mora) over Noah Meyer (DBLU) (Fall 2:00)

170: Tucker Hass (Mora) over Mason Pederson (DBLU) (Fall 1:14)

182: Holt Larson (DBLU) over Jared Yates (Mora) (Dec 6-4)

195: Parker Bothun (DBLU) over Brock Peterson (Mora) (Fall 4:19)

220: Zach DeBeer (DBLU) over Dyllon Adams (Mora) (Fall 4:38)

285: Curtis Maegi (Mora) over Brady Rhode (DBLU) (Fall 0:49)

Final Score Mora 30 DBLU 42

Despite the early exit from the tournament, the team finished 24-4 on the year.

“Not making excuses, but having Carter Gmahl and Anthony Nelson out really hurt the team at state,” said head coach Tom Youngblom. “It’s not like other sports. New Prague and Dawson were able to move their guys around and get better matchups. This ultimately proved to be too much as we were not deep enough to combat those moves. There are many things to be proud of. I hate to let a poor state team performance put a damper on one of the best overall teams and seasons we have had come through, which is a very successful Mora wrestling program!”

Along with an impressive 24-4 record, the program sent nine individuals to state, which is the most ever. “We had three individual placers (Three All-State Wrestlers), which is tied for the most ever individual placing in Mora history. The fact that we were there again, back-to-back years is pretty exciting. We obviously didn’t finish the way we wanted, but we do have 17 of the 21 members of our team coming back.”

Mora will start preparing for a run at a three-pete come next season.

Nelson, Nosbush, and Houglum place at state

Mora junior Nathan Nelson, who won his 100th victory back on Jan. 7, entered the state tournament as the sixth ranked wrestler at 132 lb, and finished with a sixth place medal on Saturday, March 4.

“Coming into the state tournament I was ranked sixth via the Guillotine,” said Nelson. “I was kind of annoyed by the ranking because prior to the state tournament I was ranked third all year. Knowing that I dropped three spots in the rankings I knew that I had something to prove. The first day of individuals I thought I wrestled very well. I went 2-1 overall. I was a little upset that I lost my second match because it was a close and hard fought battle for the full six minutes. My goal of becoming a state finalist didn’t happen but I knew I could come back and fight for third. The last day of individuals was

a lot of hard work. I had to win my first match, which I did, to place. Winning that match was very important because I knew If I had lost that match, I wouldn’t be able to stand on the podium. I lost my second match in close fashion to a tough kid from Totino-Grace. After losing that match I wasn’t mentally prepared and ended up losing my fifth place match also. I wanted to place a lot higher at state this year because I wanted to prove I was worthy of placing top three, but nonetheless I was content with a sixth place finish.”

Nelson finished with a sixth place finish last year too. “It was kind of like deja-vu from last year but I was still happy that I could be awarded all state for the second year in a row. I just know that I’ll have to come back even better and stronger for next year because I am not fully satisfied with my results. I also want to give a shout out to Tom Youngblom, Ryan Sjodin, Brian Sjodin, Brent Nelson and Jeff Olstead. If they weren’t in my corner, in every match I wrestled, I would have a tough time succeeding. They help me become the best wrestler that I can be and push me to be the best. I love the atmosphere at the Xcel. It’s so cool to be wrestling in front of thousands of people and to succeed as well.”

132AA - Nathan Nelson (43-8) 6TH (ALL-STATE)

Champ. Round 1 - Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 won by decision over Kameron Sather (DBLU) 35-9 (Dec 13-8)

Quarterfinal - Landen Kujawa (Becker) 42-8 won by decision over Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 (Dec 8-3)

Cons. Round 1 - Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 won by fall over Fenan Uso (Fridley) 23-13 (Fall 1:00)

Cons. Round 2 - Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 won by decision over James Salas (Simley) 40-9 (Dec 7-5)

Cons. Semi - Ethan Sylvester (Totino-Grace) 45-9 won by decision over Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 (Dec 7-2)

5th Place Match - Nick Korman (Albert Lea Area) 39-16 won by decision over Nathan Nelson (Mora) 43-8 Dec 6-3)

120AA - Mason Nelson (39-10)

Champ. Round 1 - Mason Nelson (Mora) 36-11 won by decision over Max Martin (Hutchinson) 39-10 (Dec 6-1)

Quarterfinal - Logan Davis (Albert Lea Area) 43-6 won by decision over Mason Nelson (Mora) 39-10 (Dec 12-6)

Cons. Round 1 - Mason Nelson (Mora) 36-11 won by decision over Kaleb Mead (Watertown Mayer- Mayer Luth.) 39-10(Dec 7-3)

Cons. Round 2 - Victor Franco (Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield) 14-4 won by decision over Mason Nelson (Mora) 39-10 (Dec 10-3)

160AA - Connor Gmahl (40-6)

Champ. Round 1 - Lucas Kritzeck (Park Rapids Area) 29-8 won by decision over Connor Gmahl (Mora) 39-5 (40-6)

152AA - Avery Nelson (35-7)

Champ. Round 1 - Kaleb Lochner (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 33-11 won by fall over Avery Nelson (Mora) 35-7 (Fall 3:17)

“I really think I will remember the chemistry we had,” said Avery Nelson. “All of us had each other’s backs no matter what. We never had to worry about anything. I really think we wrestled hard and that’s pretty commendable on a stage like that, I felt like we adjusted to the atmosphere pretty well. I’m really proud of the way we wrestled, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”

170AA - Tucker Hass (39-12)

Champ. Round 1 - Tucker Hass (Mora) 39-12 won by fall over Colby Harrer (Totino-Grace) 17-21 (Fall 0:59)

Quarterfinal - Cole Glazier (Kasson-Mantorville) 48-1 won by major decision over Tucker Hass (Mora) 39-12(MD 15-7)

Cons. Round 1 - Damon Ferguson (Thief River Falls) 42-7 won by fall over Tucker Hass (Mora) 39-12 (Fall 0:50)

120Girls - Nora Houglum (26-8) 6TH(ALL-STATE)

Quarterfinal - Lanna Walter (Sauk Centre-Melrose) 21-3 won by decision over Nora Houglum (Mora) 26-8 (Dec 7-1)

Cons. Semi - Nora Houglum (Mora) 26-8 won by decision over Shelby McFetridge (Mahtomedi) 12-5 (Dec 4-2)

5th Place Match - Destiney Lofton (New Prague) 4-2 won by fall over Nora Houglum (Mora) 26-8 (Fall 3:34)

152Girls - Annabel McGriff (6-10)

Quarterfinal - Grace Alagbo (Apple Valley) 23-4 won by fall over Annabel McGriff (Mora) 6-10 (Fall 0:07)

Cons. Semi - Adamaris Chable Rodriguez (KMS) 6-5 won by fall over Annabel McGriff (Mora) 6-10 (Fall 1:45)

165Girls - Shelby Strandlund (6-17)

Quarterfinal - Elizabeth Oster (Bemidji) 12-5 won by fall over Shelby Strandlund (Mora) 6-17 (Fall 0:30)

Cons. Semi - Savana Stans (Forest Lake) 6-8 won by fall over Shelby Strandlund (Mora) 6-17 (Fall 2:45)

145Girls - Lindsey Nosbush (25-7) 4TH (ALL-STATE)

Quarterfinal - Lindsey Nosbush (Mora) 25-7 won by fall over Megan Peterson (Thief River Falls) 19-7 (Fall 4:41)

Semifinal - Riley Myers (Eastview) 17-4 won by decision over Lindsey Nosbush (Mora) 25-7 (Dec 4-0)

3rd Place Match - Ashley Strang (Mille Lacs Raiders) 17-4 won by fall over Lindsey Nosbush (Mora) 25-7 (Fall 5:49)

“I’ll always remember the memories I made with my teammates and the new people I met,” said Nosbush. “Saying goodbye to wrestling was hard but being able to compete at state was amazing. I loved watching all the competition and watching the boys team compete. What I love about wrestling is that it’s one big family. I consider the whole Mora team my family. They are the most supportive people around.”

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